Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
This is only my second post on here, but I just wanted to give back a little bit since I literally scoured these forums for months while I was studying.
Okay so first off, I was originally scheduled to take the DAT in early June, but there was no way in heck I was going to be ready, so I had to pay an extra $400 to reschedule a new one since I maxed out how far I could push it back. It was definitely worth it. People, don't take this test if you're not ready! (unless you have plans for a gap year!)
I started DAT studying in January, but school basically took over and I didn't resume legitimate studying till May, so I had 2 solid months to work with.
When I walked into the test, here is the ranking of how I felt about my preparedness for each section:
1) Organic
2) Math
3) Gen chem
4) Perceptual
5) Reading
6) Biology
Now for the meat of this:
First of all, man this test exhausted me. I only got one bathroom break so personally I was like wtf, that's going to affect my grade... and it probably did. Make sure you don't drink a lot before you go in.
Biology: 24
I took AP Biology in highschool and got a 4 on the exam. I had literally no college bio knowledge, nor did I take anatomy or physiology so this is probably the section that I had to work the hardest on. I found that my knowledge on Embryology was consistently the most lacking. As far as the test goes, I think I only had 1 or 2 anatomy/ phys related questions...I couldn't believe, but I guess its the luck of the draw. I had a TON of cell questions- know those organelles and lab techniques.
Materials used:
1) FERALIS notes!!-People, use it. Gosh it seemed like several questions came straight from it. I don't know who typed up those things but they should get paid.
2) Barron's anatomy- This thing was clutch, easy to read and covered basically all the anatomy and physiology you would need to know. Unfortunately, I didn't get asked many anatomy questions, but I would still recommend it.
3) Cliffs AP Bio - Good overview. However, I feel like it doesn't go into enough detail. It think it filled some gaps in the Feralis notes, mostly in ecology and evolution. It's worth it to buy, I read through it once and made some notecards on TCA cycle/ Photosynthesis/ Calvin Cycle.
4) DAT destroyer- These questions are tough. I was getting like 2/3 right. Honestly, I don't reccomend spending a lot of time using this. I think you are better off just going through Feralis notes as many times as you can. Destroyer also asks alot of anatomy/ physiology which I basically wasn't tested on.
Oraganic: 30
I think I got some easy questions on this section. I feel that I am pretty strong in Ochem, but not 30 strong. I didn't get any NMR or IR spec or naming (isn't that a good bit of ochem?
). It was just a straight forward section, nothing crazy. Some line reactions, acid base stuff, nucleophilicity, etc.
Materials used:
1) McMurray 8th edition- I went through my old text book and read every chapter and did the practice problems. This was a great refresher, my friend downloaded the PDF for me online for free. It took about 2 weeks for 6 hours a day to get all the way through it- grueling.
2) Chad's Videos- I actually only took the quizzes and did them about 3 days before my test. Killer. They are spot on with the difficulty level and without these, I wouldn't have done as well.
3) DAT destroyer- I went through these twice. I thought they were more difficult than the actual test questions and had some absurd reactions. I didn't get anything like air oxidation. Maybe they show up sometimes, but I didn't get any.
General Chemistry: 22
I practiced this section probably even more than biology. For some reason, it just didn't click like Organic. I got A's in my college genchem courses. Overall, I felt that the general chemistry was very easy, but I was definitely tired after the previous bio and ochem sections. I had some calculation questions, none of which were too difficult. The longest question I had was a ksp qsp question- took like 3 minutes. I would say just keep reviewing gen chem a little every day to keep all that info in your head. Memorize your equations from Chad's videos.
Materials used:
1) Chad's videos- do it do it do it. I watched the videos and did the quizes like 3x. Probably over kill but I just felt like the information was leaking out and I needed to constantly review this stuff. I felt like this was my best resource.
2) DAT destroyer- The questions were probably a little more difficult than my test questions, personally. It is good practice though. I went through them 2x. Also probably overkill.
Perceptual: 19
I hear this is pretty average. Thought I was going to do better. My Crack the Dat Pat average score was 20- 21 with some 23's and 19's sprinkled in. I was pretty tired when I started and had to use the restroom, so not the best circumstances for a test that required focus. Ill explain more about in the materials used section.
Materials used:
1) Crack the DAT PAT- I may be in the minority, but I actually don't think that Crack was completely representative of the test. It WAS good practice, but different. On the actual test, I though that Keyhole was focusing more on the slopes of the lines of the objects. I had many questions where it literally just seemed like the angle section, like it was basically testing on whether on not I could tell how sloped the side of a box was. I felt that Crack was focused more on seeing the objects from different angles. Top Front End was about the same as Crack. I skipped this section on the test and came back to it at the end. The angles were about the same as Crack. My cube counting was easier than Crack.
2) DAT Cracker- Keyholes are VERY representative of how mine were on the test. I would definitely recommend getting a subscription. Its cheap and worth it. However, I felt that some of their Top Front End's were wrong.
Math: 18
I thought I was ready for this section. I memorized about 15 trig identities, only had 2 trig questions. Lots of word problems. I had a lot of algebra, which in itself isn't difficult, it can just be time consuming. I had a good amount of questions involving calculating slope.
Materials used:
DAT destroyer- I though this was very representative of the test. I was getting about 4/5 questions right in destroyer, but the test was too much of a time crunch.
Chad's Videos- Decided to buy his math section 2 days before my test. This probably saved me. He tells you some equations you need to know that I didn't come across in destroyer. Mostly area and volume stuff. This explained probability pretty well.
Reading: 20
I hear this brings up a lot of peoples' scores, guess my reading is lacking! I started doing practice tests for this about 5 days before my test. There's a couple free online tests you can find. I started used DAT Cracker's tests but realized that they were asking the questions in order which is not representative of the real test. DAT Bootcamp's practice test was perfect. My strategy was to look at the first 5 or so questions, and write down any key words from them if they were easy questions. I then went through and looked for them as I summarized the paragraphs with 5 -10 words. I ran out of time right as I answered the last question, SCARY. I'm actually probably lucky that I got a 20 in this section, didn't feel comfortable with it.
I ended up with a 23 overall and 25 science.
Please ask me any questions, Thanks
Okay so first off, I was originally scheduled to take the DAT in early June, but there was no way in heck I was going to be ready, so I had to pay an extra $400 to reschedule a new one since I maxed out how far I could push it back. It was definitely worth it. People, don't take this test if you're not ready! (unless you have plans for a gap year!)
I started DAT studying in January, but school basically took over and I didn't resume legitimate studying till May, so I had 2 solid months to work with.
When I walked into the test, here is the ranking of how I felt about my preparedness for each section:
1) Organic
2) Math
3) Gen chem
4) Perceptual
5) Reading
6) Biology
Now for the meat of this:
First of all, man this test exhausted me. I only got one bathroom break so personally I was like wtf, that's going to affect my grade... and it probably did. Make sure you don't drink a lot before you go in.
Biology: 24
I took AP Biology in highschool and got a 4 on the exam. I had literally no college bio knowledge, nor did I take anatomy or physiology so this is probably the section that I had to work the hardest on. I found that my knowledge on Embryology was consistently the most lacking. As far as the test goes, I think I only had 1 or 2 anatomy/ phys related questions...I couldn't believe, but I guess its the luck of the draw. I had a TON of cell questions- know those organelles and lab techniques.
Materials used:
1) FERALIS notes!!-People, use it. Gosh it seemed like several questions came straight from it. I don't know who typed up those things but they should get paid.
2) Barron's anatomy- This thing was clutch, easy to read and covered basically all the anatomy and physiology you would need to know. Unfortunately, I didn't get asked many anatomy questions, but I would still recommend it.
3) Cliffs AP Bio - Good overview. However, I feel like it doesn't go into enough detail. It think it filled some gaps in the Feralis notes, mostly in ecology and evolution. It's worth it to buy, I read through it once and made some notecards on TCA cycle/ Photosynthesis/ Calvin Cycle.
4) DAT destroyer- These questions are tough. I was getting like 2/3 right. Honestly, I don't reccomend spending a lot of time using this. I think you are better off just going through Feralis notes as many times as you can. Destroyer also asks alot of anatomy/ physiology which I basically wasn't tested on.
Oraganic: 30
I think I got some easy questions on this section. I feel that I am pretty strong in Ochem, but not 30 strong. I didn't get any NMR or IR spec or naming (isn't that a good bit of ochem?
). It was just a straight forward section, nothing crazy. Some line reactions, acid base stuff, nucleophilicity, etc. Materials used:
1) McMurray 8th edition- I went through my old text book and read every chapter and did the practice problems. This was a great refresher, my friend downloaded the PDF for me online for free. It took about 2 weeks for 6 hours a day to get all the way through it- grueling.
2) Chad's Videos- I actually only took the quizzes and did them about 3 days before my test. Killer. They are spot on with the difficulty level and without these, I wouldn't have done as well.
3) DAT destroyer- I went through these twice. I thought they were more difficult than the actual test questions and had some absurd reactions. I didn't get anything like air oxidation. Maybe they show up sometimes, but I didn't get any.
General Chemistry: 22
I practiced this section probably even more than biology. For some reason, it just didn't click like Organic. I got A's in my college genchem courses. Overall, I felt that the general chemistry was very easy, but I was definitely tired after the previous bio and ochem sections. I had some calculation questions, none of which were too difficult. The longest question I had was a ksp qsp question- took like 3 minutes. I would say just keep reviewing gen chem a little every day to keep all that info in your head. Memorize your equations from Chad's videos.
Materials used:
1) Chad's videos- do it do it do it. I watched the videos and did the quizes like 3x. Probably over kill but I just felt like the information was leaking out and I needed to constantly review this stuff. I felt like this was my best resource.
2) DAT destroyer- The questions were probably a little more difficult than my test questions, personally. It is good practice though. I went through them 2x. Also probably overkill.
Perceptual: 19
I hear this is pretty average. Thought I was going to do better. My Crack the Dat Pat average score was 20- 21 with some 23's and 19's sprinkled in. I was pretty tired when I started and had to use the restroom, so not the best circumstances for a test that required focus. Ill explain more about in the materials used section.
Materials used:
1) Crack the DAT PAT- I may be in the minority, but I actually don't think that Crack was completely representative of the test. It WAS good practice, but different. On the actual test, I though that Keyhole was focusing more on the slopes of the lines of the objects. I had many questions where it literally just seemed like the angle section, like it was basically testing on whether on not I could tell how sloped the side of a box was. I felt that Crack was focused more on seeing the objects from different angles. Top Front End was about the same as Crack. I skipped this section on the test and came back to it at the end. The angles were about the same as Crack. My cube counting was easier than Crack.
2) DAT Cracker- Keyholes are VERY representative of how mine were on the test. I would definitely recommend getting a subscription. Its cheap and worth it. However, I felt that some of their Top Front End's were wrong.
Math: 18
I thought I was ready for this section. I memorized about 15 trig identities, only had 2 trig questions. Lots of word problems. I had a lot of algebra, which in itself isn't difficult, it can just be time consuming. I had a good amount of questions involving calculating slope.
Materials used:
DAT destroyer- I though this was very representative of the test. I was getting about 4/5 questions right in destroyer, but the test was too much of a time crunch.
Chad's Videos- Decided to buy his math section 2 days before my test. This probably saved me. He tells you some equations you need to know that I didn't come across in destroyer. Mostly area and volume stuff. This explained probability pretty well.
Reading: 20
I hear this brings up a lot of peoples' scores, guess my reading is lacking! I started doing practice tests for this about 5 days before my test. There's a couple free online tests you can find. I started used DAT Cracker's tests but realized that they were asking the questions in order which is not representative of the real test. DAT Bootcamp's practice test was perfect. My strategy was to look at the first 5 or so questions, and write down any key words from them if they were easy questions. I then went through and looked for them as I summarized the paragraphs with 5 -10 words. I ran out of time right as I answered the last question, SCARY. I'm actually probably lucky that I got a 20 in this section, didn't feel comfortable with it.
I ended up with a 23 overall and 25 science.
Please ask me any questions, Thanks
