DAT Help!

[jasminetea7]

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I'm not a mathematically driven person (thinking back, I was so happy to finish my last math requirement in freshman year in college..)
And when I took DAT in 2008, I got 16 (the lowest score of all sections).
Still, as I'm preparing for my second attempt at DAT, I find QR section to be the most challenging one.

1. What do you think is the best way to study for QR? (esp. for people like me, with poor math background)

2. Is there a math lecture video (like Chad's chem videos) that I could watch online?

3. I'm even willing to go as far as getting a private tutor (just for QR) if I can find one since I'm not taking any DAT courses. Do you think it's a good idea? How can I find one?

4. I think I read a thread about a calculator use in QR section....that the new test includes a calculator... Does that mean they're making problems more difficult and complicated (since calculator is allowed)? Should I still practice without calculator?

😵
Please help...

 

[dentalWorks]

Well there is some good news here.

You see, no matter how much you suck at math, if you practice you WILL get better and there is a logical explanation as to why: You see there is only a limited number of the types of questions they can throw at you, because your going to do alot of practice, your going to get familure with the types of questions they throw at you..... Your going to get so good at it that solving problems is going to happen 2nd nature to you.

So, maybe your first 1 to 2 months of practicing you'll see your self not improving, but EVENTUALLY you will get better. I guarantee you, if you spend 30 minutes to 1 hr a day for the next 2-3 months simply solving QR problems and checking your answers and figuring out what you did wrong, you will get better.

Now as for practice material, I think MATH destroyer (its a book with 10 QR tests... totalling 400 questions) is the best QR resource out there. Those 400 problems are going to basically (80% of them) repair on the real DAT with just different numbers

 

[dentalWorks]

4. I think I read a thread about a calculator use in QR section....that the new test includes a calculator... Does that mean they're making problems more difficult and complicated (since calculator is allowed)? Should I still practice without calculator?

In my opinion, if you depend too much on the calculator, its going to eat up your time. According to DAT makers, the QR is not going to change (difficulty wise), they are only going to introduce a very basic calculator. I think they are starting the calculator thing this week.

Practice QR, try to do all the simple math in your head (5X8....11X10....5.4X10) the easy stuff do it in your head.... the harder complex calculators, sure you'd have no choice but to use a calculator cause other wise, they eat up too much time on hand

 

[flybry2000]

I got a 13 the first time I took it, so you're already better off😎 My suggestion is to go through math destroyer. I actually went through it twice, and timed myself 45 min a test. I kept record of all the questions that were my weak areas: Probability, money problems, trig identities just to name a few. I then spent quite a bit of time on the internet doing practice problems at various sites. I then went through the math portion of DAT destroyer, and either the questions were a little bit easier, or I just got better from practice or both. Also you can look up videos on youtube on how to do fast division/multiplication. Also remember that you can round up/down. I plan on going through the Crack DAT software next, so we'll see how that goes. Good luck!

Flybry 2000
"Nothing comes easy and if it did it wasn't earned.

 

[jasminetea7]

Awesome!
Thanks, dentalWorks and flybry2000!
So I guess I should go ahead and buy Math Destroyer now. 🙂

 

[dynococus]

I predominantly used math destroyer to study for QR and the formula sheets were really helpful. Still it alone will not prepare you for every single question they might throw at you because most of the questions in math destroyer are short and somewhat formulaic, while a few of the harder questions on the DAT were longer word problems. I probably guessed on maybe like 3-5. But it definitely helps you breeze through the quick and easy questions to leave more time for these harder ones.

 

[azar87]

math destroyer plus regular destroyer for everything and i just read some scientific articles as well as did some research on how to read better and absorb more information... and take bulleted notes and summaries on my sections

 

[dentalWorks]

I got a 13 the first time I took it, so you're already better off😎 My suggestion is to go through math destroyer. I actually went through it twice, and timed myself 45 min a test. I kept record of all the questions that were my weak areas: Probability, money problems, trig identities just to name a few. I then spent quite a bit of time on the internet doing practice problems at various sites. I then went through the math portion of DAT destroyer, and either the questions were a little bit easier, or I just got better from practice or both. Also you can look up videos on youtube on how to do fast division/multiplication. Also remember that you can round up/down. I plan on going through the Crack DAT software next, so we'll see how that goes. Good luck!

Flybry 2000
"Nothing comes easy and if it did it wasn't earned.

With this much practice, I am going to assume your going to land 19+ on the real QR. You gotta remember, there are 40 questions and even if you miss about 11 of them, you can still land a score of 20. I think missing 12-13 = 19. This is achievable folks

Good luck