Finally Free!!!!!!!!!! (DAT Done 7-16-08)

[Jake8]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Wow I am still riding high after yesterday it was really my life for the last three months culminated into a mere 4hr block in front of the computer. It was an adventure to say the least. About one month ago I registered for the test but was unable to secure a spot at the local testing center so I ended up two hours away in Jacksonville. Well my girlfriend got word of my test location, so she suggests I stay with her dad for the night, but she has to work the next night so its him and I; mano e mano. she really knows how to create a stress free environment as you can see.

Day before the test I arrive and it actually went over very well. Hell I was more nervous about spending time with the father than I was about taking the test. I made two mistakes that night. First was staying up till 2am studying and the second was not bringing my cell phone charger. When my phone died on the way to Jacksonville I thought nothing of it, rather I was glad nobody could distract me. However when I went to go set my alarm, it was dead and unusable. I had to make due by using an online alarm clock from a google search and just trusting my future and career to a mere outdated computer program.

For me this was a retake as I was naive and unprepared the first time I took it

DAT May 2007
PAT 24
QR 17
BIO 20
GC 18
OC 18
RC 18
TS 19
AA 18

DAT July 16 2008
PAT 23 -1
QR 17 0
BIO 22 +2
GC 22 +4
OC 20 +2
RC 23 +5
TS 21 +2
AA 21 +3

All I can say is I was surprised to see some of my scores after that computer was processing for what seemed like forever. It was a nice ending to a little adventure.


Edit 3.37 GPA microbio major and Applying to 24 AADSAS schools and 2 non AADSAS

 

[funktion]

Those are great scores dude and knowing the harrowing circumstances you faced prior to the exam (staying with girlfriends father? zomg!) makes them all the more impressive.

 

[dsjar]

Great scores!!!!
I"m retaking mine Saturday and hoping for the same results!
What was ur strategy for reading comp!?
and how was bio ... that's def the section i'm most nervous about

 

[itisme]

what did you use as your study materials? how do u do the TFE and aperture? do u have any strategies? I get them all wrong.

 

[harrygt]

Congrats.
Did you get frapped or not? How were the passages? What technic would you recommend for RC? Thx

 

[doc3232]

HAHA, that was one of the funniest pre-DAT stories...
Anyway, study materials, input of the test?

 

[utdent20]

that is funny story for sure for before the DAT. man who wants to deal parental stress.. but those are awesome scores.. youshould be in!! tell us about the what all materials you used. and what are the chacnes of ppl doing bad the first tiem and getting frapped the second..anyone?

 

[Jake8]

I was lucky no FRAP for me though I was ready for it and half expecting it going into the test.

BIO: I am a microbiology major and just graduated this year so I have a firm background in bio, but even I felt that this section was totally random. Some questions seemed like freebies and then others reminded me of things I would see on some of my upper level exams. I was surprised in that they tried to be tricky and structure the questions to make them seem generic but then there would be a little clue that told you they were trying to trick you. One question I remember I would have gotten wrong had I just followed Kaplan's bare essential advice, but since I am fresh out of immunology I was able to look deeper and not get tricked. The best prep for bio were the classes I took in Spring semester: Virology, Immunology and Eukaryotic Cell Structure.

GC and OC: I hated both of these subjects but Destroyer and Kaplan Practice tests saved my butt.

RC: I know this is not an brand new method but I haven't seen many people use it on here. I read the first sentence of the paragraph because most of the time it will summarize what the rest of the passage is going to be on. Then I quickly skim through the rest of the paragraph and try to pick up on some key words. I will then quickly write the key words or idea of the paragraph down. Basically you create a table of contents to refer back to later. What is nice about it for me is that I am able to grasp the general tone and flow of the passage, not get bogged down trying to grasp each concept but also not just doing a random search and destroy. All in all I had read and summarized each passage in about 5 mins a piece. In all honesty I am not sure what I got wrong on this section because I had 10 mins left over to check my answers.

PAT: Perceptual I believe just comes easy to me because my friends study twice as hard and are only pulling 16's. Last year I did well on mine so this year I didn't devote much time to it. I started off using Kaplan bluebook just to get the feel for it again and then I used DAT Achiever. I can honestly say that DAT Achiever was a great preparation tool for me. In achiever the nuances are so small and detailed it really trains you to look hard and closely at the object. For most of the PAT on the real thing I thought I was part of some joke because it was ridiculously easy compared to achiever. I know that most of my points were lost in the Angle rankings because they are harder than achiever and I was getting a headache staring at them for so long. As far as how to do well, there is no formula for most it other than just lots of practice and then reviewing why you got things wrong. In Achiever it was nice that you could adjust the shape to see all the different facets of it.

QR: Its insane I am good at math but not able to do it at light speed. I just did the problems that I knew were quick and marked and put a reasonable answer/guess on the ones which I knew would take a while to solve. If you can't solve it in 20 secs or less mark something move on and come back when you are done. This way at least you have something down and can finish off all the easy ones.


MATERIALS USED: Rated 1(worthless) - 10(Must haves)

Destroyer 10
Kaplan practice tests 7
Kaplan blue book 8
Kaplan DAT note cards 3 (compared to destroyer almost worthless)
Campbells Bio 6 (better to use either the internet or another book this one was too in depth in places and inadequate in others)
DAT Achiever 10
My own note cards 2 (partly because I never reviewed them and also because they took so long to make)
Chemistry: The central science 7 (it was nice as a reference and extra problems but I am sure most any chemistry textbook will do the same. More important was the solutions manual)
Audio Osmosis Bio only 7 (For the last two months the only thing on my Ipod was this and when I needed a break this was playing)

Last year I only used Kaplan and Topscore. Comparing Topscore to Achiever is unfair. Topscore is great for boosting confidence but it is too easy. The opposite is true for Achiever it will knock you down a couple of pegs but it will expose some weak areas.

The Kaplan practice tests are valuable because they offer a different perspective than Destroyer or Achiever. Dr.Romano isn't writing the DAT so while his stuff is super you need to be exposed to many other sources and types of questions so that you can apply the knowledge learned in destroyer better.

The Kaplan blue book while elementary compared to most of the material out there provides a strong foundation from which to build off of. Cliche but you must crawl before you run.

The Audio Osmosis from examcrackers is funny and gives a great base/review of human biology. Thus it is limited in scope but you will know most everything about human bio if you listen to this a dozen or so times. I cycle everywhere within reasonable distance so I was always listening to this or if I was the only one in my lab this would be playing. All in all it is a great way to utilize time that would otherwise be wasted.

 

[osimsDDS]

hey nice scores man, what passages for RC did you get last time compared to this time around??? thanks

 

[klutzy1987]

hey nice scores man, what passages for RC did you get last time compared to this time around??? thanks

Hey isnt OSMI supposed to be taking his DAT now, This means that he finished. Where are his scores i wanna see them.

 

[IdahoDoc]

Where did you get this audio osmosis?

 

[Jake8]

I got the Audio Osmosis from a fellow undergrad in my lab, but is it put out by MCAT exam krackers, Audio Osmosis with Jordan and John.

 

[billythekid]

Incredible Improvement. Good luck with your application.

 

[pistolpete007]

damn son....i think i would of stayed with your scores from the first time especially wiht that 24 in pat

nevertheless u rocked it the 2nd time great job!

 

[jigabodo]

Great improvement, especiall in RC. Job well done!