DAT results.

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MartialFarts

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So I just did the DAT today. Here are my unofficial results:

PA - 22
QR - 22
RC - 15
Bio - 24
GC - 23
OC - 22
TS - 23
AA - 21

The only resource I used was Kaplan and I wasnt able to get through all of their material. I studied around 75 hours over the last 1.5 months and then studied around 50 hours over the last week. I did 3 practice tests and a bunch of their online quizzes.

I feel like their PAT and Reading comprehension sections were much easier than the actual DAT and their science section was a bit more difficult. Although I have to take most of the blame for the RC section since I never actually studied it, I just did it on the Full lengths and listened to my teacher during my class sessions. I was getting around 18-19 on their RC sections so I thought I'd be fine for the DAT but i wasn't.

I know I did alright but the thing is my cGPA is only 3.15 and my science GPA's around a 3.2ish so I'm not sure if my DAT score is good enough to compensate for that.

I have a tonne of shadowing experience like around 800 hours, but I have almost no volunteer or other EC stuff. One thing about my gpa is I have a huge upward trend and picked it up from 2.6 - 3.15 over the last 4 semesters. I'm assuming I can get it up to 3.4 when I graduate at the end of next year if I work hard. Another thing is I've taken some pretty advanced classes in my major and observed cadaver dissections so I think that might make it a bit better.

Do you guys think I should retake the DAT? Also would I be competitive for this cycle of applicants applying for 2015. Or do you think its lacking? Thanks.

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How were your kaplan full length tests compared to the actual DAT? I only ask because I have been studying using only Kaplan (I had the full class and online) and wanted to know if I really needed to branch out and study other materials or if Kaplan would be enough to see me through. It seemed to work for you! Those scores are great!
 
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How were your kaplan full length tests compared to the actual DAT? I only ask because I have been studying using only Kaplan (I had the full class and online) and wanted to know if I really needed to branch out and study other materials or if Kaplan would be enough to see me through. It seemed to work for you! Those scores are great!

For the science section I felt it prepared me very well. I read some of the big book but I skipped a few chapters that I felt I was okay with. The best learning I had was from doing the quizzes and section tests and then reviewing what I did wrong. I would jot down the right answers on a piece of paper and basically dissect that question. After that I would skim my lesson book and read those notes I made and do another quiz.

For the Reading comprehension I cant say because I never actually did it since I had thought I would've done decent on that section. Looking back I wish I did but w/e cant do anything about it now

For the PAT section I would highly recommend looking into other sources. The angle ranking is not even close to the difficulty you'll see on the actual DAT and some of the pattern folding questions were a bit tricky.
 
If you can really finish with a 3.4 then I definitely wouldn't retake the DAT, I would just apply with what you have because those are still very impressive scores. Applying this cycle with a 3.1 AND having that one low score, I am not going to say you shouldn't but personally I would just wait until next year and focus on acing up those classes.

great job on the DAT man! I hope to get scores like yours on my retake, and I will probably end up having to reapply next year too.
 
I think you will be fine with these scores even with the low RC scores. Make sure to research with scores have cut offs higher then 15 and don't waste your time and money applying there. Overall, they look at the TS and AA more then individual scores! Can you share the topics you had on your exam for the RC section? Thanks and good luck!
 
Apply to a bunch of school and you will get some interviews. Some schools value RC as the top section and others don't value it as much. Try to boost your ECs as schools really do look at the big picture. Do not retake as you did great overall.
 
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