option tutorial

[karl66]

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so no one is ever really sure what the answer to this is, a lot of people on here who took the DAT either were able to use the optional tutorial to write notes or they were given a warning and were told to stop..

my test is in a few weeks and so I called the prometric center I will be going to yesterday and they said their guidelines stated "no note taking before the testing has started." The lady told me "so no it's not allowed and if other testing centers are allowing that then they're violating the rules..."

BUT... I took the liberty today to call ADA and the guy told me that there was no rule against it, and he's right! I mean I read the DAT guidelines multiple times and searched for an answer and there was nothing that stated it's not allowed. So I called back the testing center and explained the question again and said that I called ADA and what they told me, this lady said that as long as the test has started I would be able to, but before it I wouldn't. so I informed her that once the optional tutorial begins, there's a timer that starts, and she said that yes if that's the case then you'll be able to.

so just thought I would share with you guys, in case your testing centers try to tell you that it's not allowed...explain to them that "DAT Testing" begins with the tutorial, so it is technically part of your test schedule, according to the DAT Guide on page 6 in the chart. Once you have confirmed your name on the screen, the test begins regardless of whether you decide to jump right in or let the tutorial time pass.

🙂

 

[themrn]

awesome work!!! thanks to you! 🙂

 

[tayloreve]

Yeah!! That's great news. I've been wondering about this 🙂 thanks so much!

 

[hope_to_match]

so no one is ever really sure what the answer to this is, a lot of people on here who took the DAT either were able to use the optional tutorial to write notes or they were given a warning and were told to stop..

my test is in a few weeks and so I called the prometric center I will be going to yesterday and they said their guidelines stated "no note taking before the testing has started." The lady told me "so no it's not allowed and if other testing centers are allowing that then they're violating the rules..."

BUT... I took the liberty today to call ADA and the guy told me that there was no rule against it, and he's right! I mean I read the DAT guidelines multiple times and searched for an answer and there was nothing that stated it's not allowed. So I called back the testing center and explained the question again and said that I called ADA and what they told me, this lady said that as long as the test has started I would be able to, but before it I wouldn't. so I informed her that once the optional tutorial begins, there's a timer that starts, and she said that yes if that's the case then you'll be able to.



so just thought I would share with you guys, in case your testing centers try to tell you that it's not allowed...explain to them that "DAT Testing" begins with the tutorial, so it is technically part of your test schedule, according to the DAT Guide on page 6 in the chart. Once you have confirmed your name on the screen, the test begins regardless of whether you decide to jump right in or let the tutorial time pass.

🙂

sweet! thanks 🙂

 

[karl66]

You're all welcome. I think i'm gonna remind them before I walk in just so they don't try to give me a hard time during the tutorial, i'd be too scared to argue haha

 

[athomas]

Not to drag up a kind of old thread but...

I called the ADA DAT testing office and they said you are NOT allowed to write during the tutorial whatsoever, no matter what it is you are writing.

So I don't know if their official policy has changed or what, but that's what their answer was.

 

[Glimmer1991]

Here's the bottom line: Don't risk it. You should have PLENTY of time to make your PAT grids during the end of your science section.

 

[athomas]

Forgot to add, I don't know about other testing centers but the one I called in Seattle confirmed that they do NOT allow any writing during the tutorial or break.

However, they did tell me that both sides of their laminated sheets are graph paper style, so hopefully that means I won't need to re-draw grids anyway...

 

[Dent35]

Speaking of tutorials, for those of you that have taken the DAT is the tutorial worth wasting 15 minutes over? Was it helpful at all? Or should I just skip it?

 

[athomas]

I did my dat yesterday and I thought it was useful for a few reasons. It gave me a few minutes to calm my nerves, test the mouse movements and where I needed to click for an answer to register, but most importantly it let me check out the calculator and its response time.

Also I discovered there is no reason at all to need to write at the beginning because prometrics laminated sheets are like graph paper on both sides and perfect for the pat.

You can also hit end on thr tutorial early so you don't spend the whole fifteen minutes

 

[hypemachine]

Here's the bottom line: Don't risk it. You should have PLENTY of time to make your PAT grids during the end of your science section.

You've said this several times but I don't think you should assume that everyone will finish their science section early

 

[andrewhntran]

I spent every last second I had checking my answers and the ones I marked in the science section. I'm just glad I called ahead and wrote down some notes during the tutorial.

 

[Glimmer1991]

You've said this several times but I don't think you should assume that everyone will finish their science section early

Okay, fine. They take less than a minute to make, though. Lots of people seem to have extra time in this section, so I don't think what I'm saying is totally off the wall... I'm giving an OPINION, though! 🙂. I can't control how efficient people are in this section. Personally, though, I had oodles and oodles of extra time. I checked over everything.

I don't know why people are so worried about this. The grids are so quick to make. The sheets they give you even have grids...

 

[Shredded Ape]

Another thing comes into play here. If you really are allowed to write once the tutorial begins you can also jot down a few formulas for QR or a few things that you were reviewing right before the test. 15 minutes of jotting things that you may forget can make a HUGE difference in your scores.

 

[ModifiedBass]

It varies from test center. I was able to write during the tutorial because I didn't care to ask. And as glimmer said, it only takes a minute to do them anyway, a vary minor thing to be worrying about.

 

[stevieobee]

I read in other threads that they can report you without giving you a warning or even letting you know that you were reported, resulting in an invalidation of your score 😱

 

[NMC2010]

This is off topic, but I remember in my post-DAT survey at the prometric center, they asked me if the formulas they provided in the QR section were helpful. I never saw any formulas. Any of you guys?