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Just finished the DAT. Practically every single nightmare i worried about came true!!!
I applied for this year (Fall 2003), and my science is a 3.80 and overall, a 3.33. 1st DAT exam.
I felt flustered and felt like I was having a panic attack during the entire exam just after starting the PAT. The main problem: Drank too strong coffee, which led me to use the bathroom 8+ times during the DAT. I felt like i had to "use the bathroom" constantly for 2-3 hours. Plus the proctor would take his god awful time signing me in and out, letting 8 year old kids finish their paperwork, while I waited to go in the MIDDLE of my DAT.
I BOMBED the Reading Comp. I felt like I was having an anxiety attack and just could not concentrate. On top of this,
a) the room was became way too hot (and no circulation).
b) there a little 7 year old talking though my entire reading part
c) the proctor was listening to his "Isley Brothers at a loud volume, during the exam.
d) outside the door were 20 people, a screaming baby and little kids running and chasing each other
and e) to top it off, i went to use the bathroom when the 15 minute break started. The door was locked. So i waited 10 minutes. Finally,. I figured out it was locked by accident, The proctor was on the phone and took 5 minutes to unlock the door. Started my reading section 3.5 minutes late.
I never had conditions for a test this bad during my entire unedrgrad career.
The TEST:
Science:
God, this part was simple!! I actually finished with 35-40 minutes to spare. I just checked over my answers and finally left the test early. I studied way too much for the science. I felt like I got a 98-99 after completeion, and a couple of the questions were so odd, it was like they didn't want you to ace it and no amount of studying would increase your score.
Quant:
This part was simple too. I didn't have any of the difficult word problems as in practice exams. The trig was simple, too. kaplan has you memorizing area of a hexagon and lateral are of a cone, too. i finished 10 minutes early and just checked my answers.
I was flustered during thsi part of the exam, too though.
Reading and PAT:
I was getting 19's on reading and 18-20's on PAT on practice tests. But during the PAT I felt like I was just guessing.
But the worst, by far, was Reading. I couldn't even understand what i was reading. Basically, I just read the questions and tried making educated guesses. I was lucky that the subject material was not unfamiliar (Calcuim and Secondary Messanger Systems, Aging and Biological Development and Antibiotics) So during the entire Reading, I was like "eenie, meenie, minee, moe", D!
I think the worst thing was that during the Reading, I kept thinking goodbye Class of '07, hello Class of '08!! All I kept thinking about was quitting having my chances killed for this year.
I would NOT have been surprised if I walked out with a 12-13 in Reading ( I guessed on practically every single one) and a 15 in PAT. I was stunned that my guessing skills GOT ME A 17 in Reading!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!
Thoughts on the DAT:
1) It's easier than i thought.
2) Sudying won't change your score that much
3) Time limits are not important for science and quant, but very critical for PAT and Reading. On PAT, i always feel like my score would go down 1-2 points just because I didn't have enough time.
4) take it in the morning if possible. After 2-3pm, the screaming kids roll in.
What is the deal with those Sylvan Learning Centers, they're filled with screaming kids and lackadaisical proctors.
Well, ok enough ranting.
Should I write the admission directors of the schools i applied to and explained that i "freaked" during my exam? i'm not so sure my PAT would be significantly better, but I feel like i would have had at least an 18-20 in Reading. I was really close to calling the exam some sort of "mistrial' or something, but i guess the scores weren't that bad.
Well, thanks for reading my long horror story. Hope your test goes better than mine!!
Here's my scores:
Reading 17
PAT 16
Biology 23
O. Chem 25
Gen Chem 21
Quant 20
Academic 21
I applied for this year (Fall 2003), and my science is a 3.80 and overall, a 3.33. 1st DAT exam.
I felt flustered and felt like I was having a panic attack during the entire exam just after starting the PAT. The main problem: Drank too strong coffee, which led me to use the bathroom 8+ times during the DAT. I felt like i had to "use the bathroom" constantly for 2-3 hours. Plus the proctor would take his god awful time signing me in and out, letting 8 year old kids finish their paperwork, while I waited to go in the MIDDLE of my DAT.
I BOMBED the Reading Comp. I felt like I was having an anxiety attack and just could not concentrate. On top of this,
a) the room was became way too hot (and no circulation).
b) there a little 7 year old talking though my entire reading part
c) the proctor was listening to his "Isley Brothers at a loud volume, during the exam.
d) outside the door were 20 people, a screaming baby and little kids running and chasing each other
and e) to top it off, i went to use the bathroom when the 15 minute break started. The door was locked. So i waited 10 minutes. Finally,. I figured out it was locked by accident, The proctor was on the phone and took 5 minutes to unlock the door. Started my reading section 3.5 minutes late.
I never had conditions for a test this bad during my entire unedrgrad career.
The TEST:
Science:
God, this part was simple!! I actually finished with 35-40 minutes to spare. I just checked over my answers and finally left the test early. I studied way too much for the science. I felt like I got a 98-99 after completeion, and a couple of the questions were so odd, it was like they didn't want you to ace it and no amount of studying would increase your score.
Quant:
This part was simple too. I didn't have any of the difficult word problems as in practice exams. The trig was simple, too. kaplan has you memorizing area of a hexagon and lateral are of a cone, too. i finished 10 minutes early and just checked my answers.
I was flustered during thsi part of the exam, too though.
Reading and PAT:
I was getting 19's on reading and 18-20's on PAT on practice tests. But during the PAT I felt like I was just guessing.
But the worst, by far, was Reading. I couldn't even understand what i was reading. Basically, I just read the questions and tried making educated guesses. I was lucky that the subject material was not unfamiliar (Calcuim and Secondary Messanger Systems, Aging and Biological Development and Antibiotics) So during the entire Reading, I was like "eenie, meenie, minee, moe", D!
I think the worst thing was that during the Reading, I kept thinking goodbye Class of '07, hello Class of '08!! All I kept thinking about was quitting having my chances killed for this year.
I would NOT have been surprised if I walked out with a 12-13 in Reading ( I guessed on practically every single one) and a 15 in PAT. I was stunned that my guessing skills GOT ME A 17 in Reading!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!
Thoughts on the DAT:
1) It's easier than i thought.
2) Sudying won't change your score that much
3) Time limits are not important for science and quant, but very critical for PAT and Reading. On PAT, i always feel like my score would go down 1-2 points just because I didn't have enough time.
4) take it in the morning if possible. After 2-3pm, the screaming kids roll in.
What is the deal with those Sylvan Learning Centers, they're filled with screaming kids and lackadaisical proctors.
Well, ok enough ranting.
Should I write the admission directors of the schools i applied to and explained that i "freaked" during my exam? i'm not so sure my PAT would be significantly better, but I feel like i would have had at least an 18-20 in Reading. I was really close to calling the exam some sort of "mistrial' or something, but i guess the scores weren't that bad.
Well, thanks for reading my long horror story. Hope your test goes better than mine!!
Here's my scores:
Reading 17
PAT 16
Biology 23
O. Chem 25
Gen Chem 21
Quant 20
Academic 21
