How sweet it is to be done with DAT! I think? 6/11/10

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

BRoyUW

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2009
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
So this was my 2nd time taking it and I have mixed emotions. I was hoping for an academic average of around 22-23 since my GPA is not that high. But I'm just glad its overrrr. Now I can watch the rest of the NBA finals w/o feeling guilty! 😀 Maybe my girlfriend will like me again 🙄 haha

1st (8/19/09) 2nd( 6/11/10)
Bio: 19 19 (79%)
GC: 21 22( 91.8%)
OC: 17 24( 95.7%)
PAT: 17 20( 79%)
RC: 14 18 ( 38%)
TS: 18 21 (91.6%)
AA: 18 20 (87.6%)

GPA~ 3.2

Training Camp: So, I'm not the smartest person out there and I'm not one that could pull off a high score from studying for 2 weeks or a month. The first time I took it, I studied for about 5 months, around 5-6 hours a day. For the second test, I studied for an additional 5 months, for a grand total of 10 months! 🙁
Practice Scores:
Test Bio GC OC PAT RC QR
Ach 1 16 19 16 18 15 21
Ach 2 19 15 17 17 16 17
Ach 3 14 18 18 18 13 18
Ach 4 13 15 17 16 14 15
Ach 5 15 14 14 17 - 15

CDP: Tests 1-9, I got 21's. But I got a weird 26 on the last one.

As you can see, my Achiever scores are pretty bad. I know its been said before but I'm going to say it AGAIN, your practice scores are not indicative of what youre going to see on the real DAT!! I didn't take a practice test during the last week of studying because I knew it was only going to make me sad and then yell obscenities at the screen.
Test day: I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep the night before my test. I tried an experiment where I would sleep less 2 days before my test so I would be exhausted the night before my test and therefore, sleep like a baby..:idea: My plan imploded and I only got 4 hours of sleep..I was really nervous about a week before my test because I was afraid I would get the "Frap/Ethics" test version. It didn't help with the new Starbucks Frap commercials I saw the day before my test. Anyways, I wasn't nervous at all when I entered the test center on both occasions. I guess I used up all my nervous energy throughout the week, and couldnt produce any more action potentials 😛
Bio: This was the only section that I was very disappointed with. I got the same score as the first time and I know way more this time around. There were about 10 random questions that I had no idea and the rest were simple, basic questions. I used AP Cliff, Kaplan, DAT destroyer, and MCAT hyperlearning Bio for the first time I studied. This time around, I used the materials listed above, along with Kaplan subject tests, and read thru Campbells.
My advice: Don't waste your time trying to know everything in detail because its not worth it. Thats what I did the second time around, and I felt like I knew every topic very well but I got the same score as the first time.😡
Chem: This section was easy schmeezy lemon squeezy. There were like 3 questions I wasnt sure of. I used Kaplan blue, MCAT hyperlearning, destroyer, and Kaplan subject tests. Destroyer was alot harder. The problems on Kaplan subject tests were harder too.
Ochem: I am very happy with my ochem score. I improved 7 points! This section was very easy. No tough reactions whatsoever. I dont know how many I missed but there was only 1 question I didnt know. The first time, I had like 4-5 spectroscopy/lab questions which I didn't study for. This time around, I made damn sure I memorized the spectroscopy, HNMR, and CNMR tables. But guess what, I didn't even get one question about them haha. I used mainly MCAT ochem hyperlearning and destroyer. I used my friends 2007 destroyer for the first test and bought the 2010 version for the 2nd test. The 2010 was worth it I thought. There were like 3-4 more road maps with some reactions that I haven't seen before.
PAT: The aperture section is on par with CDP. Top-front-end section was a little bit tougher than CDP I believe. The angles were half not bad. Half were give aways and the other half were tough. My CDP angle scores were inconsistent . The pattern folding and cube counting were easier than CDP. Pattern folding was harder than CDP slightly. Achiever PAT were too hard, CDP should be sufficient.
RC: Man I suck at Reading comp. I am a pretty fast reader I think. I read thru sports articles and boxscores pretty fast but for some reason I just dont do well on this section.The first time I got the piano passage and it was hell on steroids. I dont know how some people can do so well on that passage. Like I was saying earlier, I was afraid I would get the Frap/Ethics version this time around but I searched this forum the night before my test to see when the last person got that passage. I think the Frap test MIGHT be extinct because the last person that got that version was a year ago. But please dont throw a huge party from my hypothesis..I dont want to get any death threats from the next person that gets FRAPPED! Anyways, this time I had some easy passages. I'm surprised that I didnt do better but relieved that I made the cutoff this time. My passages were Antibiotics, Herbal medicine, and broken bone ( i dont remember the exact title)? There were about 5 tone questions per section. The passages were 12 paragraphs long but some of them were really short. There were like 2-3 paragraphs that were like 3 sentences long. I think I could of gotten a better score if I wasnt so tired. If you guys see any of these passages popping up on your screen, you should jump for joy because it was easy to read and interesting. I practiced with Achiever which was way way harder than the version I had this time. Achiever 5 has a passage very similar to the piano so I recommend getting that for extra practice.
QR: I thought I would get a 21 on this section but oh well. I used Math destroyer and DAT destroyer math section. Memorize the simple trig equations! I had like 3 of those. The word problems werent that difficult. I think I missed most of my questions on Geometry..I stink at Geo.

Sorry for such a long post and most likely a load of errors. I just wanted to share my experience and hopefully help some of you guys out. I want to thank everyone on SDN for your contribution! Without you guys, I would probably be doomed. I would be happy to answer any questions. I don't want to retake this again, but I might have to since my GPA is low. I applied to 5 schools last year and didn't get any interviews. What do you guys think?

 
Last edited:
oh your done with the DAT, those are some serious improvements, 2 pts on AA, 3 on TS, 4 on RC !!!!

good job 👍
 
So this was my 2nd time taking it and I have mixed emotions. I was hoping for an academic average of around 22-23 since my GPA is not that high. But I'm just glad its overrrr. Now I can watch the rest of the NBA finals w/o feeling guilty! 😀 Maybe my girlfriend will like me again 🙄 haha

1st (8/19/09) 2nd( 6/11/10)
Bio: 19 19 (79%)
GC: 21 22( 91.8%)
OC: 17 24( 95.7%)
PAT: 17 20( 79%)
RC: 14 18 ( 38%)
TS: 18 21 (91.6%)
AA: 18 20 (87.6%)​

GPA~ 3.2​

Training Camp: So, I'm not the smartest person out there and I'm not one that could pull off a high score from studying for 2 weeks or a month. The first time I took it, I studied for about 5 months, around 5-6 hours a day. For the second test, I studied for an additional 5 months, for a grand total of 10 months! 🙁
Practice Scores:
Test Bio GC OC PAT RC QR
Ach 1 16 19 16 18 15 21
Ach 2 19 15 17 17 16 17
Ach 3 14 18 18 18 13 18
Ach 4 13 15 17 16 14 15
Ach 5 15 14 14 17 - 15​

CDP: Tests 1-9, I got 21's. But I got a weird 26 on the last one.​

As you can see, my Achiever scores are pretty bad. I know its been said before but I'm going to say it AGAIN, your practice scores are not indicative of what youre going to see on the real DAT!! I didn't take a practice test during the last week of studying because I knew it was only going to make me sad and then yell obscenities at the screen.
Test day: I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep the night before my test. I tried an experiment where I would sleep less 2 days before my test so I would be exhausted the night before my test and therefore, sleep like a baby..:idea: My plan imploded and I only got 4 hours of sleep..I was really nervous about a week before my test because I was afraid I would get the "Frap/Ethics" test version. It didn't help with the new Starbucks Frap commercials I saw the day before my test. Anyways, I wasn't nervous at all when I entered the test center on both occasions. I guess I used up all my nervous energy throughout the week, and couldnt produce any more action potentials 😛
Bio: This was the only section that I was very disappointed with. I got the same score as the first time and I know way more this time around. There were about 10 random questions that I had no idea and the rest were simple, basic questions. I used AP Cliff, Kaplan, DAT destroyer, and MCAT hyperlearning Bio for the first time I studied. This time around, I used the materials listed above, along with Kaplan subject tests, and read thru Campbells.
My advice: Don't waste your time trying to know everything in detail because its not worth it. Thats what I did the second time around, and I felt like I knew every topic very well but I got the same score as the first time.😡
Chem: This section was easy schmeezy lemon squeezy. Very simple reactions. There were like 3 questions I wasnt sure of. I used Kaplan blue, MCAT hyperlearning, destroyer, and Kaplan subject tests. Destroyer was alot harder. I went thru destroyer like 5 times. First time I went thru it, I only got like half right but after going thru it a few more times, I got like 95% right.
Ochem: I am very happy with my ochem score. I improved 7 points! This section was very easy. No tough reactions whatsoever. I dont know how many I missed but there was only 1 question I didnt know. The first time, I had like 4-5 spectroscopy/lab questions which I didn't study for. This time around, I made damn sure I memorized the spectroscopy, HNMR, and CNMR tables. But guess what, I didn't even get one question about them haha. I used mainly MCAT ochem hyperlearning and destroyer. I used my friends 2007 destroyer for the first test and bought the 2010 version for the 2nd test. The 2010 was worth it I thought. There were like 3-4 more road maps with some reactions that I haven't seen before.
PAT: The aperture section is on par with CDP. Top-front-end section was a little bit tougher than CDP I believe. The angles were half not bad. Half were give aways and the other half were tough. My CDP angle scores were inconsistent . The pattern folding and cube counting were easier than CDP. Pattern folding was harder than CDP slightly. Achiever PAT were too hard, CDP should be sufficient.
RC: Man I suck at Reading comp. I am a pretty fast reader I think. I read thru sports articles and boxscores pretty fast but for some reason I just dont do well on this section.The first time I got the piano passage and it was hell on steroids. I dont know how some people can do so well on that passage. Like I was saying earlier, I was afraid I would get the Frap/Ethics version this time around but I searched this forum the night before my test to see when the last person got that passage. I think the Frap test MIGHT be extinct because the last person that got that version was a year ago. But please dont throw a huge party from my hypothesis..I dont want to get any death threats from the next person that gets FRAPPED! Anyways, this time I had some easy passages. I'm surprised that I didnt do better but relieved that I made the cutoff this time. My passages were Antibiotics, Herbal medicine, and broken bone ( i dont remember the exact title)? There were about 5 tone questions per section. The passages were 12 paragraphs long but some of them were really short. There were like 2-3 paragraphs that were like 3 sentences long. I think I could of gotten a better score if I wasnt so tired. If you guys see any of these passages popping up on your screen, you should jump for joy because it was easy to read and interesting. I practiced with Achiever which was way way harder than the version I had this time. Achiever 5 has a passage very similar to the piano so I recommend getting that for extra practice.
QR: I thought I would get a 21 on this section but oh well. I used Math destroyer and DAT destroyer math section. Memorize the simple trig equations! I had like 3 of those. The word problems werent that difficult. I think I missed most of my questions on Geometry..I stink at Geo.​

Sorry for such a long post and most likely a load of errors. I just wanted to share my experience and hopefully help some of you guys out. I want to thank everyone on SDN for your contribution! Without you guys, I would probably be doomed. I would be happy to answer any questions. I don't want to retake this again, but I might have to since my GPA is low. I applied to 5 schools last year and didn't get any interviews. What do you guys think?​

i think it's been accepted that getting proper rest 2 nights before an event is more important than the night before. so others should definitely not try this. glad it didn't hinder you too much.

great improvement! especially on ochem. good luck with your apps
 
i think it's been accepted that getting proper rest 2 nights before an event is more important than the night before. so others should definitely not try this. glad it didn't hinder you too much.

great improvement! especially on ochem. good luck with your apps

Haha yeah..I only got like 2 hours of sleep for my first test and I was seeing double during the RC section so I wanted to try something this time for that not to happen again. Luckily, it didnt hurt me this time🙂
 
Top