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Hey everyone i just thought i would throw in my DAT scores along with what i did to prepare for the exam.
First off i want to say that I thought the exam was easier than people made it out to be. It might be better to go into it with the thought that its going to be hard but my experience with it was that things weren't as difficult as i was expecting. Now this doesn't mean to take the test lightly, most accounts of it are that it is a very difficult test so maybe my thoughts on it are incorrect.
I did a lot of reading on here before studying for the DAT. The forums were pretty useful and gave me some insight as to what to expect. I didn't study as much as i should have for the exam but i think that a lot of the forums on here exaggerate how much to study for the test. I don't believe that someone can effectively study for 12 weeks 6-8 hours a day. Maybe some people can do that but i sure couldn't. Also i don't think that information would be retained from the beginning of the study session. How could you remember what you studied three months before for a specific question on the exam? I wouldn't study for more than a month before taking the test. When i studied i did it during the summer so my days were free (besides work). I would do that over trying to study during the school year, i find that too difficult to do.
Anyways, i bought the Kaplan book, an AP biology book, topscore pro and CRACK PAT. I think they were all useful purchases, especially crack. I studied the most for the PAT because it was such a foreign concept to me compared to biology and chemistry. I highly recommend CRACK PAT. I struggled with two sections of the exam, the biology and the math part. I would definitely recommend getting a math book to study for that section from. I think practice problems would be highly beneficial when studying for the test. Biology is my major and it is also the section i did the worst on. I was surprised by this since its my major but the biology section is extremely broad. It will take a lot of hard work to do well on that section. I don't know what else to get besides an AP book and Kaplan but i am sure some other people can help with that. I think that if i had more time i would've done better on that section as well. I thought that Kaplan did a good job covering the chemistry sections of the test. The reading section was where i excelled the most but i also didn't study for it at all. I did one practice reading test before the exam just to familiarize myself with the portion of the exam. If you are an avid, quick reader you should do very well on this section. Kaplan has a section on reading with a couple of practice tests otherwise i am sure other companies sell more comprehensive reading sections, i just don't think they are necessary if you are an avid reader.
I studied hard for about two weeks before the exam. My first week i studied about 4 hours a day (i was still working part time) and week number two i studied for about 6 hours a day. For me, that was all i could muster. Some people post saying they do 10+ hours a day, i can't do that. I wish i would've given myself 3 weeks to a month for studying, not only two weeks. My recommendation is 3-4 weeks of studying for 4-6 hours a day, nothing more than that. It will be an intense period of time but will pay off and is realistic, unlike some of these programs with 8+ hours a day for 2 or 3 months.
My only exception was that i did a lot of work with Crack PAT to familiarize myself with that section of the test. I used Crack the whole summer (2 months) every once in a while to stay fresh. the PAT has a lot of tricks to it so the more practice you do with each section, the better. My personal advice is to skip over the angles section the first time you get to it. Just answer all As or something like that and finish the other sections first. Then, with your remaining time go back and do the angles section. The reason i say this is because when i first started doing the PAT i would waste a lot time looking at the nuances of the angles and still ended up getting it wrong. It is a big time waster and even when you put in a minute of looking at an angle it is still really tough to see the difference. Save it for last, when you have to move quickly so you don't waste all your time on it.
I took a couple practice test from kaplan and top score and didn't do well on them. I was honestly very scared when i took the test but i was very happy with my results. On my practice exams if i hit 20 i was pretty happy with the score. An AA of 20 was my goal (i wouldn't retake if i got that) but on my practice exams i wasn't getting there. However, after taking the exam my scores were as follows:
Bio:18
Chem:23
Ochem:23
Reading:25
Math:19
PAT:21
AA:22
-as you can see my scores went up from my practice exams. That is why i said that i think the test is over rated in terms of its difficulty. However, i want to throw in a disclaimer. I am generally a very good test taker so maybe my view point of the test won't be with the majority, that is for you to decide. This post is just so you can look at what i did and see if that works for you! Good luck!
First off i want to say that I thought the exam was easier than people made it out to be. It might be better to go into it with the thought that its going to be hard but my experience with it was that things weren't as difficult as i was expecting. Now this doesn't mean to take the test lightly, most accounts of it are that it is a very difficult test so maybe my thoughts on it are incorrect.
I did a lot of reading on here before studying for the DAT. The forums were pretty useful and gave me some insight as to what to expect. I didn't study as much as i should have for the exam but i think that a lot of the forums on here exaggerate how much to study for the test. I don't believe that someone can effectively study for 12 weeks 6-8 hours a day. Maybe some people can do that but i sure couldn't. Also i don't think that information would be retained from the beginning of the study session. How could you remember what you studied three months before for a specific question on the exam? I wouldn't study for more than a month before taking the test. When i studied i did it during the summer so my days were free (besides work). I would do that over trying to study during the school year, i find that too difficult to do.
Anyways, i bought the Kaplan book, an AP biology book, topscore pro and CRACK PAT. I think they were all useful purchases, especially crack. I studied the most for the PAT because it was such a foreign concept to me compared to biology and chemistry. I highly recommend CRACK PAT. I struggled with two sections of the exam, the biology and the math part. I would definitely recommend getting a math book to study for that section from. I think practice problems would be highly beneficial when studying for the test. Biology is my major and it is also the section i did the worst on. I was surprised by this since its my major but the biology section is extremely broad. It will take a lot of hard work to do well on that section. I don't know what else to get besides an AP book and Kaplan but i am sure some other people can help with that. I think that if i had more time i would've done better on that section as well. I thought that Kaplan did a good job covering the chemistry sections of the test. The reading section was where i excelled the most but i also didn't study for it at all. I did one practice reading test before the exam just to familiarize myself with the portion of the exam. If you are an avid, quick reader you should do very well on this section. Kaplan has a section on reading with a couple of practice tests otherwise i am sure other companies sell more comprehensive reading sections, i just don't think they are necessary if you are an avid reader.
I studied hard for about two weeks before the exam. My first week i studied about 4 hours a day (i was still working part time) and week number two i studied for about 6 hours a day. For me, that was all i could muster. Some people post saying they do 10+ hours a day, i can't do that. I wish i would've given myself 3 weeks to a month for studying, not only two weeks. My recommendation is 3-4 weeks of studying for 4-6 hours a day, nothing more than that. It will be an intense period of time but will pay off and is realistic, unlike some of these programs with 8+ hours a day for 2 or 3 months.
My only exception was that i did a lot of work with Crack PAT to familiarize myself with that section of the test. I used Crack the whole summer (2 months) every once in a while to stay fresh. the PAT has a lot of tricks to it so the more practice you do with each section, the better. My personal advice is to skip over the angles section the first time you get to it. Just answer all As or something like that and finish the other sections first. Then, with your remaining time go back and do the angles section. The reason i say this is because when i first started doing the PAT i would waste a lot time looking at the nuances of the angles and still ended up getting it wrong. It is a big time waster and even when you put in a minute of looking at an angle it is still really tough to see the difference. Save it for last, when you have to move quickly so you don't waste all your time on it.
I took a couple practice test from kaplan and top score and didn't do well on them. I was honestly very scared when i took the test but i was very happy with my results. On my practice exams if i hit 20 i was pretty happy with the score. An AA of 20 was my goal (i wouldn't retake if i got that) but on my practice exams i wasn't getting there. However, after taking the exam my scores were as follows:
Bio:18
Chem:23
Ochem:23
Reading:25
Math:19
PAT:21
AA:22
-as you can see my scores went up from my practice exams. That is why i said that i think the test is over rated in terms of its difficulty. However, i want to throw in a disclaimer. I am generally a very good test taker so maybe my view point of the test won't be with the majority, that is for you to decide. This post is just so you can look at what i did and see if that works for you! Good luck!
