DAT scores and tips!

[Smile529]

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Hi everyone..

I am new to the site but I took the DAT about a week ago and was really happy with my scores so I figured I'd let you know how I prepared and what tips I have for those of you who are preparing to take the test.

My scores:

PAT: 21
QR: 22
Reading: 22
Bio: 23
Gchem: 27
Orgo: 24
TS: 25
AA: 24


For the science sections I mostly used DAT Destroyer... it was REALLY on the money, and made most of the bio, gchem, and orgo questions seem like a breeze. I know other people have said this, but I can't emphasize enough how important it is to not only make sure you can answer the questions in Destroyer, but to make sure you read and memorize explanations in the answer sections... they really contain a lot of valuable information! Topscore and Achiever were useful in terms of getting used to the timing and the test format, but I found the actual information to be off the mark when compared with Destroyer.

For PAT I used Crack the PAT and definitely found it very helpful.... by the end I was getting at least a 22 on the practice tests but I ended up only getting a 21 on the actualy DAT. I also used Achiever and TopScore practice tests and found them to be helpful, although topscore was sometimes a bit too easy.

If you have any other questions I'd be happy to answer.
Good luck!

 

[xaznxcountx]

I like how no one even bothered to respond to this thread. 😛

 

[Electrons]

Congrats! How many times did you go over DD? How did you handle the RC & QR?

 

[doc3232]

Congrats, can we get a useful breakdown?

Thanks

 

[heatwheat]

Did you use anything besides Destroyer and Crack?

 

[TeamGuo]

this is dumb. I always get suspicious when people bold the destroyer and then say it was on the MONEY.

I hope I see your score in the next years ADA report.

If it's real, good job.

 

[Smile529]

Thank you......

Electrons: I went over Bio DD a LOT.. I'm not sure how many times but I'd say at least 5-6 times. Orgo I probably went over 3-4 times, and chem 2-3 times. I only went through QR 2 times. For each section, I marked problems or concepts I was shaky on and reviewed those a bunch of times.

TeamGuo: My scores ARE real and I don't know why you would think otherwise. Destroyer was truly the most helpful tool for the science sections and that is why I chose to make it bold. I didn't write such a detailed breakdown because a)I started working this week and I've been busy and b)I didn't think it would be necessary to repeat things that have already been said on the site so many times.

However, if it would be helpful, I'm definitely willing to provide a more "useful" breakdown of how I prepared and what I found on the test:

Again, my scores were:
Bio- 23
Orgo- 24
Gchem- 27
QR- 22
Reading- 22
PAT - 21
TS - 25
AA - 24

Bio: i felt that I was really weak in bio before I started studying, so I went through the AP Bio Cliff's review book and found it to be a very thorough and cohesive review. I made index cards as I went along. Some of the sections are definintely more detailed than you need to know for the DAT (e.g RNA translation, plants) but it's good for an overall review. Once I had the general review, I just kept going though destroyer, paying a lot of attention to the information in the answer explanations. On the actual DAT, I found most of the questions to be fairly simple and straightforward.

Gen Chem: In addition to reviewing my own notes from when I originally took gchem, I went through Destroyer a few times and made sure I was familiar with all of the question styles.

Orgo: Again, Destroyer pretty much contained most of the question types that I saw on the DAT. The roadmaps in destroyer in particular were a great review, as were all of the destroyer questions. Since there is so much information in orgo, there were a few concepts or reactions that I felt a little shaky on, so for those I went back to my orgo text book and read up on them. I also used the Kaplan review book as a general review at the end.

QR: To prepare for QR I used the Kaplan book as a quick review of concepts and formulas and then did all of the practice problems in destroyer. I did the topscore and achiever practice tests and did very well. I'm generally a strong math student so I expected to do really well in this section, but the test ended up being a lot more difficult than I had expected. I don't know how I could have prepared better for this section, and my score is still decent, so I'd just say it's important to make sure you know formulas and trig identities cold so that you can do those questions quickly, and also make sure you practice doing the QR section timed so that you get used to managing your time well, as I felt that finishing this section in the allotted time was the most challenging.

Reading: I didn't really prepare much for the reading section. I did the topscore and achiever practice tests but just like QR, I found the actual DAT to be a lot more challenging than the practice tests. Actually, two of the passages were very fair and one was very challenging in that the information was difficult to find in the passage and/or not explicitly stated in the passage. From what I've heard, it seems that every test contains one passage that is a little bit more difficult than the rest. For me, it was the 2nd passage (out of three) and I ended up spending SO much time on it that I almost ran out of time on the 3rd passage (somehow, I managed to finish 🙂 ) My advice would be: if you come across a passage that you're having a lot of trouble with, SKIP IT and finish the section and then GO BACK... this way, you make sure you have enough time to answer the easier questions that you have more of a chance of getting right!

PAT: I did Crack the PAT tests, topscore, and achiever but found Crack the PAT to be most similar to the DAT in difficulty. (Topscore was sometimes WAY to easy!) Closer to the test I usually got a 22-23 on my Crack the Dat Pat practice tests but only got a 21 on the actualy DAT. I don't know if that was due to nerves or difficulty level. Either way, PRACTICE is the most important thing you can do for this section. I really got better with every pracice test that I did. The good thing about all of the practice tests is that they have answer explanations, which I found particularly useful for the aperture passing section.

Hope this was more helpful. Good luck!!

 

[HarvardBioGrad]

this is dumb. I always get suspicious when people bold the destroyer and then say it was on the MONEY.

I hope I see your score in the next years ADA report.

If it's real, good job.

Debbie Downer?

Good job OP, great score.

 

[ckmonster]

hey thanks for the inside! I just have a quick question, how long did you study for the DAT? Did you study while in school, while taking classes? For how long each day?
Thanks!

 

[eldirty]

amazing scores ... congrats and good luck

 

[Smile529]

I studied for about two months, and no, I wasn't taking any courses during the 2 months I was studying and preparing for the DAT... I realize not everyone can do this but it was really nice to be able to concentrate exclusively on the DAT without having other stressors at the time.

 

[Smile529]

sorry just realized I didn't fully answer your question... the number of hours each day varied.....

I'd say I averaged about 6 hours a day for those two months and in the last 2 weeks before the test I upped the intensity of my studying (i was getting nervous!) and did about 8-10 hours a day.