DAT Done -8/2/10

[chanbam]

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PA 19
QR 18
RC 26
Bio 19
GC 20
OC 22

TS 20
AA 21

I haven't posted here before, but I've referred here for a lot for tips on studying and finding different study aids. Going in, I knew QR would be my weak spot. I did a bunch of achiever tests and topscore tests and finally just decided to concentrate on the rest of the stuff.

Biology was definitely a weak spot going in so I poured a ton of time into that the last two days, and when I took the test it felt like I hadn't seen at least half the questions before. It felt like a disaster. I took close to 7 or 8 practice tests and read through Cliff's biology and Kaplan multiple times. I had to rule out the answers I knew had to be wrong and just go with what was left.

From the practice tests, PA had been a really strong point. I got a 25 on one of the topscore tests. I don't know what the deal is, but it was taking me a lot longer to figure them out. I don't know if I was rattled or what, but I wasn't seeing them as fast as I usually do. Not having gone to the restroom before the test didn't help either. Anyway, I went to the break feeling pretty crappy about the test so far.

I came back took the reading comprehension and it seemed super easy. I seriously got done, had time to look over all my answers, and still had 9 minutes left. That felt good. I took a few breaths and went on to the quantitative section.

I didn't have time to finish, so I worked until there was about a minute left and then went back and filled in what I hadn't before. I probably guessed on 5 or 6 in a row.

I expected to see a bunch 17's pop up on the screen. Needless to say, I'm satisfied but also disappointed if that makes any sense. I think a 21 should be ok but I wanted to do really well, and I look at that PA score and think what if?

I have a 3.95 overall gpa and a 3.91 science. I would think that would be good enough to get in a few schools hopefully. I'd just assume go to Oklahoma for the instate tuition. Guess I'll see soon enough.

 

[kkim85]

Do you mind sharing your Topscore results with us? 🙂

Btw, Get ready for the interviews.. 🙂

 

[Maroonbio]

What were your study techniques for OC and GC?

 

[chanbam]

Sure. The only section I took under "test conditions" for Topscore was the PAT though. So I don't know how helpful these are. For the sciences, I started studying by using it more as a study tool in that I would pause, work out my answer, and then either check the answer and move on or find and read more about it and why the other answers were wrong.

PA: 21, 25
RC Didn't do any of these.
Bio: 19, 20, 20
GC: 19, 20
OC: 21, 20, 20
QR: These are totally bogus because, like I said, I would pause it and not move on until I figured it out: 23, 21, 25

I started the other week with these and then started taking the achiever tests, which I stopped after the third because I decided they were ridiculous and I was better off making sure I knew the basics really well. That didn't work out so well for biology. I would assume that if I took the the Topscore tests now they would still be very close. They were pretty good for chemistry and organic. Nothing I studied was a good indication of biology.

 

[chanbam]

What were your study techniques for OC and GC?

Basically I started reading Kaplan at the beginning of the summer. I bought Barron's too but thought it was way too abbreviated and the tests were way too easy. I should add that I didn't get super serious until the last two weeks. Before that, I studied a few hours a day and felt like I was forgetting things as fast as I was learning them.

I made "study sheets" that were basically sheets that were things I was having problems remembering that made referring back to things easier when some question popped into my head. These work really well for Ochem because you can organize everything by alkane/alkene/bal bla and types of reaction which makes things easier to remember. You'll begin to see patterns (this chemical reduces everything etc) that make things a lot easier to remember and then you can remember the exceptions better. I also had really good OChem classes so having that background helped and honestly I probably studied the least for Ochem of any of the sciences.

For Chem, I made a sheet of equations that I could quickly refer to while I studied, took the tests, and studied the kaplan book I have. My score here isn't anything special though so you might be better off with something else. Honestly I probably should have worked more on chemistry, but I spent the last two days really concentrating on biology. If I was taking it again, I would work pH word problems, and colligative properties problems a lot more.

 

[DemQ]

Can u plz commont on ur RC... How did u prepare and how did it feel during the test?

 

[toothfairy05]

Those are good scores. You should be proud of yourself.

Did you by anychance go through the destroyer?

 

[chanbam]

Those are good scores. You should be proud of yourself.

Did you by anychance go through the destroyer?

Thanks. No, and I thought about buying it a a week before the test after I decided Achiever wasn't a realistic study aid and didn't because it was ship only.

I would buy it if I was going to take it again though.

 

[chanbam]

Can u plz commont on ur RC... How did u prepare and how did it feel during the test?

I actually didn't do anything to prepare for the RC. I know that's not much help. I do read quite a bit and I'm sure that made a difference.

One bit of advice I can give is that the paragraphs on the test are numbered.

There were between 14-16 paragraphs per section and the last 3 were generally always summation, conclusion, and opinion, while the first two were generally overall introduction of the topic. When the reading gave specific examples of things I remembered the paragraph number and referred back to it.

My best advice would be to read each passage. This should take no more than 4-5 minutes. Don't rush. Read at a pace that's comfortable enough that you know the general outline of things. The first read through should be enough to answer at least 4 or 5 questions outright. You'll probably have to refer back to the paragraphs for the rest, but if you remember the general outline it should be doable. I probably got lucky in the passages I had. One of them was almost verbatim something I learned from my major.