- Joined
- Dec 24, 2006
- Messages
- 33
- Reaction score
- 0
Just finishing this exam was a huge relief. After all the time and preparation, grades, application, LORs, etc. it's great when things finally come together. I owe a huge thanks to Dr. Romano and Nancy for all of their help not only with creating a tough guide that covers questions and material that is more oriented to the DATs than any other prep material I had in my arsenal of books and pdf files. Thank you so much for getting me the updates shipped overnight and going over test strategy. Nancy, it is very nice to see someone who really cares about their customers even after they have purchased the product. It shows that you guys really care, and thanks for being available all the time. For all of you guys who think this some kind of advertisement, talk to someone who has purchased the Destroyer from these guys and they will tell you the same I am telling you here. (Ultimately a student attributes his respective success or failiure due the resources and strategy used, although there is more than one way to succeed in getting high scores on the exam, FOR ME it was the Destroyer, and if sharing that knowledge is taken as some kind of adverstising or taken lightly it is to your loss, not mine. Study according to what will highly incline you to succeed so supplement yourself with others recommend. If I could get give recommendation, it would be to utilize the Destroyer and know it inside and out. Best of luck.)
Anyways here are my scores:
PAT: 20
Quantitative Reasoning: 19
Reading Comprehension: 18
Biology: 23
Chemistry: 20
Organic Chemistry: 18
TS: 20
AA: 20
Materials Used: DAT Destroyer (90% of my study came from here, I did the problems in each section except math 4 times over. Especially in the last week before exam time you need to be doing practice questions and exams and there is nothing more packed with information that is more uniquely oriented toward DAT like material than this. Note to anyone who has the guide make sure you read and understand each question and for bio know each answer choice and why its right or wrong. <---- EXTREMELY IMPORTANT) Kaplan like everyone says is great for some kind of background of the information. The book itself doesn't go very much in depth (I mainly used it for PAT and bio. By the way MCAT Bio is much better than the DAT bio for kaplan if you can use mcat bio material to read from you are better off. Barron's book for reading comp, PAT, and some simple practice of exam questions (exams are basic in orgo, and chem, it also as mistakes here and there). Cliff notes for DAT: is a very simple book with simple problems, excellent for beginners with little or no foundation. Also Cliff for DATs had practice author tone questions (very easy to identify but good basic practice to start, look over the book at the store, if you find it too easy leave it if it might help you go for it). For Bio I used as I mentioned earlier MCAT kaplan bio for a base, and then did Destroyer questions. When I came across something I didn't know in Destroyer I read it over on wikipedia or used schaum's outline of bio (very dense info may Cliffs ap bio is easier to read).
PAT: The section was a lottttttttt easier than I expected. I was doing achiever and topscore and topscore was more similar in all the sections except angles and paper folding. Angles and paper folding are more similar to achiever (basically tough and paper fold dots are smaller than you see from those practice tests) Achiever Pat scores: 16, 17, 17 for exam 1,2,3 respectively
Quantitative Reasoning: Time was not really an issue for me. I had 2 problems left and one minute to go. I started out fast and slowed over time. If you guys come across and problem that involves a lot of work, skip it and make sure you do the fast and easy questions since all questions are equal in value. Just do math problems from wherever you find them: used Destroyer, Barron's book problems, Achiever and topscore. It is hard to find a good resource for this section ultimately the more questions you do the better. Also make sure you are in math mode on exam day. I went over solutions of problems I already did before in my study just so it would be fresh in my head (like how to set up a system of equations type problem or looking over probability). Math was straight forward answers sometimes weren't. Had 3 trig, 2 or 3 probability, some shaded area stuff, find arc length/area, etc. (not going into details here)
Reading Comp: well this is my worst subject but I faired alright luckily. The last 3-4 days of my exam I did a lot of reading comp passages because this is my greatest weakness (English is my first language but heard everywhere that reading comp got harder so I knew I had to work extra hard). Passages were not long similar in length to both Achiever and topscore. 12-14 paragraphs one might have been 22 (but was one line and half for each paragraph still= in length to other two articles.) Again pace yourself to finish each passage's set of questions in 20 min. if you take more than that you might need to guess and move on, practice exams help to pace yourself. Here do not try to find exact answers directly from the passage like you find in achiever or topscore, Answers on exam come from understanding the passage so really read it and choose the right answer. If you come to tone question skip it and come back when you've done the other questions, by that time u will prob. know the passage enough to answer the question. Strategy: sometimes I would read the next 3 questions and keep them in mind while reading the passage so I could find the answers faster. Questions may not be chronologically ordered so maybe your 2nd question asks you something found in the middle or 3/4s through the passage (that's why you should read the 2-3 questions.
Bio: This section was interesting. Everyone has said it and I am saying it again, DAT Destroyer IS ON THE MONEY. know the questions inside and out, wrong answer choices and right ones. I wish read over some the answer choices more keenly, could have done a little better. (OH by the way I freaked out just before the exam and had trouble answer the practice questions in the tutorial before the exam because I couldn't believe I was taking the DATs. My mind went blank for a while and I kept second guessing myself hitting next and then going back to see if answer was shifted of if I read the question wrong consumed more time than I normally take in this section.
GEN CHEM: among the sciences this was my weakest but faired well. I spent WAY too much time and ended up with 12-13 minutes to do Orgo (my second best subject next to Bio). 95% of my studies came from Destroyer and could have done better if I didn't freak out and draw blanks during the beginning of the exam (other 5% came from practice in achiever, topscore). I did Destroyer chem section 4 times ( I never read kaplan or anything for this). If you can do questions and learn that way you are better off time wise. If you need to read to understand the material and then do problems it's like you lost twice the time to do the same thing. I know it's tough to jump into this section and not remember how to do anything but the more times you do the same problem and problems like it, the better you will get (it took me 4 days to do all the problems for the first time in this section and it's been 2 years since gen chem classes which I got B's in both 101 and 102)
Orgo: One of my favorite subjects that I didn't get enough time for. My score doesnt' reflect my knowledge of the subject due to time limitations. Had to 30 problems in 12-13 minutes. Problems were very similar to Destroyer. (Keep in mind you guys that in order to achieve well on any exam is to go over many problems, thus a book filled with various types of problems is the BEST study tool, thus the Destroyer is an idealized type of study tool. If you have questions from kaplan do them, some for somewhere else do them. Ultimately I mean to say the more questions you do and understand, the better you will likely achieve.
By the way, the reason I wrote so much is becuase I would spend so much time reading everyone's post about DATs and accredit a portion of my success to those helped inform me about their experiences. So I am giving back only what I have recieved in the same hopes that you guys do well too.
Anyways here are my scores:
PAT: 20
Quantitative Reasoning: 19
Reading Comprehension: 18
Biology: 23
Chemistry: 20
Organic Chemistry: 18
TS: 20
AA: 20
Materials Used: DAT Destroyer (90% of my study came from here, I did the problems in each section except math 4 times over. Especially in the last week before exam time you need to be doing practice questions and exams and there is nothing more packed with information that is more uniquely oriented toward DAT like material than this. Note to anyone who has the guide make sure you read and understand each question and for bio know each answer choice and why its right or wrong. <---- EXTREMELY IMPORTANT) Kaplan like everyone says is great for some kind of background of the information. The book itself doesn't go very much in depth (I mainly used it for PAT and bio. By the way MCAT Bio is much better than the DAT bio for kaplan if you can use mcat bio material to read from you are better off. Barron's book for reading comp, PAT, and some simple practice of exam questions (exams are basic in orgo, and chem, it also as mistakes here and there). Cliff notes for DAT: is a very simple book with simple problems, excellent for beginners with little or no foundation. Also Cliff for DATs had practice author tone questions (very easy to identify but good basic practice to start, look over the book at the store, if you find it too easy leave it if it might help you go for it). For Bio I used as I mentioned earlier MCAT kaplan bio for a base, and then did Destroyer questions. When I came across something I didn't know in Destroyer I read it over on wikipedia or used schaum's outline of bio (very dense info may Cliffs ap bio is easier to read).
PAT: The section was a lottttttttt easier than I expected. I was doing achiever and topscore and topscore was more similar in all the sections except angles and paper folding. Angles and paper folding are more similar to achiever (basically tough and paper fold dots are smaller than you see from those practice tests) Achiever Pat scores: 16, 17, 17 for exam 1,2,3 respectively
Quantitative Reasoning: Time was not really an issue for me. I had 2 problems left and one minute to go. I started out fast and slowed over time. If you guys come across and problem that involves a lot of work, skip it and make sure you do the fast and easy questions since all questions are equal in value. Just do math problems from wherever you find them: used Destroyer, Barron's book problems, Achiever and topscore. It is hard to find a good resource for this section ultimately the more questions you do the better. Also make sure you are in math mode on exam day. I went over solutions of problems I already did before in my study just so it would be fresh in my head (like how to set up a system of equations type problem or looking over probability). Math was straight forward answers sometimes weren't. Had 3 trig, 2 or 3 probability, some shaded area stuff, find arc length/area, etc. (not going into details here)
Reading Comp: well this is my worst subject but I faired alright luckily. The last 3-4 days of my exam I did a lot of reading comp passages because this is my greatest weakness (English is my first language but heard everywhere that reading comp got harder so I knew I had to work extra hard). Passages were not long similar in length to both Achiever and topscore. 12-14 paragraphs one might have been 22 (but was one line and half for each paragraph still= in length to other two articles.) Again pace yourself to finish each passage's set of questions in 20 min. if you take more than that you might need to guess and move on, practice exams help to pace yourself. Here do not try to find exact answers directly from the passage like you find in achiever or topscore, Answers on exam come from understanding the passage so really read it and choose the right answer. If you come to tone question skip it and come back when you've done the other questions, by that time u will prob. know the passage enough to answer the question. Strategy: sometimes I would read the next 3 questions and keep them in mind while reading the passage so I could find the answers faster. Questions may not be chronologically ordered so maybe your 2nd question asks you something found in the middle or 3/4s through the passage (that's why you should read the 2-3 questions.
Bio: This section was interesting. Everyone has said it and I am saying it again, DAT Destroyer IS ON THE MONEY. know the questions inside and out, wrong answer choices and right ones. I wish read over some the answer choices more keenly, could have done a little better. (OH by the way I freaked out just before the exam and had trouble answer the practice questions in the tutorial before the exam because I couldn't believe I was taking the DATs. My mind went blank for a while and I kept second guessing myself hitting next and then going back to see if answer was shifted of if I read the question wrong consumed more time than I normally take in this section.
GEN CHEM: among the sciences this was my weakest but faired well. I spent WAY too much time and ended up with 12-13 minutes to do Orgo (my second best subject next to Bio). 95% of my studies came from Destroyer and could have done better if I didn't freak out and draw blanks during the beginning of the exam (other 5% came from practice in achiever, topscore). I did Destroyer chem section 4 times ( I never read kaplan or anything for this). If you can do questions and learn that way you are better off time wise. If you need to read to understand the material and then do problems it's like you lost twice the time to do the same thing. I know it's tough to jump into this section and not remember how to do anything but the more times you do the same problem and problems like it, the better you will get (it took me 4 days to do all the problems for the first time in this section and it's been 2 years since gen chem classes which I got B's in both 101 and 102)
Orgo: One of my favorite subjects that I didn't get enough time for. My score doesnt' reflect my knowledge of the subject due to time limitations. Had to 30 problems in 12-13 minutes. Problems were very similar to Destroyer. (Keep in mind you guys that in order to achieve well on any exam is to go over many problems, thus a book filled with various types of problems is the BEST study tool, thus the Destroyer is an idealized type of study tool. If you have questions from kaplan do them, some for somewhere else do them. Ultimately I mean to say the more questions you do and understand, the better you will likely achieve.
By the way, the reason I wrote so much is becuase I would spend so much time reading everyone's post about DATs and accredit a portion of my success to those helped inform me about their experiences. So I am giving back only what I have recieved in the same hopes that you guys do well too.
