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- Oct 22, 2010
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Here's a not-quite-breakdown/test taking experience report. I hope others find it helpful.
Scores:
TS: 22
AA: 21
PA: 19
BIO: 23,
GC: 22,
OC: 23,
RC: 20,
QR: 17 (ouch).
Test-Taking Experience:
I arrived at Prometric half an hour before my appointment start-time. After checking me in and inspecting my earplugs (i brought my own), they escorted me to the testing room and left me to get to it.
The software interface on Prometric's computer looks just like the CDP software. It's the same font and the same blue color. My computer was a bit slow in transitioning between sections, and for some reason the calculator in the QR section was quite slow at processing 0's. Other than that, no complaints. You receive two pink, laminated papers with very fine point non-erasable pens. I was worried that the pens would be old or smell funky, but I didn't have any issues with this. My pens worked great and the test administrators were prompt in replacing my papers.
After completing the test you're given a quick, 15-question survey about your experience. Then your scores are generated and you receive a print out of said scores to take home.
I was surprised with how easy, and straight forward the test seemed compared to Achiever, Destroyer and even Qvault. If I had to choose which program was most representative of the entire DAT in terms of question wording and difficulty I would chose qvault. My qvault scores turned out to by quite representative of how I ended up doing on the real thing.
I'm happy with all my scores except QR. By the time I got around to that section, I was quite tired and it didn't help that I was never confident with my math skills. I ran out of time on this section and ended up guessing on about 10 of the questions :/ .
Materials Review:
I began studying in January. However, I had a job at that time and was only able to study about 2-3 hours a day. After leaving the job I put in full time (apprx. 5-7 hours a day) study for 2 months until test day. below are my material reviews.
Chad--(10/10)--I would have been so effing lost without Chad's videos. I watched them all the way through on fastplay, twice. I also did all accompanying quizzes and went back to watch snippets of videos on subjects I didn't quite understand. I can't stress enough how important it is to get Chad's vids. They're a must have for success.
Qvault--(9/10)--Great resource for working on your timing, building confidence and getting a sense for how the real DAT questions will be phrased. I did every single one of their timed bench mark tests, twice. My only complaint here is with their website interface. While it looks nice, I wish it looked more similar to the DAT software.
Kaplan Book--(6/10)--I used this briefly in the beginning of my studies. Overall, I wasn't a fan. I feel this book leaves a lot important material out of the gen chem and ochem sections. However, the diagrams in the bio sections are helpful.
Cliffs AP Bio--(10/10)--If this is all you use for your bio prep, then you're golden. I went over this book twice, doing all the end of chapter quizzes and lots of highlighting.
Alan's Notes--(10/10)--good companion to Cliffs and Kaplan. Condenses everything you really need to know. It's great to go through after you've done your initial run through over Cliffs and Kaplan bio.
Destroyer--(9/10)--While the questions in this book are harder than those you'll see on the DAT, it's great for pointing out weaknesses and generally getting you motivated to work hard. I completed the entire book twice.
Achiever--(7/10)--Meh, it's just way too hard. However, It was good for helping me simulate testing conditions and work on timing. Overall though, the questions are not-at-all similar to the DAT. Seeing my Achiever scores only ended up stressing me out.
Crack PAT and Crack Reading--(9/10)--As I said before, the software interface on this program is exactly like what you'll see on the DAT. I feel the reading software was perfect for helping me develop a strategey. However, CDR has too many inference questions. On my DAT I don't think I saw any, it was mostly search and destroy type questions (more similar the qvault RC). Crack PAT is essential. The PAT difficulty on the DAT is about on par with CDR, perhaps a wee bit harder on the keyholes and TFE.
Well, I know my DAT results aren't as stellar as some people on this forum, but I'm proud of the results of my hard work studying and hope that these scores are good enough to get my application noticed (despite the crap QR score). Good luck to everyone studying for the DAT!
Scores:
TS: 22
AA: 21
PA: 19
BIO: 23,
GC: 22,
OC: 23,
RC: 20,
QR: 17 (ouch).
Test-Taking Experience:
I arrived at Prometric half an hour before my appointment start-time. After checking me in and inspecting my earplugs (i brought my own), they escorted me to the testing room and left me to get to it.
The software interface on Prometric's computer looks just like the CDP software. It's the same font and the same blue color. My computer was a bit slow in transitioning between sections, and for some reason the calculator in the QR section was quite slow at processing 0's. Other than that, no complaints. You receive two pink, laminated papers with very fine point non-erasable pens. I was worried that the pens would be old or smell funky, but I didn't have any issues with this. My pens worked great and the test administrators were prompt in replacing my papers.
After completing the test you're given a quick, 15-question survey about your experience. Then your scores are generated and you receive a print out of said scores to take home.
I was surprised with how easy, and straight forward the test seemed compared to Achiever, Destroyer and even Qvault. If I had to choose which program was most representative of the entire DAT in terms of question wording and difficulty I would chose qvault. My qvault scores turned out to by quite representative of how I ended up doing on the real thing.
I'm happy with all my scores except QR. By the time I got around to that section, I was quite tired and it didn't help that I was never confident with my math skills. I ran out of time on this section and ended up guessing on about 10 of the questions :/ .
Materials Review:
I began studying in January. However, I had a job at that time and was only able to study about 2-3 hours a day. After leaving the job I put in full time (apprx. 5-7 hours a day) study for 2 months until test day. below are my material reviews.
Chad--(10/10)--I would have been so effing lost without Chad's videos. I watched them all the way through on fastplay, twice. I also did all accompanying quizzes and went back to watch snippets of videos on subjects I didn't quite understand. I can't stress enough how important it is to get Chad's vids. They're a must have for success.
Qvault--(9/10)--Great resource for working on your timing, building confidence and getting a sense for how the real DAT questions will be phrased. I did every single one of their timed bench mark tests, twice. My only complaint here is with their website interface. While it looks nice, I wish it looked more similar to the DAT software.
Kaplan Book--(6/10)--I used this briefly in the beginning of my studies. Overall, I wasn't a fan. I feel this book leaves a lot important material out of the gen chem and ochem sections. However, the diagrams in the bio sections are helpful.
Cliffs AP Bio--(10/10)--If this is all you use for your bio prep, then you're golden. I went over this book twice, doing all the end of chapter quizzes and lots of highlighting.
Alan's Notes--(10/10)--good companion to Cliffs and Kaplan. Condenses everything you really need to know. It's great to go through after you've done your initial run through over Cliffs and Kaplan bio.
Destroyer--(9/10)--While the questions in this book are harder than those you'll see on the DAT, it's great for pointing out weaknesses and generally getting you motivated to work hard. I completed the entire book twice.
Achiever--(7/10)--Meh, it's just way too hard. However, It was good for helping me simulate testing conditions and work on timing. Overall though, the questions are not-at-all similar to the DAT. Seeing my Achiever scores only ended up stressing me out.
Crack PAT and Crack Reading--(9/10)--As I said before, the software interface on this program is exactly like what you'll see on the DAT. I feel the reading software was perfect for helping me develop a strategey. However, CDR has too many inference questions. On my DAT I don't think I saw any, it was mostly search and destroy type questions (more similar the qvault RC). Crack PAT is essential. The PAT difficulty on the DAT is about on par with CDR, perhaps a wee bit harder on the keyholes and TFE.
Well, I know my DAT results aren't as stellar as some people on this forum, but I'm proud of the results of my hard work studying and hope that these scores are good enough to get my application noticed (despite the crap QR score). Good luck to everyone studying for the DAT!
