- Joined
- Nov 9, 2015
- Messages
- 30
- Reaction score
- 34
I never imagined that I would be posting about my DAT score, but here I am!
Academic Average: 23
Total science: 23
OC 27
GC 22
Bio 22
RC 21
QR 22
PAT 21.
Total actual time studying(cramming): 3 weeks.
I started ACTUALLY studying for my exam right after my college exams were done. I did take the Kaplan course (Waste of money..) and that helped me touch up on the topics during the semester but I didn't actually get to studying til after my exams. I quickly realized that the Kaplan wasn't gunna cut it and read A LOT of posts on SDN about what to study. I studied about 8-10 hours a day.
BIO 22
I used: Feralis Notes, Kaplan Blue Book, 5 Steps to a 5 (AP BIO), DAT Destroyer.
Feralis notes had everything I needed to do well on this exam IMO. Most of the questions were pretty basic and came straight from these notes. There was a question that I know I got wrong because I couldn't remember what his notes said. Otherwise there were 2 questions that weren't discussed much in his notes: ex: Eustachian tube. pretty random. DAT destroyer was really good too, I highly highly recommend. It was easier to remember/understand concepts by actually working out problems and understanding what topics you should review.
GEN CHEM 22
I used: DAT Destroyer, Chad's, Kaplan Blue Book
Gen Chem has always been my weak spot. Chad's was spot on with the content on the exam in my opinion. DAT Destroyer helped lock in certain topics that were on the exam and definitely made the test seem a lot easier after using it! Would highly recommend both. PS. make sure to take notes on Chad's videos.
OCHEM 27
I used: DAT Destroyer, Chad's OUTLINE, Kaplan Blue Book
So first off, I just took both ochem classes this year so this section was still fresh for me. Memorize the EWG and EDG for sure! DAT Destroyer helped a lot, especially looking over his ochem maps and understanding acidity. I didn't watch any of Chad's videos, just downloaded the outline and that was enough for me. Kaplan helped quite a bit too tbh. This part of the exam was pretty straight forward.
Side Note: One question had 2 identical answer choices..wtf?
PAT 21
I used: Crack the PAT, Practice tests
I dont know how I did well in this one. I actually had a panic attack during it because this section was really hard to me. The TFE were hard and there was a keyhole that I swear did not fit any of the answer choices. Angles were like 1-2 degrees apart and there was some pretty hard hole punching questions that looked a lot like the ones in Crack the PAT.
Crack the PAT was pretty similar on all sections to me, but I thought the TFE were definitely harder.
Side Note: Do not use Kaplan for this. Sooooo much easier...
RC 21
I used: Practice tests
Honestly, I thought the RC on the real DAT was a lot easier than Kaplan practice tests. I think it was just because the topics were easier for me to understand. Also, I did not know this prior to the exam but you can highlight! I used this while I read to highlight key points and it made this section a lot more tolerable for me and it took less time because I didn't have to take notes on each paragraph.
QR 22
I used: DAT Destroyer, MATH Destroyer
This section wasn't very different than from the DAT Bootcamp/Kaplan practice QR sections in my opinion. There were no volume questions or ones that required trig identities for me though. The hardest thing for me was finishing on time. I had to rush a lot on questions I wasn't sure about because time was ticking. I recommend getting fast at working out problems in the MATH Destroyer and you'll be good to go!
Also, if you think you're doing bad on a section, don't let it get to you! I did a lot better than I thought in the end 🙂
Special thanks to the SDN community for giving so much advice on what to study and how to prepare. I couldn't have done it without all of you!
Academic Average: 23
Total science: 23
OC 27
GC 22
Bio 22
RC 21
QR 22
PAT 21.
Total actual time studying(cramming): 3 weeks.
I started ACTUALLY studying for my exam right after my college exams were done. I did take the Kaplan course (Waste of money..) and that helped me touch up on the topics during the semester but I didn't actually get to studying til after my exams. I quickly realized that the Kaplan wasn't gunna cut it and read A LOT of posts on SDN about what to study. I studied about 8-10 hours a day.
BIO 22
I used: Feralis Notes, Kaplan Blue Book, 5 Steps to a 5 (AP BIO), DAT Destroyer.
Feralis notes had everything I needed to do well on this exam IMO. Most of the questions were pretty basic and came straight from these notes. There was a question that I know I got wrong because I couldn't remember what his notes said. Otherwise there were 2 questions that weren't discussed much in his notes: ex: Eustachian tube. pretty random. DAT destroyer was really good too, I highly highly recommend. It was easier to remember/understand concepts by actually working out problems and understanding what topics you should review.
GEN CHEM 22
I used: DAT Destroyer, Chad's, Kaplan Blue Book
Gen Chem has always been my weak spot. Chad's was spot on with the content on the exam in my opinion. DAT Destroyer helped lock in certain topics that were on the exam and definitely made the test seem a lot easier after using it! Would highly recommend both. PS. make sure to take notes on Chad's videos.
OCHEM 27
I used: DAT Destroyer, Chad's OUTLINE, Kaplan Blue Book
So first off, I just took both ochem classes this year so this section was still fresh for me. Memorize the EWG and EDG for sure! DAT Destroyer helped a lot, especially looking over his ochem maps and understanding acidity. I didn't watch any of Chad's videos, just downloaded the outline and that was enough for me. Kaplan helped quite a bit too tbh. This part of the exam was pretty straight forward.
Side Note: One question had 2 identical answer choices..wtf?
PAT 21
I used: Crack the PAT, Practice tests
I dont know how I did well in this one. I actually had a panic attack during it because this section was really hard to me. The TFE were hard and there was a keyhole that I swear did not fit any of the answer choices. Angles were like 1-2 degrees apart and there was some pretty hard hole punching questions that looked a lot like the ones in Crack the PAT.
Crack the PAT was pretty similar on all sections to me, but I thought the TFE were definitely harder.
Side Note: Do not use Kaplan for this. Sooooo much easier...
RC 21
I used: Practice tests
Honestly, I thought the RC on the real DAT was a lot easier than Kaplan practice tests. I think it was just because the topics were easier for me to understand. Also, I did not know this prior to the exam but you can highlight! I used this while I read to highlight key points and it made this section a lot more tolerable for me and it took less time because I didn't have to take notes on each paragraph.
QR 22
I used: DAT Destroyer, MATH Destroyer
This section wasn't very different than from the DAT Bootcamp/Kaplan practice QR sections in my opinion. There were no volume questions or ones that required trig identities for me though. The hardest thing for me was finishing on time. I had to rush a lot on questions I wasn't sure about because time was ticking. I recommend getting fast at working out problems in the MATH Destroyer and you'll be good to go!
Also, if you think you're doing bad on a section, don't let it get to you! I did a lot better than I thought in the end 🙂
Special thanks to the SDN community for giving so much advice on what to study and how to prepare. I couldn't have done it without all of you!
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