- Joined
- Aug 11, 2010
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 0
More happy about being done than my actual scores, (though am very pleased with my scores so that just shows how happy I am to be done).
I took Kaplan's course and also used the Crack the Dat (I bought 10 pat, 10 math, 5 science, 5 reading).
Scores:
PAT: 22
QR: 21
RC: 20
Bio: 20
GC: 20
OC: 21
TS: 20
AA: 20
PAT: I only did 7 Crack PATs though did all of Kaplan's. For Crack I would average 19's and for Kaplan about 22. I thought that the keyholes weren't that bad- pretty similar to Kaplan. TFE wasn't bad either. Holepunching: SO MUCH easier than CTP! They might have been easier than Kaplan too. No half punches and only one or two double punched. Angles were tough! I thought I was looking at CTP angles (which are impossible). Kaplan angles are too easy, these guys were much closer/ all rotated differently. I advise doing CTP for these and really just practice a lot. Cube counting- had A-F (6 different figures) and they were all very simple. Easier than Kaplan's, much easier than CTP's. Pattern folding wasn't too bad, boxes are my week spot and only had two of those.
QR: Easier than CTDM. A little harder than Kaplan. I don't think Kaplan emphasizes trig enough, and CTDM emphasizes it a little too much. Know your rate problems (d=rt) really well and also investment ones. Overall easier than I thought it'd be!
RC: I thought this was super hard! I think my brain was just frazzled. I did like 10 rc practice tests and always scored above 21. These questions were more like Kaplan's (less inference/tone and more facts). My strategy was to read the whole passage in under 6 minutes while listing main point of each passage to refer back to. On the real thing I took 8.5 minutes to get through the first passage then stressed when I saw they were all search and destroy type problems and had to reread whole paragraphs. Got my cool back and did better on the last two passages. (two science passages, one humanity). If I take it again I will definitely do search and destroy.
Bio: Harder than I expected! Would get 22-23's on my practice tests. For science I mostly did Kaplan and went through the CTDS halfheartedly since I'd get 17's and 18's on everything. Some crazy questions about embryology and histology I didn't know (I only just finished my sophmore year so I'm more comfortable with basic core bio). If I retake it I think I'll get Cliff's or Baron's (hear good things) and really study bio more.
GC: Didn't think this was bad, so have no idea what I got wrong! A lot of calculations. And periodic table Q's (electronegativity and such).
Ochem: Easier than Kaplan's practice tests I think. Basic mechanism questions, nothing too crazy here. Also not sure what I got wrong. For science I finished with 10 minutes left and reviewed everything I marked before time ran out. I think I could have done better if I did more practice problems instead of repeating full length practice tests (I took kaplan's midterm, final, and tests 1-3 twice). If I retake I'll definitely either watch Chad's videos and/or invest in Destroyer.
So overall I didn't really excel in any one subject, but had pretty even scores. A little about my testing center (Gardena, CA): Very polite and friendly personal. Was in a large room and sat in a corner right under the air vent (froze!). They gave me two pink dry erase sheets and two brand new fine tip markers that worked just fine. Was much easier to erase than the practice board Kaplan gave me. Used the canceling head phones provided, and wished that the computer screens were bigger during angles, though it was flat screen at least.
Might retake next summer since I'll be a Junior this year. Thanks to everyone on this site for your help these past months! Must have looked at this site daily, haha.
Good luck to everyone!
I took Kaplan's course and also used the Crack the Dat (I bought 10 pat, 10 math, 5 science, 5 reading).
Scores:
PAT: 22
QR: 21
RC: 20
Bio: 20
GC: 20
OC: 21
TS: 20
AA: 20
PAT: I only did 7 Crack PATs though did all of Kaplan's. For Crack I would average 19's and for Kaplan about 22. I thought that the keyholes weren't that bad- pretty similar to Kaplan. TFE wasn't bad either. Holepunching: SO MUCH easier than CTP! They might have been easier than Kaplan too. No half punches and only one or two double punched. Angles were tough! I thought I was looking at CTP angles (which are impossible). Kaplan angles are too easy, these guys were much closer/ all rotated differently. I advise doing CTP for these and really just practice a lot. Cube counting- had A-F (6 different figures) and they were all very simple. Easier than Kaplan's, much easier than CTP's. Pattern folding wasn't too bad, boxes are my week spot and only had two of those.
QR: Easier than CTDM. A little harder than Kaplan. I don't think Kaplan emphasizes trig enough, and CTDM emphasizes it a little too much. Know your rate problems (d=rt) really well and also investment ones. Overall easier than I thought it'd be!
RC: I thought this was super hard! I think my brain was just frazzled. I did like 10 rc practice tests and always scored above 21. These questions were more like Kaplan's (less inference/tone and more facts). My strategy was to read the whole passage in under 6 minutes while listing main point of each passage to refer back to. On the real thing I took 8.5 minutes to get through the first passage then stressed when I saw they were all search and destroy type problems and had to reread whole paragraphs. Got my cool back and did better on the last two passages. (two science passages, one humanity). If I take it again I will definitely do search and destroy.
Bio: Harder than I expected! Would get 22-23's on my practice tests. For science I mostly did Kaplan and went through the CTDS halfheartedly since I'd get 17's and 18's on everything. Some crazy questions about embryology and histology I didn't know (I only just finished my sophmore year so I'm more comfortable with basic core bio). If I retake it I think I'll get Cliff's or Baron's (hear good things) and really study bio more.
GC: Didn't think this was bad, so have no idea what I got wrong! A lot of calculations. And periodic table Q's (electronegativity and such).
Ochem: Easier than Kaplan's practice tests I think. Basic mechanism questions, nothing too crazy here. Also not sure what I got wrong. For science I finished with 10 minutes left and reviewed everything I marked before time ran out. I think I could have done better if I did more practice problems instead of repeating full length practice tests (I took kaplan's midterm, final, and tests 1-3 twice). If I retake I'll definitely either watch Chad's videos and/or invest in Destroyer.
So overall I didn't really excel in any one subject, but had pretty even scores. A little about my testing center (Gardena, CA): Very polite and friendly personal. Was in a large room and sat in a corner right under the air vent (froze!). They gave me two pink dry erase sheets and two brand new fine tip markers that worked just fine. Was much easier to erase than the practice board Kaplan gave me. Used the canceling head phones provided, and wished that the computer screens were bigger during angles, though it was flat screen at least.
Might retake next summer since I'll be a Junior this year. Thanks to everyone on this site for your help these past months! Must have looked at this site daily, haha.
Good luck to everyone!
