How similar is kaplan final test to DAT

[jd399]

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For people who have taken the dat, how much harder or same is kaplan to real dat, if different, how many points should i add to each section

 

[g23armani]

The final is probably the easiest of the Kaplan full length tests. I'd take all the full lengths, average your scores and then I'd say:

sciences: about equal in difficulty
reading: real test slightly harder
PAT: real test a lot harder
quant: real test slightly harder

You can't really get a good idea of where you will be with one test, you might get a fluke low or high score that's not representative of your actual ability.

 

[flying rider]

The bio is way easier on all the kaplan tests. The chems are pretty comparable. The PAT is much harder on the real thing.

 

[xplayer2885]

The bio is way easier on all the kaplan tests. The chems are pretty comparable. The PAT is much harder on the real thing.

COuld not agree any more! If u want a real simulation of the PAT get crack DAT PAT. I was getting 28-30's with kaplan.....Crack Pat 22-24. There a big diffrence unfortunatly 🙁

 

[peerless218]

The bio is way easier on all the kaplan tests. The chems are pretty comparable. The PAT is much harder on the real thing.

BIO: Kaplan is WAY too easy
Chem: I thought Kaplan was way harder. I never scored above an 18 on my chem sections and I got a 22 on the real thing.
O chem: Is about the same
RC: Depends on your LUCK really. Migh be easier or harder
QR: I thought it was about the same
PAT: The real thing is way harder

 

[lazybummy]

Bio: Real slightly harder.. more application... less random recalls
Chem: same-ish but more with concepts
Orgo: Same ish
RC: same ish
QR: Real A LOT HARDER
PAT: Real A LOT HARDER

 

[Dental Mom]

So what's Kaplan good for???? Just to practice easy tests and quizzes???? Am I wasting my time with it? 🙁

 

[TooQuickSlick]

So what's Kaplan good for???? Just to practice easy tests and quizzes???? Am I wasting my time with it? 🙁

Kaplan is good to review with and use as supplemental materials.

 

[jay47]

So what's Kaplan good for???? Just to practice easy tests and quizzes???? Am I wasting my time with it? 🙁

I teach the course and have had 5 students take the Kaplan final and then the real thing. Regardless of how people percieve the difficulty of the real thing to the practice final, the Kaplan final approximates your score closely (usually within one point). Here are 5 of my students' final scores and their scores on the real thing.

Kaplan Final/ Real DAT

18/18
18/19
19/19
19/20
20/21

These are not made up. Sure, certain sections will be easier and harder, and I pretty much agree with most of what's been said on here (except I thought real DAT bio was easier than Kaplan, not harder, a lot more conceptual type questions)

 

[cyrano]

I'm a bit confused about this whole Kaplan vs DAT thing. I've heard that Topscore is comparable and I have a much easier time with it than I do with Kaplan. I just took the last Natural Science test from the online workshops (this is not the Kaplan Final, b/c I have yet to take that) and I thought it was very difficult. I scored Bio 18/ Chem 17 / Orgo 19. I find a lot of the online workshops to be a joke, but some of them to be fairly tricky and difficult. On the first Topscore test, which is the only one I've taken, I scored Bio 19/ Chem 21/ Orgo 23.

 

[americanpierg]

COuld not agree any more! If u want a real simulation of the PAT get crack DAT PAT. I was getting 28-30's with kaplan.....Crack Pat 22-24. There a big diffrence unfortunatly 🙁

I found Kaplan keyholes to be 100x harder than CrackDAT PAT keyholes. Everyting else on Kaplan DAT was too easy. Kaplan keyholes actually made you rotate the objects in obscure directions and use your judgement on proportions. The keyhole with the square with little sticks sticking out of it in random directions was IMPOSSIBLE. I spent like 20 minutes afterwards trying to figure it out and still couldnt... and was too lazy to make a 3d version of it so i just gave up.

 

[ozzie33]

I really think it's going to depend on what you have been studying. That's why practice tests can never really predict what you will get. For O chem, If you you know the reactions cold, but don't understand resonance and isomers and stuff, then a test with all reactions will seem much easier than a test with all isomers and resonance, it doesn't mean it's actually harder, just different. Basically the best thing to do is take as many practice tests as you can to get a basic idea of how you're doing, then look at the type of questions you are good and bad at.

 

[Dental Mom]

I teach the course and have had 5 students take the Kaplan final and then the real thing. Regardless of how people percieve the difficulty of the real thing to the practice final, the Kaplan final approximates your score closely (usually within one point). Here are 5 of my students' final scores and their scores on the real thing.

Kaplan Final/ Real DAT

18/18
18/19
19/19
19/20
20/21

These are not made up. Sure, certain sections will be easier and harder, and I pretty much agree with most of what's been said on here (except I thought real DAT bio was easier than Kaplan, not harder, a lot more conceptual type questions)

Looks good! I wonder why some hate Kaplan, and some love it. I like the class I'm in right now. Maybe the instructor makes a big difference too....

 

[americanpierg]

Looks good! I wonder why some hate Kaplan, and some love it. I like the class I'm in right now. Maybe the instructor makes a big difference too....

note to you, just because he says its not made up doesnt mean its not made up.

 

[dentalmon]

Kaplan is a lot easier than the real thing..

 

[BTtheman777]

Haha, I just noticed that there are two different Dental Mom's. I was wondering why the opinions kept fluctuating 😀

 

[BTtheman777]

Haha, my bad dentalmon, i thought that was a m. lol its getting late...

 

[jay47]

note to you, just because he says its not made up doesnt mean its not made up.

Except go ahead and call the Kaplan center in Houston and ask them if there is a DAT teacher by the name of Jay and see if you could maybe "sign up for one of his courses" (not that you would, but it would prove that I am indeed a teacher)

You can believe what you want, but those are scores sent from my real students within the past 2 months and their actual scores. Sure, all of my students don't send me their scores, but ALL of the ones who did were listed.

I'm not advocating JUST Kaplan though, I know Kaplan is a great source, but other sources like Topscore, Destroyer, Cliffs, CDPAT will just give you that much more practice and that much more perspective. More perspective is a good thing when you just really have no idea what's coming because they don't release old tests, unlike the LSAT...where you can take like 18 old real exams, lol.

 

[DmdNJ]

Kaplan/ DAT

Bio 19/24
Chem 19/23
Orgo 19/22
PAT 23/20
RC 22/25
QR 24/18

My two best sections on Kaplan were my two worst sections on the actual DAT. I would not rely on Kaplan for PAT or QR. It was nothing like it. I felt like I was being ambushed during the DATs...

 

[flying rider]

Personally, I liked kaplan. I took the course and while the BB didn't have everything, it was a nice starter. The online material was great for more practice (quizzes and tests). While I thought bio was easier, it's still good practice. That being said, I feel like more material was needed in addition to kaplan in order to be more prepared for the real thing. So it's really not a do-kaplan-or-not kind of thing; i feel like you need all the material you can get and kaplan's BB is a good start. I actually did much better on the sciences on the real thing than kaplan (weird)

Kaplan/DAT

Bio: 19/24
Gen chem: 19/20
Ochem: 18/20
RC: 21/20
PAT: 21/19

PAT was much harder on the real thing, as you can see from my drop in it when I took the DAT. Everything else is pretty comparable (except for bio, dunno what happened there).

 

[flying rider]

Oh, I forgot about QR. Probably because I'm trying to suppress the memory of that score.....

Kap/DAT
QR: 19/17