Kaplans QR

[dane4695]

Question for those who have taken the Kaplan course-- I'm going over the QR practice tests and I?ve noticed that some are difficult to finish before time expires. I'm curious if this is just me, or if the tests are more challenging than the real DAT.

This is specifically in reference to the question that asks you to compare tire rotations for a tire with c=3.52 vs c=5.280 and how many more does 1 rotate in 4200 miles. The other one that seemed tedious without a calculator was a comparison of the diameter of the sun and moon... and forming a volume ratio. Just seems like a lot calculations by hand... or maybe I?m just whiny.

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[JavadiCavity]

I didn't always finish the in-class tests on time, but I always finished the on-line exams with plenty of time to spare. It's my opinion that the DAT is a little easier than Kaplan. However, that may vary from DAT to DAT, so don't rely on my experience.

What helped me to whiz through the math part was to learn a few tricks--not the corny Kaplan tricks (I think those eat up too much time). I'd try and detail them for you, but it would be a long and boring post. All I'll say is that factoring, reducing, and looking for relationships worked well for me. In particular, when you have an algebra problem that involves reducing fractions, I would wait as long as possible to reduce the fractions--this would save me tons of time.

In regards to the two problems you asked about, I remember those same problems taking me quite a bit of time. However, when I looked at the solutions, I was surprised at how easy they could be once I understood the trick to solving them.

The word "trick" is probably a poor choice of vocabulary. I think the makers of the DAT realize that most college grads can do the math and get them all right if they are given an unlimited amount of time; so, I think they are testing us on whether or not we know the shortcuts and the relationships in the problems.

 

[Eddie830]

Question for those who have taken the Kaplan course-- I'm going over the QR practice tests and I?ve noticed that some are difficult to finish before time expires. I'm curious if this is just me, or if the tests are more challenging than the real DAT.

This is specifically in reference to the question that asks you to compare tire rotations for a tire with c=3.52 vs c=5.280 and how many more does 1 rotate in 4200 miles. The other one that seemed tedious without a calculator was a comparison of the diameter of the sun and moon... and forming a volume ratio. Just seems like a lot calculations by hand... or maybe I?m just whiny.

The Kaplan QR subject tests are way too hard. They are great practice but it would take me over twice the given time to complete. On the kaplan computer tests and actual DAT I was finishing a few minutes early.

 

[Typo]

Like Javadi and Eddie said above, Kaplan's QR tests are more difficult. Like you, I often struggled with Kaplan's tests, but on the real thing, I was able to whip through it with almost 10 minutes to spare.

 

[blumnday99]

Like Javadi and Eddie said above, Kaplan's QR tests are more difficult. Like you, I often struggled with Kaplan's tests, but on the real thing, I was able to whip through it with almost 10 minutes to spare.

I just took that test and it took me 64 minutes to finish. I wasn't rushing to finish it, but I don't think I could have finished it in the "recommended time" of 25 minutes. I hope the real one doesn't take me that long.