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- Sep 5, 2009
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hey guys, ive been viewing these threads a lot but this is my actual first post. first of all, SDN has been extremely informative, thanks everyone 🙂
1st DAT 2nd DAT
BIO 18 23😀 (97.6)
GCHEM 19 19 (70.7)
OCHEM 20 21 (86.3)
PAT 21 19 (75.2)
RC 17 20 (66.2)
QR 18 16👎 (50.9)
TS 19 21 (91.3)
AA 18 20 (84.0)
PRACTICE SCORES
bio/gchem/ochem/pat/rc/qr
TS1 21/14/17/20/23/17
TS2 18/18/18/23/22/18
TS3 18/18/19/20/22/22
Ach1 16/17/17/17/15/17
Ach2 17/15/19/17/17/18
Ach3 17/16/18/X/X/X <-- just took the sciences
my scores were all over the place haha..
MATERIALS USED: kbb (good to know the foundations), destroyer, CDP, CDM, CDR(waste of money), cliffs AP biology, cliffs AP chemistry (too hard), topscore, achiever, wikipedia, SDN
i studied for 2 months, first month about 4 hours a day, 2nd month for about 6-10 hours a day. the first month was mainly reviewing and studying the material. the 2nd month, i started working on destroyer and applying what i learned to destroyer, CDM. i started taking practice tests about 2 weeks (every 3 days between first 3 and every 2 day for the last 3) before the actual test date but if possible, i'd recommend taking them sooner if you're ready. it is very very important to never get distraught at your test scores if its not what you expected. a lot of people will do better on the actual DAT because practices tests are for PRACTICE.. its not meant to EXACTLY reflect the DAT. learn from your weaknesses and reinforce your strengths. i would write down problems that i got wrong and had a whole stack of them. i would go back to them and learn from what i missed.
BEFORE THE TEST
this was my second time taking it so i wasn't as nervous as the first time i took it but i was still anxious. i slept at 11pm the night before and woke up at 330am, and could not fall asleep. all that was going through my head was KMNO4, ribosomes, aromatics, gas particles with negligble volume, and this dude name markovnikov to name a few... there was a lot going into this test too since since my fam dropped about 3 grand on this whole dental application cycle and schools are waiting for my score. so i got out of bed at around 9 am, showered, ate breakfast and drank two cups of coffee (i recommend, but make sure you use the restroom a lot beforehand so you dont have to go during the test). i also just relaxed and listened to music. didn't really do that much last minute studying. i arrived at the test center about 45 minutes before my appointment.. i even smiled when they took my picture before hand.. which got the lady laughin haha. i thought to myself, lets get this party started.
BIO
i got stumped on the first question, it was pretty weird. none the less, i thought this section required a bit of thinking. don't just memorize, but know how to apply that knowledge. i felt like i over studied for this section because the questions were pretty random as what many people say. however, its nothing too complicated and definitely fair. cliffs was a big help in this section, destroyer was very useful as well. there were some weird pictures and diagrams though. i would recommend knowing the basics and not go into too much detail studying (ie fungi names haha) because it isn't really worth it. i didn't do that good in the bio sections of topscore and achiever so DON'T GET WORRIED IF YOUR SCORES AREN'T GOOD! i don't think the bio section is a good representation of your actual test score!
GCHEM
man whoever said this section is mostly conceptual and calculations were drawn out?! my version had mostly calculations and NONE were drawn out (no answer choices were in equation format!) so that was very unexpected for me. i remember not having any equation answers at all. none the less, it wasn't that bad. i used kbb, but mostly destroyer for this. destroyer is over the edge, but it helped out a lot, especially on concepts. topscore tests were also on point in this section IMO. definitely know the basics - acid/base, le chateliers, gibbs free energy,etc.
OCHEM
i was hopin to wreck this section! i thought i did too, everything was very straightforward, nothing too tricky. DESTROYER DESTROYER for this section. it helped BIG TIME, im sure you guys have heard from numerous sources, but i feel like destroyer provides the best preparation for this section, especially the road maps. kbb is good too, but destroyer helps you understand the concepts and rxns. i used kbb and destroyer mainly. the nomenclature was also pretty easy so don't sweat it too much if you have a hard time knowing them, especially -oates, amines and such.
PAT
i personally thought this was harder than usual but maybe its just me. i used CDP and topscore PATS primarily for this. CDP was pretty on point. hole punching and TFE was easier IMO, keyholes was slightly harder, angles were about the same if not easier, pattern folding was about the same. after doing doing CDP, DAT PAT shouldn't be that different. i was surprised that i didn't do as well as i usually do. CDP tests were 22/21/19/18/21.
RC
i got epidemiology, spinal cord, and floating boats. float boats was a bit difficult compared to the other two. i used search and destroy which worked very well for the first two. i used CDR but i think it isn't worth its money, topscore (i think its really good) and achiever (kinda hard but who knows, you might get piano and its good practice). im happy with these scores because i thought i got lower, since i guessed on a few for floating bridges.
QR
wow i got owned in this section. it was really harder than i thought (compared to the first time i took it). when people on SDN said its full of word problems - they're right, and theyre hard - especially with the time constraints. plus, it was the last section of the test so at this point i was really tired. this section is all about speed and practice, practice, practice!!! i used CDM which helped but i don't know why i scored lower than i usually do for this section. i never scored a 16 before in QR. IMO, CDM is good for practice.
SURVEY
i basically just waited the whole 15 minutes because i was too worried about my scores, i thought i didn't do too well in the sciences and math just raped me.
SCORES
im a dude but i wasn't man enough to look at my scores just yet haha. i kinda covered my eyes and kinda moved my hand down to look at the score report. up top was PAT, i saw a 19.. i was like ok.. not too bad but not as good either.. then below that i saw QR, and it was 16.. i was like OH **** you gotta be sh***in me right... i was like man.... then i kinda just gave up and moved my hands out of the way and saw the rest of the scores which was unexpected for me, especially on bio!
IN SUMMARY
practice, practice, practice. topscore and destroyer were the best study tools for me. i can't stress this enough but don't worry too much about your practice scores. i remember i was worried about them before because people who scored high on the DAT usually scored high on practice tests. who the eff says this is true in all situations? anything is possible and doable, you just have the heart to do it. if you put time into it, it will pay off, trust me. also, a very important advice that i would give, is to GO WITH YOUR GUTS on your answers. 90% of the time you will be right, and you will be right more than you will be wrong. have confidence in your answers! also, keep a positive attitude going into taking a tests. maintain confidence throughout the entire test! dont get frustrated at a few questions you get guessed on because you might have gotten it right. take me for example, i didnt think i did that good in bio, i marked like 15. HAVE the mentality that you will murder this bia bia. if you have that mentality, you will do well. trust me.
--
overall, im satisfied with my scores since my TS and AA went up. what do you guys think my chances are? i have a gpa of 3.67, sci 3.55 and applying to all texas schools and many more out of state. do you guys know if the QR score will impact much? thats primarily what im semi-worried about. if you have any further questions feel free to ask and ill get back to you!
1st DAT 2nd DAT
BIO 18 23😀 (97.6)
GCHEM 19 19 (70.7)
OCHEM 20 21 (86.3)
PAT 21 19 (75.2)
RC 17 20 (66.2)
QR 18 16👎 (50.9)
TS 19 21 (91.3)
AA 18 20 (84.0)
PRACTICE SCORES
bio/gchem/ochem/pat/rc/qr
TS1 21/14/17/20/23/17
TS2 18/18/18/23/22/18
TS3 18/18/19/20/22/22
Ach1 16/17/17/17/15/17
Ach2 17/15/19/17/17/18
Ach3 17/16/18/X/X/X <-- just took the sciences
my scores were all over the place haha..
MATERIALS USED: kbb (good to know the foundations), destroyer, CDP, CDM, CDR(waste of money), cliffs AP biology, cliffs AP chemistry (too hard), topscore, achiever, wikipedia, SDN
i studied for 2 months, first month about 4 hours a day, 2nd month for about 6-10 hours a day. the first month was mainly reviewing and studying the material. the 2nd month, i started working on destroyer and applying what i learned to destroyer, CDM. i started taking practice tests about 2 weeks (every 3 days between first 3 and every 2 day for the last 3) before the actual test date but if possible, i'd recommend taking them sooner if you're ready. it is very very important to never get distraught at your test scores if its not what you expected. a lot of people will do better on the actual DAT because practices tests are for PRACTICE.. its not meant to EXACTLY reflect the DAT. learn from your weaknesses and reinforce your strengths. i would write down problems that i got wrong and had a whole stack of them. i would go back to them and learn from what i missed.
BEFORE THE TEST
this was my second time taking it so i wasn't as nervous as the first time i took it but i was still anxious. i slept at 11pm the night before and woke up at 330am, and could not fall asleep. all that was going through my head was KMNO4, ribosomes, aromatics, gas particles with negligble volume, and this dude name markovnikov to name a few... there was a lot going into this test too since since my fam dropped about 3 grand on this whole dental application cycle and schools are waiting for my score. so i got out of bed at around 9 am, showered, ate breakfast and drank two cups of coffee (i recommend, but make sure you use the restroom a lot beforehand so you dont have to go during the test). i also just relaxed and listened to music. didn't really do that much last minute studying. i arrived at the test center about 45 minutes before my appointment.. i even smiled when they took my picture before hand.. which got the lady laughin haha. i thought to myself, lets get this party started.
BIO
i got stumped on the first question, it was pretty weird. none the less, i thought this section required a bit of thinking. don't just memorize, but know how to apply that knowledge. i felt like i over studied for this section because the questions were pretty random as what many people say. however, its nothing too complicated and definitely fair. cliffs was a big help in this section, destroyer was very useful as well. there were some weird pictures and diagrams though. i would recommend knowing the basics and not go into too much detail studying (ie fungi names haha) because it isn't really worth it. i didn't do that good in the bio sections of topscore and achiever so DON'T GET WORRIED IF YOUR SCORES AREN'T GOOD! i don't think the bio section is a good representation of your actual test score!
GCHEM
man whoever said this section is mostly conceptual and calculations were drawn out?! my version had mostly calculations and NONE were drawn out (no answer choices were in equation format!) so that was very unexpected for me. i remember not having any equation answers at all. none the less, it wasn't that bad. i used kbb, but mostly destroyer for this. destroyer is over the edge, but it helped out a lot, especially on concepts. topscore tests were also on point in this section IMO. definitely know the basics - acid/base, le chateliers, gibbs free energy,etc.
OCHEM
i was hopin to wreck this section! i thought i did too, everything was very straightforward, nothing too tricky. DESTROYER DESTROYER for this section. it helped BIG TIME, im sure you guys have heard from numerous sources, but i feel like destroyer provides the best preparation for this section, especially the road maps. kbb is good too, but destroyer helps you understand the concepts and rxns. i used kbb and destroyer mainly. the nomenclature was also pretty easy so don't sweat it too much if you have a hard time knowing them, especially -oates, amines and such.
PAT
i personally thought this was harder than usual but maybe its just me. i used CDP and topscore PATS primarily for this. CDP was pretty on point. hole punching and TFE was easier IMO, keyholes was slightly harder, angles were about the same if not easier, pattern folding was about the same. after doing doing CDP, DAT PAT shouldn't be that different. i was surprised that i didn't do as well as i usually do. CDP tests were 22/21/19/18/21.
RC
i got epidemiology, spinal cord, and floating boats. float boats was a bit difficult compared to the other two. i used search and destroy which worked very well for the first two. i used CDR but i think it isn't worth its money, topscore (i think its really good) and achiever (kinda hard but who knows, you might get piano and its good practice). im happy with these scores because i thought i got lower, since i guessed on a few for floating bridges.
QR
wow i got owned in this section. it was really harder than i thought (compared to the first time i took it). when people on SDN said its full of word problems - they're right, and theyre hard - especially with the time constraints. plus, it was the last section of the test so at this point i was really tired. this section is all about speed and practice, practice, practice!!! i used CDM which helped but i don't know why i scored lower than i usually do for this section. i never scored a 16 before in QR. IMO, CDM is good for practice.
SURVEY
i basically just waited the whole 15 minutes because i was too worried about my scores, i thought i didn't do too well in the sciences and math just raped me.
SCORES
im a dude but i wasn't man enough to look at my scores just yet haha. i kinda covered my eyes and kinda moved my hand down to look at the score report. up top was PAT, i saw a 19.. i was like ok.. not too bad but not as good either.. then below that i saw QR, and it was 16.. i was like OH **** you gotta be sh***in me right... i was like man.... then i kinda just gave up and moved my hands out of the way and saw the rest of the scores which was unexpected for me, especially on bio!
IN SUMMARY
practice, practice, practice. topscore and destroyer were the best study tools for me. i can't stress this enough but don't worry too much about your practice scores. i remember i was worried about them before because people who scored high on the DAT usually scored high on practice tests. who the eff says this is true in all situations? anything is possible and doable, you just have the heart to do it. if you put time into it, it will pay off, trust me. also, a very important advice that i would give, is to GO WITH YOUR GUTS on your answers. 90% of the time you will be right, and you will be right more than you will be wrong. have confidence in your answers! also, keep a positive attitude going into taking a tests. maintain confidence throughout the entire test! dont get frustrated at a few questions you get guessed on because you might have gotten it right. take me for example, i didnt think i did that good in bio, i marked like 15. HAVE the mentality that you will murder this bia bia. if you have that mentality, you will do well. trust me.
--
overall, im satisfied with my scores since my TS and AA went up. what do you guys think my chances are? i have a gpa of 3.67, sci 3.55 and applying to all texas schools and many more out of state. do you guys know if the QR score will impact much? thats primarily what im semi-worried about. if you have any further questions feel free to ask and ill get back to you!
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