Hey meat gyver,
I have some research experience with the school of Public Health in Oral Health Care and I will be doing some other research based on the CA ecosystem. I know both are pretty random but it's better than nothing I guess... And yeah, UCLA will be a stretch for sure but I'm glad that UCSF is within reach.. hopefuly.
As for everyone else" the DAT Breakdown!
Here it goes! Keep in mind, I did this over winter break so I only had 3.5 weeks to get everything done. Not really the best way to get things done but it kind of worked for me but I had hoped for a little better score!
Biology: 19
I was super nervous about this because it was always all over the place but it definitely helped doing a lot of problems. I think it really depends on your luck but there's a few ways to close that gap. Definitely go through Cliff's notes (I did it in 2 days) and go through DAT Destroyer and DAT QVault. I went through destroyer twice, and QVault like 3-4 times each test. Just make sure you know it. To be honest, this is all the studying that I did and I guess that's why I didn't do too well. One very important thing is to keep a notebook with all the questions you got wrong and make sure you know those too. The first time I went through destroyer I probably knew about 60% but the second time I think I knew more like 85-90%. Definitely helped me feel better.
Gen Chem: 23 and OChem: 24
Honestly, you guys all know about Chad's and that's all you need. Go through those, WRITE GOOD NOTES. Take it slow but make sure you know it and then take the quizzes after each video. After you're done with that, make sure you start taking tests on DAT QVault and DAT Destroyer. I went through Destroyer once and then looked over all the ones that I got wrong the day before. I also made sure to do DAT QVault 3-4 times each. Also, for Ochem, it helps to try to just sit down and let the reactions marinate in your head. It helped that I went through the book before doing the quizzes and tests because each time I got one more right and by the end, I was pretty confident. I was definitely pretty comfortable with the pathways in the Destroyer. Even then, I always still got a lot wrong (like 8 questions per test). The test wasn't even close to how hard the practice were but make sure you don't get confident. Just stay in the moment.
QR: 22
I was PISSED about this. I did NOT know that there was a calculator and when I saw that there was I got super excited but it ended up kicking my ass. Don't use it. Practice every test without one and get to a point where you can finish. Honestly, math was never a worry for me and I was getting 25-27 but that stupid calculator killed it. The only practice that I did was in QVault and Destroyer. I did 50 problems in the same time. This is like running 15 miles for a 13 mile race. Especially when there's a time limit like this, it's all about making sure you can get things done FAST and CORRECTLY.
RC: 22
So, I only took two tests. One was 17 and the other was a 24. I honestly feel like this one is based on your own ability and you can't really practice. I just tend to read the news a lot and I think that helped. If anything, there's one thing that I always do with reading based tests. I always make sure that I try to enjoy what I'm reading. I think I was the only one actually laughing/giggling or even giving any facial reactions to the passages. Of course they aren't funny reads but I would just try to relate to the passage and just tell my stuff things like "Man, this guy's an idiot" or "Wow, that's really cool." Oh, also one thing I did was that I skimmed rather than read everything. I think as long as you know the general flow of the writing and what information is where, you'll be fine!
PAT: 23
So I only practiced with DAT QVault and CrackPAT and I felt like I was getting around 20-21 so it was nice to see that the real one was better. If anything, I think this is the one test where the scores of my practice were relatively similar to the actual. I can only say that practicing helps but there's nothing I can tell you that was especially good. I looked up the "hill method" for angles and that was decently helpful. One thing for angles, I always just looked at the answer choices first and saw which one's were listed first so I could pretty much narrow down answer choices pretty quickly. The key hold and top-bottom-side were not as bad as some in the practice but still it was a little tricky. I surprisingly had about 20 minutes after finishing and I know that's not normal but always work as if you don't have enough time and when you do it'll help go over things.
After writing this all out, I realized that I don't think this may help too many of you. I didn't go through too many resources and I didn't do anything too crazy. But I think that what this means is, whatever tools you use/used, make sure you know it to the full capacity. It's not about adding more things onto your plate. Just know what you have in front of you and you will do fine! Hopefully better than me too! I wish you guys the best of luck and as a person who is always talking to younger pre-dents, I love giving advice so feel free to ask me any questions! I wish you guys the best of luck and ONE MORE! The day before, I hope you feel decently confident. Go over things that you were having a hard time with, go over overviews and then go out with your friends to just relax. I went to the beach with my girlfriend after she quizzed me on biology stuff (yeah, I made her ask me random biology questions through my outlines). It was nice and even though I know I could have studied more, I'm content. You guys can do it! Surprise yourselves :]
