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Hi everyone,
This is my first post and Id like to share my experience with the DAT and despite knowing how much people dont like seeing what are my chances? I would honestly like to know if I do have a chance. Ill start off with the prep materials and my opinion on them which you might find similar to what others have said.
Prep materials that I used include Kaplan BB, Destroyer, Achiever, Topscore, Acethedat, the ADA sample test and a few of the Kaplan online quiz/tests.
My scores on those were pretty bad.
(order is bio, gchem, ochem, pat, rc, qr)
Topscore 1
17/14/17/22/20/16
Topscore 2
19/19/17/25/21/19
Topscore 3
15/17/19/23/21/20
Achiever 1
13/17/14/17/19/18
Achiever 2
15/13/16/20/19/21
Achiever 3
16/17/14/19/19/19
AcetheDat 1
16/16/18/18/24/21
AcetheDat 2
15/18/17/17/28/22
AcetheDat 3
18/18/19/20/28/28
ADA Sample Test
18/28/19/23/*/20
*too lazy to take
I was pretty scared and intimidated by the scores I was getting and basically lost hope of doing well on the actual exam. I must admit, most of the people on the sdn forums are quite either intelligent/great test takers/geniuses/etc, and of course usually very helpful. At least thats how I feel from seeing the scores that most of you have been getting.
About the materials used.
Achiever = Hard. I might say that if u can do well on these, then you probably have a good chance at doing well on the actual. Dont take my word for it, but thats how I feel.
Topscore = probably closest to actual exam.
Acethedat = decent material, probably best for PAT b/c their angles are impossible.
Their RC is a joke. Dont compare it to the actual at all.
Kaplan = basics. I can definitely say that Kaplan alone is not enough. Its a good place to start though. Find the blue book off someone or something. Or if you have a friend taking the class (some people find it useful, most dont), borrow their info and take the online subject test/quizzes. Some are actually difficult.
Destroyer = yes, it is that damn good. Its hard for a reason. If you know it well front and back, then I think you can do well. My first time going through it was just depressing. Seriously, it was sad how bad I was doing but Im sure many others can relate. Anyways, it definitely lives up to its reputation. Go through it as many times as you can and understand it.
(Anything I got wrong, which was a lot of stuff :X, just went over n over again until I understood it. Dont let the sad scores depress you. Just use it as a wake up call to get studying and learn from it.
Now the Actual Exam.
I was quite surprised with it. It seemed a lot easier than all of the practices I took. Very straightforward and if you have an overall understanding of everything you studied, I think you will do fine.
Bio basics. Destroyer was good. A few random questions I cant remember, probably guessed on five of so. None of the frap stuff.
GChem my worst subject probably b/c its been so long since Ive taken it. Id say about half calculations half conceptual. I suck at GChem, but Im sure if you know Destroyer well, it covers almost any calculation problem youd see.
OChem easiest section for me. A few random questions. Last one was a three step reaction that just confused me. I had no NMRs or lab questions, so I guess I was lucky?
PAT Ive done a lot of practice with PAT and I personally felt that it was quite simple. A few of the angles were close. I think I had to guess on maybe 2-3 of them. I was fortunate to finish with 5 minutes left. Easier than Achiever, probably similar to Topscore for me at least. Nothing is as difficult as Acethedat when it comes to angles, so if you can do those, you can do anything.
RC Hrmm Im very fortunate I didnt get the ethics or piano passages everyone has talked about. I got Gene Expression, Calcium Channels or something, and I think it was Language and Learning in the Brain or something. Anyways, few tone questions and the rest were probably search and destroy. That works best for me. Im a slow reader, but got the gist of things while searching. Use whatever is best for you.
QR Man o man even after all the practice, all the time drilling and making sure you finish or skip questions in time, I still managed to run out of time and was forced to guess on the last 3. Even with guessing, I guess being tired out I missed quite a few. I personally think its not that difficult very doable. Many of the questions are in the same format as stuff youd see in Topscore and Achiever. I even found a few nearly exact questions from Destroyer. Anyways, last part of the exam and ran out of time = bad score. Hopefully this wont mess me up too bad.
Now the scores
Bio 20
GChem 18
OChem 22
PAT 24😀
RC 23😀
QR - 16
TS 20
AA 20
I hope I have a chance? I submitted my application 5/31/08 and it was sent out 6/23/08. Every school has been waiting on just the DAT score. Im currently a transfer student at UCLA with a low GPA of 3.35 and BCP of 3.18. I have a good share of shadowing/research/extracurriculars. I just want to thank all of you who have come to the forums to share your experiences, wealth of knowledge, and opinions. Wish me luck as I do to all of you!
btw - yes, the time of post is 3:40am. I can finally sleep well tonight and way into the day tomorrow 🙂
This is my first post and Id like to share my experience with the DAT and despite knowing how much people dont like seeing what are my chances? I would honestly like to know if I do have a chance. Ill start off with the prep materials and my opinion on them which you might find similar to what others have said.
Prep materials that I used include Kaplan BB, Destroyer, Achiever, Topscore, Acethedat, the ADA sample test and a few of the Kaplan online quiz/tests.
My scores on those were pretty bad.
(order is bio, gchem, ochem, pat, rc, qr)
Topscore 1
17/14/17/22/20/16
Topscore 2
19/19/17/25/21/19
Topscore 3
15/17/19/23/21/20
Achiever 1
13/17/14/17/19/18
Achiever 2
15/13/16/20/19/21
Achiever 3
16/17/14/19/19/19
AcetheDat 1
16/16/18/18/24/21
AcetheDat 2
15/18/17/17/28/22
AcetheDat 3
18/18/19/20/28/28
ADA Sample Test
18/28/19/23/*/20
*too lazy to take
I was pretty scared and intimidated by the scores I was getting and basically lost hope of doing well on the actual exam. I must admit, most of the people on the sdn forums are quite either intelligent/great test takers/geniuses/etc, and of course usually very helpful. At least thats how I feel from seeing the scores that most of you have been getting.
About the materials used.
Achiever = Hard. I might say that if u can do well on these, then you probably have a good chance at doing well on the actual. Dont take my word for it, but thats how I feel.
Topscore = probably closest to actual exam.
Acethedat = decent material, probably best for PAT b/c their angles are impossible.
Their RC is a joke. Dont compare it to the actual at all.
Kaplan = basics. I can definitely say that Kaplan alone is not enough. Its a good place to start though. Find the blue book off someone or something. Or if you have a friend taking the class (some people find it useful, most dont), borrow their info and take the online subject test/quizzes. Some are actually difficult.
Destroyer = yes, it is that damn good. Its hard for a reason. If you know it well front and back, then I think you can do well. My first time going through it was just depressing. Seriously, it was sad how bad I was doing but Im sure many others can relate. Anyways, it definitely lives up to its reputation. Go through it as many times as you can and understand it.
(Anything I got wrong, which was a lot of stuff :X, just went over n over again until I understood it. Dont let the sad scores depress you. Just use it as a wake up call to get studying and learn from it.
Now the Actual Exam.
I was quite surprised with it. It seemed a lot easier than all of the practices I took. Very straightforward and if you have an overall understanding of everything you studied, I think you will do fine.
Bio basics. Destroyer was good. A few random questions I cant remember, probably guessed on five of so. None of the frap stuff.
GChem my worst subject probably b/c its been so long since Ive taken it. Id say about half calculations half conceptual. I suck at GChem, but Im sure if you know Destroyer well, it covers almost any calculation problem youd see.
OChem easiest section for me. A few random questions. Last one was a three step reaction that just confused me. I had no NMRs or lab questions, so I guess I was lucky?
PAT Ive done a lot of practice with PAT and I personally felt that it was quite simple. A few of the angles were close. I think I had to guess on maybe 2-3 of them. I was fortunate to finish with 5 minutes left. Easier than Achiever, probably similar to Topscore for me at least. Nothing is as difficult as Acethedat when it comes to angles, so if you can do those, you can do anything.
RC Hrmm Im very fortunate I didnt get the ethics or piano passages everyone has talked about. I got Gene Expression, Calcium Channels or something, and I think it was Language and Learning in the Brain or something. Anyways, few tone questions and the rest were probably search and destroy. That works best for me. Im a slow reader, but got the gist of things while searching. Use whatever is best for you.
QR Man o man even after all the practice, all the time drilling and making sure you finish or skip questions in time, I still managed to run out of time and was forced to guess on the last 3. Even with guessing, I guess being tired out I missed quite a few. I personally think its not that difficult very doable. Many of the questions are in the same format as stuff youd see in Topscore and Achiever. I even found a few nearly exact questions from Destroyer. Anyways, last part of the exam and ran out of time = bad score. Hopefully this wont mess me up too bad.
Now the scores
Bio 20
GChem 18
OChem 22
PAT 24😀
RC 23😀
QR - 16
TS 20
AA 20
I hope I have a chance? I submitted my application 5/31/08 and it was sent out 6/23/08. Every school has been waiting on just the DAT score. Im currently a transfer student at UCLA with a low GPA of 3.35 and BCP of 3.18. I have a good share of shadowing/research/extracurriculars. I just want to thank all of you who have come to the forums to share your experiences, wealth of knowledge, and opinions. Wish me luck as I do to all of you!
btw - yes, the time of post is 3:40am. I can finally sleep well tonight and way into the day tomorrow 🙂
