Keep pushing forward... or start over?

[Ariam425]

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So the DAT has been on my plate since around June.

I did lots of content review over the summer (Chad's videos, KBB, etc.), and also took random weeks off for traveling and things like that.
I've reviewed all the concepts, and am now just focusing on memorizing fine details and test taking strategies.
My test is scheduled in three weeks (second weekend of October). Until a week or so ago I was focused on the first round of school exams, but now the DAT is my main focus once again.

But from all the practice tests I've been taking I have yet to make above a 18. I've even had some scary 16's here and there. 🙁 These scores are according to Kaplan tests and DAT Bootcamp.

So my question is did anyone find themselves in a similar situation time/score wise, work really and hard and felt that it was possible to see a significant improvement in that time? I'd really like a 21+ just to counter balance my far from perfect GPA.

Let me know what you guys think. Should I give it my all and see what I can do, or should is it way too late to see that big of an improvement - should I cancel my test and wait until later? 😕

Thanks!

 

[Pillowcases]

focus on the DAT like your life depends on it
21 is possible in 3 weeks at this point

 

[mightymoose02]

Now a days, (unless you are a genius) you have to really focus on the DAT to score really high. A 21 or 22 is top 5% amongst all test takers on every version of the test. So that means you have to be a gunner and beat 95% of all test takers. With that said, of course, it's POSSIBLE to pull it off and we've certainly seen that in these forums but I would be realistic and see where you are at before rushing to take one of the more important tests in your college life. With three weeks left, scoring in the 16-18 range is not looking real good. I would take a full-test simulation at a public library (university library?) tomorrow and see how you score. With all that content review and you still can't score at least a 20 in a few sections then please consider rescheduling and do yourself a favor.

If I were you, I would give myself another 3 more weeks so that would be 6 weeks total to really prepare and destroy the DAT without worrying about school exams, friends/family, extracurricular activities or other distractions. (I finished the DAT last week and I actually had to step away from DAT studying for several days to attend a dentistry seminar right around the 3rd week of studying. I also traveled to Japan before I began studying so had to get over jet-lag and moved apartments right before I began studying. Not to mention, random days of shadowing my dentist and working on my application at the same time.) So I know exactly where you are coming from.

The 6 weeks will allow you to make flashcards on concepts that you didn't know in DAT Destroyer and go through DAT Destroyer twice. Also, it will give you some time to do at least 6-7 more FULL practice tests and go over the mistakes.

If you can do it, I will definitely be happy for you. But just don't rush to take the test. If you look at my breakdown, I actually rescheduled my test with 2 weeks to go and gave myself another extra couple weeks to study. It helped a lot. No reason to save $60 and then do poorly on the test and spend more money retaking it.

 

[Jordwin]

You can look at my Kaplan scores under my breakdown if you want to see an example. I got 18's or 19's (can't remember which exactly) on the chemistries for Kaplan and ended up doing much better on the real deal.

 

[Funz]

I did better on my actual DAT then I did on any of practice tests (22AA 23PAT). But I was scoring from 19-21 on average in the Kaplan tests and top score. Don't let the practice tests bring you down but soak as much info from then as you can so you don't make same mistakes on real DAT