Kaplan comapared to the Real

[r0meo]

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I am neww to sdn and just wanted to get some info about the DATs.
I should be taking in early september, and i just took my first practice test this morning
PAT 20
RC 21
QC 24
GC 17
OC 16
BIO 21
AA?.. (ive seen ppl post this but i dont know what that means.. science cumulative maybe?.. i got 18)
..
i know my chem scores are low
but its definitely because I havent gone through the review book fully yet...
i did the bio section once and am doing a second time and thats why im doing pretty well on that...

Questions I have:
*How close is the Kaplan practice test compared to the actual Dat?
I know there is always a level of variability, especially when it comes to nerves on the actual testing date- but in general is it like you can get 25s on kaplan and end up with like a 15 on the actual... or would you consider it a 1-2 point difference....

*I read somewhere on the forums that we get a dry erase board or something... but is it given to us for the whole test or just during math?... cuz i could sure use some help during the gen chem calculations

*How do you guys recommend going about the gen chem questions involving lots of calculations because I noticed that many times they require some pretty difficult math... such as logs and hard divisions making you go into like 3rd decimal place...

*RC- so hard to do it all in 50 minutes because the reading is so scientific. Also the questions sometimes require that you gather information from the entire passage, so you cant really just skim through looking for answers... I wasnt timing myself so seriously... it took me like 65 minutes to finish the reading comp.

*Lastlyy, I feel pretty confident with the PAT even though that score doesnt really show it. However, the one section I am struggling A LOT in is the TFE section, where they provide you with 2 views and you need to give the third.... I know that if I were pressed for time on the actual date, I would do even worse than i already did..

Thanks fellaz.😀

 

[JMC07]

Hey. On my last Kaplan practice test (#1) I got a 20 AA and a 22 PAT. Unfortunately on the actual exam my scores were only 18 AA and a 17 PAT. I was really dissapointed with the difference, especially QR which dropped from a 22 to a 16. I was told by my friends who had previously taken the DAT that my scores were going to increase by two points from Kaplan so I was completely shocked with my score. I found the actual test more difficult, probably because I was expecting it to be easy. The only advice that I would give is not to completely depend on Kaplan. I think that it is important to use a lot of resources. I don't mean to be so negative and this was only my experience. Good luck.

 

[old-school]

I agree, try topscore or achiever to cover different areas. If you look at the old DAT on the ADA website, the angle-ranking in Kaplan is a total joke-

 

[r0meo]

I do have topscore... but I have not yet looked at it
I figured I would get kaplan downnn before I even attempt looking at topscore.

anyone have any answers to those questions I posted?... or still even a comparison to the test scores... like are ppl scoring really high on kaplan like 29s or is around 20 expected...

thankss again

 

[Corky Cacas]

hey guys.
just like few of you, i am new to this site and i wanted to ask you what do you think about destroyer. i have not heard about this until i became a memeber to this site. i took Kaplan four years ago, and my scors were terrible. I went on to become a Dental Technicina and now after four years i think i am mentally ready for this. so i reregister for kaplan and i am taking my course in july and taking my exam in the begining for sep. so wanted to know what other sources i should use?
please let me know. thanks.

 

[r0meo]

anyone?
I would really like to know about an RC technique and whether we get the dry erase board for the whole exam or for only the QR section...

thanks again..

 

[sacjumpman]

anyone?
I would really like to know about an RC technique and whether we get the dry erase board for the whole exam or for only the QR section...

thanks again..

I have yet to take the test, but from everything I've read on here, I'm 99% sure you get the whiteboard/pen for the entire exam.

I would recommend calling Prometric where you are actually taking the test at to find out any other details about the test. Avoid any surprises on test day.

 

[CMistry]

3 days before my real DAT I took the Kaplan one that comes with the book (the course book, not the self-study book).

I got

17AA / 21 PAT

On the real thing I got a 19AA / 22 PAT.

-Cyrus

 

[shparky]

Hello all, I'm new to the site too. I took Kaplan course in 04. It was a good study material to the basics. But I did terrible in the real exam. I was wondering where they got them tricky questions. I kept looking for more sufficient practice questions. I got the Destroyer, it is very challenging. The kind of hard calculation involving scientific notations, ratios, logs..Etc is solved in a very simple way. I think Destroyer is a great review. DAT is not impossible but it just too much material to cover. Good luck to all of us taking the DAT this summer 🙂.

AA = Academic Average (the ave. for all of the test sections)