I'm finally done with the freaking DAT! It feels great to finally be on this side.
Here are my scores (with corresponding percentiles if anyone cares):
PAT: 19 (69.4) 😀
QR: 19 (92.9)
RC: 23 (96.1)
BIO: 23 (98.9)
GC: 29 (99.9)
OC:23 (97.1)
Total Science: 24 (99.7)
AA: 23 (99.7)
Materials I used with the ones recommended in bold:
GC, OC, Bio, QR DAT Destroyer
Chad's Videos - Can't recommend him enough over a textbook. He goes over what you need to know in a concise manner.
KBB - Yeah, theres some mistakes, but it gives you a guideline on what you really need to know.
Cliffs AP bio - Good only if you have a really really poor background in BIO. I hardly opened it.
Topscore - Excellent to see how well you do in a testing environment, bad UI. Good questions. (I was getting 20-22 on bio, 25+ on GC and OC)
Achiever - Excellent UI, exactly like the REAL DAT. That was probably the most positive thing I attained from it, which was that it familiarized me with the UI. Some questions were good, most questions were too difficult. That actually stressed me out more since I wasn't able to crack a 16-18 on its tests. Try to experience it from a buddy that has it or buy it (the cheapest one). Having a feel for the UI gives you a slight advantage I believe. Imagine taking a test on some UI you've never tested on?
Alan's Bio Notes - Make flashcards of these! Google search them since I'm unable to post the url link.
I used Chad's 8 week program, but extended it up to 12 weeks since I was going out over the weekends and taking 2 classes. Chad's videos were great with GC and OC. I used KBB for mostly for BIO and QR type problems. One of Chad's videos also helped me understand permutations and probabilities. I hardly practiced for the PAT section, as you can tell by my score, but it was easier than achiever and topscore for sure. The best practice for PAT, IMO, were from the 2007 old DAT test and KBB practice tests. They were the only ones that were similar to the real PAT section. All the keyhole and TFE problems in achiever only boggled my mind. For the cube counting part of the DAT, I recommend tallying up the boxes. In that type of environment, It's better to have it written down than try to memorize or count as you go. Destroyer was great for all sections. I wrote down flashcards for any reactions that Chad didn't go over in OC. On the day before the test, I decided to do some RC and QR practice. For RC, a lot of the questions on the REAL DAT were straight forward, while achiever made you interpret most of the info on the passage in order to answer the question. My method was to first read the passage and take quick and dirty notes on important information such as theories, key terms, techniques, etc. Also, note the paragraph you got it from just in case you need to clarify again; There will be a number before each paragraph for you to do this. While reading, determine what type of tone is the author portraying on the topic. For QR, I used destroyer and KBB. I was worried about most of geometry problems, but was relieved when there were hardly any questions on it. Most of the test were asking to solve for a variable, convert to another unit, determine the probabilities, and testing you how to do simple arithmetic with fractions and percentages. A couple problems were asking me for temperature conversions and did not provide me the formula. All unit conversions were given to me in the problem, although I did memorize some just in case. Don't be bogged down if you can't estimate well since problems that contained difficult arithmetic on it were usually just fully expressed. Because of this, look at the answers before you decide to start solving for it! I found myself doing that on the practice tests so made sure I did not do it on the real thing. Lastly, I didn't feel the need to take all the practice exams at once under the same time limits enforced. I just learned how to do each problem with no hesitation; Just be able to know what you need to do as soon as you read the question. Oh yeah! I decided to not listen to the radio while on my way to take the test. I was worried some catchy tune would be stuck in my head during the test. haha I guess studying for the DAT really did make me a little crazy.
Edit: One thing i may add is an answer can be interpreted so many ways when you're in that type of testing situation. Go back to a question if you are not completely sure of the answer and don't worry if you're constantly 'marking' questions. I think out of 40 bio questions I marked maybe more than 50% of the questions. Going back to it will give you the opportunity to reread the problem and allow you to interpret it another way if you didn't understand it the first time
BTW, sorry for any grammatical errors, I'm extremely too tired to edit or care.
Any who, don't be too stressed or get discouraged over some of the practice tests. Study, understand topics you don't know, and live your life. It is really not has bad as it may seem and you'll be fine if you just do your studying!
Check out DATsuccess.wordpress.com for study tips and recommended DAT materials to be successful on the DAT
Here are my scores (with corresponding percentiles if anyone cares):
PAT: 19 (69.4) 😀
QR: 19 (92.9)
RC: 23 (96.1)
BIO: 23 (98.9)
GC: 29 (99.9)
OC:23 (97.1)
Total Science: 24 (99.7)
AA: 23 (99.7)
Materials I used with the ones recommended in bold:
GC, OC, Bio, QR DAT Destroyer
Chad's Videos - Can't recommend him enough over a textbook. He goes over what you need to know in a concise manner.
KBB - Yeah, theres some mistakes, but it gives you a guideline on what you really need to know.
Cliffs AP bio - Good only if you have a really really poor background in BIO. I hardly opened it.
Topscore - Excellent to see how well you do in a testing environment, bad UI. Good questions. (I was getting 20-22 on bio, 25+ on GC and OC)
Achiever - Excellent UI, exactly like the REAL DAT. That was probably the most positive thing I attained from it, which was that it familiarized me with the UI. Some questions were good, most questions were too difficult. That actually stressed me out more since I wasn't able to crack a 16-18 on its tests. Try to experience it from a buddy that has it or buy it (the cheapest one). Having a feel for the UI gives you a slight advantage I believe. Imagine taking a test on some UI you've never tested on?
Alan's Bio Notes - Make flashcards of these! Google search them since I'm unable to post the url link.
I used Chad's 8 week program, but extended it up to 12 weeks since I was going out over the weekends and taking 2 classes. Chad's videos were great with GC and OC. I used KBB for mostly for BIO and QR type problems. One of Chad's videos also helped me understand permutations and probabilities. I hardly practiced for the PAT section, as you can tell by my score, but it was easier than achiever and topscore for sure. The best practice for PAT, IMO, were from the 2007 old DAT test and KBB practice tests. They were the only ones that were similar to the real PAT section. All the keyhole and TFE problems in achiever only boggled my mind. For the cube counting part of the DAT, I recommend tallying up the boxes. In that type of environment, It's better to have it written down than try to memorize or count as you go. Destroyer was great for all sections. I wrote down flashcards for any reactions that Chad didn't go over in OC. On the day before the test, I decided to do some RC and QR practice. For RC, a lot of the questions on the REAL DAT were straight forward, while achiever made you interpret most of the info on the passage in order to answer the question. My method was to first read the passage and take quick and dirty notes on important information such as theories, key terms, techniques, etc. Also, note the paragraph you got it from just in case you need to clarify again; There will be a number before each paragraph for you to do this. While reading, determine what type of tone is the author portraying on the topic. For QR, I used destroyer and KBB. I was worried about most of geometry problems, but was relieved when there were hardly any questions on it. Most of the test were asking to solve for a variable, convert to another unit, determine the probabilities, and testing you how to do simple arithmetic with fractions and percentages. A couple problems were asking me for temperature conversions and did not provide me the formula. All unit conversions were given to me in the problem, although I did memorize some just in case. Don't be bogged down if you can't estimate well since problems that contained difficult arithmetic on it were usually just fully expressed. Because of this, look at the answers before you decide to start solving for it! I found myself doing that on the practice tests so made sure I did not do it on the real thing. Lastly, I didn't feel the need to take all the practice exams at once under the same time limits enforced. I just learned how to do each problem with no hesitation; Just be able to know what you need to do as soon as you read the question. Oh yeah! I decided to not listen to the radio while on my way to take the test. I was worried some catchy tune would be stuck in my head during the test. haha I guess studying for the DAT really did make me a little crazy.
Edit: One thing i may add is an answer can be interpreted so many ways when you're in that type of testing situation. Go back to a question if you are not completely sure of the answer and don't worry if you're constantly 'marking' questions. I think out of 40 bio questions I marked maybe more than 50% of the questions. Going back to it will give you the opportunity to reread the problem and allow you to interpret it another way if you didn't understand it the first time
BTW, sorry for any grammatical errors, I'm extremely too tired to edit or care.
Any who, don't be too stressed or get discouraged over some of the practice tests. Study, understand topics you don't know, and live your life. It is really not has bad as it may seem and you'll be fine if you just do your studying!
Check out DATsuccess.wordpress.com for study tips and recommended DAT materials to be successful on the DAT
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