first Achiever scores

[shal3]

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I Just took my first Achiever test and I'm actually freaking out! I've hear the Achiever is a bit harder but my scores arent' so good:

RC 14
PAT 17
QR 19
Bio 19
GC 19
OC 18
TS 19
AA 18

here are my concerns:
1- I thought you're given an hour for QR but I only had 45 min on Achiever!! so how much time on the real DAT do you have?
2- RC RC RC!!! I'm FREAKING OUT!! I just don't know how to imrove!! I answer the questions as I read the passage and I do S&D for the last passage since I almost always run out of time. AHHH!! very stressful!!

 

[KillaGorilla]

Science looking good! 👍 Have you tried seek and destroy for RC?

 

[shal3]

I tried S&D but it doesn't seem to work for me. How do you guys do it? You go straight to the question and then try to find the answer within the passage, right? I lose even more time this way!!

 

[Dusk]

Great scores, my achiever was around 18-19 as well.
For RC I just read the whole passage first. takes like 6-8 min.

 

[Predentaljr]

Thats great but keep practicing because it do get harder...

 

[shal3]

Thanks guys. But the DAT is so unpredictable and I really need to score above at least 21 since I have a low science GPA. Im a slow reader And I've done everything I could think of to improve my RC score, hasn't been successful yet. I have 3 weeks left and my only option is to keep practicing...and hope fir a miracle on the test day

 

[ushaseos]

1) QR is only 45 minutes not 1 hour. Achiever is correct in the timing, but Achiever is quite a bit harder than Kaplan, Top Score and the ADA practice test. Achiever also has a calculator in the "Exhibit" button so use it when necessary.

2) I am a really slow reader too but believe me when I say you can read every word and still have enough time on RC (at least in every practice test I have done). Literally read every single word and it shouldn't take you more than 12 minutes. Spend 8 minutes on the questions. Do the same for passages 2 and 3. Achiever RC is also very difficult compared to other prep materials because a lot of the questions are worded in a very confusing manner. As I did more and more tests, I started to instinctively know which parts to skim and which parts to read etc.

I haven't taken my DAT yet but I have done a lot of practice tests. Some pretty smart forum posters here advised me not to use my practice test scores as a measuring stick; I'd pass that advice on to you (especially when talking about Achiever)

 

[shal3]

Ok, on my next practice RC I'll do that. But I tend to forget a lot of it by the time I get to the questions! Maybe I need to focus more when I'm reading the passages.
I didn't realize Achiever provided a calculator! Thanks!

 

[ushaseos]

Lol I only realized the calculator when I didn't skip tutorial on my 2nd test. The calculator doesn't work with your keyboard and it isn't the fastest but it can make some annoying questions a lot better.

Regardging RC, If you are forgetting stuff make notes. I used to summarize by paragraph indicating topic for the paragraph. Makes it easy to search for the relevant information. After doing a few tests though, I started to retain more info from the passages (well the questions become a little more predictable).

 

[blackwaltzyo]

Make sure for the QR you practice using the calculator built into the program. Also make sure you practice clicking on the numbers because believe or not it actually takes a little practice clicking instead of using the number-pad.

For the RC what worked best for me was that I would just read the first 2 sentences of each passage, write down a key word or the main point (roughly) then go to the problems and only read the paragraph that contains what I need to answer the question. The draw back to this method is that if you end up writing down the wrong notes then you just wasted precious time that you don't have. Try mixing up different techniques until you find one that best suits your reading skills because everyone's different and each technique works differently for each person.

 

[shal3]

Thanks guys!
I was finally able to get an 18 on one of the CDR tests followed by a 19 on topscore (but Ive heard it's easier than the real thing so I didnt get to excited) but then my score went down to 16 on CDR and then up again to 17 haha. For me it really does depend on the type and length of the passages. I have about 2.5 more weeks left and I'll continue to practice everyday. Hopefully I'll see some improvement.
I only have 3 Achiever tests to take. I did my 2nd achiever today and my scores were lower than the first one. I felt that the 2nd test was harder and I ran out of time on G-chem and QR which was sad since I knew how to do most of the problems if not all. Did you guys feel the same way when you took this test? Anyone has any suggestion for me?
2nd Achiever:

RC 15
PAT 18
QR 17
Bio 17
GC 17
OC 20
TS 18
AA 17

 

[byuAD]

Personally, I think you are doing great. I got similar if not worse scores on Achiever. But when I took the real thing I got a 23 AA and 24 PAT, with 26 TS. So at least for me, Achiever was way too much. When I took the real test, i was like, "man this is cake". Just keep taking them...over...and over... and over. Especially Achiever's PAT; the real PAT was way easier.
You are on the right track.

 

[shal3]

TS 26!!! Wow!! What wouldn't I do for a score like that!
Thank you! I needed some encouraging words. It can get very frustrating with my super low sGPA and knowing that my only chance to get in is a killer DAT score.

 

[shal3]

After taking my 3rh Aciever and seeing my scores my jaw dropped...literally! and now I'm considering postponing my DAT, which is on the 29th. I ran out of time for GC but still, a 14?!!!! I never scored that low on any of my tests! My other scores aren't great either. I really can't afford to mess up this retake Plus im retaking just to improve my RC! and so im thinking it might be wise to postpone. Please let me know What you think!

PAT 18
QR 17
RC 14
bio 16
GC 14
OC 19
TS 17
AA 16

 

[sacapuntas]

Do a topscore test then decide what to do. You can't make that decision based on achiever.

 

[shal3]

I've done two topscore tests so far and overall my scores were much better. I always run out of time on QR and have to guess answers for a couple of questions. I've been getting 15-18 on CDR and. Apparently topscore RC is much easier than the real thing so I'm not looking at it as an improvement. I've also heard that Topscore QR and PAT are easier as well. My sciences on Topscore haven't been high enough which is also worrisome

Anyone got similar scores on topscore but did better on the DAT?

Topscore 1:

PAT 22
QR 21
RC 19
bio 19
GC 19
OC 18
TS 19
AA 19

Topsore 2:

PAT 22
QR 21
RC 21
bio 19
GC 19
OC 25
TS 21
AA 21