First of all, I want to thank everyone on sdn. If you posted a breakdown in the past 2-3 months, chance are I read through it and most of them have helped me a lot. I was hoping to write a really lengthy breakdown today, but I'm kind of disappointed with myself cause of my ochem score. 17 is usually below the cutoff, right? Can I get opinions on whether I should retake? I'll still write a bit about each subject too.
If the picture doesn't work:
PAT 26
The moment I went through the first few keyholes, I understood what people meant by how they test you on proportions. Unlike cdp, a lot of the answer choices get narrowed down to 2 easily, but then you have to stare for awhile to see if its the one with a really small hole or a really really small hole. Also, I got one that looked like the edge of a cliff (I remember someone talking about this) and I just laughed. A sad laugh. TFE wasn't that bad, I just use line counting. Angles were easier than cdp, but I felt dumb because I think everyone else was taking the MCATs and probably saw me twisting my head back and forth from the corner of their eyes -_- Hole punches were okay too, I just use line of symmetry. Pattern folding warning: some of the "shading" on the shapes is this VERY light beige color that almost blends in with the white parts of the shape. I didn't notice there was shading until like the 5th pf, and I could only clearly see it if i went really close to the bottom of the screen and angled my face up. Again, I looked like a lunatic during PATs.
Resources: Topscore, CDP
QR 19
Timing was a really big issue here. It definitely wasn't an energy issue because I can stare at a computer for five hours no problem... I've been training that since middle school. There weren't many that I was unsure of, but there were several that I knew would take a long time so I skipped. I had to blind guess on a couple because I ran out of time. Maybe I should've done math destroyer?
Resources: Topscore, qvault
RC 21
I don't know how anyone can prepare for this section besides practicing to read really fast. I was panicking slightly because i spent almost 25 minutes on the first passage. Luckily, the second and third weren't too long/dry and some of the answers I straight up used bio knowledge to answer because it was pretty obvious I was too lazy to confirm that it was in the actual passage. But my method is basically read the whole passage in about 5 min while jotting down 1-2 words from each paragraph (I only started doing this on my last topscore because I read that the passages restart from the top every time you click next). Lot more "tone" and "which sentence would the author say at the end" questions, which were under-represented in most of the material I used.
Resources: Topscore, qvault
BIO 20
Ive come to the conclusion that this is the best I can do xD. Like people said in the past, it's either you know it or you don't. I didn't get weird classification questions. It was very general, like cell bio/embryology/respiration/neurology, a bit of ecology. Destroyer was really helpful as a learning tool, but not as a score predictor....honestly I had more red ink than pencil on my answer sheets. Wish I didn't go through KBB, and only cliffs. I think the only way to do really well on this section is to be a human biology encyclopedia...
Resources: topscore, qvault, destroyer, cliffsAP, KBB
GC 21
Chad's the man. Destroyer was way overkill, but you can't say you studied for the dat without going through that rite of passage. It helped expose my weak points really fast, which was good. Highly recommended. But basically you only need to know everything Chad says, nothing more nothing less.
Resources: chads, destroyer, qvault, topscore
OC 17
I totally blanked out!
Resources: chads, destroyer, qvault, topscore
TS 19
AA 20
I wouldn't mind having an opportunity to raise my QR, RC, GC, but mostly OC. The things I'm worried about are the cost of the test again (my parents already said they wouldn't mind paying for it, but I feel bad...I splurged so much on study material and today's test) and I'm mentally drained from studying all summer. Should I just suck it up and do it all over when school starts? Any words are appreciated 👍
If the picture doesn't work:
PAT 26
The moment I went through the first few keyholes, I understood what people meant by how they test you on proportions. Unlike cdp, a lot of the answer choices get narrowed down to 2 easily, but then you have to stare for awhile to see if its the one with a really small hole or a really really small hole. Also, I got one that looked like the edge of a cliff (I remember someone talking about this) and I just laughed. A sad laugh. TFE wasn't that bad, I just use line counting. Angles were easier than cdp, but I felt dumb because I think everyone else was taking the MCATs and probably saw me twisting my head back and forth from the corner of their eyes -_- Hole punches were okay too, I just use line of symmetry. Pattern folding warning: some of the "shading" on the shapes is this VERY light beige color that almost blends in with the white parts of the shape. I didn't notice there was shading until like the 5th pf, and I could only clearly see it if i went really close to the bottom of the screen and angled my face up. Again, I looked like a lunatic during PATs.
Resources: Topscore, CDP
QR 19
Timing was a really big issue here. It definitely wasn't an energy issue because I can stare at a computer for five hours no problem... I've been training that since middle school. There weren't many that I was unsure of, but there were several that I knew would take a long time so I skipped. I had to blind guess on a couple because I ran out of time. Maybe I should've done math destroyer?
Resources: Topscore, qvault
RC 21
I don't know how anyone can prepare for this section besides practicing to read really fast. I was panicking slightly because i spent almost 25 minutes on the first passage. Luckily, the second and third weren't too long/dry and some of the answers I straight up used bio knowledge to answer because it was pretty obvious I was too lazy to confirm that it was in the actual passage. But my method is basically read the whole passage in about 5 min while jotting down 1-2 words from each paragraph (I only started doing this on my last topscore because I read that the passages restart from the top every time you click next). Lot more "tone" and "which sentence would the author say at the end" questions, which were under-represented in most of the material I used.
Resources: Topscore, qvault
BIO 20
Ive come to the conclusion that this is the best I can do xD. Like people said in the past, it's either you know it or you don't. I didn't get weird classification questions. It was very general, like cell bio/embryology/respiration/neurology, a bit of ecology. Destroyer was really helpful as a learning tool, but not as a score predictor....honestly I had more red ink than pencil on my answer sheets. Wish I didn't go through KBB, and only cliffs. I think the only way to do really well on this section is to be a human biology encyclopedia...
Resources: topscore, qvault, destroyer, cliffsAP, KBB
GC 21
Chad's the man. Destroyer was way overkill, but you can't say you studied for the dat without going through that rite of passage. It helped expose my weak points really fast, which was good. Highly recommended. But basically you only need to know everything Chad says, nothing more nothing less.
Resources: chads, destroyer, qvault, topscore
OC 17
I totally blanked out!
Resources: chads, destroyer, qvault, topscore
TS 19
AA 20
I wouldn't mind having an opportunity to raise my QR, RC, GC, but mostly OC. The things I'm worried about are the cost of the test again (my parents already said they wouldn't mind paying for it, but I feel bad...I splurged so much on study material and today's test) and I'm mentally drained from studying all summer. Should I just suck it up and do it all over when school starts? Any words are appreciated 👍
