My DAT is next Wed and I know I worry about it, but I will take it!!!

[milowenwen]

hello guys, after I rescheduled my test, I got some new practice scores right now, and feel ..almost ready(still not too sure ) to walk in the test.
here are my practice scores,
topscores
#1) bio/gchem/ochem/reading/math
16/18/18/18/19
#2) 17/18/18/17/20


CDP(only finished 3 of them so far)
20/22/23

kaplan
bio/gchem/ochem (natural science test)
16/22/21
17/19/18

I actually did a lot kaplan online questions, bio sections are about the same, liek 16-18 range. ochem+gchem about 18-22 range.I will keep updating my scores and hope can hear some serious opinions from your guys.

as all you guys can see from my practice scores, bio is my weakest section, I keep reading my cliff now, like everyday, and some questions I got wrong, I can find WHY from cliffs+kaplan bb, and I know it is a good thing. I understand that no one can get super ready for the realy thing, and you will always more or less worry about what if you are not ready,I can not keep holding on my DAT, so I decided to take the real thing next week, and I am confident so far. well, I have to face it. So, what you guys think about my practice scores, will I make a good shot?

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[ArmyGuard63a]

Hey there! I just took mine today (phew! glad to have that off my chest!)

One advantage you definitely have right now is plenty of practice! In my opinion you will definitely do better than the scores on those practice exams, as I actually felt that the questions overall well of a lower caliber than TSP and Kaplan.
With one week to go, there's not much I can say that would be of any consequence other than practice QR problems I didn't and I got pwned lol with a 17, because I ran out of time and had to completely guess on ~10 questions

my scores:
PA: 24
QR: 17 lol
RC: 24
Bio: 20
GC: 20
OC: 19
TS: 20
AA: 20

I really think you'll be fine, and I think one of my main advantages was confidence. I barely studied the day before (yesterday), had a couple glasses of wine, hung out with my wife and brother in law relaxing. Got ~7 hours of restful, solid sleep, woke up showered and ate and glanced through a few things. Ironically I felt more at ease going into this exam than most school exams. So just chill and you'll be fine . The first time I had an adrenaline rush was answering those stupid survey questions, knowing my scores were going to pop up afterwards!

 

[milowenwen]

Hey there! I just took mine today (phew! glad to have that off my chest!)

One advantage you definitely have right now is plenty of practice! In my opinion you will definitely do better than the scores on those practice exams, as I actually felt that the questions overall well of a lower caliber than TSP and Kaplan.
With one week to go, there's not much I can say that would be of any consequence other than practice QR problems I didn't and I got pwned lol with a 17, because I ran out of time and had to completely guess on ~10 questions

my scores:
PA: 24
QR: 17 lol
RC: 24
Bio: 20
GC: 20
OC: 19
TS: 20
AA: 20

I really think you'll be fine, and I think one of my main advantages was confidence. I barely studied the day before (yesterday), had a couple glasses of wine, hung out with my wife and brother in law relaxing. Got ~7 hours of restful, solid sleep, woke up showered and ate and glanced through a few things. Ironically I felt more at ease going into this exam than most school exams. So just chill and you'll be fine . The first time I had an adrenaline rush was answering those stupid survey questions, knowing my scores were going to pop up afterwards!

thx for your reply, and your scores are awsome, I wish I can get something like yous, you must put a lot effort for sure. do u have any suggestions about biology? cuz I so far worry about it more than everything, keep scoring 16 is not a good sign..thx and wish u the best

 

[orangutan777]

hey don't worry too much about the practice scores (i didnt purchase topscore/achiever before my exam) are there specific topics that you keep missing on the tests? if so, then try to study those sections and ask yourself which concepts you are not understanding. a week is still plenty of time! also, do a cdp everyday so you dont feel rusty and go in with confidence. good luck!

 

[DrTootle]

I think the practice tests are best used for pacing yourself and getting the test taking endurance.

 

[milowenwen]

hey don't worry too much about the practice scores (i didnt purchase topscore/achiever before my exam) are there specific topics that you keep missing on the tests? if so, then try to study those sections and ask yourself which concepts you are not understanding. a week is still plenty of time! also, do a cdp everyday so you dont feel rusty and go in with confidence. good luck!

hey,thx for your reply. yes, I always went back to see what I missed and studied the related concepts on cliff ap bio, this book is helpful. I worry about practice scores cuz I am afraid I am gonna get the similar scores on the real thing...and the problem is/was i dont know which practice score is the closest compare to the real thing. ya, I think one week is good for me to finalize my studies and build more confidence..btw, which book did u use for studying biology? I am using cliff ap bio..

 

[milowenwen]

I think the practice tests are best used for pacing yourself and getting the test taking endurance.

agree. but somehow my practice tests pressured on me...

 

[ArmyGuard63a]

thanks for the compliments on my scores

I solely used the Kaplan BB for Bio (mistake) and I would approximate that 25% of my DAT questions were represented by that material, meaning that 75% of my answers were based on previous knowledge from classes or reasoning skills.
I've heard good things from ppl that studied Cliffs, but ultimately it really comes down to what questions you get IMO, and how well you've retained 100/200 lvl BIO class info
as for Ochem, it was much more conceptual than mechanistic, if that helps

as for timing and endurance, I've never had a problem with getting impatient during exams (base this on how you felt taking the SAT) and I was honestly surprised when I had about 20 minutes remaining at the end of the NS section, then about 15 at the end of PAT
one trick I figured out with the cube counting to speed things up is to jump through the next few ?s to see which faces it asks about, as none of them ask for more than I believe 3 face counts (as in, 1 face painted, 3, and 4) or any other combo
that way all you have to do is scan the structure once and only for those types, rather than unnecessarily counting (for my example above) the 2 and 5 face painted blocks... I'd save that saves an overall 3-4 mins
just give angle rankings your best shot without spending more than about 30 seconds on each, these were much more difficult than the practice I'd done ( there were only about 2-3 gimmes, the rest ridiculous)

 

[orangutan777]

hey,thx for your reply. yes, I always went back to see what I missed and studied the related concepts on cliff ap bio, this book is helpful. I worry about practice scores cuz I am afraid I am gonna get the similar scores on the real thing...and the problem is/was i dont know which practice score is the closest compare to the real thing. ya, I think one week is good for me to finalize my studies and build more confidence..btw, which book did u use for studying biology? I am using cliff ap bio..

i used shaum's bio outlines for the majority of my time studying. i only used the kaplan bb bio section for the endocrinology section. a week before the test i got ap cliffs and read this over until my test. however, i wouldnt focus too much on shaums (if you end up buying it) since it is way too dense and has a lot of detail that is really unnecessary. when i read apcliffs, i got the big picture much more clearly than from reading shaums.

my way of studying bio wasn't the best since i got freaked out from shaums so i tried to focus too much on the details and skimmed over more of the basic stuff. on the real DAT, a lot of it was simple concepts that i brushed over and couldnt answer. hope that helps! sorry that i cant help with your practice test dilemma. my other advice would be to get off sdn until after your DAT (this site freaked me out a couple days before my test) and be confident! also, when i was taking the test, it didnt even feel like i was taking a test until half way through rc when it hit me that i was taking the DATs lol

 

[milowenwen]

thanks for the compliments on my scores

I solely used the Kaplan BB for Bio (mistake) and I would approximate that 25% of my DAT questions were represented by that material, meaning that 75% of my answers were based on previous knowledge from classes or reasoning skills.
I've heard good things from ppl that studied Cliffs, but ultimately it really comes down to what questions you get IMO, and how well you've retained 100/200 lvl BIO class info
as for Ochem, it was much more conceptual than mechanistic, if that helps

as for timing and endurance, I've never had a problem with getting impatient during exams (base this on how you felt taking the SAT) and I was honestly surprised when I had about 20 minutes remaining at the end of the NS section, then about 15 at the end of PAT
one trick I figured out with the cube counting to speed things up is to jump through the next few ?s to see which faces it asks about, as none of them ask for more than I believe 3 face counts (as in, 1 face painted, 3, and 4) or any other combo
that way all you have to do is scan the structure once and only for those types, rather than unnecessarily counting (for my example above) the 2 and 5 face painted blocks... I'd save that saves an overall 3-4 mins
just give angle rankings your best shot without spending more than about 30 seconds on each, these were much more difficult than the practice I'd done ( there were only about 2-3 gimmes, the rest ridiculous)

what are the real bio questions like on the real thing? I mean...very specific or very straigtfoward..cuz you know I am freaking out about the details on cliff ap bio and I keep encountering different style questions from different source, like kaplan, topscore, and even some concepts I never seen from cliffies....my bio section keep scoring like 16-17....I am afriad i am gonna get even worse score....freaking out!

 

[milowenwen]

i used shaum's bio outlines for the majority of my time studying. i only used the kaplan bb bio section for the endocrinology section. a week before the test i got ap cliffs and read this over until my test. however, i wouldnt focus too much on shaums (if you end up buying it) since it is way too dense and has a lot of detail that is really unnecessary. when i read apcliffs, i got the big picture much more clearly than from reading shaums.

my way of studying bio wasn't the best since i got freaked out from shaums so i tried to focus too much on the details and skimmed over more of the basic stuff. on the real DAT, a lot of it was simple concepts that i brushed over and couldnt answer. hope that helps! sorry that i cant help with your practice test dilemma. my other advice would be to get off sdn until after your DAT (this site freaked me out a couple days before my test) and be confident! also, when i was taking the test, it didnt even feel like i was taking a test until half way through rc when it hit me that i was taking the DATs lol

oh dont be sorry...you helped me a lot...btw, you said that on the real thing, bio section came pretty basic and simple concepts? no details? I hate taxonomy...how many questions you got about taxonomy? any plants questions? i am sorry i am just freaking out..my both gchem+ochem+pat+qr are all above 20..only reading and biology around 18...I dont want to give up cuz I still have time until test day....

 

[orangutan777]

thats the "randomness" of the bio section. i invested a good chunk to mastering the taxonomy and plant sections but alas i had ZERO questions regarding these topics (and endocrinology for that matter)

 

[milowenwen]

thats the "randomness" of the bio section. i invested a good chunk to mastering the taxonomy and plant sections but alas i had ZERO questions regarding these topics (and endocrinology for that matter)

OH NO...did u get higher scores than ur practice?

 

[orangutan777]

i didnt do any practice tests lol (i didnt purchase topscore/achiever or anything like that)

 

[milowenwen]

i didnt do any practice tests lol (i didnt purchase topscore/achiever or anything like that)[/QUO

really?? you got pretty good scores tho...oh btw way...I did another bio section test this monring and I got 16 again on that one..****..I somehow think I should just give up on bio and do as good as possbile on my chem parts..

 

[orangutan777]

:x just keep reviewing apcliff's. don't give up!

 

[joonkimdds]

mine starts exactly 13 hrs from now! YES I AM FREAKING out!

 

[ArmyGuard63a]

in response to orangutan not having taken any practice tests:
I really have to agree that I don't feel that any of the practice exams help much in prep for the sciences, as your questions are basically luck of the draw, you get what you get and you either know how to handle it or not
However, they def. help for the QR and PAT, and are basically essential IMHO

 

[orangutan777]

in response to orangutan not having taken any practice tests:
I really have to agree that I don't feel that any of the practice exams help much in prep for the sciences, as your questions are basically luck of the draw, you get what you get and you either know how to handle it or not
However, they def. help for the QR and PAT, and are basically essential IMHO

you speak the truth. my form of practice for pat and qr were solely cdp and math destroyer and they helped with familiarity, timing, and types of problems that i would see. for the sciences, it's pretty much if you know it or you dont (i did use dat destroyer but nothing extra) but of course, theres no harm in extra practice

 

[Shinpe]

you speak the truth. my form of practice for pat and qr were solely cdp and math destroyer and they helped with familiarity, timing, and types of problems that i would see. for the sciences, it's pretty much if you know it or you dont (i did use dat destroyer but nothing extra) but of course, theres no harm in extra practice

I haven't taken the test but I have to disagree with both of you. The main purpose of practice tests is to work on being able to take a test for 4.5 hours and not run out of energy. It can teach you how to figure out those science problems that might take a bit longer under pressure.

 

[ArmyGuard63a]

I haven't taken the test but I have to disagree with both of you. The main purpose of practice tests is to work on being able to take a test for 4.5 hours and not run out of energy. It can teach you how to figure out those science problems that might take a bit longer under pressure.

I suppose, but I've never been one to feel pressure in a testing environment, or find it difficult to make it through long examinations...everyone's different
I had at least 1/4 the time left at the end of each section except QR, without ever having sat down to pace myself through an entire practice exam

 

[milowenwen]

you speak the truth. my form of practice for pat and qr were solely cdp and math destroyer and they helped with familiarity, timing, and types of problems that i would see. for the sciences, it's pretty much if you know it or you dont (i did use dat destroyer but nothing extra) but of course, theres no harm in extra practice

true..more practice always better..I can not wait to get this done on Wed..god blesses