Oddball Questions for DAT Bio

[Expert]

For those who have taken the DAT -

From what I read from people's DAT score breakdowns, the biology section of the DAT contains mostly straightforward, conceptual questions. Nothing too specific. It also contains some application questions, and a few oddball questions.

Is there a way to prepare for these oddball questions? I think most people report that they have never seen anything about what the ques. are asking when they were studying for bio.

Do these questions ask about things that are typically not covered in an introductory biology course?

Does anyone know what is the best way to prepare for these oddball questions? - besides memorizing Campbell's bio textbook.

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[Avery07]

For those who have taken the DAT -

From what I read from people's DAT score breakdowns, the biology section of the DAT contains mostly straightforward, conceptual questions. Nothing too specific. It also contains some application questions, and a few oddball questions.

Is there a way to prepare for these oddball questions? I think most people report that they have never seen anything about what the ques. are asking when they were studying for bio.

Do these questions ask about things that are typically not covered in an introductory biology course?

Does anyone know what is the best way to prepare for these oddball questions? - besides memorizing Campbell's bio textbook.

I haven't taken the DAT but I think these odd ball questions should have came up at some point in your college career. From what I gather they are just silly, specific points about some random concept.

On the practice test for the KBB it asks what metal is in the photosystem? The answer is Mg. I think that was a pretty odd and random question. I knew the answer although I'm not sure how or why. Sometimes you just luck out and pick up a random fact.

 

[RSD2014]

For those who have taken the DAT -

From what I read from people's DAT score breakdowns, the biology section of the DAT contains mostly straightforward, conceptual questions. Nothing too specific. It also contains some application questions, and a few oddball questions.

Is there a way to prepare for these oddball questions? I think most people report that they have never seen anything about what the ques. are asking when they were studying for bio.

Do these questions ask about things that are typically not covered in an introductory biology course?

Does anyone know what is the best way to prepare for these oddball questions? - besides memorizing Campbell's bio textbook.

Why not focus on getting the majority of the Normal questions, that should get you a decently high score. I have no idea what you mean by "oddball" questions. I have not seen any when I took it. If there were such oddball questions, I'm sure a lot of ppl would miss it. Unless you're planning on getting 40/40 in bio, don't stress yourself out over "odd ball" questions...what ever that means.

 

[dentalWorks]

For those who have taken the DAT -

From what I read from people's DAT score breakdowns, the biology section of the DAT contains mostly straightforward, conceptual questions. Nothing too specific. It also contains some application questions, and a few oddball questions.

Yes, I'd say that out of the 40 biology questions.
-25 are giveaways (you can answer them with just high school biology)

-10 are brain-busters (a little hard questions, require elevation of your thinking, but eventually you'll reach the correct answer)

-and finally the last 5 are what I call WTFs (these are questions you'll come accross through out your undergrad courses, or if you have read the ENTIRE BIOLOGY BY CAMPBELL text 1200+ pages). I still remember, today, I had 2 questions on my biology that I swear to you I woulda NEVER been able to answer them (not even guess) if I hadn't taken anatomy and physiology before DAT.... They were just weird questions I can't go into too much detail about them.

Is there a way to prepare for these oddball questions? I think most people report that they have never seen anything about what the ques. are asking when they were studying for bio.

Thats the rule with "WTFs", you just can't prepare for them. Unless you carpet bomb the entire biology text book (good luck, its like 1250 pages)

Do these questions ask about things that are typically not covered in an introductory biology course?

Yes, some of my questions were things not found in ap biology nor kaplain blue book. It was stuff from my upper level sciences.

Does anyone know what is the best way to prepare for these oddball questions? - besides memorizing Campbell's bio textbook.

I don't, if you do happen to find out, please come back and tell us

 

[TB1]

I've taken the DAT and did very well on it, all I can say is that most bio questions (if you have a sufficient background in bio) will seem easy, but there are a few in there that are just much more difficult questions. They are not necessarily something that you didn't study ("oddball"), they are just much more specific or wordy or require a higher level of understanding than the rest and you'll realize the difference right away.