First off let me say thank you SDN. If it wasn't for you guys, I'd be using KBB and kaplan's practice tests as study methods.
PA: 21
QR: 19
RC: 24
Bio: 23
GC: 22
OC: 21
TS: 22
AA: 22
Materials used:
KBB (I regret using this), Cliffs AP Bio, DAT Destroyer 2011, Topscore, CDP, Achiever
I used the 8 week study method, but i stretched it out to almost 12 weeks because I took weekends off and a day off here and there lol. I spent probably 6-7 hours a day studying. For those debating between KBB or Chads, go with Chads even though I never watched one of Chad's videos before, I can tell you that KBB doesn't offer anything too substantial.
I went through Destroyer twice and took the three TS practice exams and the three Achiever ones. (within the last two weeks) I averaged a 18-19 AA on both TS and Achiever lol so I guess it was not too representative of my grades. But the key to both is understanding which questions you got wrong and improving on them.
Breakdown:
PAT: I used the 10 test version of CDP and that is pretty much all you need. Cubes and hole punches was definitely easier on the real thing than CDP. Others were pretty much on par with CDP.
QR: Math was always one of my strong subjects so I didn't really look over it as much as I should have. I was being stupid too, I didn't put answers down on two of the questions I marked. I had 1 second left after I finished the last question and couldn't go back to ones I missed. Did not use anything to study for QR except the practice tests to get my timing down.
RC: Way easier than I expected after doing both Topscore and Achiever. I spent the first 4 minutes just scanning the whole article and then going back as I did the questions. Had 5 minutes at the end too.
Bio: Bio was consistently my lowest score on TS and Achiever but the bio section on the test was a lot easier than I expected. But the key to Bio is getting exposed to as many questions as you can. Do as many Destroyer questions as you can and try DATqvault. I didn't want to spend another 30 dollars so I just used the first two benchmark tests.
GC and OC: I always did better on these two on the practice tests than bio so not sure what happened here. But as long as you go through Destroyer twice and get 95+% of the problems, you should be good. Please don't let people who tell you "Destroyer is overkill" get to you. If you want to do good on the DAT, you must know how to do Destroyer. It might be slightly harder especially in OC, but doing it is worth it.
In all, thank you SDN for everything. Seeing other peoples amazing scores motivated me to do good as well. It was nice to read other people's breakdowns and get the gist of what works and what doesn't. A lot of people debate over Achiever and Topscore - my take on it is that get both if you can. The key to doing well on the DAT is repetition and doing a lot of practice tests. Sure achiever might be a little harder, but it does offer valuable insight if the DAT does throw a curveball at you.
My GPA is 3.8 and my sGPA is slightly above it. I will be applying next cycle. Again, thank you SDN for everything! Feel free to ask me questions here or PM me. Good luck to everyone else who hasn't taken the DAT yet!
PA: 21
QR: 19
RC: 24
Bio: 23
GC: 22
OC: 21
TS: 22
AA: 22
Materials used:
KBB (I regret using this), Cliffs AP Bio, DAT Destroyer 2011, Topscore, CDP, Achiever
I used the 8 week study method, but i stretched it out to almost 12 weeks because I took weekends off and a day off here and there lol. I spent probably 6-7 hours a day studying. For those debating between KBB or Chads, go with Chads even though I never watched one of Chad's videos before, I can tell you that KBB doesn't offer anything too substantial.
I went through Destroyer twice and took the three TS practice exams and the three Achiever ones. (within the last two weeks) I averaged a 18-19 AA on both TS and Achiever lol so I guess it was not too representative of my grades. But the key to both is understanding which questions you got wrong and improving on them.
Breakdown:
PAT: I used the 10 test version of CDP and that is pretty much all you need. Cubes and hole punches was definitely easier on the real thing than CDP. Others were pretty much on par with CDP.
QR: Math was always one of my strong subjects so I didn't really look over it as much as I should have. I was being stupid too, I didn't put answers down on two of the questions I marked. I had 1 second left after I finished the last question and couldn't go back to ones I missed. Did not use anything to study for QR except the practice tests to get my timing down.
RC: Way easier than I expected after doing both Topscore and Achiever. I spent the first 4 minutes just scanning the whole article and then going back as I did the questions. Had 5 minutes at the end too.
Bio: Bio was consistently my lowest score on TS and Achiever but the bio section on the test was a lot easier than I expected. But the key to Bio is getting exposed to as many questions as you can. Do as many Destroyer questions as you can and try DATqvault. I didn't want to spend another 30 dollars so I just used the first two benchmark tests.
GC and OC: I always did better on these two on the practice tests than bio so not sure what happened here. But as long as you go through Destroyer twice and get 95+% of the problems, you should be good. Please don't let people who tell you "Destroyer is overkill" get to you. If you want to do good on the DAT, you must know how to do Destroyer. It might be slightly harder especially in OC, but doing it is worth it.
In all, thank you SDN for everything. Seeing other peoples amazing scores motivated me to do good as well. It was nice to read other people's breakdowns and get the gist of what works and what doesn't. A lot of people debate over Achiever and Topscore - my take on it is that get both if you can. The key to doing well on the DAT is repetition and doing a lot of practice tests. Sure achiever might be a little harder, but it does offer valuable insight if the DAT does throw a curveball at you.
My GPA is 3.8 and my sGPA is slightly above it. I will be applying next cycle. Again, thank you SDN for everything! Feel free to ask me questions here or PM me. Good luck to everyone else who hasn't taken the DAT yet!
