Oh Kaplan...Thoughts on First Practice Test?

[jbop]

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Hey,

So I just finished taking the Kaplan book practice test (2011 edition) about an hour ago and I wanted to run these scores by you:

Biology: 21 (missed four)
GC: 16 (missed a ton)
OC: 19 (missed 7)
PAT: 21
RC: 19 (didn't realize I hadn't answered a few!)
QR: 18

for an AA of 18.6, which rounds up to 19, I guess.
Total Sciences: 18.6

My main concern is GC. I have a full three weeks of studying left to do, so I hope I can bring that score up to at least an 18! That way it won't look too bad with the rest of the scores. That 16 better go up!! Has anyone started off around 15 and gone up a lot in three weeks' time? And do you think it's realistic to aim and achieve a higher score than 18?

I was very pleasantly surprised with the 21 on biology. I spent so much quality time on biology that I ran out of time for GC and OC - I started the organic section with about 13 minutes left. For having so little time, I think what I got is decent and that the score can only go up after reviewing some more. And I was definitely stumped with some GC problems. I know I got frustrated because my calculations didn't match up with any of the options. Frustration and not knowing how to do some problems really hurt me in GC.

I have gone through all of Chad's GC videos, which were tremendously helpful, but if I'm going to get the most out of those, I have to review my weak points a lot during the next week. Hopefully, by the time I start taking Topscore practice tests, I'll feel better about GC. (I know those scores tend to be even lower than Kaplan)

For RC, it would help me so much to practice taking the test on the computer so that I can mark the ones I haven't answered. I think part of why I missed those questions is because it's hard to take the DAT on paper, filling in a scantron. I think little things like that will help me out with the score.

That QR section. I thought it was super hard! I guessed on at least...at LEAST 10. Compared the Math Destroyer questions, I thought Kaplan was being ridiculous with all of the variable-y problems. I like Math Destroyer a lot more and I'm getting the sense that it's a lot more like the real thing than Kaplan. I hope that's the case.

So that's about it. I'll listen to whatever you say, and a confidence boost would be very much appreciated!!

Ooops, score revision. *GC: 16, Science Average: 19

 

[FROGGBUSTER]

Be careful about Bio. I'm pretty sure the real test will have questions much more difficult than those in the Kaplan blue book. I took both the Kaplan BB and the ADA 2009 Bio (sample test), and the Kaplan BB's questions are really too simple in comparison.

 

[KyoPhan]

Be careful on the PAT part too. I felt kaplan's pat was wayyyy to easy. But it's a good place to start I think.

 

[jbop]

Definitely. It was the best score out of the rest, which is why it made me happy. Not complacent!

Cool. Yeah, PAT surprised me, because I was consistently getting 25's on Crack DAT PAT. Not sure why I was thrown off today.

 

[bud1010]

dont worry, kaplan is a lot harder, i never took the test thats in the book i only took the ones that are online but i did WAY better on the real thing than the kaplan tests and the third one i took a week and a half before my real test. i think you can DEFINITELY get an 18 or better. just keep doing destroyer and looking over chads videos on concepts you dont understand and you will be more than fine. I kept running out of time on kaplan tests also there are way too many calculations in gen chem but i had around 5-10 minutes left over on the real thing. i think you will be fine if you put in the work

 

[jbop]

Thanks bud! It's so good to hear that the real thing isn't as bad...and I'm really encouraged that there is hope! I am going to make next week GC-focused and study hard. I'll let you know how I do on the online test too 🙂

Do you think it's bad that I don't have Destroyer? Maybe it's too late to buy it with three weeks left to go (and practically $0 money...well, literally $0 in my bank, but the parents are strugglin' too). A good week will pass while it's shipping and then I'll have two weeks to cover the whole darn thing. Hm. Do you think it's still worth the money to get the Destroyer, even if I would basically only have two weeks left to study it?

 

[bud1010]

no i mean people have done very well on gchem with just chads you should be fine just make sure you understand the concepts he talks about and know how to do the questions on his quizes you should be fine