- Joined
- Jul 22, 2014
- Messages
- 357
- Reaction score
- 192
DAT BREAKDOWN
First off I want to thank @justanotherpredent for letting me use this outline, it made it really easy to read! Check out his/her breakdown here! Secondly thanks to SDN and all you trolls out there for helping me answer all my crazy questions and concerns. My GPA is well below average so I feel that from reading everyones breakdown with a 3.7 GPA kinda gave me a false impression of what someone in my situation would feel on test day. So here is something I'm sure most people can relate to with a below average GPA. I won't post my GPA, but I can assure you that if it were strictly based on GPA I would have expected rejections from all 13 schools the moment I hit submit. Now the important scores:
PAT 20
QR 18
RC 21
Bio 20
GC 22
OC 17
TS 19
AA 20
I know, they're not the best. What happened in orgo I have no clue.
STUDY MATERIALS
I studied 8 hours a day during the first 6 weeks using Kaplan's Blue Book. Then I invested in Chad's videos/quizzes and Feralis. after the first 6 weeks I did about 6 hours a day for the next 4 weeks and then 8 hours for the last 2 weeks. So basically I gave up my summer for this. Quick overall breakdown with what materials I used:
- Kaplan Blue Book (KBB): This gets a lot of hate but the book actually comes in handy for biology ONLY. So Beware of that. Use it for chem and orgo and you won't learn much.
- Score: 6/10
- Kaplan Course: AVOID. WASTE OF MONEY. ALL INFORMATION IS IN THE BOOK AND THE INTERNETS.
- Score: 2/10 because I liked the instructor.
- Kaplan online course: The quizzes and full length tests were blah but it got me used to the format.
- Score: 6.5/10
- Chad's Videos Praise unto the patron saint of the sciences and the 99th percentile, Amen. This retaught me everything about chemistry and orgo that I would probably never have learned unless he taught it. Yeah my orgo sucks but that test was beyond crazy so check out my orgo section if you're curious. I can not stress enough how valuable his videos and quizzes are.
- Score: Any number over 10/10
- QVault and Bootcamp: I'm lumping them together because for me they were very similar. I only used their free materials so I can't say much else. My score is based on the wording of the material and topics they had.
- Score: 8/10
- Cliffs: Very detailed and I only read 25% but everything that I read was covered sufficiently to answer any questions that came up.
- Score: 8/10
- Feralis Notes: The super condensed version of Cliffs but it works for me so I read about 85% of it. This saved my ass on bio.
- Score: 10/10
BIOLOGY: 20
Kaplan Full Lengths: 15/13/14/17/17/18
Free Qvault: 20
Free Bootcamp: 20
2007 DAT: 18
2009 DAT: 19
So as you can see from my scores I could never break the 20 barrier so many people have trouble with, but I finally did it. The bio section is more random than anything but it was surprisingly all covered in KBB and Feralis. I will tell you right now that you cannot just use 1 or the other. Unfortunately I discovered Feralis a week ago and didn't have time to let it sink. KBB is great for getting you to the 18 mark but Feralis pushes you beyond that. I had a few questions about animal respiration, kingdoms, a few genetics and pedigree problems, and they included some pictures of organelles so know what the basic structures of a cell looks like. Maybe 1 question on plant respiration and then the rest were the basic questions you actually expect and hope for. The wording of the questions were on par with QVAult and Bootcamp, and Kaplan's FL questions couldn't even come close to it. ONLY USE KAPLAN FL TO GET USE TO THE FORMAT OF THE TEST AND NOTHING ELSE. Chad's videos on bio only covered a small amount but they helped me get cellular respiration down pact and for that I'm grateful.
What I used to study for this section:
➔ Chad's: 6/10 Because it didn't have much other than genetics, reparation, and cell structure.
➔ Bootcamp/Qvault: 8/10 On par, if I had the time I would've paid to take their other tests.
➔ KBB: 7/10 Their bio section is pretty great so I recommend borrowing it from a friend, or second hand from the internet.
➔ 2007/2009: Just take them and review everything. They are representative of everything you see on the real thing in terms of randomness.
➔ Feralis: 10/10: Will drill in all those important facts and anything else. Do use other study materials tho cuz the condensed version can get slightly overwhelming and boring.
GENERAL CHEMISTRY: 22
Kaplan Full Lengths: 13/13/15/13/16/16
2007 DAT: 20
2009 DAT: 21
I am very proud of this because I absolutely hate chemistry. SUCK IT, CHEMISTRY! Memorize all the equations from rates to gas laws. They all show up. Le Chatleirs principle makes an appearance featuring nuclear decay. Know hoes to solve logs in your head (i.e. -log 3 x 10^-4 = 3.6). Chad's videos are the only thing you need. His quizzes are probably the best way to prepare for this section. I don't know what else to say, Chad's is your go-to. The DAT gives you incredibly simple numbers to work with and even one of the questions already had the answer set up without having to solve. There are no trick questions, straight forward like bio. Once again, if I had time, I would totally have gotten Bootcamp and QVault. Also avoid Kaplan for your own health.
What I used to study for this section:
➔ Chad's videos/quizzes: Any number over 10/10. Just buy them and do it. Quizzes prepare you very well.
➔ Kaplan: Just... Just don't. There are better ways to drive yourself crazy for less money, like watching Twilight.
➔ 2007/2009 DAT: Pretty accurate. Definitely helped me find my weak spots.
Organic Chemistry: 17
Kaplan Full Lengths: 11/13/16/15/16/19
Bootcamp: 17
QVault: 20
2007 DAT: 30...
2009 DAT: 17
I have no fracking clue what happened here. I went through that section thinking I dominated, and then this. I literally let out a little yelp like an injured puppy when I saw this. I am a 21 year old male with a beard and I almost squealed from sheer disappointment. This broke me. The amount of time I put into this one section shouldn't have gotten me this number. There were maybe 8-10 questions asking for products (where I probably lost all my points), and the rest were more conceptual type asking how or why a certain reaction occurs. There were a few lab technique questions such as how to extract a substance. Also memorize your IR Spectroscopy. Chad's videos taught me all the reactions, which I memorized, and then his quizzes were just as good. So approach this section with caution.
What I used to study for this section:
➔ Chad's videos/quizzes: Any number over 10/10 I can't tell you how much I learned from his videos and the notes I took. I practically blasted throughout his quizzes and did so well. Don't let my score keep you away from his orgo videos, they really are great.
➔ I had some old class notes that I used to memorize the IR Spectroscopy values.
➔ Kaplan: Listen to Justin Bieber, it's a more productive use of your time.
➔ 2007 DAT: TOO DAMN EASY
➔ 2009 DAT: Pretty much on par with what you will encounter except for those crazy nonsense questions.
PERCEPTUAL ABILITY: 20
Kaplan Full Lengths: 15/18/18/18/19/20/21
2007 DAT: 21
2009 DAT: 21
The keyhole part was a total **** show. There were so many geometric shapes with more sides than Polygon (the Pokemon). It was honestly just crazy how indiscernible some features were because the whole figure was covered in lines. Angles were easier than i thought, there were a few that were impossible to tell apart but the majority of them seemed very easy to tell. Top-front-end was either easy or crazy hard, but the majority of them were easy so that was a relief. I maybe spent 3 minutes on on figure cuz it befuddled me. Cube counting is a breeze, no tricks here. Just remember that if there are no blocks needed to support other blocks then there aren't any behind the figure. Pattern folding was fine, not easy or hard but an intermediate. And hole punching was just infuriating because there were papers with 4 folds with triangles and 2 holes and it just got out of hand. The ADA needs to calm down in that section. Kaplan actually made me feel prepared for the PAT by giving me the basic understanding of the inner workings. But the real PAT is way harder than Kaplan so don't be surprised when you see a paper folded into the shape of a dragon with a hole punched in it on the DAT.
What I used to study for this section:
➔ Kaplan FL: 6/10 It gets you used to the inner workings of the PAT but not so that you can get 20's. Invest in another resource.
➔For pattern folding and key holes I homed in on a unique feature/landmark of the object and used that to my advantage.
READING COMPREHENSION: 21
Kaplan Full Lengths: 17/18/18/18/19/17
2007 DAT: 18
2009 DAT: 19
I used a combination of Kaplan's road map and search and destroy. I would write down key words for the first 3 questions and then start road mapping the passage and answer the 3 questions as I went along. After I answered the 3 i would move onto the next three, writing down key words and so on. The passages are super simple and have short paragraphs. The final passage had the least paragraphs but had the most content of all 3. Overall I'm happy with my RC since I've never been able to get above 20. And yes, my first language is English. There were a good number of "this statement is T/F and the reasoning is T/F" and "the first statement is T/F and the second statement is T/F).
What I used to study for this section:
➔ Kaplan FL: 6/10 It gets you used to reading fast and getting that road map strategy down.
➔ 2007/2009: Very representative of what is on the actual DAT
Math: 18
Kaplan Full Lengths: 15/18/19/19/23/162007 DAT: 20
2009 DAT: 21
Once again I have no clue what happened here. I really though I was gonna do way better. There were a ton of trigonometry questions relating triangles so make sure you know your trigonometric functions. I had a rate problem, 1 probability, lots of basic algebra, some 3D geometry, and no graph geometry. The calculator for this section was great! It is the same calculator that you see in Windows computers, it was really responsive and you can use the keyboard to input numbers. Make sure to press clear constantly so that you don't mess up your math.
What I used to study for this section:
➔ Kaplan FL: 7/10 The math is ok and it does prepare you for the actual problems you will see.
AFTER THOUGHTS
Day before exam: I streamed X-Men: Days of Future Past at 1 in the morning because why not (Great movie by the way). Slept in, woke up, reviewed notes for orgo, then cleaned my room cuz it looked awful from not doing much to keep it neat all summer. I did laundry, put fresh sheets on my bed (do this and you will feel golden), and showered. Did some more orgo review, went to church, and had dinner. All in all a peaceful day, not much going on.
Day of exam: I woke up at 7AM, had scrambled eggs and buttered toast. Hearty and won't make you run to the bathroom during the exam. My parents drove me to the testing site so I got to sit back and plug in my headphones to pump me up and motivate me. Since I have the movie 300 on my phone, I watched that epic first battle scene and at that point I was just on top of the world. Definitely find something that gets the hairs on your spine tingling to feel alive. For me it was 300, which everyone should watch before taking the exam or at least the first battle scene. The whole test I kept repeating the line, "Take from them everything, but give them nothing!" and that kept me motivated for the 5 hours.
The Prometric Center: Walk in, show 2 signed IDs, 1 with a photograph. I used my drivers license and passport. There were lockers with locks and keys so you keep the key until you leave the site. Everything is safe in the locker. They scan your two index fingers so they can identify that it's you at the beginning and at the end of the test. They provided noise canceling headphones which I didn't use, I need some background noise when I do any work. The computer screen was vivid and sharp, I think it was brand new. They give you two giant sized laminated boards with two fine tipped permanent marker. My Prometric site didn't care if I wrote down formulas and what not before the tutorial even started. The Kaplan's test layout is almost exactly identical to the DAT's so that was nice. And there was plenty of room on the desk so I could stretch and lean on the desk at odd angles.
For those of you with a low GPA wondering if you can score well on the DAT, I'm here to tell you yes you can. This is your sign.
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