I know i haven't been an avid poster on here, but i figured i'd share my DAT experiences with everyone.
7/18/11
PA: 20 81.0%
QR: 20 95.1%
B: 26 98.0%
GC: 29 99.8%
OC: 28 99.5%
TS: 29 100.0%
AA: 25 100.0%
I prepared with KBB, Barron's AP Bio, Princeton Review AP Chem, and my old orgo textbook.
So, the main reason I wanted to post this was for everyone out there who comes on this site and reads about everybody else's crazy study habits/materials and is freaked out by it, like I was a few weeks ago with only 10 days left to study. My parents didn't want to drop a thousand on a Kaplan course, or even a few hundred for DAT Destroyer or Crack the DAT, and because of everything people posted on here i felt like i was at a huge disadvantage due to that. Also i have a full time summer job so I started studying June 1st and most days i could only study for 1-3 hours. So here's what i did, short on cash and time:
Bio- to study for this i took notes on KBB, read Barron's AP Bio and added stuff to my notes that was missing. KBB is really iffy on the bio material--they seemed to leave a lot out, i.e. on plants and immunology. that's where Barron's helped. As far as my test today, the questions tested all aspects of the material, but the details weren't too bad. And of course as everyone says, there are a few random questions, but you can't really prepare for those. i just had to narrow those down to a few answers and from there guess. Lots of material, flashcards helped here.
Chem-KBB covered this well, so i really just used the AP book for practice tests which helped a lot. Just make sure you know all the equations/concepts, and practice so you can apply them in the right situations. Flashcards helped with equations, solubility rules, etc. There were no surprises on my chem today.
OChem- pretty much the same as chem. KBB presented all the equations/concepts, but in my studying i would also add important rxns i remembered from class. FLASHCARDS will get the job done for this; know the rxns cold. and also acidity was an important concept (carboxylic acids!!). again, no real crazy surprises on this section today.
PAT- this was the section i was most nervous for because my only real practice was on the KBB practice test and any sources i could find online for free. If i were to buy a program for anything, this would be it (Crack the DAT i heard is good computer practice). My biggest problem today with this was that my eyes honestly got exhausted from staring at a screen of random shapes and lines for an hour. and also the angles were as crazy as everyone says. i just used the generic strategies that everyone talks about online. could've used some work on this section but it's ok.
Reading- again, only exposure to this coming in was KBB's test. REALLY lucked out with my readings--topics were aging, telomerase, and gene therapy, all of which were covered in my genetics class last year. i was expecting lots of scientific mumbo jumbo, but like i said i guess i got lucky here.
Math- WTF??? i planned on this being the section that would salvage my AA, but this section was the worst for me. Maybe it was cause it was at the end and i was tired, but this was actually real tough. know celcius/F conversion. also had lots of trig (know how to manipulate the sign graphs with period, etc.) its just a lot of word problems squished into a little time.
So there it is. This site is great for sharing tricks and strategies and experiences and for asking questions, but the DAT experience is different for everyone, so you really need to take everyone else's opinions with a grain of salt and do what works for you/your situation. By no means am i saying not to study a lot, but also don't psych yourself out. Good luck everyone
7/18/11
PA: 20 81.0%
QR: 20 95.1%
B: 26 98.0%
GC: 29 99.8%
OC: 28 99.5%
TS: 29 100.0%
AA: 25 100.0%
I prepared with KBB, Barron's AP Bio, Princeton Review AP Chem, and my old orgo textbook.
So, the main reason I wanted to post this was for everyone out there who comes on this site and reads about everybody else's crazy study habits/materials and is freaked out by it, like I was a few weeks ago with only 10 days left to study. My parents didn't want to drop a thousand on a Kaplan course, or even a few hundred for DAT Destroyer or Crack the DAT, and because of everything people posted on here i felt like i was at a huge disadvantage due to that. Also i have a full time summer job so I started studying June 1st and most days i could only study for 1-3 hours. So here's what i did, short on cash and time:
Bio- to study for this i took notes on KBB, read Barron's AP Bio and added stuff to my notes that was missing. KBB is really iffy on the bio material--they seemed to leave a lot out, i.e. on plants and immunology. that's where Barron's helped. As far as my test today, the questions tested all aspects of the material, but the details weren't too bad. And of course as everyone says, there are a few random questions, but you can't really prepare for those. i just had to narrow those down to a few answers and from there guess. Lots of material, flashcards helped here.
Chem-KBB covered this well, so i really just used the AP book for practice tests which helped a lot. Just make sure you know all the equations/concepts, and practice so you can apply them in the right situations. Flashcards helped with equations, solubility rules, etc. There were no surprises on my chem today.
OChem- pretty much the same as chem. KBB presented all the equations/concepts, but in my studying i would also add important rxns i remembered from class. FLASHCARDS will get the job done for this; know the rxns cold. and also acidity was an important concept (carboxylic acids!!). again, no real crazy surprises on this section today.
PAT- this was the section i was most nervous for because my only real practice was on the KBB practice test and any sources i could find online for free. If i were to buy a program for anything, this would be it (Crack the DAT i heard is good computer practice). My biggest problem today with this was that my eyes honestly got exhausted from staring at a screen of random shapes and lines for an hour. and also the angles were as crazy as everyone says. i just used the generic strategies that everyone talks about online. could've used some work on this section but it's ok.
Reading- again, only exposure to this coming in was KBB's test. REALLY lucked out with my readings--topics were aging, telomerase, and gene therapy, all of which were covered in my genetics class last year. i was expecting lots of scientific mumbo jumbo, but like i said i guess i got lucky here.
Math- WTF??? i planned on this being the section that would salvage my AA, but this section was the worst for me. Maybe it was cause it was at the end and i was tired, but this was actually real tough. know celcius/F conversion. also had lots of trig (know how to manipulate the sign graphs with period, etc.) its just a lot of word problems squished into a little time.
So there it is. This site is great for sharing tricks and strategies and experiences and for asking questions, but the DAT experience is different for everyone, so you really need to take everyone else's opinions with a grain of salt and do what works for you/your situation. By no means am i saying not to study a lot, but also don't psych yourself out. Good luck everyone
. Notice the "compete with another perfect score" . Although his scores are good, it isn't his thread.
