My Story

[gwest]

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First off, I just wanted to say thank you to all those helpful SNDers that answered my questions in my time of need. I have been using this website for about 2 years and it is such a help.

Well the first time around, I took Kaplan and soley read out of the Kaplan book & taking notes. I think I got through that thing about twice through. And that was the wrong way 2 study for sure!
Test 1 scores:
PA 18 82.7
QR 15 48.7
RC 18 53.2
Biology 16 56.3
GChem 15 37.1
OChem 16 52.8
TS 16 52.1

AA 16 48.3

I took that DAT a year later. But this time around I took the Kaplan Course (Worthless), read through my Kaplan Notes from the year prior, got a Kaplan tutor, got achiever, got ahold of other exams. The tutor was helpful for the fact that she could answer my questions on the spot but its nothing that SDN couldnt take care of.
Test 2 Scores:
PA 21 98.5
QR 16 57.7
RC 17 30.9
Bio 18 71.4
GChem 18 68.2
OChem 19 80.1
TS 18 71.7
AA 18 70.8

I mean it was an improvement, but still not satisfying enough. And both of those times I didnt feel like I was ready. I should have posponed it a week to save all this time & money. Then I decided to tackle this exam once more and got the best tool I used so far, DAT DESTROYER. Its simply problem and answers. I went through that thing like 2-3 times and took about a week and a half or so to understand those problems especially QR inside and out.
Test 3 Scores:
PA 20 88.2
QR 20 88.3
RC 20 65.6
Bio 21 93.5
GChem 21 88.3
OChem 20 80.4
TS 21 92.8
AA 20 86.1

Finally! 3rd time is a charm, @ least for me.

5 words: DAT Achiever & DAT Destroyer!! Cant stress that enough. All my stuff is for sale. And will be selling them as a bundle. I have 2 of the same Kaplan books, 2 of the same Kaplan lesson books, DAT Destroyer, the ADA sample exam, Princeton Review Problems (Excellent tool as well), & 3 old school exam (i guarantee u dont have 'em). So just PM me

Sorry this is so long guys, I just had 2 share. With regard 2 problems, search the most recent post of achiever questions. The long thread has recently been up here alot. Almost half of those were on my DAT including, cheetah & the sea urchin. Now heres some Destroyer problems to focus on. It may be an important reagent, or a VERY similar Q. just know these inside & out!

DAT DESTROYER: OChem- 16, 21, 45, 55, 62, 91, 92, 101, 107, 108, 113, 121
GChem- 4, 13, 14, 22, 27, 35, 39, 40, 75, 113, 129, 142
Bio- 4, 6, 12, 13, 33, 72, 82, 83, 86, 94, 110, 114, 130, 136, 177
QR- 3, 5, 9, 12, 13, 16, 21, 24, 26, 45, 49, 50, 51, 62, 65, 81, 83, 107, 108, 109

 

[belmont]

Nice scores. I've been using destroyer and achiever for my test prep. I have my test in a week, it's nice to know I have good study materials.

 

[Zabispurs]

Hey,

I am almost in the same boat you are and retaking in December. I was wondering two things:
1. Do you think all the stuff covered in DAT DESTROYER OCHEM. is enough?? I've gone through my whole OCHEM Textbook..
2. How did you raise your Reading Comprehension? Did you use the same method for the reading comprehension or did you change your method of doing? I want to score as high as possible on the reading and want to know the best method to do so..

Thanks A Lot

 

[burnthestatus]

gwest, would you be willing to sell things seperately?

 

[Law0830]

Nice improvement congrads!!!!

 

[Cher*]

First, congrats gwest on your scores..... good job!

second, I'm glad to say that I'm finally done too.

I just retook my dat yesterday and I'm really satisfied with my scores this time. I improved drastically on my TS (24) and therefore my AA.
My bio & ochem scores improved by 8 points, gchem improved by a point, and QR by 3 points, and I was able to hit mid and high 20s on all those sections.

I did a lot of practice tests and studying. First time, I only studied with kaplan and topscore, and the second time I added acheiver and destroyer to my study list.

My special thanks goes to Dr. Romano and Nancy who helped me out throughout this process. I know that everyone's been talking about this and it's because destroyer IS truly amazing. Of course, a good foundation in all the areas is necessary, but the practice tests in the destroyer are what makes you really prepared for the dat. The problems appear hard on the first try, but then studying the detailed answers and understanding why each answer is right/wrong helps you become very comfortable with the material.

I wish everyone the best of luck on their upcoming dat 🙂

 

[gwest]

2 burn: yea sure i would sell them separately

2 zap: to be quite honest i would say that destroyers ochem is enough. probably be comfortable with all of destroyer's ochem then hit up dat achiever to clear up loose ends if u can. i looked over those roadmaps in destroyer right b4 the exam and it was real helpful. and with regard to reading comp. i really dont know what advice to give you other than the fact of being calm. the first 2 times i took the exam i practiced & practiced so i thought i felt prepared. but the 3rd time around i was over it and was expecting a low score. i really think it depends on the exam you get 4 sure. in my outline i just numbered the paragraphs and then wrote down the topic sentence for each and came back to the outline to answer each individual question. i did this the 2nd & 3rd time and seemed to work 4 me the 3rd time around. happy studying!

any other Q's??