need advice...

[dexadental]

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Hey guys I'm in the need for some advice...
I want to take my DAT soon but I have some reservations about how well I'd do on QR, the PAT, and GenChem. I'm getting 17's and 18's for my AA, and very low QR scores on practice tests. I'd like to my DAT the Friday after this upcoming Friday, so in about 2 weeks. Or on Monday...so exactly two weeks. I've read the entire Kaplan book, taken practice tests, and have almost done every Kaplan subject test along with top score. The reason I want to take it soon is because next week we're off the entire week for summer break (I'm taking two summer classes right now and they take alot of time). So what do you think, should two weeks be enough to knock this stuff out? I'm really dying to take it soon. Any advice is appreciated...

 

[jenk329]

I suggest you be patient with yourself and take it when you know you can rock it. It's still June, so don't take it just to relax your anxieties, as later you may regret knowing that perhaps a little more time coulda boosted your score. instead try to calm down now knowing that you have 2 or 3 weeks left and pace yourself in your studies, if you're still not sure take an extra week, but the key I think is knowing when you are ready, bc after a certain point there is only so much more you can do. Good luck.

 

[mochafreak]

I agree with Jenk...I'm hoping to take it the first or second week of July, but if I'm not comfortable then, I won't take it. Right now, one or two weeks seems like a big deal, but I think we're still relatively early and that two weeks could get us a score that would get us in a school even if we applied in September (I hope 😉 ).

About QR...I'm also sucking at the QR. I haven't done that stuff since the late '80's and I've been using a calculator that makes you think thru calculations backwards since then (it's called reverse polish notation, rpn, by Hewlett Packard). Anyhow, it's taking me forever to do a problem wrong that I could do right with my calculator in 30 sec. I also think that Kaplan's math review blows, so I did some research and ordered Arco's GRE/GMAT math review, which got the best user reviews on Amazon...haven't used it yet, but it has lots of practice problems which I think will be key. 👍

 

[Gurl21]

I think that one can never feel like "they are ready" to take it. You will always feel like you could do a little bit more here and there, thus never feeling 100% prepared. But if you have been studying for a while, you are prepared more than you may think, so my suggestion is to not keep putting it off.

 

[dat_student]

I think that one can never feel like "they are ready" to take it. You will always feel like you could do a little bit more here and there, thus never feeling 100% prepared. But if you have been studying for a while, you are prepared more than you may think, so my suggestion is to not keep putting it off.

I agree with you. I feel that I need 3 more years...

 

[jaerob]

Hey guys I'm in the need for some advice...
I want to take my DAT soon but I have some reservations about how well I'd do on QR, the PAT, and GenChem. I'm getting 17's and 18's for my AA, and very low QR scores on practice tests. I'd like to my DAT the Friday after this upcoming Friday, so in about 2 weeks. Or on Monday...so exactly two weeks. I've read the entire Kaplan book, taken practice tests, and have almost done every Kaplan subject test along with top score. The reason I want to take it soon is because next week we're off the entire week for summer break (I'm taking two summer classes right now and they take alot of time). So what do you think, should two weeks be enough to knock this stuff out? I'm really dying to take it soon. Any advice is appreciated...

Hey Dexa-

I haven't taken the DAT yet (I've been putting it off much like you, and will probably end up taking it early July, haha), but I thought I'd chime in anyway 🙂 It seems like you've been studying for a good amount of time, and it sounds like you're going to be studying hardcore for the next two weeks or so, so I have a hunch that you would be fine if you took it as planned. Do you have more summer classes after these two are finished? If not, and if you don't feel so confident two weeks from now, I would agree with the above posters that maybe you should take a couple more weeks and push the DAT back just a little bit more. I feel like I'm rambling, so I'll just end it there 😀 Good luck either way!

-Jae-

 

[dexadental]

Appreciate the reply from everyone...
I will be a rising senior this fall and would not able to graduate in the spring if I didn't do summer, so I just had to take these summer classes (biochemistry and physics). I know the DAT is a big thing however, and I've glazed over the information for about 6 months...but didn't really sit down to study it hardcore until about 2 weeks ago. I feel like I have biology down, I've gotten A's in all my science courses other than a B+ in chem 2...damn chem 2. Gen chem is kicking my butt but I think if I master that, and QR, I'll be ready. Summer classes I'm taking go until August unfortunately so next week is my only true break. I'm thinking of scheduling my DAT for Monday 2 weeks from now...the Monday I get back from break...it'll give me two extra days on the weekend to prepare. I'm very psyched about this, I wanna take it soon but I want to do well. I have my number, but does anyone have any hints on how to improve on QR? Reading, biology, and organic are pretty much down for me. Everything else is in the air...

 

[cowsgomoo]

Here is what worked for me. I set up a date that I felt that I could be ready to take the DAT, almost a month before hand. I did this because I knew I would keep pushing the date back otherwise and so since I had already fixed the date I was to take it would mean more work for me to change it and so discouraged me from doing so. This way I was able to structure my studying schedule so that I would be sure I would be ready for the date I had set the DAT.