Hey guys, this is my first post on SDN. I looked a lot of the threads while studying so I promised to post my own experience after finishing the DAT!
My Scores:
- PAT: 21
- QR: 27
- RC: 22
- Bio: 24
- GC: 23
- OC: 23
- TS: 23
- AA: 24
Average Practice Scores:
- PAT: 21 (Crack DAT PAT)
- QR: 21 (DAT Bootcamp)
-RC: 21 (DAT Bootcamp)
- Bio: 21 (DAT Bootcamp)
- GC: 20 (DAT Bootcamp)
- OC: 21 (DAT Bootcamp)
I spent two months studying, about 3-6 hours a day. For the first month I solely reviewed, and the second month consisted of practice problems and exams. I've listed each section below and the resources used + personal tips that helped me out.
PAT: 21
Materials Used: Kaplan, Crack DAT PAT
- For this section, I looked at Kaplan first to understand how to do each section and get a basic idea of it. I bought Crack DAT PAT and completed the exams in the last 2 weeks of studying. Honestly, I think DAT Bootcamp might be sufficient or even better for PAT, and I wish I knew that before purchasing Crack DAT PAT since I ended up purchasing both.
- Tips: When going through this section, I would try to move pretty fast and mark any keyholes I couldn't get, take one shot at the TFE and angles, take my time with cube counting, and mark any hole punches and pattern folding I couldn't get. I don't know if this is the best strategy, but I would usually finish with about 10-20 minutes left and go over keyholes, hole punching, and pattern folding. My thoughts behind this strategy were that I would spend way too much time on TFE and angles if I tried to get every one right (and probably still wouldn't get them all right), so I would focus on keyhole, hole punching, and pattern folding because there was a better chance of getting more of those right.
QR: 27
Materials Used: Chad's Videos, Math Destroyer, DAT Bootcamp
- Chad's Videos really explained most of the concepts, and anything that wasn't explained could be found in the solutions guide of Math Destroyer. I did most of the Math Destroyer exams and they were very helpful. DAT Bootcamp was a lot harder than the real DAT (I averaged ~21), but the solutions once again are really useful. Also, DAT Bootcamp really taught me to skip any questions I didn't know or would take a lot of time so I could knock out the easy ones. I probably skipped 4-5 on the actual DAT and had roughly 10 minutes to knock them out after completing the rest. Watch Chad's Videos, take notes, do Math Destroyer and you'll be fine.
RC: 22
Materials Used: DAT Bootcamp
- I never scored to well on the reading comprehension of the DAT so I was slightly worried about this section. I did the 5 practice exams on DAT Bootcamp, and my first 2 scores were 19. I was mainly doing Search and Destroy during those, so I didn't really know any details about the passage. I changed up my method and read the first question, started reading the passage until I found the answer, then looked at the next question. If I had already read over it, I could usually answer it pretty quickly. If not, I would keep reading until it popped up. With this method, I scored straight 22's on the last 3 DAT Bootcamp exams (pretty accurate). I had 2 pretty hard articles on the actual DAT and 1 easy one. I was a little stressed out but stayed cool and worked efficiently.
Biology: 24
Materials Used: Cliffs, Kaplan, Feralis, DAT Destroyer, DAT Bootcamp
- I am a biology major and have taken a lot of biology classes so I had a pretty strong background here. I skimmed over Cliffs, Kaplan, and Feralis, and went through the DAT Destroyer twice (taking notes on my mistakes). I would read over my notes/missed concepts every other day or so just to keep it fresh. DAT Bootcamp was the last step for me and the questions were worded very similarly to the actual DAT. For this section, make sure you know the small details (which enzymes do what, differences between kingdoms, etc.). For concepts I didn't fully understand (photosynthesis, cellular respiration, etc.), I watched Youtube animation videos the night before the exam and they were very helpful compared to reading the material.
GC: 23
Materials Used: Chad's Videos, DAT Destroyer, DAT Bootcamp
- Chad's videos covered the material very well for this section, and the questions were very similar to the quizzes. I went over DAT Destroyer twice, and they were a lot harder compared to the actual DAT questions. DAT Bootcamp was somewhat similar, but it was mainly useful (along with Destroyer) for making sure you actually understand the concepts and why things happen.
OC: 23
Materials Used: Chad's Videos, DAT Destroyer, DAT Bootcamp
- I just took Orgo 2 in the spring so I had a pretty strong background in this section too. Chad's videos were useful for learning, and DAT Destroyer + DAT Bootcamp was great practice. I went over the DAT Destroyer road maps/reactions in my car right before the exam, and it was pretty helpful. None of the mechanisms on the exam were very difficult.
**Overall:
- I was stressing pretty hard about this exam and was expecting around a 20-21 based on my scores. Honestly, stay calm during the exam and you'll be fine. It's really not as hard as the practice exams, but you won't believe me until you take it yourself (I didn't really believe anyone on here myself haha). Also, you will most likely do better than your practice scores. My average DAT Bootcamp scores are listed above, and as you can see I did much better on the real thing. Stay calm, keep cool, and you'll be really surprised when you see your scores at the end. Also, after you've finished a section on the exam, get it completely out of your memory. It'll only help you do better on the other sections. IMPORTANT: use the bathroom right before you take the exam, otherwise you'll really have to go during PAT lol...
Also, I took 1 Kaplan practice exam 2 weeks before, and the science part of the 2009 ADA online exam 3 days before. I got a 17 on Kaplan and I was pretty bummed. The test is nowhere near as hard, so don't freak out over it. I think I got ~21 TS on the ADA and also thought it was slightly harder than the real thing.
My Scores:
- PAT: 21
- QR: 27
- RC: 22
- Bio: 24
- GC: 23
- OC: 23
- TS: 23
- AA: 24
Average Practice Scores:
- PAT: 21 (Crack DAT PAT)
- QR: 21 (DAT Bootcamp)
-RC: 21 (DAT Bootcamp)
- Bio: 21 (DAT Bootcamp)
- GC: 20 (DAT Bootcamp)
- OC: 21 (DAT Bootcamp)
I spent two months studying, about 3-6 hours a day. For the first month I solely reviewed, and the second month consisted of practice problems and exams. I've listed each section below and the resources used + personal tips that helped me out.
PAT: 21
Materials Used: Kaplan, Crack DAT PAT
- For this section, I looked at Kaplan first to understand how to do each section and get a basic idea of it. I bought Crack DAT PAT and completed the exams in the last 2 weeks of studying. Honestly, I think DAT Bootcamp might be sufficient or even better for PAT, and I wish I knew that before purchasing Crack DAT PAT since I ended up purchasing both.
- Tips: When going through this section, I would try to move pretty fast and mark any keyholes I couldn't get, take one shot at the TFE and angles, take my time with cube counting, and mark any hole punches and pattern folding I couldn't get. I don't know if this is the best strategy, but I would usually finish with about 10-20 minutes left and go over keyholes, hole punching, and pattern folding. My thoughts behind this strategy were that I would spend way too much time on TFE and angles if I tried to get every one right (and probably still wouldn't get them all right), so I would focus on keyhole, hole punching, and pattern folding because there was a better chance of getting more of those right.
QR: 27
Materials Used: Chad's Videos, Math Destroyer, DAT Bootcamp
- Chad's Videos really explained most of the concepts, and anything that wasn't explained could be found in the solutions guide of Math Destroyer. I did most of the Math Destroyer exams and they were very helpful. DAT Bootcamp was a lot harder than the real DAT (I averaged ~21), but the solutions once again are really useful. Also, DAT Bootcamp really taught me to skip any questions I didn't know or would take a lot of time so I could knock out the easy ones. I probably skipped 4-5 on the actual DAT and had roughly 10 minutes to knock them out after completing the rest. Watch Chad's Videos, take notes, do Math Destroyer and you'll be fine.
RC: 22
Materials Used: DAT Bootcamp
- I never scored to well on the reading comprehension of the DAT so I was slightly worried about this section. I did the 5 practice exams on DAT Bootcamp, and my first 2 scores were 19. I was mainly doing Search and Destroy during those, so I didn't really know any details about the passage. I changed up my method and read the first question, started reading the passage until I found the answer, then looked at the next question. If I had already read over it, I could usually answer it pretty quickly. If not, I would keep reading until it popped up. With this method, I scored straight 22's on the last 3 DAT Bootcamp exams (pretty accurate). I had 2 pretty hard articles on the actual DAT and 1 easy one. I was a little stressed out but stayed cool and worked efficiently.
Biology: 24
Materials Used: Cliffs, Kaplan, Feralis, DAT Destroyer, DAT Bootcamp
- I am a biology major and have taken a lot of biology classes so I had a pretty strong background here. I skimmed over Cliffs, Kaplan, and Feralis, and went through the DAT Destroyer twice (taking notes on my mistakes). I would read over my notes/missed concepts every other day or so just to keep it fresh. DAT Bootcamp was the last step for me and the questions were worded very similarly to the actual DAT. For this section, make sure you know the small details (which enzymes do what, differences between kingdoms, etc.). For concepts I didn't fully understand (photosynthesis, cellular respiration, etc.), I watched Youtube animation videos the night before the exam and they were very helpful compared to reading the material.
GC: 23
Materials Used: Chad's Videos, DAT Destroyer, DAT Bootcamp
- Chad's videos covered the material very well for this section, and the questions were very similar to the quizzes. I went over DAT Destroyer twice, and they were a lot harder compared to the actual DAT questions. DAT Bootcamp was somewhat similar, but it was mainly useful (along with Destroyer) for making sure you actually understand the concepts and why things happen.
OC: 23
Materials Used: Chad's Videos, DAT Destroyer, DAT Bootcamp
- I just took Orgo 2 in the spring so I had a pretty strong background in this section too. Chad's videos were useful for learning, and DAT Destroyer + DAT Bootcamp was great practice. I went over the DAT Destroyer road maps/reactions in my car right before the exam, and it was pretty helpful. None of the mechanisms on the exam were very difficult.
**Overall:
- I was stressing pretty hard about this exam and was expecting around a 20-21 based on my scores. Honestly, stay calm during the exam and you'll be fine. It's really not as hard as the practice exams, but you won't believe me until you take it yourself (I didn't really believe anyone on here myself haha). Also, you will most likely do better than your practice scores. My average DAT Bootcamp scores are listed above, and as you can see I did much better on the real thing. Stay calm, keep cool, and you'll be really surprised when you see your scores at the end. Also, after you've finished a section on the exam, get it completely out of your memory. It'll only help you do better on the other sections. IMPORTANT: use the bathroom right before you take the exam, otherwise you'll really have to go during PAT lol...
Also, I took 1 Kaplan practice exam 2 weeks before, and the science part of the 2009 ADA online exam 3 days before. I got a 17 on Kaplan and I was pretty bummed. The test is nowhere near as hard, so don't freak out over it. I think I got ~21 TS on the ADA and also thought it was slightly harder than the real thing.
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Thanks for the detailed breakdown!
Congratulations!
