DAT prep course?

No there isn't. I took one, its not amazing, what you need though...is a lot of books.

 

save the money and buy these instead

Dat Destroyer
Schaum's Outlines
Dat Achiever
Top Score
Crack Dat Pat
I guess a Kaplan Blue Book for the basics...

You can buy all those and be much better prepared than spending a crap load on a prep course that really isn't very useful at all... prep courses in my opinion are for people who can't motivate themselves to study

 

Well-said but IMO, put Kaplan books on the top because it gives you a perfect background.

 

I don't know, the answer to this question really lies in the individual person.

I did well and studied on my own with simply old textbooks, a Kaplan book, Kaplan notecards, Topscore CD and a Kaplan study guide. I also live in a small town, although I go to school in a bigger town, and studied out here in the middle of nowhere for most of the summer. I used my own motivation to study a lot for the test.

However, I think that having someone there as a guide for me would have really helped before taking the test. I will actually be teaching some Kaplan classes this summer and the next year or so and I plan on being there for all of my students. I think that if you get the right teacher, the class can really make a difference. The teacher is more of a scheduler and timekeeper than anything else. They will help you study the right things, in a good timetable, with the right material. Plus they are there to answer any questions you may have and help you if you have any trouble with techniques/fundamental abilities. They SHOULD make sure you have a good conceptual grasp of the material. If they don't, they aren't doing their job well enough.

Paying to take the class is definitely not necessary, but if you really work hard at it and take the class you should do well. You can also work hard at it by yourself and do well, but for me personally (knowing what I know now), I think I could have scored maybe a point higher if I would have taken the class.

If you don't take the class, be sure to keep up to date on SDN with stuff and ask people on here for questions, they are very helpful.

As far as percentage of ppl who take the class vs don't, I have no idea how scores compare. I did very well in all of my science classes and didn't have a lot of trouble relearning the material. Of course the avg score of the person who takes the class vs. those who didn't may be higher, but there are a lot of unmotivated students out there who don't study nearly as much as they should for this test. Push yourself and I'm sure you can do fine.

 

The Kaplan course was worth it for me and not b/c of motivation reasons. A prep course can't motivate you to study anyways b/c you'll spend maybe 3 hrs a week in the class, but you still need to study all the other hours (which are FAR more than 3) on your own. I went to the class b/c I didn't know anyone else taking the DAT and was hoping to network and find extra information out (unfortunately I didn't know about SDN either). The classroom portion turned out to be a waste. The topics covered were overly simple and moved slow b/c some people hadn't read ahead. The instructors don't appear to be experts either. If you take the Kaplan online version you'll get all the worthwhile stuff you'd need from the classroom version. The books, quizes, workshops, and exams are all you really need. Get the other prep books that someone mentioned. Get every resource you can afford!

 

Kaplan class did offer LOADS of practice.
I would estimate about half a month of solid practice (assuming you studied about 12 hours a day). so if you think you will run out of material, then Kaplan is great.