Is DAT DESTROYER essential for scoring 20+ ???

[Cofo]

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i have the kaplan bb, cliffs ap bio, and i'm soon going to get topscore and crack dat PAT.

will this be enough? i really want to get 20+ and i know if i try hard enough i can do it. is DAT DESTROYER a must?

 

[wantVCUdental]

i have the kaplan bb, cliffs ap bio, and i'm soon going to get topscore and crack dat PAT.

will this be enough? i really want to get 20+ and i know if i try hard enough i can do it. is DAT DESTROYER a must?

I think a better question would be, will Destroyer help you in getting that 20+.

Destroyer is an excellent resource, I think when you are ready, you can use it to boost your score.
This depends on your studying methods, you shouldn't be asking people what you need to study everyday or what material you need, because everyone is different, what works for others may not work for you. Surely now that you've done some courses in college, you know what's efficient for you.

To answer your question: NO! destroyer is definitely NOT a MUST! The group of friends who took the DAT in my year, only few of us used destroyer, we all got similar scores (above 20). Though several people took the DAT with only 1 weekend of studying with Kaplan book and got 20-25. While those of us who studied also only got between 20-24.

The amount of preparation required is purely dependent on your background in the subjects.

Read some of the breakdowns posted here and judge for yourself whether you need destroyer.
Good luck

 

[Mi652]

I felt that it was necessary, to be honest.

 

[pluto130]

i have the kaplan bb, cliffs ap bio, and i'm soon going to get topscore and crack dat PAT.

will this be enough? i really want to get 20+ and i know if i try hard enough i can do it. is DAT DESTROYER a must?

I can't say DAT destroyer is essential to score over 20, but I found it extremely helpful.

Kaplan and DAT destroyer were the most helpful materials when I was studying for DAT. Cliffs ap bio was nice as it helped me refresh my bio memories, but in order to get more detailed contents, I had to rely on DAT destroyer or go back to my school textbook.

I highly recommend you get the book and at least do bio and o-chem parts. They also sell Math destroyer and Ochem destroyer. Math destroyer was also helpful. It's difficulty level is exactly the same as the real DAT you will be taking. Ochem destroyer didn't seem essential. It goes in too deep.

 

[Extirpator]

No. In fact, I think it will hurt you by wasting your precious study time on info that won't be on the DAT. Roadmaps are decent... and a couple question in bio will be almost the same... but other than that, I found it useless. KBB and other sources are better and more focused.

on the other hand, if time is not an issue... destroyer could be of some use

 

[Marker008]

Agreed, destroyer helps. I used it only for Bio and Gen Chem and it was toward the end of Kaplan preparation so I felt it really pointed out gray areas in those sections. Plus...it has a good resale value and demand is high.

 

[erk005]

No one study material is a "must", but I believe Destroyer is pretty close to a must. I did feel stupid when I bought what seemed like a photo-copied binder from OrgoMan for $165, but it was the most helpful resource to me. If you want to spend hours and hours reading your O-chem text and filtering it to figure out what you really need to know, then by all means... In my case, I used the destroyer for QR which went from 17->19, and O-chem which went from a 16->23 (I used KBB the first try)

As far as scoring a 20 on the DAT, I did it and I felt it was mostly due to the destroyer. It makes you study, and it is in a Q+A format. The Q+A format is a great way to learn because you are asked a question, answer it, then an explanation of the question is presented. It sticks in your mind and you can learn better this way. I think you would be crazy not to get it.

In my case:
Barron's + KBB= 17AA👎
Destroyer= 20AA👍

P.S. There is someone on this forum who scored a 27AA😱 and 30TS I think using the Kaplan course, KBB, and Wikipedia. He was probably very smart and studied like a madman. I studied for a little over a month, and think that Destroyer is a very fast way to get up into the 20's and I do not feel I could have gotten a 20 without it in 1 month.

 

[PaulieGualtieri]

I only used kaplan and barron's for whatever it's worth.

 

[FutureDent020]

I think the destroyer just aids with efficiency and organization. It contains all the concepts and questions you need in one spiral. I think it's a great source to branch off of. If there is a topic it only touches on, use the other sources to help your understanding. You could make a 20 without it though. As long as you are organized and know what you need to study.

 

[cmills66]

i didnt use it...didnt have an extra $200 to throw down on a book.

 

[pluto130]

Oh.. just to add one more tip.. although it might only be my opinion,

Barron's DAT is.. a garbage

Don't use it - it will do you nothing good.

I was so frustrated by it's wrong contents and wrong answer keys.

I can't believe how they let ppl publish such books - !

If you run into a situation where you looked at every existing DAT material except the Barron's and still have time left to study - just.. play until the exam.

 

[alanan84]

I think it depends on how you learn. Destroyer gives you a buttload of practice problems. For me, that was essential for my success on the DAT. I can read HOW to do the problem a thousand times but that doesn't really help me until I practice it.

I would definitely buy Destroyer. I actually paid 70 bucks for it. Found it on Craigslist. It wasn't the must current edition but it worked just fine.

 

[caloriefree]

For orgo and bio, how are the contents of Destroyer different from KBB?

I have only studied with KBB. I know that KBB is lacking in many areas as far as bio is concerned, would studying destroyer thoroughly be enough for one to achieve a mid-20ish in bio i.e. do they cover all the oddball questions in the DAT?

For orgo, are any reactions missing in KBB that Destroyer covers?

I'm trying to take the DAT for the second time, and I'm just wondering if buying and studying Destroyer would get me over the huddle, and get those magical scores 25+ that many people seem to be getting nowadays.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

[alanan84]

For orgo and bio, how are the contents of Destroyer different from KBB?

I have only studied with KBB. I know that KBB is lacking in many areas as far as bio is concerned, would studying destroyer thoroughly be enough for one to achieve a mid-20ish in bio i.e. do they cover all the oddball questions in the DAT?

For orgo, are any reactions missing in KBB that Destroyer covers?

I'm trying to take the DAT for the second time, and I'm just wondering if buying and studying Destroyer would get me over the huddle, and get those magical scores 25+ that many people seem to be getting nowadays.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Do not limit yourself to KBB. I think the best advice I can give is to not skimp on study materials. The more you can get, the better. Try buying destroyer used. People sell it on here all the time.

Does Destroyer cover the oddball bio questions? I don't think so. But many of its bio questions are pretty random themselves. I think the trick to bio is know your basic stuff EXTREMELY well. The oddball stuff is really only 3 or 4 questions.

25+ is a crazy score, not that many people, even on here are getting that.

 

[FutureDent020]

Does Destroyer cover the oddball bio questions? I don't think so. But many of its bio questions are pretty random themselves. I think the trick to bio is know your basic stuff EXTREMELY well. The oddball stuff is really only 3 or 4 questions.

From my experience the Destroyer did cover all the odd-ball questions, it was just indirectly. I chose not to study more than the destroyer presented up-front i.e. the questions and explanations. If i had studied each answer to each question in depth there are about 3 or 4 bio questions I would have answered correctly.

I agree though, they are random and few.

 

[uclaDDS101]

For orgo and bio, how are the contents of Destroyer different from KBB?

I have only studied with KBB. I know that KBB is lacking in many areas as far as bio is concerned, would studying destroyer thoroughly be enough for one to achieve a mid-20ish in bio i.e. do they cover all the oddball questions in the DAT?

For orgo, are any reactions missing in KBB that Destroyer covers?

I'm trying to take the DAT for the second time, and I'm just wondering if buying and studying Destroyer would get me over the huddle, and get those magical scores 25+ that many people seem to be getting nowadays.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

When I was studying, I too thought about getting destroyer. My friend owned a copy of it and let me look through it. The bio questions looked way too specific, and I decided that it wouldn't be in my best interest to try and memorize such minutia. The goal of my study strategy was to cover main concepts, especially for bio. If you're worried about oddball questions on the DAT. The remedy isn't to study oddball questions from destroyer. The key is to truly understand main concepts, so that you can "make connections" on oddball questions (instead of relying on luck).

Destroyer ochem and gchem looked fine (not too difficult), but I didn't think these two sections merited the $150 price tag, especially since I already had the kaplan material. Ultimately, I can say I couldn't have done any better if I bought destroyer.