FINALLY DONE!!! Scores, Practice Scores, and thoughts (later)

[kxb4777]

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Okay...I wrote my thoughts on all the sections, but it didn't work...so now that I've had a couple shots and a few Rolling Rocks, I'll just post my scores now and thoughts later...

PAT - 28 (100%) 😱
QR - 23 (96.0%)
RC - 21 (80.2%)
Biology - 22 (95.2%)
GChem - 20 (79.4%)
OChem - 19 (71.7%) <----DAMN DAMN DAMN!
TS - 20 (84.0%)
AA - 21 (91.0%)

And for those of you who like to see Topscore/Achiever comparisons (I was doing that ALOT the week before my exam), here you go:

Achiever (taken 2-3 weeks ago)
Test 1
Bio - 17 / Chem - 18 / OChem - 16 / RC - 22 / QR - 22 / PAT - 19
Test 2
Bio - 16 / Chem - 16 / OChem - 16 / RC - ?? / QR - 22 / PAT - 18
Test 3
Bio - 16 / Chem - 19 / OChem - 18 / RC - ?? / QR - 22 / PAT - ??

Topscore (taken the past couple days)
Test 1
Bio - 21 / Chem - 18 / OChem - 20 / RC - ?? / QR - ?? / PAT - ??
Test 2
Bio - 21 / Chem - 20 / OChem - 20 / RC - ?? / QR - ?? / PAT - 25
Test 3
Bio - 21 / Chem - 21 / OChem - 23 / RC - ?? / QR - 23 / PAT - 23

BTW, thank you to FancymyLotus, who answered all of my questions on this forum (although the hexokinase question didn't appear on my test...) and everyone else who answered my ridonkulous questions the past couple weeks...

Okay...time to get bushneffly drunk...BYAH!

Be back later with my thoughts...after my hangover has subsided...

 

[kxb4777]

Oops...forgot to mention that I have a sub 3.0 GPA (2.92), although this past year, I received a 3.6 in a masters program and will be finishing it this coming year. I have also sent my application in to several schools (I think 20+). Anyone have any comments on my shot to get at least an interview?

 

[biocmp]

Congratulations... Now put down that rolling rock, and grab a kilian's

 

[TermiNadder2012]

Nice job! now it's time to just kick back and enjoy what's left of summer.

 

[fancymylotus]

Oops...forgot to mention that I have a sub 3.0 GPA (2.92), although this past year, I received a 3.6 in a masters program and will be finishing it this coming year. I have also sent my application in to several schools (I think 20+). Anyone have any comments on my shot to get at least an interview?

hey rockstar 🙂 I say your 28 PAT gets you tons of interviews. Congrats, and welcome to the "other" side😀

 

[Jaylee777]

how and what did you study the time from your achiever tests and top score tests?

 

[IsRaEl21]

nice scores good job, u got ur self a nice ticket to dental school.

 

[kxb4777]

Okay...my breakdown (btw, I'm a bit tipsy, so excuse any typos or grammatical errors)

QR - A couple trig questions, several word problems, majority basic math. I read a lot of horror stories on this forum about the difficulty of this sections, mainly because of the amount of word problems. The only thing I can suggest is to PRACTICE writing out word problems in equation form. If you can do this, you're set. I never really studied this section; all I did was memorize the trig functions and do 2 practice tests for timing practice. Other than that, I can't really elaborate more on this section, mainly because it was so similar to all the practice tests I've already seen. JUST PRACTICE! (btw, I got a law of sines...TY FANCYMYLOTUS!). Never really went through destroyer QR, so can't tell you much about that.

RC - More inference and tone questions than I expected...I HIGHLY recommend the Kaplan Keyword strategy...it let you easily identify the paragraphs you need to re-read in order to answer the questions...I was given 3 laminated paper sheets for this part, so during your break, set up your sheets. (I numbered mine 1-15 and just wrote the subject on each paragraph, along with a couple IMPORTANT keywords, dates, etc). There are enough passage-based questions that if you skim and outline well, you will get 20+.

Bio - Okay...this section I can't explain. I don't know how I got a 22...after completing the NS section, I thought I had done so poorly...Alot of the questions require reasoning, IMO. You will get a decent amount of quetions that if you studied destroyer and Kaplan, you will get. The others...man. haha. Just use your best judgment. I recommend destroyer and Kaplan for this section.

GChem - I thought I would do better based on my practice scores...For this section, I got a pretty comprehensive review of the material. Destroyer and Kaplan really help with this section. I recommend reading the answers and understanding why things happen for this section. You will come across some calculations, but the majority of this section was conceptual.

OChem - I know 19 is a good score, but I really was expecting higher (esp. considering I was doing so well in my practice exams). Must knows are destroyer's roadmaps, Sn1/Sn2/E1/E2, and stereochemistry (but that's probably already pretty obvious by now).

PAT - To be honest, I've never really studied for this section. It's been pretty natural for me...I'll try to break down each section and how I approach them...
**Keyholes: I was having a huge issue with this section during the test, mainly becuase alot of them weren't to scale with the actual size of the figures. I would just look at the answer choices (gives you a clue as to which projection to look for) and see the 3 different projections. Best fit was my answer.
**TFE: Kaplan strategy works. Eliminate by lines/breaks. Determine the differences between the remaining choices. Choose best answer.
**Angles: LOOK AT THE ANSWER CHOICES! This gives you a clue as to what to compare and look for. After that, determine angle size (I was placing my laminated sheets against the screen to form a 90 degree angle...)
**Cube counting: Kaplan strategy...'nuff said
**Hole punching: Lines of symmetry...work backwards.
**Pattern folding: This is an extremely hard section to describe on a forum. In the simplest terms, when dealing with different colors/shades and patterns, I associated how different sides would look when brought together. I know that doesn't help much, but it really requires you to see things third dimensionally...If you're in a Kaplan course, ask the help of your teacher or really work on the cutouts given. With patterns not involving shades or patterns, just determine what the final figure will be.

Regarding my Study habits...
Reviewed Kaplan book and all practice tests/exams/workshops for 2-3 weeks.
Bought the Achiever and went through topics I had missed...
Reviewed destroyer like 10 times
Did all my topscore practice exams
Pray...

I studied about 4-5 times a week, 4-5 hours a day for about a month.


Well, I hope that helped...feel free to PM me with any questions (although I hardly feel like an expert at the DAT) and I'll do my best to help.

 

[z3u2]

QR - 23 (96.0%)
TS - 20 (84.0%)
AA - 21 (91.0%)

talking about the percentile
i had the same scores in these section, taken in march.
QR 23 was 95.9%
TS 20 was 85.8%
AA 21 was 91.5%

excellent pat score btw👍

 

[sacjumpman]

Okay...my breakdown (btw, I'm a bit tipsy, so excuse any typos or grammatical errors)

Other than that, I can't really elaborate more on this section, mainly because it was so similar to all the practice tests I've already seen. JUST PRACTICE! (btw, I got a law of sines...TY FANCYMYLOTUS!). Never really went through destroyer QR, so can't tell you much about that.

Man, I would have never even thought to study Law of sines.... I guess maybe after I do topscore/achiever

I'm wondering what other stuff will come up that I will have never thought of....

Great job btw. Your earlier post had me worried when you were asking about the 30-60-90. and how you were studying 2 hours before your exam 😉 But you did great.

 

[xdianaax]

Nice work! Good luck on the rest of your app.

 

[biocmp]

Did you receive any Benzene Substituent effect questions? eg. - ortho, para, meta

 

[kxb4777]

Did you receive any Benzene Substituent effect questions? eg. - ortho, para, meta

I don't recall seeing it, but I might have used it in one of the multiple reaction questions...

Either way, its a high frequency topic, so I would know it anyways.

 

[shane.]

I've never even heard of law of sines.

I gave it a Wiki search and can hardly grasp the concept just looking at the equations...

 

[fancymylotus]

I've never even heard of law of sines.

I gave it a Wiki search and can hardly grasp the concept just looking at the equations...

Go back through Topscore QR, theres a law of sines question in one of the three somewhere.

 

[shane.]

So I found the problem you are talking about. While taking the test I didn't even recognize it as anything other than simple trig problem. I answered the problem fine without using the law of sines, simply by setting up the proper ratios.

I'm assuming there are more complicated instances where the actual law would be required.