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Ok,
So I took the DAT on 9/27... I really wanted to do better cause I don't think it shows THE BEST I can do, but I REALLY don't want to take that damn test again. What do you all think?
Academic Average 18 🙁
PAT 19
QR 16 😡
RC 18
Bio 20
Chem 18
Ochem 20
Total science 20
I don't think these scores are horrible. if the average was only a 19 instead of an 18 I wouldn't feel so bad. STUPID QR!
I have a 3.28 (almost 3.3!I hope they round up) gpa/ ~3.0 science gpa from UCSD. I have really good experience working as a chairside assistant for over a year, lots of community service, and the usual extracurricular activities. I feel like a very "middle" candidate, and now my DAT scores aren't the BEST either. I realize that I just wanted to have some brilliant scores like the other people on this board and we all have high standards, but how do these scores fit in to the "real" scheme of things, outside of this group of overachieving people?
I am applying to UCSF, UOP, UCLA, USC, UNLV, U of Illinois (even though I heard they only take residents...oops, there's 50 bucks), Temple, Boston, Tufts, Haaaavaad (Harvard-which is a joke now), NYU, & Columbia... I guess it's good that I applied to a lot of schools since I have no idea where I have a chance....
I would love any feedback since you guys know a lot about the schools. What chances do you think I have? Is it better to have a higher academic average with really fluctuating scores, similar scores all around, or does it not matter? How do you think these scores are individually/as an average. Do you think I should retake the test? And should I fax my scores to the schools now?
THE TEST:
Bio: Uh, I think I have an undiagnosed anxiety disorder, so I wasn't thinking very clearly for the sciences. I had to stop a few times and breathe deeply and reread the question over and over cause the words seemed weird. It was probably just me. Bio wasn't too bad, but it seemed a tad more tricky. My friend who just took hers told me to look up some circulatory definitions (define cardiac output/stroke volume) and it was on the test! There wasn't too much of one thing, but there were a few on classification and ecology. Not much, if any on hormones, even though I was ready for em! Some genetics, no cell stuff. They didn't ask me stuff that I was most confident of.
Gchem: this has always been my worst subject and I'm just thankful it wasn't the 15-16 I was expecting. There wasn't that much theory stuff. The calculations were definitely easier, but it was still the majority. It seemed pretty close to topscore.
Ochem: I thought the score was going to be higher, but oh well. I got my most feared separation problem, and I don't know. I didn't think it was that hard, but obviously it wasn't that easy
PAT: I don't think the PAT was SUPER hard like I was expecting. Everything but the angles seemed ok. I think the trick is to master the other parts, expecting that you will be missing more on the angles/hole punching. For the cube counting, pick a starting point and number each cube on your scratch paper, and when you're done you just have to count it up! It saves alot of time, but becareful cause if you mess up you can miss up to 3 questions. Everything else wasn't too bad though.
RC: I've always sucked at RC...ALWAYS. The passages weren't too long, 12-16 paragraphs. I was expecting like 20 paragraphs, so it wasn't too bad. Kaplan teaches you to take notes, but just make note of key words and topics so you can go back. Either way you still get most of your answers from looking it up. TIming is key in this section! I gave myself 10 minutes to read and 10 to answer...do what works best for you.
QR: WHATEVER MAN!!!! I don't know, this score was always going up and down. Well, I think it's most important to get through it fast, but I guess I did it too fast. Seriously, I didn't think I did that bad, but... I don't know... There was about 3/4 trig (My worst topic) and a little of everything. Again, work on timing cause I think that is the real enemy... =)
I think the test was harder than I thought it would be. I was scoring about this same scores (less in the sciences 15-18, higher in PAT-22, RC, and QR was always changing) on Kaplan and topscore. I think Kaplan diags are the hardest, especially in chem, and topscore seemed like a pretty close representation on the sciences... I was not expecting anything, but I was scoring (on practice tests) similarly to people who rocked the test. So I was hoping, maybe I can get an easy test if there is such a thing...and do as well as my other commrades. Just know that on the practice tests the sciences are made harder, and everything else is a little easier so in the end you just need to balance the difference/do better in the other sections. I took Kaplan classes and studied for about 2 months about 6-8 hours a day. The classes suck but the pratice material is worth the money. I took notes on all the chapters, but I didn't really review them as much as I should have. I think the most important thing is to practice as much as possible and Kaplan has 2 paper diags, 3 computer ones, and a bunch of other computer tests that would end up being 2 more tests.
THE BEST AND PRETTY MUCH ONLY ADVICE I CAN GIVE YOU:
The key to doing well on this test is to find your weak points and work on the timing -->this will come with lots of practice! I think it's so tragic to not answer questions because you can't get to them. for the sciences, I would give myself 20 minutes for bio, 40 min for gchem since it was my worst, and 30 for ochem. PAT-10 min keyholes, 10-15 TFE, 5 min HP, 5 min angles (you end up spending more on the real test), 5 for cubes, 15 for folding. If you set checkpoints then you have an idea of the pace you need to continue. Same for RC/QR. Some people can read the passage in 5 minutes, I can't. QR don't spend too much time on one problem. If you average one min/problem, you have 5 minutes to spread out on the harder ones. Seriously, it all depends on your strengths/weaknesses, and finding the best way to do well in the allotted time.
AND- calm down! In my case, I almost cracked. I was thinking, maybe I should leave and just drop the score. I tried to brainwash
myself and say, "it's not a big deal, you can just retake it if it's bad." All this is true, but my body wasn't believing it...then the hyperventilating started... so please, we all need to calm down and we'll do better! I feel like I would have, especially on the sciences. =(
I hope this helps, sorry for the essay. Please let me know what you think, I'm still kinda numbed from this whole experience and I don't know what I should do from here... Thanks guys!
So I took the DAT on 9/27... I really wanted to do better cause I don't think it shows THE BEST I can do, but I REALLY don't want to take that damn test again. What do you all think?
Academic Average 18 🙁
PAT 19
QR 16 😡
RC 18
Bio 20
Chem 18
Ochem 20
Total science 20
I don't think these scores are horrible. if the average was only a 19 instead of an 18 I wouldn't feel so bad. STUPID QR!
I have a 3.28 (almost 3.3!I hope they round up) gpa/ ~3.0 science gpa from UCSD. I have really good experience working as a chairside assistant for over a year, lots of community service, and the usual extracurricular activities. I feel like a very "middle" candidate, and now my DAT scores aren't the BEST either. I realize that I just wanted to have some brilliant scores like the other people on this board and we all have high standards, but how do these scores fit in to the "real" scheme of things, outside of this group of overachieving people?
I am applying to UCSF, UOP, UCLA, USC, UNLV, U of Illinois (even though I heard they only take residents...oops, there's 50 bucks), Temple, Boston, Tufts, Haaaavaad (Harvard-which is a joke now), NYU, & Columbia... I guess it's good that I applied to a lot of schools since I have no idea where I have a chance....
I would love any feedback since you guys know a lot about the schools. What chances do you think I have? Is it better to have a higher academic average with really fluctuating scores, similar scores all around, or does it not matter? How do you think these scores are individually/as an average. Do you think I should retake the test? And should I fax my scores to the schools now?
THE TEST:
Bio: Uh, I think I have an undiagnosed anxiety disorder, so I wasn't thinking very clearly for the sciences. I had to stop a few times and breathe deeply and reread the question over and over cause the words seemed weird. It was probably just me. Bio wasn't too bad, but it seemed a tad more tricky. My friend who just took hers told me to look up some circulatory definitions (define cardiac output/stroke volume) and it was on the test! There wasn't too much of one thing, but there were a few on classification and ecology. Not much, if any on hormones, even though I was ready for em! Some genetics, no cell stuff. They didn't ask me stuff that I was most confident of.
Gchem: this has always been my worst subject and I'm just thankful it wasn't the 15-16 I was expecting. There wasn't that much theory stuff. The calculations were definitely easier, but it was still the majority. It seemed pretty close to topscore.
Ochem: I thought the score was going to be higher, but oh well. I got my most feared separation problem, and I don't know. I didn't think it was that hard, but obviously it wasn't that easy
PAT: I don't think the PAT was SUPER hard like I was expecting. Everything but the angles seemed ok. I think the trick is to master the other parts, expecting that you will be missing more on the angles/hole punching. For the cube counting, pick a starting point and number each cube on your scratch paper, and when you're done you just have to count it up! It saves alot of time, but becareful cause if you mess up you can miss up to 3 questions. Everything else wasn't too bad though.
RC: I've always sucked at RC...ALWAYS. The passages weren't too long, 12-16 paragraphs. I was expecting like 20 paragraphs, so it wasn't too bad. Kaplan teaches you to take notes, but just make note of key words and topics so you can go back. Either way you still get most of your answers from looking it up. TIming is key in this section! I gave myself 10 minutes to read and 10 to answer...do what works best for you.
QR: WHATEVER MAN!!!! I don't know, this score was always going up and down. Well, I think it's most important to get through it fast, but I guess I did it too fast. Seriously, I didn't think I did that bad, but... I don't know... There was about 3/4 trig (My worst topic) and a little of everything. Again, work on timing cause I think that is the real enemy... =)
I think the test was harder than I thought it would be. I was scoring about this same scores (less in the sciences 15-18, higher in PAT-22, RC, and QR was always changing) on Kaplan and topscore. I think Kaplan diags are the hardest, especially in chem, and topscore seemed like a pretty close representation on the sciences... I was not expecting anything, but I was scoring (on practice tests) similarly to people who rocked the test. So I was hoping, maybe I can get an easy test if there is such a thing...and do as well as my other commrades. Just know that on the practice tests the sciences are made harder, and everything else is a little easier so in the end you just need to balance the difference/do better in the other sections. I took Kaplan classes and studied for about 2 months about 6-8 hours a day. The classes suck but the pratice material is worth the money. I took notes on all the chapters, but I didn't really review them as much as I should have. I think the most important thing is to practice as much as possible and Kaplan has 2 paper diags, 3 computer ones, and a bunch of other computer tests that would end up being 2 more tests.
THE BEST AND PRETTY MUCH ONLY ADVICE I CAN GIVE YOU:
The key to doing well on this test is to find your weak points and work on the timing -->this will come with lots of practice! I think it's so tragic to not answer questions because you can't get to them. for the sciences, I would give myself 20 minutes for bio, 40 min for gchem since it was my worst, and 30 for ochem. PAT-10 min keyholes, 10-15 TFE, 5 min HP, 5 min angles (you end up spending more on the real test), 5 for cubes, 15 for folding. If you set checkpoints then you have an idea of the pace you need to continue. Same for RC/QR. Some people can read the passage in 5 minutes, I can't. QR don't spend too much time on one problem. If you average one min/problem, you have 5 minutes to spread out on the harder ones. Seriously, it all depends on your strengths/weaknesses, and finding the best way to do well in the allotted time.
AND- calm down! In my case, I almost cracked. I was thinking, maybe I should leave and just drop the score. I tried to brainwash
myself and say, "it's not a big deal, you can just retake it if it's bad." All this is true, but my body wasn't believing it...then the hyperventilating started... so please, we all need to calm down and we'll do better! I feel like I would have, especially on the sciences. =(
I hope this helps, sorry for the essay. Please let me know what you think, I'm still kinda numbed from this whole experience and I don't know what I should do from here... Thanks guys!
