kaplan vs real DAT?

[chichi90]

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My DAT is on friday. oh my god.

I took the final kaplan practice exam tonight and got a 22 AA and I'm wondering if I should push it back til next week. I'm shooting for 23+ since my GPA is on the low side.

I've been studying for about a month now with Kaplan and Destroyer and had been getting consistent 19s and 20s on the other kaplan practice tests. I think the last one might have just been easier (I've heard they make the final test easier for the sake of confidence boosting).

EEEEEKK im scared! I really need to get a 23.

thoughts?

 

[dantemac]

Honestly, a 23 is really pushing it for anybody. Also, Kaplan is on the easier side. BUT, anything is possible. Good luck!

 

[tdp42]

I finished the Kaplan course the day before I took the real DAT. On my final Kaplan practice test I got a 21, it was also my best score of their tests. On the real DAT I got a 23. I honestly attribute the difference to the luck of the questions I received. The test seemed to highlight my stronger points. Except QR, I seemed to get too many trig questions. I thought cosecants were a thing of the past.

However, the PAT on the real test is much harder. There are some keyhole questions that will look like nothing Kaplan ever showed you. The angles are much closer than anything Kaplan tested on, and even Hole punching is much more difficult. In Kaplan I was pulling off consistent 26's on PAT, and got a 24 on the actual DAT. Not complaining, but Kaplan just doesn't prepare you well enough in this area.

That all being said the best thing you can do is be confident, and use your time wisely.

 

[carabelli3]

...Just another viewpoint to show that it is different for everyone.

For me, after going through Kaplan, all my practice tests were ridiculously consistent. Then, on the real DAT everything stayed the same again except Biology went up 1 point and PAT went up 2. I heard two people around school say the PAT seemed harder for them and I should look out for it. Then, it was the easiest I've seen yet. Part of it must be luck of the draw, but they've been giving the test for a long time and probably have it figured out where that really isn't too much of a factor.

Best of luck.

 

[HillsNayyr]

I personally felt that kaplan was a joke compared to the real dat. For example my pre-test for kaplan (that is before ANY studying) I got a 21 on qr, on my first real dat i got a 15 qr. The pat was also drastically easier.

 

[Canard]

I just feel the bio section is random. But I took kaplan final and I had 24 TS and 23 AA but I ended up getting 22TS and 22AA, just because of bio section.

The chem and orgo section of real DAT is comparable to kaplan tests but I felt bio section was just totally different. It is really true about "broadness" of bio section that people talk about on here.

But PAT is very comparable and as long as you do crack the DAT, I think you should be fine. Although, the folding section was more difficult in real DAT than crack the PAT. I was getting 29, 28's on the crack the PAT but I ended up getting 24 for real DAT in PAT section

This is just from my experience...

 

[mckenna87]

I thought kaplan tests were good except for QR. I got a 20 on QR on the Kaplan practice tests and then got a 17 on the real thing. 🙁 I had 19 + on my sciences though, 22 in RC, and 24 on PAT. I'm retaking it on June 24th to try and get 20+ in all sections. Kaplans PAT is easier or maybe its just the stress of the real exam because I was getting 30's and 28's on PAT practice but got a 24 which is still good so I was happy.

 

[chichi90]

woww this is super helpful thanks a lot!

 

[snikki]

Don't worry! on Kaplan's Tests, I got 20's in AA and TS and on the real thing, I got 22 AA and 23 TS. I got anything from 21-25 on Kaplan PAT and got a 22 on the real thing, but I got some ridiculous hole punching problems O_O. Go into the test with confidence and you'll be fine !