Its finally over!! Never thought this day would come.
I just want to thank everyone who've posted their insights/advice.. you guys are awesome and you guys really helped me tons preparing for this exam. Now i think its my turn to do the same for those who are about to take the test.
My score:
PAT: 22 (93.4%)
QR: 21 (96.4)
RC: 26 (98.5)😍
Bio: 20 (88.0)
GC: 23 (95.4)
OC: 24 (95.7)
TS: 22 (95.6)
AA: 23 (98.7)
Studying Materials:
Kaplan BB, Destroyer/Organic chemistry odyssey, CDP (including reading, math... dont buy science), Barron's AP Bio, Cliff AP Bio, Topscore, Achiever, wikipedia, 2007/2009 practice DAT
PAT: Keyhole section was the hardest part. Really detailed and its comparable to achiever. CDP keyholes are too easy. TFE wasn't bad.. comparable to CDP.. achiever was a bit harder for me. Hole punching was a joke. CDP over prepares you for hole punching. The most I got was like 2 punches and no crazy folds either. Angle ranking was hard.. very similar to CDP. Some of them literally look the same. I used the laptop method. Cube counting was easy, no illusions like CDP and less cubes on the real thing. Pattern folding was pretty hard. CDP is way too easy. Achiever is a better representation of the real thing in terms of pattern folding. if you're making consistent 20s on CDP and achiever, you're good.
QR: math sucked.. if i had like 6 more minutes i wouldve done better.. but who wouldnt... exactly like destroyer and very similar to CDP math. Utilize your time efficiently. it's allll about time. They gave me all the conversion factors, but you should still memorize most of them anyways just in case. If you know Math destroyer, you should be in good shape.
RC: 26?!?!?! Never scored above 21. As matter of fact, i only got 21 once, everything else i got 18s and 19s. I used Crack DAT reading and Achiever. Achiever was wayy to hard compared to the real thing and CDR was a better representation, although I thought real DAT was muuuuch easier. Questions were very simple. No tone questions for me. I didnt use search/destroy method (although for my version you could have). I just read the entire passage very thoroughly and the questions were simple enough for me to just answer them without going back to the passage. All 3 passages were based on medicine/science for me.
Bio: WTF?!?!?! most random questions ever. Not trying to scare anyone but there's no way of knowing some of those information unless you have a PhD in biology or has been exposed to Biology for 10+ years. You can't find any of those information on AP barron's/cliff/kaplan. But some questions were also very basic. I dont think its necessary to read Cambell/barrons/cliff/kaplan BB 4 times like other students have. Just know basic concepts and hopefully you get lucky enough to know some of those random facts. I thought Kaplan BB lacked details and wasnt specific enough. Went out and bought Barron's AP bio and Cliff to get a better understanding of the material
GC. Chad's AWESOME!!! those videos are a MUST. If you're just starting to study for GC, I highly recommend it. It will be the best $30 you'll ever invest. I didn't watch all of them, just watched few that I was still iffy on. I also worked on Destroyer, twice and took notes. People say Destroyer is lot harder than the real thing, but I thought they were very similar. I was pretty surprised that this section required me to do some heavy math. But i think it was just my version of the test. But much less calculation than achiever and topscore. If you know how to do Destroyer, you're good. Don't just know how to do them, Understanding the concept is the key.
OC: In some ways, it was very similar to Destroyer, but at the same time it was similar to topscore. Achiever was lot harder than the real thing, especially Tests 2-5. The real thing had very basic reaction mechanisms and they asked me couple lab technique questions as well. Overall, it was pretty easy. I always liked orgo and it was my strongest subject so I was pretty obsessed with it when studying. I wanted to get a 30. Guess that didn't happen... I used Dr. Romano's Organic Chemistry Odyssey. I highly recommend it, especially if you're weak on this section. I went through all 20 chapters, taking notes. Then I worked on Destroyer, twice. I went back to the questions I missed, took notes and made sure I understood the concept. I was really bad with IUPAC names so I watched Chad's video (it's free).
Overall, Im pretty happy with my scores. I really thought I bombed the bio/math section but I guess I didn't do as bad as I thought. 2007 Practice DAT was wayy easier than the real thing. 2009 version was more on par. Although I'm posting this thread, dont get too caught up with what other students have to say on SDN about their DAT experience. It really depends on you, your confidence, and little bit of luck. Don't let any of these threads get to you
Also, DONT under-estimate this test. Don't ever be like "oh this is too detailed/specific... it's probably not going to be on the DAT.." bc it sure will be. They can really ask you anything, so just keep that in mind. I started studying since beginning of May, about 6-8 hours a day. Give yourself breaks here and there throughout the week. I played basketball and worked out at least once a week for couple hours. I think it allows your brain to rest/relieves stress and I could tell I was able to study much more efficiently on the days I went to the gym.
GOOD LUCK!!
I just want to thank everyone who've posted their insights/advice.. you guys are awesome and you guys really helped me tons preparing for this exam. Now i think its my turn to do the same for those who are about to take the test.
My score:
PAT: 22 (93.4%)
QR: 21 (96.4)
RC: 26 (98.5)😍
Bio: 20 (88.0)
GC: 23 (95.4)
OC: 24 (95.7)
TS: 22 (95.6)
AA: 23 (98.7)
Studying Materials:
Kaplan BB, Destroyer/Organic chemistry odyssey, CDP (including reading, math... dont buy science), Barron's AP Bio, Cliff AP Bio, Topscore, Achiever, wikipedia, 2007/2009 practice DAT
PAT: Keyhole section was the hardest part. Really detailed and its comparable to achiever. CDP keyholes are too easy. TFE wasn't bad.. comparable to CDP.. achiever was a bit harder for me. Hole punching was a joke. CDP over prepares you for hole punching. The most I got was like 2 punches and no crazy folds either. Angle ranking was hard.. very similar to CDP. Some of them literally look the same. I used the laptop method. Cube counting was easy, no illusions like CDP and less cubes on the real thing. Pattern folding was pretty hard. CDP is way too easy. Achiever is a better representation of the real thing in terms of pattern folding. if you're making consistent 20s on CDP and achiever, you're good.
QR: math sucked.. if i had like 6 more minutes i wouldve done better.. but who wouldnt... exactly like destroyer and very similar to CDP math. Utilize your time efficiently. it's allll about time. They gave me all the conversion factors, but you should still memorize most of them anyways just in case. If you know Math destroyer, you should be in good shape.
RC: 26?!?!?! Never scored above 21. As matter of fact, i only got 21 once, everything else i got 18s and 19s. I used Crack DAT reading and Achiever. Achiever was wayy to hard compared to the real thing and CDR was a better representation, although I thought real DAT was muuuuch easier. Questions were very simple. No tone questions for me. I didnt use search/destroy method (although for my version you could have). I just read the entire passage very thoroughly and the questions were simple enough for me to just answer them without going back to the passage. All 3 passages were based on medicine/science for me.
Bio: WTF?!?!?! most random questions ever. Not trying to scare anyone but there's no way of knowing some of those information unless you have a PhD in biology or has been exposed to Biology for 10+ years. You can't find any of those information on AP barron's/cliff/kaplan. But some questions were also very basic. I dont think its necessary to read Cambell/barrons/cliff/kaplan BB 4 times like other students have. Just know basic concepts and hopefully you get lucky enough to know some of those random facts. I thought Kaplan BB lacked details and wasnt specific enough. Went out and bought Barron's AP bio and Cliff to get a better understanding of the material
GC. Chad's AWESOME!!! those videos are a MUST. If you're just starting to study for GC, I highly recommend it. It will be the best $30 you'll ever invest. I didn't watch all of them, just watched few that I was still iffy on. I also worked on Destroyer, twice and took notes. People say Destroyer is lot harder than the real thing, but I thought they were very similar. I was pretty surprised that this section required me to do some heavy math. But i think it was just my version of the test. But much less calculation than achiever and topscore. If you know how to do Destroyer, you're good. Don't just know how to do them, Understanding the concept is the key.
OC: In some ways, it was very similar to Destroyer, but at the same time it was similar to topscore. Achiever was lot harder than the real thing, especially Tests 2-5. The real thing had very basic reaction mechanisms and they asked me couple lab technique questions as well. Overall, it was pretty easy. I always liked orgo and it was my strongest subject so I was pretty obsessed with it when studying. I wanted to get a 30. Guess that didn't happen... I used Dr. Romano's Organic Chemistry Odyssey. I highly recommend it, especially if you're weak on this section. I went through all 20 chapters, taking notes. Then I worked on Destroyer, twice. I went back to the questions I missed, took notes and made sure I understood the concept. I was really bad with IUPAC names so I watched Chad's video (it's free).
Overall, Im pretty happy with my scores. I really thought I bombed the bio/math section but I guess I didn't do as bad as I thought. 2007 Practice DAT was wayy easier than the real thing. 2009 version was more on par. Although I'm posting this thread, dont get too caught up with what other students have to say on SDN about their DAT experience. It really depends on you, your confidence, and little bit of luck. Don't let any of these threads get to you
Also, DONT under-estimate this test. Don't ever be like "oh this is too detailed/specific... it's probably not going to be on the DAT.." bc it sure will be. They can really ask you anything, so just keep that in mind. I started studying since beginning of May, about 6-8 hours a day. Give yourself breaks here and there throughout the week. I played basketball and worked out at least once a week for couple hours. I think it allows your brain to rest/relieves stress and I could tell I was able to study much more efficiently on the days I went to the gym.
GOOD LUCK!!
