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I found the DAT Breakdowns by the SDN users to be extremely helpful. I didn't notice them until 2 weeks ago but they helped me tremendously, so I thought I would do the same. This board is really a great resource and thanks to everyone who contributes.
Scores:
PAT: 22
QR: 22
RC: 23
Bio: 19
GC: 23
OC: 23
TS: 21
AA: 22
Breakdown:
I am applying this cycle, and just finished orgo in late August, so I decided to give myself 4-5 weeks to study so I wouldn't send my DAT scores in too late. I mainly used the Kaplan online course (which comes with the white book), and bought the Cliffs AP Bio book a week ago. Practice tests were Kaplan and DAT Achiever. Overall, Kaplan does a nice job in all areas, but it's a little weak in Bio and PAT. The Kaplan tests mimicked the actual DAT a whole lot more than Achiever, as you will see by my Achiever scores below.
Also, I don't think I have ever been more nervous in my life.
BIO:
As everyone else says, just random. The KWB (which I hear is exactly the same as the BB) was a great general review, but I definitely needed the Cliffs AP Bio book. It was definitely more detailed, and I wish I had used it earlier in my studying instead of 1 week ago. There were some really specific questions that I had no idea on, I actually thought I was going to do worse. My suggestion: KWB to start, then Cliffs AP Bio, and just hope for good questions.
GC: This was by far my weakest area on my practice exams. Kaplan was fantastic in this area. The questions on the actual DAT were simpler with less calculations than the Kaplan exams.
OC: One of my stronger areas going in, and Kaplan was great with OC too. I finshed the science section with 20 minutes left actually. The questions, specifically the GC questions, took less time than I expected.
PAT: Kaplan was great for most of it, but was really weak in the pattern folding and angles. DAT Achiever is great practice for this part. The Achiever is significantly harder than the actual DAT. There really isn't much to say in terms of practice for this part except to just do problems, preferable the Achiever.
RC: WAY easier than achiever. I thought I actually did better than a 23. Pretty close to what Kaplan gives you. The method I used was read the whole passage first, skimming the dense parts, then answer the questions. I finished with about 5 minutes left. The type of questions Kaplan gives for this part are really similar to the real DAT. Wasn't really tricky.
QR: Kaplan was fantastic on this part. I am good at math though, so it comes a little easier. You really need to go fast though and trust your instincts on your calculations. The pacing is the hardest part of this section.
Overall: Not as tricky as I expected. The Kaplan online lessons are useless, but the reason I got the online program was for the subject tests, quizzes and workshops. Is it worth the price? I don't know, if you're able to find as many problems to do elsewhere then that's probably better. They are really really helpful and give you thousands of problems which are similar to the actual exam. The QR is particularly great for Kaplan. My only complaint was the Bio is not as specific as it needs to be.
I studied every day for 5 weeks. Probably around 5 hrs a day. I took the Kaplan final exam and the 3 DAT Achiever exams all in the last 8 days leading up to the exam. The DAT Achiever is much harder than the actual DAT. I was initially concerned after getting my scores, but I was reading on SDN that everyone was scoring lower. I didn't let it get me down- it probably spurred me to study even harder. My actual DAT scores were on average 4 points higher for AA and PAT then on the Achiever, so don't worry if you're not scoring well on these exams. Here are my scores:
Kaplan Final:
PAT: 22
QR: 25
RC: 25
Bio: 21
GC: 17
OC: 25
TS: 22
AA: 23
DAT Achiever 1:
PAT: 18
QR: 21
RC: 18
Bio: 15
GC: 17
OC: 21
TS: 17
AA: 18
DAT Achiever 2:
PAT: 18
QR: 21
RC: 17
Bio: 16
GC: 17
OC: 17
TS: 17
AA: 18
DAT Achiever 3:
PAT: 19
QR: 21
RC: 18
Bio: 14
GC: 17
OC: 20
TS: 17
AA: 18
Final thoughts:
Kaplan online was great in terms of the materials it provided. I'm not sure if the BB (or WB) alone would have done the trick; all the problems and timed subject tests and quizzes I think really helped. Cliffs AP Bio is probably a good resource, but it's difficult to memorize everything in there because it's pretty detailed, which is why it's helpful. The Achiever PAT is difficult, and prepared me better for the types of problems I would see compared to Kaplan, but Kaplan was helpful (except for pattern folding and angles). I don't see any reason why anyone should do the classroom Kaplan as it would most likely be a waste of valuable study time. The online lessons were supposed to be the same and they were useless.
While studying, make sure to stay active to keep the body and the mind healthy. Don't spend too much time studying-- probably 20% of my study time wasn't that productive and I wasn't retaining information. It's all about quality studying.
Good luck to everyone! I hope people can find this breakdown useful to them in some way.
Scores:
PAT: 22
QR: 22
RC: 23
Bio: 19
GC: 23
OC: 23
TS: 21
AA: 22
Breakdown:
I am applying this cycle, and just finished orgo in late August, so I decided to give myself 4-5 weeks to study so I wouldn't send my DAT scores in too late. I mainly used the Kaplan online course (which comes with the white book), and bought the Cliffs AP Bio book a week ago. Practice tests were Kaplan and DAT Achiever. Overall, Kaplan does a nice job in all areas, but it's a little weak in Bio and PAT. The Kaplan tests mimicked the actual DAT a whole lot more than Achiever, as you will see by my Achiever scores below.
Also, I don't think I have ever been more nervous in my life.
BIO:
As everyone else says, just random. The KWB (which I hear is exactly the same as the BB) was a great general review, but I definitely needed the Cliffs AP Bio book. It was definitely more detailed, and I wish I had used it earlier in my studying instead of 1 week ago. There were some really specific questions that I had no idea on, I actually thought I was going to do worse. My suggestion: KWB to start, then Cliffs AP Bio, and just hope for good questions.
GC: This was by far my weakest area on my practice exams. Kaplan was fantastic in this area. The questions on the actual DAT were simpler with less calculations than the Kaplan exams.
OC: One of my stronger areas going in, and Kaplan was great with OC too. I finshed the science section with 20 minutes left actually. The questions, specifically the GC questions, took less time than I expected.
PAT: Kaplan was great for most of it, but was really weak in the pattern folding and angles. DAT Achiever is great practice for this part. The Achiever is significantly harder than the actual DAT. There really isn't much to say in terms of practice for this part except to just do problems, preferable the Achiever.
RC: WAY easier than achiever. I thought I actually did better than a 23. Pretty close to what Kaplan gives you. The method I used was read the whole passage first, skimming the dense parts, then answer the questions. I finished with about 5 minutes left. The type of questions Kaplan gives for this part are really similar to the real DAT. Wasn't really tricky.
QR: Kaplan was fantastic on this part. I am good at math though, so it comes a little easier. You really need to go fast though and trust your instincts on your calculations. The pacing is the hardest part of this section.
Overall: Not as tricky as I expected. The Kaplan online lessons are useless, but the reason I got the online program was for the subject tests, quizzes and workshops. Is it worth the price? I don't know, if you're able to find as many problems to do elsewhere then that's probably better. They are really really helpful and give you thousands of problems which are similar to the actual exam. The QR is particularly great for Kaplan. My only complaint was the Bio is not as specific as it needs to be.
I studied every day for 5 weeks. Probably around 5 hrs a day. I took the Kaplan final exam and the 3 DAT Achiever exams all in the last 8 days leading up to the exam. The DAT Achiever is much harder than the actual DAT. I was initially concerned after getting my scores, but I was reading on SDN that everyone was scoring lower. I didn't let it get me down- it probably spurred me to study even harder. My actual DAT scores were on average 4 points higher for AA and PAT then on the Achiever, so don't worry if you're not scoring well on these exams. Here are my scores:
Kaplan Final:
PAT: 22
QR: 25
RC: 25
Bio: 21
GC: 17
OC: 25
TS: 22
AA: 23
DAT Achiever 1:
PAT: 18
QR: 21
RC: 18
Bio: 15
GC: 17
OC: 21
TS: 17
AA: 18
DAT Achiever 2:
PAT: 18
QR: 21
RC: 17
Bio: 16
GC: 17
OC: 17
TS: 17
AA: 18
DAT Achiever 3:
PAT: 19
QR: 21
RC: 18
Bio: 14
GC: 17
OC: 20
TS: 17
AA: 18
Final thoughts:
Kaplan online was great in terms of the materials it provided. I'm not sure if the BB (or WB) alone would have done the trick; all the problems and timed subject tests and quizzes I think really helped. Cliffs AP Bio is probably a good resource, but it's difficult to memorize everything in there because it's pretty detailed, which is why it's helpful. The Achiever PAT is difficult, and prepared me better for the types of problems I would see compared to Kaplan, but Kaplan was helpful (except for pattern folding and angles). I don't see any reason why anyone should do the classroom Kaplan as it would most likely be a waste of valuable study time. The online lessons were supposed to be the same and they were useless.
While studying, make sure to stay active to keep the body and the mind healthy. Don't spend too much time studying-- probably 20% of my study time wasn't that productive and I wasn't retaining information. It's all about quality studying.
Good luck to everyone! I hope people can find this breakdown useful to them in some way.
