- Joined
- Jul 2, 2007
- Messages
- 444
- Reaction score
- 2
Took the DAT July 11th, 2007:
PA 22
QR 19
RC 19
Bio 23
GC 29
OC 25
TS 25
AA 23
Needless to say, it went pretty well, better than I expected! I wish I had practiced the RC (honestly did NO practice, always skipped it in the practice tests), but I won't complain. Since I benefited from the advice of so many others, I'll put mine up for those of you who have yet to take the exam.
Resources and Techniques:
Topscore: took each of the tests many times, thoroughly studying not just the questions I missed but also the broader category under which they fell. Was getting 16-18 on the science stuff for my first time with each test. It made me a little nervous and slightly down, but I just trudged ahead.
KSF Review: 👎DON'T BUY IT DON'T BUY IT DON'T BUY IT!! Made the mistake before doing research, used it a little until I say how simple or irrelevant most of the questions were. Buggy software, PAT is worthless.
Kaplan Book: Used the blue one from 2005 or 06 or whatever. Good to have. Not complete in itself, but good book to outline and review general concepts. Made good use of the practice tests, too.
Schaum's Outlines-Biology: Excellent review. Read it a do the practice problems for real.
Campbell's Biology: Bought an old edition in lieu of the assigned text for my intro bio classes. Great book. Again, read it and really do the practice problems. I would even read the more advanced stuff not likely to be on the DAT because 1) it will help solidify your knowledge of the simpler stuff, and 2) you never know what might show up on the test!
Ebbing General Chemistry: Assigned text for intro chem classes. Didn't really read ALL of it, but reviewed with it after my classes were done.
Solomons' Organic Chemistry: Again, old edition purchased to save money for my O-chem classes. I would recommend the STUDY GUIDE, as well. Read, do practice problems, make flashcards (wouldn't buy them, I think making them helps), repeat if necessary.
Electronic Organic Chemistry Flashcards: Great site , free. Just practice these over and over again. Actually writing down the answers is good, too.
About the DAT:
Bio: Stay calm for strange questions and try to REASON them out. I think this is what they're looking for with more obscure questions. Don't skip sections in the Kaplan book, review them all. There was some immunology stuff I was a little shaky on because I was just going on what I remembered from biology class.
GC: Don't fret about time, as there aren't so many mad-dash computational problems. Just know your concepts solid.
OC:No surprises, just study the stuff. Knowing mechanisms will help solidify all of it in your mind and help you reason when your memory escapes you (I imagine that's why they teach them).
QR section: Just practiced stuff from the internet and Kaplan/Topscore practice tests. Did tutorials for some things. Learn to work fast, I ran out of time and was guessing on about 3 or 4 questions in my last minute.
RC section: Only advice is don't blow this section off just because you already know how to read!
There is tons of MCAT, LSAT, GRE, and even SAT material out there to help you. Vocabulary and time were not an issue.
PAT: Don't really know what to say about this, either. Just do practice tests. I did make some practice angles in AutoCAD. Angles were tough, the rest was pretty straight forward. Have a good system for the boxes. I also had an engineering design class where we did all the top-front-side stuff (simply by chance), that probably helped.
Some other things:
I took all of my prerequisite classes (as outlined for IU) in one year. I studied music, so I didn't have any of this stuff. This included physiology and anatomy, which I also found helpful on the DAT (though there was nothing on the test that SHOULDN'T have been in your intro bio classes). Hit those classes hard (science GPA 4.0, overall 3.9).
I made flash cards for the bio stuff, as well, and had my wife ask me the questions in the car on long trips. I had to explain it to her (also a music major!). Good to see if you really understand the material, and it makes long trips seem shorter!
I didn't study like crazy, just consistently. Of course, I was taking the classes up until I took the DAT (one more week of O-chem 2), which helped. I am married with a child, so round-the-clock studying was never an option. I don't think it's really good, either. I think it's important to still have fun up until you take the DAT, it will help you stay sane.
Make sure you have a non-expired photo ID before you go to the testing center. I had to register twice because my driver's license was expired and I didn't have anything else. Out $175, didn't want to study anymore, really sucked. Only had to wait a week and a half to get another testing date, though.
Can't think of anything else, so good luck!👍
PA 22
QR 19
RC 19
Bio 23
GC 29
OC 25
TS 25
AA 23
Needless to say, it went pretty well, better than I expected! I wish I had practiced the RC (honestly did NO practice, always skipped it in the practice tests), but I won't complain. Since I benefited from the advice of so many others, I'll put mine up for those of you who have yet to take the exam.
Resources and Techniques:
Topscore: took each of the tests many times, thoroughly studying not just the questions I missed but also the broader category under which they fell. Was getting 16-18 on the science stuff for my first time with each test. It made me a little nervous and slightly down, but I just trudged ahead.
KSF Review: 👎DON'T BUY IT DON'T BUY IT DON'T BUY IT!! Made the mistake before doing research, used it a little until I say how simple or irrelevant most of the questions were. Buggy software, PAT is worthless.
Kaplan Book: Used the blue one from 2005 or 06 or whatever. Good to have. Not complete in itself, but good book to outline and review general concepts. Made good use of the practice tests, too.
Schaum's Outlines-Biology: Excellent review. Read it a do the practice problems for real.
Campbell's Biology: Bought an old edition in lieu of the assigned text for my intro bio classes. Great book. Again, read it and really do the practice problems. I would even read the more advanced stuff not likely to be on the DAT because 1) it will help solidify your knowledge of the simpler stuff, and 2) you never know what might show up on the test!
Ebbing General Chemistry: Assigned text for intro chem classes. Didn't really read ALL of it, but reviewed with it after my classes were done.
Solomons' Organic Chemistry: Again, old edition purchased to save money for my O-chem classes. I would recommend the STUDY GUIDE, as well. Read, do practice problems, make flashcards (wouldn't buy them, I think making them helps), repeat if necessary.
Electronic Organic Chemistry Flashcards: Great site , free. Just practice these over and over again. Actually writing down the answers is good, too.
About the DAT:
Bio: Stay calm for strange questions and try to REASON them out. I think this is what they're looking for with more obscure questions. Don't skip sections in the Kaplan book, review them all. There was some immunology stuff I was a little shaky on because I was just going on what I remembered from biology class.
GC: Don't fret about time, as there aren't so many mad-dash computational problems. Just know your concepts solid.
OC:No surprises, just study the stuff. Knowing mechanisms will help solidify all of it in your mind and help you reason when your memory escapes you (I imagine that's why they teach them).
QR section: Just practiced stuff from the internet and Kaplan/Topscore practice tests. Did tutorials for some things. Learn to work fast, I ran out of time and was guessing on about 3 or 4 questions in my last minute.
RC section: Only advice is don't blow this section off just because you already know how to read!
There is tons of MCAT, LSAT, GRE, and even SAT material out there to help you. Vocabulary and time were not an issue.PAT: Don't really know what to say about this, either. Just do practice tests. I did make some practice angles in AutoCAD. Angles were tough, the rest was pretty straight forward. Have a good system for the boxes. I also had an engineering design class where we did all the top-front-side stuff (simply by chance), that probably helped.
Some other things:
I took all of my prerequisite classes (as outlined for IU) in one year. I studied music, so I didn't have any of this stuff. This included physiology and anatomy, which I also found helpful on the DAT (though there was nothing on the test that SHOULDN'T have been in your intro bio classes). Hit those classes hard (science GPA 4.0, overall 3.9).
I made flash cards for the bio stuff, as well, and had my wife ask me the questions in the car on long trips. I had to explain it to her (also a music major!). Good to see if you really understand the material, and it makes long trips seem shorter!
I didn't study like crazy, just consistently. Of course, I was taking the classes up until I took the DAT (one more week of O-chem 2), which helped. I am married with a child, so round-the-clock studying was never an option. I don't think it's really good, either. I think it's important to still have fun up until you take the DAT, it will help you stay sane.
Make sure you have a non-expired photo ID before you go to the testing center. I had to register twice because my driver's license was expired and I didn't have anything else. Out $175, didn't want to study anymore, really sucked. Only had to wait a week and a half to get another testing date, though.
Can't think of anything else, so good luck!👍
