- Joined
- Aug 7, 2008
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 0
I have been reading these forums for quite some time now, but I haven't really participated. However, I really appreciate how much help I have received from reading peoples posts. I finally took my DAT today and I'm pretty happy with my results. They were definitely unexpected.
PAT: I was getting 21-23 on Topscore and 20-21 on Achiever, so I didn't study much more besides taking the practice tests. Angles and hole punching were much worse on the real test than the practice tests... the monitor I had really didn't show any pixels... which is what I used to differentiate between angles. I didn't use Crack Pat, but I kind of wish I had :|
QR: It was a huge time issue. Sort of blown away at the number of weird weird LOOONG calculations and conversions. I would say definitely memorize conversions because they weren't given to me at all. I also got some strange trig identity stuff, so study that. I got 22-24s on all my practice tests... so I was kind of disappointed.
RC: Pretty straightforward. I honestly don't remember my passages, but I didn't get the ethics passage. I got 22-23s on my practice tests w/ Topscore and Achiever so I didn't study and was kind of surprised that I didn't do that well.
BIO: It has always been my weakness. I got a 15 on my first Kaplan practice test, so I really freaked out and studied hardcore. I read the ENTIRE Campbells book and Schuams 2.5 times(.5 was just skimming). It helped me out a lot. I found Schuams to provide all those necessary random details that pop up on the DAT. I feel like I just happened to study the right stuff for the test... which was great 🙂 Really look at those the test specs on the ada website!
GC: I have always been pretty good at gen chem but I didn't do that well on any of my practice tests, I got between 16-21 on Kaplan BB, Achiever, and Topscore tests. I went over/skimmed my old AP Chemistry textbook and my gen chem textbook and focused on areas that I was rusty on. I also did the entire Princeton Review AP Chemistry study book that I had from high school... I wouldn't say it helped me out tremendously... but I got good practice. Just practice and familiarize yourself with different ways of asking questions!
OC: I didn't do that well on practice tests, between 18-22 on all practice tests. I wanted to do well so I read through my entire orgo book again. I just did all problems from the back of each chapter, which are definitely super detailed and complex, so I got a feel for all types of approaches to questions. I used the Wade book and I also had the solutions manual, that way I was able to get really good answers for all the problems.
I studied for 14 weeks, with a 2 week NO STUDYING AT ALL vacation right in the middle. Each day, I probably spent 6-12 hours depending on how focused I was. Certain days I would just really get into the groove of studying and be super motivated and study all day... but certain days I would study 2 hours in the morning, two hours between lunch and dinner and 2 more in the evening and call it a night. I would also stress making a set schedule. My exam was scheduled for 11am, so I made sure I was awake EVERY single day by 9am so that my brain would mentally on by 11am every day. The two weeks before the test, I felt I was ready... so I just flipped to random questions in my textbooks to see if I could do a randomly selected problem. If I couldn't, I would brush up and master it. The week before, I just got TONS of sleep, ate really well... and went running a bunch 🙂
Here are my scores....
PAT-20 (88.1)
QR- 19 (81.8)
RC- 20 (67.. really??)
BIOL- 21 (91.8)
GC- 26 (98.3)
OC- 29 (100)
TS- 24 (99.3)
AA- 23 (98.1)
I kind of did opposite of my practice tests... but I'm totally fine with that!
Good luck everyone! I'm open to answer any questions!
PAT: I was getting 21-23 on Topscore and 20-21 on Achiever, so I didn't study much more besides taking the practice tests. Angles and hole punching were much worse on the real test than the practice tests... the monitor I had really didn't show any pixels... which is what I used to differentiate between angles. I didn't use Crack Pat, but I kind of wish I had :|
QR: It was a huge time issue. Sort of blown away at the number of weird weird LOOONG calculations and conversions. I would say definitely memorize conversions because they weren't given to me at all. I also got some strange trig identity stuff, so study that. I got 22-24s on all my practice tests... so I was kind of disappointed.
RC: Pretty straightforward. I honestly don't remember my passages, but I didn't get the ethics passage. I got 22-23s on my practice tests w/ Topscore and Achiever so I didn't study and was kind of surprised that I didn't do that well.
BIO: It has always been my weakness. I got a 15 on my first Kaplan practice test, so I really freaked out and studied hardcore. I read the ENTIRE Campbells book and Schuams 2.5 times(.5 was just skimming). It helped me out a lot. I found Schuams to provide all those necessary random details that pop up on the DAT. I feel like I just happened to study the right stuff for the test... which was great 🙂 Really look at those the test specs on the ada website!
GC: I have always been pretty good at gen chem but I didn't do that well on any of my practice tests, I got between 16-21 on Kaplan BB, Achiever, and Topscore tests. I went over/skimmed my old AP Chemistry textbook and my gen chem textbook and focused on areas that I was rusty on. I also did the entire Princeton Review AP Chemistry study book that I had from high school... I wouldn't say it helped me out tremendously... but I got good practice. Just practice and familiarize yourself with different ways of asking questions!
OC: I didn't do that well on practice tests, between 18-22 on all practice tests. I wanted to do well so I read through my entire orgo book again. I just did all problems from the back of each chapter, which are definitely super detailed and complex, so I got a feel for all types of approaches to questions. I used the Wade book and I also had the solutions manual, that way I was able to get really good answers for all the problems.
I studied for 14 weeks, with a 2 week NO STUDYING AT ALL vacation right in the middle. Each day, I probably spent 6-12 hours depending on how focused I was. Certain days I would just really get into the groove of studying and be super motivated and study all day... but certain days I would study 2 hours in the morning, two hours between lunch and dinner and 2 more in the evening and call it a night. I would also stress making a set schedule. My exam was scheduled for 11am, so I made sure I was awake EVERY single day by 9am so that my brain would mentally on by 11am every day. The two weeks before the test, I felt I was ready... so I just flipped to random questions in my textbooks to see if I could do a randomly selected problem. If I couldn't, I would brush up and master it. The week before, I just got TONS of sleep, ate really well... and went running a bunch 🙂
Here are my scores....
PAT-20 (88.1)
QR- 19 (81.8)
RC- 20 (67.. really??)
BIOL- 21 (91.8)
GC- 26 (98.3)
OC- 29 (100)
TS- 24 (99.3)
AA- 23 (98.1)
I kind of did opposite of my practice tests... but I'm totally fine with that!
Good luck everyone! I'm open to answer any questions!
