First off, PHEW!! I am so glad that this horrendous experience is behind me.
I took the test at 4:30 this afternoon, and just finished about an hour and a half ago, so the experience is fresh in my mind. For the Prometric center-- dress in layers. It was 90 out today so I came in a t-shirt and shorts, and of course the center was freezing and the fan was blowing right on me the whole time.
Scores and Breakdown:
PA: 19 (69.4%)
QR: 26 (99.8)
RC: 21 (88.9)
Biology: 20 (91.8)
GC: 18 (68.4)
OC: 21 (89.7)
TS: 20 (91.3)
AA: 21 (97.2)
Biology: This section was crazy. Without a doubt, I felt that the actual DAT was harder than any practice test I had ever taken (TopScore, I'm looking at you). I had TONS of genetics, and almost no taxonomy. I swear, there were at least 10 questions on genetics, including eclectic topics such as operon control, chromosomal translocation, chromosome fragmentation, and genetic crossover maps. Going through this section at first, I thought I was going to fail, but I was able to figure out the answers for some of the questions I had marked at the last moment. I was expecting around an 18 during the break, so I was pleased with a 20. I think that the difficulty of the Biology section rattled me for the rest of the sciences.
General Chemistry: Almost all my questions were either conceptual or calculations, but you didn't have to actually carry out the calculations, just set them up (if that makes sense). General chemistry is usually my strongest science, so I was surprised when I got the lowest score here. Funny how that works. Based on the score, I guess it was harder than Topscore, but during the process of taking it I thought it was on par.
Organic Chemistry: Expect the expect. Know your reactions, conceptual basics. This section didn't deviate too much from what I had seen in Topscore.
Perceptual Ability: I've never been a PA whiz. My scores on Crack DAT PAT have ranged from 18 to 21, with my most consistent score being a 20. I thought that keyholes on the real DAT were easier, TFE was harder, angles about the same, hole punching easier, cubes the same, and pattern folding easier. The real DAT has a lot of questions on pattern folding that focused on the shape of the figure, not so much the shading. Also, I swear that on some of the folding, the were folding horizontally/vertically in thirds, which I had never seen before. No "half-punches" like on CDP. I probably spent the least time preparing for this section, so 19 is something I can live with.
Reading Comprehension: The only preparation I did for this section was with Topscore, and Topscore is not like the real DAT here. The real thing was much harder. I got 27/27/29 on Topscore, but there are a lot of inference questions. Search and destroy is limited in application-- a better strategy seems to be read a few paragraphs, and then start going through questions, and repeat.
Quantitative Reasoning: I'm not exceptional at math by any measure, but the questions I received were catered to my strengths. Lots of word problems, not so much on the trigonometry. I could tell when I was going through the section that I was crushing it, and Math Destroyer really helped here.
I was certain that I had bombed the sciences after my horrible feeling in biology. It was a feeling of pure relief and joy when I saw that 21 pop out at me. In the end, anyone can do well on the DAT with adequate preparation. I studied for about 3 months, maybe averaging 4 hours per day. The test will be what you expect, with the exception of maybe biology (so broad that I don't think there is one best book to use in preparation).
Resources I used in studying:
Chad's Videos: Very good in allowing me to re-learn the chemistries
Destroyer: Essential
Math Destroyer: Not a bad idea
Crack DAT PAT: I wish I had gone with the 5-test option. Ended up not needing/using all 10.
Cliff's AP Bio: The Chad's video equivalent for Biology
Topscore: Good barometer and confidence builder. I forget what my specific subsection score were, but I know my AA's for TS1, 2, and 3, respectively, were 19, 21, and 25 (inflated due to reading comprehension).
Finally, I have a question that may or may not go without asking: A 21 will get me in some schools, right? I have 3.80 GPA, cumulative and science, so I think I'm sitting pretty, but just wanted to get some recommendations.
Thanks for reading, best of luck to all future test takers!
I took the test at 4:30 this afternoon, and just finished about an hour and a half ago, so the experience is fresh in my mind. For the Prometric center-- dress in layers. It was 90 out today so I came in a t-shirt and shorts, and of course the center was freezing and the fan was blowing right on me the whole time.
Scores and Breakdown:
PA: 19 (69.4%)
QR: 26 (99.8)
RC: 21 (88.9)
Biology: 20 (91.8)
GC: 18 (68.4)
OC: 21 (89.7)
TS: 20 (91.3)
AA: 21 (97.2)
Biology: This section was crazy. Without a doubt, I felt that the actual DAT was harder than any practice test I had ever taken (TopScore, I'm looking at you). I had TONS of genetics, and almost no taxonomy. I swear, there were at least 10 questions on genetics, including eclectic topics such as operon control, chromosomal translocation, chromosome fragmentation, and genetic crossover maps. Going through this section at first, I thought I was going to fail, but I was able to figure out the answers for some of the questions I had marked at the last moment. I was expecting around an 18 during the break, so I was pleased with a 20. I think that the difficulty of the Biology section rattled me for the rest of the sciences.
General Chemistry: Almost all my questions were either conceptual or calculations, but you didn't have to actually carry out the calculations, just set them up (if that makes sense). General chemistry is usually my strongest science, so I was surprised when I got the lowest score here. Funny how that works. Based on the score, I guess it was harder than Topscore, but during the process of taking it I thought it was on par.
Organic Chemistry: Expect the expect. Know your reactions, conceptual basics. This section didn't deviate too much from what I had seen in Topscore.
Perceptual Ability: I've never been a PA whiz. My scores on Crack DAT PAT have ranged from 18 to 21, with my most consistent score being a 20. I thought that keyholes on the real DAT were easier, TFE was harder, angles about the same, hole punching easier, cubes the same, and pattern folding easier. The real DAT has a lot of questions on pattern folding that focused on the shape of the figure, not so much the shading. Also, I swear that on some of the folding, the were folding horizontally/vertically in thirds, which I had never seen before. No "half-punches" like on CDP. I probably spent the least time preparing for this section, so 19 is something I can live with.
Reading Comprehension: The only preparation I did for this section was with Topscore, and Topscore is not like the real DAT here. The real thing was much harder. I got 27/27/29 on Topscore, but there are a lot of inference questions. Search and destroy is limited in application-- a better strategy seems to be read a few paragraphs, and then start going through questions, and repeat.
Quantitative Reasoning: I'm not exceptional at math by any measure, but the questions I received were catered to my strengths. Lots of word problems, not so much on the trigonometry. I could tell when I was going through the section that I was crushing it, and Math Destroyer really helped here.
I was certain that I had bombed the sciences after my horrible feeling in biology. It was a feeling of pure relief and joy when I saw that 21 pop out at me. In the end, anyone can do well on the DAT with adequate preparation. I studied for about 3 months, maybe averaging 4 hours per day. The test will be what you expect, with the exception of maybe biology (so broad that I don't think there is one best book to use in preparation).
Resources I used in studying:
Chad's Videos: Very good in allowing me to re-learn the chemistries
Destroyer: Essential
Math Destroyer: Not a bad idea
Crack DAT PAT: I wish I had gone with the 5-test option. Ended up not needing/using all 10.
Cliff's AP Bio: The Chad's video equivalent for Biology
Topscore: Good barometer and confidence builder. I forget what my specific subsection score were, but I know my AA's for TS1, 2, and 3, respectively, were 19, 21, and 25 (inflated due to reading comprehension).
Finally, I have a question that may or may not go without asking: A 21 will get me in some schools, right? I have 3.80 GPA, cumulative and science, so I think I'm sitting pretty, but just wanted to get some recommendations.
Thanks for reading, best of luck to all future test takers!
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