Is it TRUE that DAT is mainly memorization?

[SN1]

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except the reading comprehension part? I heard this from someone.

Do you agree at all?

 

[Maygyver]

What aspect of learning doesn't involve memorization? All of these big tests are essentially memorization. If you understand the material well enough you don't have to rely on rote memorization though.

 

[dentalWorks]

except the reading comprehension part? I heard this from someone.

Do you agree at all?

There is memorization, but there is also application (meaning memorization alone ain't gonna get you far)

 

[SN1]

What aspect of learning doesn't involve memorization? All of these big tests are essentially memorization. If you understand the material well enough you don't have to rely on rote memorization though.

I agree with you.

 

[SN1]

There is memorization, but there is also application (meaning memorization alone ain't gonna get you far)

What percentage would you say is memorization ?

 

[bing12]

what percentage would you say is memorization ?

85.6783%

 

[SN1]

85.6783%

Are you being sarcastic kobe?

 

[lnngu]

85.6783%

Really? When I took the DAT, it was 84.9569%. Damn it, I must have gotten pianoed >_<

 

[SN1]

Really? When I took the DAT, it was 84.9569%. Damn it, I must have gotten pianoed >_<

lol

 

[UBERlowGPA]

What percentage would you say is memorization ?

Yes. Sarcasm for sure.

How could this possibly be quantified and how would this information help you?

Just get some study materials and STUDY. You'll know what you have to memorize (things like how old the earth is) and what requires application (gen chem problems).

 

[dentalWorks]

What percentage would you say is memorization ?

Who knows... I am just certain you can't get a decent score with pure memorization, the test creators made sure of this.

 

[dentalWorks]

How could this possibly be quantified and how would this information help you?

Nailed it 👍

 

[tjddmskiss]

What aspect of learning doesn't involve memorization? All of these big tests are essentially memorization. If you understand the material well enough you don't have to rely on rote memorization though.

hahahaha feel sorry for you ~

 

[Maygyver]

hahahaha feel sorry for you ~

And why is that ~

 

[Sunspear]

Every instance of learning requires retention to be applied. Therefore, there's always some degree of memorization needed. For example, in order to successfully complete a heat question in the general chemistry section, you'll undoubtedly need to memorize the formula "q = mc(delta T)", as that formula will almost surely not be given in the problem.

That being said, I personally found that o-chem required a lot of memorization in terms of the pathways. For example, knowing the rules for the benzene ring substitution was very important to memorize.

 

[yappy]

IMO the MCAT has way more critical thinking type questions than the DAT.

 

[7 Iron]

And you can't memorize your way through the PAT portion. That part just takes lots of practice and understanding the 3-dimensional relationships of shapes.

 

[Doc Smile]

except the reading comprehension part? I heard this from someone.

Do you agree at all?

PAT/QR/RC/Organic chem is NOT memorization. Maybe a little of orgo but you will see reactions that are impossible to memorize but you have to be able to work through the mechanism, etc.

Bio and GChem are pure memorization.

so 33.33, repeating of course, percent memorization

LEEROY JENKINS!

 

[SN1]

PAT/QR/RC/Organic chem is NOT memorization. Maybe a little of orgo but you will see reactions that are impossible to memorize but you have to be able to work through the mechanism, etc.

Bio and GChem are pure memorization.

so 33.33, repeating of course, percent memorization

LEEROY JENKINS!

Don't mean to argue but Orgo is NOT pure memorization? My orgo class was pure memorization. Drawing products with 10-12 step mechanisms.

 

[Maygyver]

Don't mean to argue but Orgo is NOT pure memorization? My orgo class was pure memorization. Drawing products with 10-12 step mechanisms.

I'm going to agree with Doc Smile. A lot of students I heard say Ochem is memorization. If you understand the general concepts of where electrons will go and nucleophiles vs electrophiles, then it really isn't that much memorization. I think the people that struggle with ochem just try to memorize reactions and mechanisms rather than actually understanding what is going on.

 

[SN1]

I'm going to agree with Doc Smile. A lot of students I heard say Ochem is memorization. If you understand the general concepts of where electrons will go and nucleophiles vs electrophiles, then it really isn't that much memorization. I think the people that struggle with ochem just try to memorize reactions and mechanisms rather than actually understanding what is going on.

Absolutely. There were tons of mechanisms that had like 10 or more steps but some of them were similar. Once you understood what is going on you kind of have the intuition of what should happen.(well at least that's what happened to me)

 

[Maygyver]

Absolutely. There were tons of mechanisms that had like 10 or more steps but some of them were similar. Once you understood what is going on you kind of have the intuition of what should happen.(well at least that's what happened to me)

Yeah. I think as long as you know that -'s go to +'s you can get at least a 50 in ochem. haha 😉

 

[SN1]

Yeah. I think as long as you know that -'s go to +'s you can get at least a 50 in ochem. haha 😉

bwahahah. And Nucleophiles always attack a carbon.

 

[Doc Smile]

bwahahah. And Nucleophiles always attack a carbon.

And if you have 1/2 a brain and can simply and logically reason where electrons would normally move to.

 

[7 Iron]

And if you have 1/2 a brain and can simply and logically reason where electrons would normally move to.

That's why org-o is a weed-out class. Most people don't understand the guiding principles behind most of the reactions.