Interesting fact from a DAT test question writer...

Recently, my ochem professor was invited to write questions for the ochem section of the DAT.

Apparently, 1-3 newly written questions are usually put into the DAT, but those questions are not actually scored. The DAT people see how students do on these questions... If most people get the question wrong (it's written poorly, confusing, too challenging, etc.), then the question will be removed. If a good percentage of the people get it right, then it's kept.

Basically, my ochem prof told me, "If you see a really crazy or outlandish question on the DAT, you might not even be scored on it. So don't worry!
This may explain why some people say "I thought I was failing such-and-such a section, but I still got a 22!" Maybe they weren't being scored on those questions.

Thought you all might like to know. I found that really interesting!!

P.S. He also said that one prof at the meeting asked what was the best way for students to fine tune their perceptual abilities. The answer? Organic chemistry! (Diastereomers, enantiomers, Newman projections, etc..)

 

It might ease some worries on test day... I know it will for me!

 

I don't really think that's something that needs to be kept confidential. He's an outstanding guy who has written q's for both the DAT and MCAT, and I doubt he'd violate any sort of confidentiality agreement. It's just the process of writing questions. He didn't say anything specifically about the questions themselves.