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Finally done with the DAT! This forum has been a great resource for tips and the break downs people post after their test have been very helpful and informational, so I thought I'd add my two cents to the mix.
Scores:
PA: 22 (96.2)
QR: 20 (89.3)
RC: 25 (98.5)
Bio: 24 (98.7)
GC: 24 (95.2)
OC: 26 (98.1)
TS: 25 (99.6)
AA: 24 (99.4)
Preparation
Perceptual Ability (22): I began "studying" for the perceptual portion around winter break, off and on, doing practice tests on Barron's (terrible book, do not get it). I say "studying" because its not something you can actually study for, you just have to become accustomed to being able to visualize the lines. The best advice I can give for this section, if you're having trouble with it, is to start early and give it time. You're brain needs time to develop the proper capacities, unless you're fortunate enough to have played games all your life. At first, I had a lot of trouble with this section, finding myself saying "WTF?" all the time. But then I got much better, it's true what they say, you become like Neo from the Matrix. Then I bought CDP and began practicing those tests. I started off with 21s, progressing to 22s, then scored a 24 on the 10th test (everything right except those damn angles). Going into the actual DAT, I was very confident for this section because people have been saying its easier than CDP. Well, I didn't find it easer, it was significantly HARDER. Usually on CDP, i finish with about 20 minutes left. On the actual test, I barely had 5 minutes left and struggled with the keyholes and TFE. Keyholes and TFE on CDP were much easier. Anyway, don't assume that the perceptual portion on the DAT will be easier than CDP, mine surely wasn't and I read many other posts claiming the same. Oh yeah, early on in my prep for this section, I downloaded a game called "Blackout". It's a tetris based game, but in 3D. I was looking for things that would stimulate my brain for this section, and I think this game really helped. I saw significant improvement after a few 15-20 minute sessions with the game. Play it every day for a week or two, 20 minutes at a time, etc, whatever. Its pretty fun! Its free! It helps! google it!
Quantitative Reasoning (20): Just did practice tests from Math Destroyer. I'm a crammer, always have been. I bought DAT destroyer about a week before my test, so I probably had about 2 days a pop on each section (Ochem, Gchem, Math). Math destroyer was really helpful though. Very similar questions to the actual test. As always, the difficulty of the questions aren't very high, I bet if given enough time most everyone will get perfect on these. But time is a critical issue. I'm pretty stubborn when it comes to these things, I can't just let it go an move on to the next problem. So while I was driving to the test center, I kept reminding myself to move on to the next question even if I haven't solved the problem yet. This is what YOU should DO. Read the question, if you think you can solve it, then go right ahead. But if you spend more than 30 secs on it and haven't gotten an answer, put down your best guess, mark it, and move on! If you have no idea how to solve the problem, then move on immediately! There are easier problems to be had! Going from the standard scores chart, you can miss 8-10 questions and still end up with a pretty good score 20-22, this was probably the case for me, I skipped quite a bit, and corrected some after I finished. Work on your timing and work on your skipping! Get Math Destroyer!
Reading Comprehension (25): No real prep for this section. I did maybe two practice tests, one from Kaplan and one from TopScore. I tested with strategies popular on this forum: read the questions first and write down key words, search and destroy. Didn't like those. I found what works best for me is to read the entire passage through first quickly, then answer the questions. This way I know the layout of the passage, and the general area where the answers can be found. Also, there's usually a mix of complicated, scientific passages and more broad, "interesting" passages. If I got a complicated, scientific passage as my first, I would skip to the next "interesting" passage, and start with that. That way, my brain isn't bogged down by jargon and gets warmed up from the read. Going back to the complicated passage is usually a lot easier. That's how my brain functions. Find out what works for you. Luckily , my first passage was an interesting one on the brain and language (wernicke's, broca's). Spent about 20 minutes on each passage, didn't feel rushed at all, actually I probably slowed down towards the end because I had plenty of time. Reading the passage first may seem like a waste of time, but it makes answering the questions afterwards is a breeze. An hour before my actual test, I went on yahoo and looked for some interesting articles to read, warm myself up a bit.
Biology (24): Materials used: Kaplan, Cliff's AP Bio, and my bio textbook. I went through Cliff's and Kaplan bio materials side by side, subject by subject thoroughly once. I read a few chapters in my bio text that I thought were important (embryo development, cell biology, mitosis/meiosis, endocrine/hormones, nervous system). Like I said before, I'm a crammer, I started studying the material maybe a month before the test, but not very rigorously, figuring that I'll forget a lot of the little details anyway. A few days before my test, I crammed in Kaplan and Cliffs again very quickly. My Bio score on TopScore, didn't seem to be improving during any stage of my studying, consistently being 18/19. I figured it was too random, so instead of trying to learn a little bit about just about everything, I got what I thought was important down solid. I also thought the wording on TopScore could be a little confusing, and some of the questions I was missing were more because of that. On the actual test, there were no confusing or convoluted questions/answers for me. A couple random phylogeny questions, but overall not that bad (bad as in random, phew haha).
General Chem (24): Materials: Chad's Videos! Whoo! Kaplan, Destroyer. I got Destroyer and Chad's Videos a week before my test, and I'm sure glad I did. I wasn't planning to, but then I panicked after getting only 18/19s on TopScore. I crammed Chad's videos in in about 2 days. Watched all of Gchem and a few ochem vids. WOW. Get it now, if you haven't already. Chad goes over a lot of important concepts not covered well enough in Kaplan, or any textbook even. Some of his HD videos were laggy for me though, but the audio always worked fine. Literally, after watching Chad's videos in a day, I got 25 for GC and 23 for OC on my last TopScore test. I suggest going over Kaplan first, take a couple of practice tests, and then watch Chad's. He doesn't go over every little detail, but he does go over important, test related ones. He knows a lot about what does and does not show up on tests. Its much more enlightening after you've already done some studying and know what kind of questions are asked on tests. DAT destroyer was also a great resource. Again, study before attempting to do the problems, they aren't super hard, just tricky. The kind of problems you go, "how the **** did I miss that......ohhhh that's why". Again, I crammed this in along with chad's videos, but it really made the difference. The more time you have with these resources the better.
Organic Chemistry (26): Materials: Kaplan, Destroyer, Chad's Videos. Same advice as for Gchem section. I made flash cards of the reactions in Kaplan, but I didn't really study them. Looked over them a few times here and there, but I think the process of making the flashcards really helped. Don't be overwhelmed by the amount of reactions there are, there really aren't that many. Once you get to carbonyls, it gets really redundant. Just know some of the special reactions (all the reactions you would need to know is probably covered in Kaplan), and have reduction/oxidation reactants down solid. The reaction questions on the actual DAT are simpler than in Destroyer. So don't be discouraged if you don't know everything in destroyer. Know the basics and how the reactions work (you'll find they are really redundant).
TopScore overall is a good resource. The questions and visual layout are very similar to the actual test. It takes the psychological effect out of seeing the test for the very first time. After your three topscore tests, you're intimately familiar.
I have to add: Materials used: Rockstar, 5 hour energy.
Bring snacks on test day, my test center didn't have vending machines or anything other than water.
Whew, that felt like a long rant. Glad to finally be done, summertime!
PER REQUEST
BIO/GC/OC/RC/QR/PA
TOPSCORE 1: 18/18/15/22/21/22
TOPSCORE 2: 18/19/19
TOPSCORE 3: 18/25/23
Don't look too much into these scores. I didn't want to put these up initially because I took them before I really studied, bought the tests and got anxious to take them. First test was a diagnostic test and I didn't have time to finish up ochem section. The last test I took after I finished watching Chad's gchem vids. I did go over them a few times and made sure I got down what I missed.
Scores:
PA: 22 (96.2)
QR: 20 (89.3)
RC: 25 (98.5)
Bio: 24 (98.7)
GC: 24 (95.2)
OC: 26 (98.1)
TS: 25 (99.6)
AA: 24 (99.4)
Preparation
Perceptual Ability (22): I began "studying" for the perceptual portion around winter break, off and on, doing practice tests on Barron's (terrible book, do not get it). I say "studying" because its not something you can actually study for, you just have to become accustomed to being able to visualize the lines. The best advice I can give for this section, if you're having trouble with it, is to start early and give it time. You're brain needs time to develop the proper capacities, unless you're fortunate enough to have played games all your life. At first, I had a lot of trouble with this section, finding myself saying "WTF?" all the time. But then I got much better, it's true what they say, you become like Neo from the Matrix. Then I bought CDP and began practicing those tests. I started off with 21s, progressing to 22s, then scored a 24 on the 10th test (everything right except those damn angles). Going into the actual DAT, I was very confident for this section because people have been saying its easier than CDP. Well, I didn't find it easer, it was significantly HARDER. Usually on CDP, i finish with about 20 minutes left. On the actual test, I barely had 5 minutes left and struggled with the keyholes and TFE. Keyholes and TFE on CDP were much easier. Anyway, don't assume that the perceptual portion on the DAT will be easier than CDP, mine surely wasn't and I read many other posts claiming the same. Oh yeah, early on in my prep for this section, I downloaded a game called "Blackout". It's a tetris based game, but in 3D. I was looking for things that would stimulate my brain for this section, and I think this game really helped. I saw significant improvement after a few 15-20 minute sessions with the game. Play it every day for a week or two, 20 minutes at a time, etc, whatever. Its pretty fun! Its free! It helps! google it!
Quantitative Reasoning (20): Just did practice tests from Math Destroyer. I'm a crammer, always have been. I bought DAT destroyer about a week before my test, so I probably had about 2 days a pop on each section (Ochem, Gchem, Math). Math destroyer was really helpful though. Very similar questions to the actual test. As always, the difficulty of the questions aren't very high, I bet if given enough time most everyone will get perfect on these. But time is a critical issue. I'm pretty stubborn when it comes to these things, I can't just let it go an move on to the next problem. So while I was driving to the test center, I kept reminding myself to move on to the next question even if I haven't solved the problem yet. This is what YOU should DO. Read the question, if you think you can solve it, then go right ahead. But if you spend more than 30 secs on it and haven't gotten an answer, put down your best guess, mark it, and move on! If you have no idea how to solve the problem, then move on immediately! There are easier problems to be had! Going from the standard scores chart, you can miss 8-10 questions and still end up with a pretty good score 20-22, this was probably the case for me, I skipped quite a bit, and corrected some after I finished. Work on your timing and work on your skipping! Get Math Destroyer!
Reading Comprehension (25): No real prep for this section. I did maybe two practice tests, one from Kaplan and one from TopScore. I tested with strategies popular on this forum: read the questions first and write down key words, search and destroy. Didn't like those. I found what works best for me is to read the entire passage through first quickly, then answer the questions. This way I know the layout of the passage, and the general area where the answers can be found. Also, there's usually a mix of complicated, scientific passages and more broad, "interesting" passages. If I got a complicated, scientific passage as my first, I would skip to the next "interesting" passage, and start with that. That way, my brain isn't bogged down by jargon and gets warmed up from the read. Going back to the complicated passage is usually a lot easier. That's how my brain functions. Find out what works for you. Luckily , my first passage was an interesting one on the brain and language (wernicke's, broca's). Spent about 20 minutes on each passage, didn't feel rushed at all, actually I probably slowed down towards the end because I had plenty of time. Reading the passage first may seem like a waste of time, but it makes answering the questions afterwards is a breeze. An hour before my actual test, I went on yahoo and looked for some interesting articles to read, warm myself up a bit.
Biology (24): Materials used: Kaplan, Cliff's AP Bio, and my bio textbook. I went through Cliff's and Kaplan bio materials side by side, subject by subject thoroughly once. I read a few chapters in my bio text that I thought were important (embryo development, cell biology, mitosis/meiosis, endocrine/hormones, nervous system). Like I said before, I'm a crammer, I started studying the material maybe a month before the test, but not very rigorously, figuring that I'll forget a lot of the little details anyway. A few days before my test, I crammed in Kaplan and Cliffs again very quickly. My Bio score on TopScore, didn't seem to be improving during any stage of my studying, consistently being 18/19. I figured it was too random, so instead of trying to learn a little bit about just about everything, I got what I thought was important down solid. I also thought the wording on TopScore could be a little confusing, and some of the questions I was missing were more because of that. On the actual test, there were no confusing or convoluted questions/answers for me. A couple random phylogeny questions, but overall not that bad (bad as in random, phew haha).
General Chem (24): Materials: Chad's Videos! Whoo! Kaplan, Destroyer. I got Destroyer and Chad's Videos a week before my test, and I'm sure glad I did. I wasn't planning to, but then I panicked after getting only 18/19s on TopScore. I crammed Chad's videos in in about 2 days. Watched all of Gchem and a few ochem vids. WOW. Get it now, if you haven't already. Chad goes over a lot of important concepts not covered well enough in Kaplan, or any textbook even. Some of his HD videos were laggy for me though, but the audio always worked fine. Literally, after watching Chad's videos in a day, I got 25 for GC and 23 for OC on my last TopScore test. I suggest going over Kaplan first, take a couple of practice tests, and then watch Chad's. He doesn't go over every little detail, but he does go over important, test related ones. He knows a lot about what does and does not show up on tests. Its much more enlightening after you've already done some studying and know what kind of questions are asked on tests. DAT destroyer was also a great resource. Again, study before attempting to do the problems, they aren't super hard, just tricky. The kind of problems you go, "how the **** did I miss that......ohhhh that's why". Again, I crammed this in along with chad's videos, but it really made the difference. The more time you have with these resources the better.
Organic Chemistry (26): Materials: Kaplan, Destroyer, Chad's Videos. Same advice as for Gchem section. I made flash cards of the reactions in Kaplan, but I didn't really study them. Looked over them a few times here and there, but I think the process of making the flashcards really helped. Don't be overwhelmed by the amount of reactions there are, there really aren't that many. Once you get to carbonyls, it gets really redundant. Just know some of the special reactions (all the reactions you would need to know is probably covered in Kaplan), and have reduction/oxidation reactants down solid. The reaction questions on the actual DAT are simpler than in Destroyer. So don't be discouraged if you don't know everything in destroyer. Know the basics and how the reactions work (you'll find they are really redundant).
TopScore overall is a good resource. The questions and visual layout are very similar to the actual test. It takes the psychological effect out of seeing the test for the very first time. After your three topscore tests, you're intimately familiar.
I have to add: Materials used: Rockstar, 5 hour energy.
Bring snacks on test day, my test center didn't have vending machines or anything other than water.
Whew, that felt like a long rant. Glad to finally be done, summertime!
PER REQUEST
BIO/GC/OC/RC/QR/PA
TOPSCORE 1: 18/18/15/22/21/22
TOPSCORE 2: 18/19/19
TOPSCORE 3: 18/25/23
Don't look too much into these scores. I didn't want to put these up initially because I took them before I really studied, bought the tests and got anxious to take them. First test was a diagnostic test and I didn't have time to finish up ochem section. The last test I took after I finished watching Chad's gchem vids. I did go over them a few times and made sure I got down what I missed.
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