- Joined
- Mar 17, 2008
- Messages
- 1,387
- Reaction score
- 5
First of all I'd like to give a shout out to nze82, sixkiller, UCB05, Shinpe, and all those that have helped me out by answering my questions. Yall are awesome! SDN is a great resource!
I was so nervous on my way to the testing center. I really thought for some reason that if I didn't do well this time I was toast. A lot of pressure. With that said though, I was pretty confident that I'd do well and I think that's important. I've been studying since mid May (after Spring semester). I studied probably around 4 hours a day for the first month and a half then bumped it up to about six for the last month while working full time. I took Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off work this week to review stuff, get some rest, and mentally prepare myself. I think that really helped. Well, onto the scores.
I took the DAT the first time a year ago. I was only able to study for 2 weeks and my scores show. I'll post the first scores and then my retake next to them…
8/08 8/09
Bio 20 => 21(91.7)
GChem 16 => 21(87.4)
OChem 17 => 22(91.5)
PAT 20 => 18(61.1)😡
RC 21 => 25(98.5)😎
QR 13 => 18(75.8)
TS 17 => 22(96.0)😀
AA 17 => 21(93.0)😀
Bio – My main resource were some notes that I got from someone on here last year. They are very very good. They are basically a combination of information from Kaplan, Destroyer, Cliffs, and Wikipedia. I probably read through them twenty times. The notes are found at the following website: http://www.4shared.com/document/vLZhhlZT/BIO_Review_-_Final_Version.html
I thought the test was very doable. There was ONE totally random question. I think it was a Genetics question but I never saw anything like it in my Genetics class so I really don't know. I had no clue on it. I marked two questions here. I guess I missed a couple other ones. DID NOT have hardly any Physiology which sucks b/c I just had Physiology last semester and feel pretty confident about it. I read about half of Cliffs. Topscore scores – 18, 18, 19
GChem – Ok so this was my WORST section when I started studying. I think all you need is 3 resources for this subject. Number 1: Chad's videos. I cannot stress how great these are, especially if you're weak in Genchem. Watch them, take notes of them, know them. Number 2: Destroyer. Yes, the calculations in Destroyer are over the top but I actually had a lot of calculations on my test. Some of them were set up, some weren't so I wouldn't count on that. Destroyer gives you great practice in doing the math on paper. I would try not to use a calculator but some of those questions in Destroyer are just crazy. It's good practice though. Number 3: ACS Genchem study guide. This is an awesome resource! I might even say it's better than Destroyer. The only probably is that it doesn't give you explanations on the practice problems but hey, that's what you can use SDN for! I would definitely invest in this. Practice just setting up the answer, then use the calculator. About my test; I had more calculations then conceptual, it was mostly calculations. If you have any questions, let me know. Topscore scores – 20, 19, 16
OChem – I honestly think by far the best resource for learning reactions is Destroyer. Definitely memorize the roadmaps. I went through Destroyer like 4 times. Still, I'm not sure it does a great job prepping you for ranking acids, bases and for stereochemistry. For that I used Chad's videos (which are good) and the ACS study guide which gives you great practice. I used my Ochem book (Wade) to solidify the Sn1, Sn2, E1, E2 concepts which worked really well. I studied that a lot and that was good b/c I had a lot of questions on that for my test. The nomenclature questions I had were super easy. There was one question that I didn't have a clue on. It was a Wittig reaction which I knew but I had never seen one like that before… It was also like a 3 step reaction so that made it even more confusing. I just made an educated guess on it. Topscore scores – 18, 18, 21
PAT – Wow, all I can say is those angles are ridiculous! I thought they were hard last year but they were even harder this time! Seriously, they freaking all look the same! Compared to topscore I would say keyholes are easier on the real thing, TFE is a little easier, angles are way harder, holepunching is a little harder, cubes are the same, and pattern folding is about the same. The holepunching on the real thing sucks. I swear they punch holes inbetween two holes if you know what I mean. Plus I had A LOT of diagonal folds. I think I missed a lot on angles and pattern folding. Honestly though, I really don't care about this score. Texas schools don't seem to place much importance on it. I still wish I could have at least got a 20 again though. Topscore scores – 20, 20
RC – This is definitely my strong part. I was seriously shooting for a 30. Oh well. My passages were calcium, brain and language, and DNA microarrays. I've taken Cell Physiology which helped with the calcium passage. I've also taken Behavioral Neuroscience and we talked exactly about the stuff in the brain and language passage. The DNA microarray one must have been where I missed my points. It had like 3 questions that I thought were very ambiguous. Let me know if you have any other questions about this. I did not use search and destroy. I just read the passage and then answered the questions. I'm a pretty fast reader, didn't study at all for this section.
QR – HAHAHA! I can't tell you how happy I am with this score! I was just hoping for a 16 and I got an 18! Math IS NOT my strong point. I did not have a time problem. The reason is b/c if I didn't know exactly what I was going to do after reading the problem, I quickly guessed, marked and moved on. Probably did that on like 15 of them. That way I had time to spend on the ones I knew. I was happy to get some interest problems which I'm good at b/c I work with interest everyday at my job. I also got a couple trig problems where I needed to use the identities. I had trig like 2 and a half years ago so I just memorized the identities from Destroyer. Glad I did. I would recommend memorizing that whole 1st page of QR Destroyer that has all those formulas. Memorize them and then write them down during the tutorial before your test. Topscore scores – 17, 17
I'm really happy with my scores! Freaking 0.1 points away from a 22AA. Good luck to those still studying! If you're doing well on topscore (18+) I'd say don't sweat it too much. Review what you're getting wrong, eliminate all distractions and you'll do fine! I got a freaking 16 two days before my test in Topscore for Genchem. Yeah I really had to keep from freaking out! I made a lot of dumb mistakes and just made sure I learned from them. If anyone has any questions feel free to post them and I'll answer or you can PM me.
I just applied to the three Texas schools (Baylor, UTDB, UTHSCSA). I'm Texan and want to keep it that way! My cGPA is 3.34 and my sGPA is 3.38. I did take some prereqs at CC. What do yall think?
I was so nervous on my way to the testing center. I really thought for some reason that if I didn't do well this time I was toast. A lot of pressure. With that said though, I was pretty confident that I'd do well and I think that's important. I've been studying since mid May (after Spring semester). I studied probably around 4 hours a day for the first month and a half then bumped it up to about six for the last month while working full time. I took Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off work this week to review stuff, get some rest, and mentally prepare myself. I think that really helped. Well, onto the scores.
I took the DAT the first time a year ago. I was only able to study for 2 weeks and my scores show. I'll post the first scores and then my retake next to them…
8/08 8/09
Bio 20 => 21(91.7)
GChem 16 => 21(87.4)
OChem 17 => 22(91.5)
PAT 20 => 18(61.1)😡
RC 21 => 25(98.5)😎
QR 13 => 18(75.8)
TS 17 => 22(96.0)😀
AA 17 => 21(93.0)😀
Bio – My main resource were some notes that I got from someone on here last year. They are very very good. They are basically a combination of information from Kaplan, Destroyer, Cliffs, and Wikipedia. I probably read through them twenty times. The notes are found at the following website: http://www.4shared.com/document/vLZhhlZT/BIO_Review_-_Final_Version.html
I thought the test was very doable. There was ONE totally random question. I think it was a Genetics question but I never saw anything like it in my Genetics class so I really don't know. I had no clue on it. I marked two questions here. I guess I missed a couple other ones. DID NOT have hardly any Physiology which sucks b/c I just had Physiology last semester and feel pretty confident about it. I read about half of Cliffs. Topscore scores – 18, 18, 19
GChem – Ok so this was my WORST section when I started studying. I think all you need is 3 resources for this subject. Number 1: Chad's videos. I cannot stress how great these are, especially if you're weak in Genchem. Watch them, take notes of them, know them. Number 2: Destroyer. Yes, the calculations in Destroyer are over the top but I actually had a lot of calculations on my test. Some of them were set up, some weren't so I wouldn't count on that. Destroyer gives you great practice in doing the math on paper. I would try not to use a calculator but some of those questions in Destroyer are just crazy. It's good practice though. Number 3: ACS Genchem study guide. This is an awesome resource! I might even say it's better than Destroyer. The only probably is that it doesn't give you explanations on the practice problems but hey, that's what you can use SDN for! I would definitely invest in this. Practice just setting up the answer, then use the calculator. About my test; I had more calculations then conceptual, it was mostly calculations. If you have any questions, let me know. Topscore scores – 20, 19, 16
OChem – I honestly think by far the best resource for learning reactions is Destroyer. Definitely memorize the roadmaps. I went through Destroyer like 4 times. Still, I'm not sure it does a great job prepping you for ranking acids, bases and for stereochemistry. For that I used Chad's videos (which are good) and the ACS study guide which gives you great practice. I used my Ochem book (Wade) to solidify the Sn1, Sn2, E1, E2 concepts which worked really well. I studied that a lot and that was good b/c I had a lot of questions on that for my test. The nomenclature questions I had were super easy. There was one question that I didn't have a clue on. It was a Wittig reaction which I knew but I had never seen one like that before… It was also like a 3 step reaction so that made it even more confusing. I just made an educated guess on it. Topscore scores – 18, 18, 21
PAT – Wow, all I can say is those angles are ridiculous! I thought they were hard last year but they were even harder this time! Seriously, they freaking all look the same! Compared to topscore I would say keyholes are easier on the real thing, TFE is a little easier, angles are way harder, holepunching is a little harder, cubes are the same, and pattern folding is about the same. The holepunching on the real thing sucks. I swear they punch holes inbetween two holes if you know what I mean. Plus I had A LOT of diagonal folds. I think I missed a lot on angles and pattern folding. Honestly though, I really don't care about this score. Texas schools don't seem to place much importance on it. I still wish I could have at least got a 20 again though. Topscore scores – 20, 20
RC – This is definitely my strong part. I was seriously shooting for a 30. Oh well. My passages were calcium, brain and language, and DNA microarrays. I've taken Cell Physiology which helped with the calcium passage. I've also taken Behavioral Neuroscience and we talked exactly about the stuff in the brain and language passage. The DNA microarray one must have been where I missed my points. It had like 3 questions that I thought were very ambiguous. Let me know if you have any other questions about this. I did not use search and destroy. I just read the passage and then answered the questions. I'm a pretty fast reader, didn't study at all for this section.
QR – HAHAHA! I can't tell you how happy I am with this score! I was just hoping for a 16 and I got an 18! Math IS NOT my strong point. I did not have a time problem. The reason is b/c if I didn't know exactly what I was going to do after reading the problem, I quickly guessed, marked and moved on. Probably did that on like 15 of them. That way I had time to spend on the ones I knew. I was happy to get some interest problems which I'm good at b/c I work with interest everyday at my job. I also got a couple trig problems where I needed to use the identities. I had trig like 2 and a half years ago so I just memorized the identities from Destroyer. Glad I did. I would recommend memorizing that whole 1st page of QR Destroyer that has all those formulas. Memorize them and then write them down during the tutorial before your test. Topscore scores – 17, 17
I'm really happy with my scores! Freaking 0.1 points away from a 22AA. Good luck to those still studying! If you're doing well on topscore (18+) I'd say don't sweat it too much. Review what you're getting wrong, eliminate all distractions and you'll do fine! I got a freaking 16 two days before my test in Topscore for Genchem. Yeah I really had to keep from freaking out! I made a lot of dumb mistakes and just made sure I learned from them. If anyone has any questions feel free to post them and I'll answer or you can PM me.
I just applied to the three Texas schools (Baylor, UTDB, UTHSCSA). I'm Texan and want to keep it that way! My cGPA is 3.34 and my sGPA is 3.38. I did take some prereqs at CC. What do yall think?
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