- Joined
- Jan 28, 2011
- Messages
- 84
- Reaction score
- 10
- Points
- 4,571
- Dentist
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Aight people, here's my breakdown and how I got there.
Bio 21 (95.5)
GC 24 (98)
OC 21 (89.7)
TS 22 (98.3)
PA 24 (98)🙂
RC 20 (78.5)😕
QR 19 (92.9)
AA 21 (97.2)
Bio - MATERIALS: KAP BB, ACE course, Cliff's (plant stuff only), Destroyer.
I feel like I got some really crappy bio questions. I was actually hoping to blow this section out of the water since I'm a bio major and I've actually had classes on ecology, taxonomy, genetics, physiology, ect. and I studied my soul out for it but in the end, there were just some questions that I couldn't have anticipated. With that being said, at least 25-30 questions were predictable if you cover your bases. I used Anki heavily for bio. I basically took all of the bio material from the Kaplan BB and a local prep course and put it on flashcards. I also used Cliff's only for photosynthesis and other plant stuff since I felt I didn't need the rest of it with my background. I did Destroyer and all DATQVault tests once and made flashcards out out of every piece of info I didn't know. This took at least 2 weeks, after which I bought the iPhone app and used it to review my flashcards every day for 20-60 min. I liked this route although making them took a ton of time but afterward, I was able to really focus on chem.
GC - MATERIALS: CHAD, Destroyer
I was really worried about this section because I took these classes 4 years ago and they were my lowest grades in college. Chad is really the way to go. I watched the vids once, taking good notes and doing the quizzes after each lesson. Then I reread the notes, making a few pages of formulas only as I studied. Then I went through the quizzes again, allowing myself to use the formulas to familiarize myself with them. Then I did all of the quizzes two more times without the formulas. Afterward, I did the Destroyer GC twice and got about 80% correct the second time. It was harder like everyone says, but really good practice. Also, I memorized the formulas before test day and during the tutorial, I just spent my time writing all of the ones I could remember so I could quickly identify which one to use. In the end, there really weren't a ton of calculations but it definitely helped me on a few questions.
OC - MATERIALS: CHAD, Destroyer
I'm actually kinda bummed about my score since I got 2 30's on my practice tests and got about 87% correct in Destroyer the second time around but I probably rushed on the real thing so I can live with it. I thought CHAD and destroyer were both extremely good resources. I only did Chad's OC quizzes once after I watched the recordings and I also did destroyer twice and marked all of the questions I missed both times through and went over them the day before the test. I did a few Kaplan subject tests online with my friend and I thought those were pretty similar.
PAT - MATERIALS: CDP
On the whole I thought the PAT was easier than CDP although there were definitely a few zingers that made me question reality. I did all of my CDP practice tests (some twice). I thought the holes on CDP were pretty tough but they were a bit easier on my test. Without any practice I got a 18 on the first one so I found condog's youtube videos and it really helped me to start thinking with the right approach for TFE and hole punching (I really like his quad method). After that my scores rose and I got to the point where I was getting mostly 22's and a few 23's and called it good. Encouragement - I could not see TFE to save my life when I started out and thought it was the hardest thing. After watching the videos and a few practice tests, on TFE I was getting 15/15 almost every time so have faith and practice. BTW, I do not use line counting cuz I think it's bogus.
RC - MATERIALS: Topscore, ADA 2007 DAT
All of the practice I did for this was topscore and I didn't sweat it because I've always gotten my highest standardized test scores in reading comprehension and I got 22+ on topscore so I thought I could expect the same. My strategy was pretty simple: read the article, writing down a few key words from each paragraph (8 min per article) and answer the questions, going back using the brief outline if necessary. That way I could cover the tone questions (quite a few) and use the outline for the details. On the real thing, I mismanaged my time because I tried to be thorough and used a full 20 minutes for the first 2 articles that I thought were easy enough. It turned out that the last article was the most scientifically dense/ hard to understand AND the longest so I rushed reading through it and rushed through the questions. I'm positive almost all of the questions I missed were on this last one and was a little bummed I underperformed but I think the 20 is adequate.
QR - MATERIALS: Math Destroyer, Topscore, Khan Academy
I HATE MATH. I always have so I was pretty worried about this section. I was even more worried when I started Math Destroyer and was getting about half right on each test and I didn't even understand some of the explanations for the ones I missed. I did 5 practice tests and the least I missed was 12. I also watched a few Khan Academy videos on triangles and some on trig but I mostly got more confused with trig. The more I studied, the more I despaired so I got fed up and stopped after the 5th test and decided the sciences mattered more so I would try to blow them out of the water to compensate for QR. I wouldn't recommend it but that's what I did. My test was much more similar to Topscore in difficulty and I got 18's and 20's on Topscore so that was a pretty good predictor of my score. I will say that I got good at the word problems. On the real thing, conversions were definitely necessary as well as trig. I took everyone's advice and skipped the ones I couldn't understand quickly and finished with about a minute left.
STUDY - I spent about 2 months averaging 7 hours per day on weekdays and about 4 on Saturdays. I never studied on Sunday, which was good for me. I would definitely recommend giving yourself at least one break day a week unless you're working or going to school at the same time. I also found that once I reached the 8 hour point in one day, the quality of my study took a drop b/c I lost my ability to concentrate. I played tennis 2-3 times a week, followed my SF Giants a lot and took two vacations (long weekends) so I thought it was really good for me to get my mind off things so I would also recommend doing something physical and fun during the week so you aren't completely miserable.
Practice Scores -->
BIO/GC/OC/PAT/RC/QR/AA
Topscore 1, 2, 3, ADA 2007
21/18/19/23/22/18/19
19/19/20/23/22/18/20
20/19/30/22/22/20/22
24/23/30/22/23/20/24
Overall, I'm glad I can breathe a sigh of relief even though all of the other scores on here make me depressed. I just have to keep telling myself that a 21 is 97th percentile and should be competitive. I have a 3.5 science GPA and 3.78 overall and I'm applying to 14 schools. I'm a CA resident and my top 4 are UCSF, UoP, UCLA and Midwestern AZ so hopefully one of those will work out. Thanks to everyone on here and good luck!
Bio 21 (95.5)
GC 24 (98)
OC 21 (89.7)
TS 22 (98.3)
PA 24 (98)🙂
RC 20 (78.5)😕
QR 19 (92.9)
AA 21 (97.2)
Bio - MATERIALS: KAP BB, ACE course, Cliff's (plant stuff only), Destroyer.
I feel like I got some really crappy bio questions. I was actually hoping to blow this section out of the water since I'm a bio major and I've actually had classes on ecology, taxonomy, genetics, physiology, ect. and I studied my soul out for it but in the end, there were just some questions that I couldn't have anticipated. With that being said, at least 25-30 questions were predictable if you cover your bases. I used Anki heavily for bio. I basically took all of the bio material from the Kaplan BB and a local prep course and put it on flashcards. I also used Cliff's only for photosynthesis and other plant stuff since I felt I didn't need the rest of it with my background. I did Destroyer and all DATQVault tests once and made flashcards out out of every piece of info I didn't know. This took at least 2 weeks, after which I bought the iPhone app and used it to review my flashcards every day for 20-60 min. I liked this route although making them took a ton of time but afterward, I was able to really focus on chem.
GC - MATERIALS: CHAD, Destroyer
I was really worried about this section because I took these classes 4 years ago and they were my lowest grades in college. Chad is really the way to go. I watched the vids once, taking good notes and doing the quizzes after each lesson. Then I reread the notes, making a few pages of formulas only as I studied. Then I went through the quizzes again, allowing myself to use the formulas to familiarize myself with them. Then I did all of the quizzes two more times without the formulas. Afterward, I did the Destroyer GC twice and got about 80% correct the second time. It was harder like everyone says, but really good practice. Also, I memorized the formulas before test day and during the tutorial, I just spent my time writing all of the ones I could remember so I could quickly identify which one to use. In the end, there really weren't a ton of calculations but it definitely helped me on a few questions.
OC - MATERIALS: CHAD, Destroyer
I'm actually kinda bummed about my score since I got 2 30's on my practice tests and got about 87% correct in Destroyer the second time around but I probably rushed on the real thing so I can live with it. I thought CHAD and destroyer were both extremely good resources. I only did Chad's OC quizzes once after I watched the recordings and I also did destroyer twice and marked all of the questions I missed both times through and went over them the day before the test. I did a few Kaplan subject tests online with my friend and I thought those were pretty similar.
PAT - MATERIALS: CDP
On the whole I thought the PAT was easier than CDP although there were definitely a few zingers that made me question reality. I did all of my CDP practice tests (some twice). I thought the holes on CDP were pretty tough but they were a bit easier on my test. Without any practice I got a 18 on the first one so I found condog's youtube videos and it really helped me to start thinking with the right approach for TFE and hole punching (I really like his quad method). After that my scores rose and I got to the point where I was getting mostly 22's and a few 23's and called it good. Encouragement - I could not see TFE to save my life when I started out and thought it was the hardest thing. After watching the videos and a few practice tests, on TFE I was getting 15/15 almost every time so have faith and practice. BTW, I do not use line counting cuz I think it's bogus.
RC - MATERIALS: Topscore, ADA 2007 DAT
All of the practice I did for this was topscore and I didn't sweat it because I've always gotten my highest standardized test scores in reading comprehension and I got 22+ on topscore so I thought I could expect the same. My strategy was pretty simple: read the article, writing down a few key words from each paragraph (8 min per article) and answer the questions, going back using the brief outline if necessary. That way I could cover the tone questions (quite a few) and use the outline for the details. On the real thing, I mismanaged my time because I tried to be thorough and used a full 20 minutes for the first 2 articles that I thought were easy enough. It turned out that the last article was the most scientifically dense/ hard to understand AND the longest so I rushed reading through it and rushed through the questions. I'm positive almost all of the questions I missed were on this last one and was a little bummed I underperformed but I think the 20 is adequate.
QR - MATERIALS: Math Destroyer, Topscore, Khan Academy
I HATE MATH. I always have so I was pretty worried about this section. I was even more worried when I started Math Destroyer and was getting about half right on each test and I didn't even understand some of the explanations for the ones I missed. I did 5 practice tests and the least I missed was 12. I also watched a few Khan Academy videos on triangles and some on trig but I mostly got more confused with trig. The more I studied, the more I despaired so I got fed up and stopped after the 5th test and decided the sciences mattered more so I would try to blow them out of the water to compensate for QR. I wouldn't recommend it but that's what I did. My test was much more similar to Topscore in difficulty and I got 18's and 20's on Topscore so that was a pretty good predictor of my score. I will say that I got good at the word problems. On the real thing, conversions were definitely necessary as well as trig. I took everyone's advice and skipped the ones I couldn't understand quickly and finished with about a minute left.
STUDY - I spent about 2 months averaging 7 hours per day on weekdays and about 4 on Saturdays. I never studied on Sunday, which was good for me. I would definitely recommend giving yourself at least one break day a week unless you're working or going to school at the same time. I also found that once I reached the 8 hour point in one day, the quality of my study took a drop b/c I lost my ability to concentrate. I played tennis 2-3 times a week, followed my SF Giants a lot and took two vacations (long weekends) so I thought it was really good for me to get my mind off things so I would also recommend doing something physical and fun during the week so you aren't completely miserable.
Practice Scores -->
BIO/GC/OC/PAT/RC/QR/AA
Topscore 1, 2, 3, ADA 2007
21/18/19/23/22/18/19
19/19/20/23/22/18/20
20/19/30/22/22/20/22
24/23/30/22/23/20/24
Overall, I'm glad I can breathe a sigh of relief even though all of the other scores on here make me depressed. I just have to keep telling myself that a 21 is 97th percentile and should be competitive. I have a 3.5 science GPA and 3.78 overall and I'm applying to 14 schools. I'm a CA resident and my top 4 are UCSF, UoP, UCLA and Midwestern AZ so hopefully one of those will work out. Thanks to everyone on here and good luck!
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