- Joined
- Nov 30, 2008
- Messages
- 292
- Reaction score
- 28
- Points
- 4,601
- Resident [Any Field]
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
This was my first DAT so I half expected that I'd end up taking it a second time as it seems like most people do, at least that's the vibe I get. I "studied" for about 2 months but it didn't really seem like I was learning anything until the last 2-3 weeks.
My overall GPA is ~3.7, and assuming I calculated this correctly in my head my science GPA (including math) is ~3.5-3.6
PAT - 21 (93%)
OC - 19 (75%)
Bio - 19 (75%)
GC - 16 (36%) 😡
RC - 19 (55%)
QR - 15 (40%)
AA - 18
TS - 18
I don't know if those percents are 100% right because I don't have the print-off they give you in hand, but they're close enough.
PAT - It seemed really easy. I did all 5 of my CDP tests (I did my final two tests yesterday) + a couple random tests when I first got the software. I think all of my scores were either 18 or ~22, so 21 is kind of accurate. Everything on the real thing seemed easier in comparison to CDP, with the exception of TFE.
Bio - Went through bio section of Destroyer 2-3 times, Cliffs ~3-4 times, and looked over notes from alanan84. It didn't seem too random to me, just a lot of topics were covered. Overall I'm pretty happy with this score since I think it's been over 3 years since I took Gen Bio and even then I only got B's in it.
OC - I used my textbook (Wade), Destroyer, and Kaplan BB. Overall I think Wade is a good textbook (IMO textbook is the best source to study from) with good explanations, in terms of organic I think Destroyer is OVERKILL and big waste of time except for the road maps, Kaplan BB is most useful for looking at reaction mechanisms. for the most part a waste of timeStraight forward stuff like most people say. Know the reactions from Destroyer road maps and know what they do, not just the general idea behind them.
RC - I took maybe a total of 3 practice tests between Topscore and Achiever. Just used search and destroy method. I got crocodiles, fungi and senses. I thought they were fairly challenging because you really had to dig through some paragraphs to find some of the answers (especially fungi because it had one HUGE paragraph).
GC - I studied mainly Destroyer and so I was ready for all kinds of calculations and I think I only got about 5 in the whole section and the rest were conceptual. I went through Kaplan BB twice and everything seemed to make sense but apparently it didn't. The fact that I had a horrible schedule when I was taking Gen Chem probably, and I ended up with B's, probably didn't help me much in learning it correctly the first time.
QR - I didn't study too hard for this. I went through the DAT Destroyer's QR section one and a half times and I did a bunch of practice tests and reviewed the answers (IMO neither Achiever or Topscore were anywhere close to what the DAT QR section looked like). I'm not sure what happened here. I only had to guess on the last 4-5 questions because of time but all of the problems seemed REALLY easy. I'll have to continue working on my non-calculator math skills because I think that's where most of my errors came from in practice tests.
I'm not going to post any practice test scores because for me they were all over the place. I had scores ranging from as low as 14 when I just started reviewing Organic to as high as 20 in Gen Chem.
I will say this, IMO Topscore is much better than Achiever and knowing what I know now I would not have purchased (rented?) Achiever. CDP is VERY good though, IMO if you were to get any of the three programs it should go CDP > Topscore >>>>>> Achiever.
The school I was by far most interested in getting into was the University of Minnesota (my state school) and I probably would have had a decent shot if I only would have scored 1 point higher in Gen Chem (2 points higher and I think I would have gotten an interview for sure). Oh well, I guess I'll learn from my mistakes and study Gen Chem (and QR) a little harder next time because those appear to be the only things holding me back.
Edit: I forgot to mention... if anyone has any questions feel free to ask as I feel that since I have taken knowledge from others on this messageboard either by asking questions or just by reading posts that I should contribute or give back in some way.
My overall GPA is ~3.7, and assuming I calculated this correctly in my head my science GPA (including math) is ~3.5-3.6
PAT - 21 (93%)
OC - 19 (75%)
Bio - 19 (75%)
GC - 16 (36%) 😡
RC - 19 (55%)
QR - 15 (40%)
AA - 18
TS - 18
I don't know if those percents are 100% right because I don't have the print-off they give you in hand, but they're close enough.
PAT - It seemed really easy. I did all 5 of my CDP tests (I did my final two tests yesterday) + a couple random tests when I first got the software. I think all of my scores were either 18 or ~22, so 21 is kind of accurate. Everything on the real thing seemed easier in comparison to CDP, with the exception of TFE.
Bio - Went through bio section of Destroyer 2-3 times, Cliffs ~3-4 times, and looked over notes from alanan84. It didn't seem too random to me, just a lot of topics were covered. Overall I'm pretty happy with this score since I think it's been over 3 years since I took Gen Bio and even then I only got B's in it.
OC - I used my textbook (Wade), Destroyer, and Kaplan BB. Overall I think Wade is a good textbook (IMO textbook is the best source to study from) with good explanations, in terms of organic I think Destroyer is OVERKILL and big waste of time except for the road maps, Kaplan BB is most useful for looking at reaction mechanisms. for the most part a waste of timeStraight forward stuff like most people say. Know the reactions from Destroyer road maps and know what they do, not just the general idea behind them.
RC - I took maybe a total of 3 practice tests between Topscore and Achiever. Just used search and destroy method. I got crocodiles, fungi and senses. I thought they were fairly challenging because you really had to dig through some paragraphs to find some of the answers (especially fungi because it had one HUGE paragraph).
GC - I studied mainly Destroyer and so I was ready for all kinds of calculations and I think I only got about 5 in the whole section and the rest were conceptual. I went through Kaplan BB twice and everything seemed to make sense but apparently it didn't. The fact that I had a horrible schedule when I was taking Gen Chem probably, and I ended up with B's, probably didn't help me much in learning it correctly the first time.
QR - I didn't study too hard for this. I went through the DAT Destroyer's QR section one and a half times and I did a bunch of practice tests and reviewed the answers (IMO neither Achiever or Topscore were anywhere close to what the DAT QR section looked like). I'm not sure what happened here. I only had to guess on the last 4-5 questions because of time but all of the problems seemed REALLY easy. I'll have to continue working on my non-calculator math skills because I think that's where most of my errors came from in practice tests.
I'm not going to post any practice test scores because for me they were all over the place. I had scores ranging from as low as 14 when I just started reviewing Organic to as high as 20 in Gen Chem.
I will say this, IMO Topscore is much better than Achiever and knowing what I know now I would not have purchased (rented?) Achiever. CDP is VERY good though, IMO if you were to get any of the three programs it should go CDP > Topscore >>>>>> Achiever.
The school I was by far most interested in getting into was the University of Minnesota (my state school) and I probably would have had a decent shot if I only would have scored 1 point higher in Gen Chem (2 points higher and I think I would have gotten an interview for sure). Oh well, I guess I'll learn from my mistakes and study Gen Chem (and QR) a little harder next time because those appear to be the only things holding me back.
Edit: I forgot to mention... if anyone has any questions feel free to ask as I feel that since I have taken knowledge from others on this messageboard either by asking questions or just by reading posts that I should contribute or give back in some way.
Last edited:
