Done DAT today - I'd like to hear your opnions~

[yong1981]

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I took the DAT today...and I got a weird score = (.
Here are my scores..

PAT 21
QR 18🙁
RC 15🙁
Biology 23
G-Chem 21
O-Chem 23
TS 22
AA 20

I really panicked in RC and I got that score...although I am not a native speaker, it is a shame to have that score with 7 years in the states. 🙁
Can you guys give me some thoughts ?
I will expose my record.

My GPAs are...
Overall: 3.5
Science: 3.4

but, I was a transferer from a community college, so my overall GPA only at 4 year University is 3.28 with science GPA 3.0. (I had a steady improvement in overall GPAs though)

Also, I served in the US Army for 4 years (Active duty).
I'm applying to 15 schools this year and I submit AADSAS application on 1 Aug (I know it is very late 🙁 )

Since I submited the application already, I have to go with this score, but I just want to know how much my RC (and maybe QR) score will affect the admission.

I am thinking about retaking the DAT again to imporve my RC and QR, but it might be at the end of this year or early next year.

Sicne I didn't do bad on Science, I will post how I prepared Science if you guys want to know, but later... I don't have any energy left now..😴

Thank you for reading and Good Luck to everybody!

 

[Ocean5]

I took the DAT today...and I got a weired score = (.
Here are my scores..

PAT 21
QR 18🙁
RC 15🙁
Biology 23
G-Chem 21
O-Chem 23
TS 22
AA 20

I was really paniced in RC and I got that score...although I am not a native speaker, it is shame to have that score with 7 years in the states. 🙁
Can you guys give me some thought on this socre and addmision chances?
I will expose my record..

My GPAs are...
Overall: 3.5
Science: 3.4

but, I was a transferer from a community college, so my overall GPA only at 4 year University is 3.28 with science GPA 3.0. (I had the steady improvement in overall GPAs though.. 2.8=>3.0=>3.5=>3.67)

Also, I served in the US Army for 4 years (Active duty).
I'm applying 15 schools this year and I submit AADSAS application on 1 Aug (I know it is very late 🙁 )

Since I e-submited the application already, I have to go with this score, but I just want to know how much my RC (and maybe QR) score will affect on the admission.

I am think retaking the DAT again to imporve my RC and QR, but it might be at the end of this year or early next year.

Sicne I was not bad on Science, I will post how I prepared Science if you guys want to know it.

Thank you for reading and Gool Luck to everybody!

I think you are fine and you'll get in. About the GPA they wouldn't look at different things, they look it as a whole. So it shouldn't concern you. Good luck.
Well, how did you practice for All, Science, MAth and RC?

 

[issa]

these are awesome scores except for the RC.
what did you use to study for the dat?

 

[tympo]

Great score! I don't think you need to worry about retaking it, you should be fine.

Few questions: how did you prepare for the DAT and how long?

As for the test, I know they give you a small white. However, I heard that they also give you two laminated 8X11 sheets for the Reading comp. Can you confirm this?

Thanks, tym

 

[alltheway]

I sincerely think that you could pull it off. You don't have bad scores axcept for that RC which might be overlooked by your AA and PAT score. So anyway the only you could now is wait. Worrying won't help and hope for the best.

 

[jimmy1fernan]

thats not bad!! you did good. but yeah tell us how you studied for it. im taking mine in dec. im just studying for im. im not even working.

 

[yong1981]

Sorry about late update.

First of all, find the place you can only study.
I decided to study at home first time, but I couldn't concentrate somehow.
So I studied at local library.
Also, make a possible studying plan. I thought I could study for 10~12 hours a day for full 2 months, but I gave me a lot stress and I had many slump days...

I studied for 9 weeks.

First 2 weeks:
Read over Kaplan blue book one time.

3rd~4th week:
I was in a slump, rarely studied more than one hour a day.

5th week:
Finished DAT destroyer. (I avoided getting bored by studying some of all section). I read all solution and made flash card with question numbers (so I can go back to the solution when I can't understand flash card clearly).

6th week:
Slump Again 🙁

7th week🙁 started studying at least 8 hours a day😎)
Took Top score, reviewed them, and made flash card from the solution.
Spent a lot time memorizing my all flash card.

8th week:
Solved DAT destroyer problem one more time.
Took Achiever test #1, and reviewed.
Read AP Biology from cliff and made flash card that was not covered from Kaplan blue book and Destroyer.

9th week:
Took achiever test #2/#3, and reviewed them.
Read Destroyer solution and tried to memorize them (I skipped calculation problems from G. Chem.)
Read Kaplan G. Chem. section only for concept that might be missed from Destroyer.


Overall, I used DAT destroyer as my main study tool. I am not good at memorizing, so I have to spend much time on memorizing.

Bio
I read over Kaplan one time, but it is not enough at all!!! Many detail concepts are not covered. DAT destroyer helped me to build a lot of concepts. Although the destroyer has a lot of information, it is not organized as whole. That’s why I studied Cliff AP Biology at the end of my studying period. Fortunately, most of concepts in Cliff were covered by Destroyer. I just skimmed through and made flash card that were not covered in the Destroyer. I recommend studying the Cliff first, and then studying Destroyer.
I also used Wikipedia and Kaplan MCAT biology review for reference.
Biology is very broad subject. In my opinion, to get high score on this subject, you need to memorize them all the detail based on understanding.
As many SDNers said, I had to apply concepts and made the best choice base on what I know. Make sure you know concepts clearly, so you can recall them fast during the test.

G Chem
I read Kaplan review one time. Destroyer helped me to understand the concepts more clearly and how to solve problems. For first 5 weeks, I concentrated on solving the calculation problems, but Do Not do as I did! I had about 5~6 calculations on the real DAT and simple calculations (more questions than I expected , so I panicked a little bit ) If you don't panic as I did on real DAT, you will do fine. Don't spend a lot of time on difficult questions on Destroyer, Kaplan, Top score, and Achiever. But, you can spend a lot of time to understand/memorize important concepts. On 9th week, I read only concept part of Kaplan review, and I think it helped me organize concepts in my head.

O Chem
I read Kaplan review one time. I made flash card from Kaplan review and Destroyer. Not every reaction will be on the test, but I think more you know them, better chance to get high score. Please use Road map from Destroyer as base and expand other reactions. I don't have much to say for this section because I just study and keep memorize, didn't use any special strategy.

PAT
I just solved problem on Kaplan, Top score, and Achiever and scored moderate score (20~24) except Achiever (too hard). In real test, every section was easier than Achiever except Angle section. (Impossible to figure out some angle problem).

QR
I read Kaplan review and solved Destroyer problems. On real DAT, there are a lot of word problems. During the real DAT, I thought I would get a high score because word problems were not that hard. But, too many word problems! I would spend a lot of time to solve many different kinds of word problems and develop ability to solve them ASAP. I can't remember how many words problems on the real DAT, but definitely between 15 to 20 problems for my test..(I expected around 10 word problems). I am not bad at Math( I think ), but I didn't have enough time..

RC
omg... I was freaked out during the test. I am a slow reader and not good at English. I made my own strategy:
Reading 1st and last paragraph and making paragraph map (writing down) by skimming in 5 minutes / solve the problem in 15 minutes. 20minutes per paragraph
It worked on most of practice tests. But, I panicked a lot because questions were not that straight forward as practice tests. There were still a lot of fact based questions, but it was not easy as practice tests. Also, the testing center provide me only marker and board(I didn't know ). I made paragraph map, but marker was too thick. I couldn't recognize my writing...So please remember that!!! ( I even asked for scratch paper and pencils, but a clerk said only marker and board were allowed for DAT

Here is my practices test scores. Some are not exact score because I remove the test scores for Top scores and Kaplan by mistakes.

Kaplan CD
AA 19
Bio 17
don't remeber rest of them 😕

Topscore
#1 #2 #3
AA 19 19 19
TS 19 18 19

Achiever
#1 #2 #3
AA 19 18 19
PAT 18 19 17
QR 19 22 20
RC 19 17 21
Bio 18 17 18
Gchem 19 15 17
Ochem 18 19 19
TS 19 17 18

I know it's too long.😴
Good luck guys~~~👍

 

[evlyann]

Wow! You have an awesome Bio score. Dont worry too much about the QR, but the reading comp may give you some problems at some schools. Why dont you call your designated schools and ask what they think. I think with your gpa and good science scores, you will probably get some invites. GL!