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- Jun 25, 2008
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Whew. 3 weeks later and up 100 on my eye prescription, finally done with the dats. and happy as ever. Thanks alot to SDN for giving me insight to good study material and strategies. without this, i would never of found destroyer, topscore, crack, and alot of random questions and confidence boosters (and killers). If your a predental student and taking the DATS, sdn is like a drug.
Here was my study schedule. I think it was the most efficient and effective for the time I studied (~3 weeks) and worked out really well. But I love cramming, I fell like I retain the best when I am under pressure w/ a sense of urgency.
WEEK 1-1.5 - GET BACKGROUND (~4-8 hours per day, 5 days a week)
Start with Kaplan BB. It's a good resource to rekindle all that science knowledge you once knew, but now forgotten. I saved most of my notes, lab manuals, textbooks, and filled in gaps with those. Kaplan is great for gchem and orgo, but bio is slackin. BE SURE TO WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN. either on a notebook, study outlines, or even typing it, just make sure you write it into your brain. or you can re-read Cliffs and Kaplans 6 times over and shoot yourself in the head.
I highly recommend Cliff's AP BIO, AND PRINCETON REVIEW AP CHEM. not alot of people mention ap chem prep book, but it is VERY VERY good. The section tests and esp. back-of-book AP tests are right on par w/ the real DAT (if not harder).
So, I basically rewrote all my notes, read through AP prep books and stuff for the first 1.5 weeks. I didn't really feel a sense of urgency until 2 weeks. If you really focus, you can absorb stuff like a sponge. just don't get too antsy and feel burnt out.
WEEK 1.5 - 3 - PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE (EVERY DAY, 12+ HOURS PER DAY)
Okay, so about now I'm obsessively checking SDN for DAT DONE posts and trying to gain all the info about the sections, tests, what to expect, and all the reading comprehension passages I pray I won't get. It really helped alot, even though i felt like i was re-reading the same stuff every post. During the real thing, I'd be like..."Ohh..I remember when someone mentioned something about this..or THANK GOD NO FRAP...and etc etc." (P.S. THERE DEFINATELY IS AN ERROR IN THE ORGO SECTION - WHERE DID THAT METHYL COME FROM????? hah. )
So by now, I know all about destroyer, topscore, crack, achiever, and all this stuff to waste your money on. I finally bought destroyer, reluctantly though - i thought it was all hype and people were marketing for them - but it really was a really good resource. (thanks PSU SHC!) So the first week, I went through bio and gchem and orgo and math. I finally finished on sunday (my test was the coming thursday). Destroyer is super overkill for gchem and orgo btw..I did AP bio tests, AP chem tests (the best). I was doing fairly in destroyer (~2 wrong per 10 questions) so I was kinda nervous. I took notes on everything I didn't know about..EVEN the small details. yep yep. def. saw some destroyer q's on the real thing. Redid all off BIO destroyer and went through destroyer chem - conceptual q's only in next 2 days.
I decided to buy crack - the $70 cuz i thought i spent toooo much money already on dat crap, and it was REALLY worth it. I'll post my crack scores later. I thought it wasn't that hard so w/e. save your money. do 5 of them twice = 10. money in the bank.
The saturday before my test, I finally decided to buy topscore. That was a good buy for $50. But, they didn't email me the license until monday so go figure. w/e. basically I did a topscore test monday, tues, wed. (the day before my real one) VERY SIMILLAR TO REAL THING. Take notes on the problems you miss.
So seriously, if you put in a good 3 weeks of study and don't let it completely take over your life, you'll do fine. Make sure you still keep yourself sane and don't lock up on your desk chair all day. take the weekends off. enjoy your last summers while they last. but be prepared to buckle down the last week or so.
Ok this is super long let me just cut to the good stuff.
MY SCORES:
BIO 22 (95.2)
GCHEM 22 (88.7)
ORGO 27 (98.2)
RC 21 (80.2)
QR 21 (87.2)
PAT 21 (93)
TS 23 (97.7)
AA 22 (95.4)
Yeah, I was super super excited. I think I got real lucky with everything. I didn't think it was hard AT ALL. easier than ALL the practice tests I did - kaplan, topscore, destroyer, ap chem..(minus RC, PAT)
so here's the breakdown: don't get intimidated by everyone else' posts.
BIO - It wasn't that bad. I thought it'd be super random and crap but it was OK. a couple questions like wtf.... but only 1 i really had NO clue on. make sure you know ur genetics. no frap though so thank god. go through destroyer twice.
CHEM - EASY. i don't even know. most conceptual. when ur doing destroyer just do the conceptual ones..seriously.
ORGO - EASY. def 1 question no right answer, a couple spec. questions, super straight forward. i think i got a perfect. (27?)
DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ANSWERS. i re-did ALL my questions and def. found a couple dumb mistakes. READ THE QUESTIONS THROROUGHLY
PAT - keyholes weird i think...harder that crack. everything else is comparable. CRACK was a great resource. the entire dat format is exactly like cracks. TFE same, angles easier, hole punch EASY, cube a bit easier (i had one w/ like 25) exactly like crack minus optical illusions, pattern fold easier. kind of hoping for a higher score though...21 was the lowest i ever got on crack.
RC - I had 3 easy passages. I finished w/ like 15 minutes left, redid the ENTIRE thing over. bridges, epidimology, CNS. good stuff 🙂 searched and destroyed. about same as TS. except no gay questions like "all of the following EXCEPT.." i hate that crap. more tone stuff too but not much - like 5 non-search-and-destroy questions.
QR - pretty dang hard, but not THAT bad. I was skipping alot of questions early but got on a roll and was all good. tip - use guess & check w/ the answer choices if straight up solving it is too hard. trig trig trig. even if i studied more i would've not changed much. (destoryer = good)
TESTING CONDITIONS
nice - BETHESDA, MD has a great prometric site. make sure you get there on time though..and bring quarters....(thank god for a 15 min tutorial section) flat screen lcds, and very quiet.
lamanated sheets and dry-erase pens - who cares??? it's all the same in the end. study w/ pen/paper and you'll be fine on test day. it's not that serious...
Ok. wow. super long. i hope you DAT-DONE obsessed people are happy! I can post topscore and crack scores if you want.
p.s. i am applying to 2010 cycle. take the dat's after sophomore year when everything is fresh.
oh yeah if you have any q's lemme know. i know everyone else helped me out alot so time to give back!
Here was my study schedule. I think it was the most efficient and effective for the time I studied (~3 weeks) and worked out really well. But I love cramming, I fell like I retain the best when I am under pressure w/ a sense of urgency.
WEEK 1-1.5 - GET BACKGROUND (~4-8 hours per day, 5 days a week)
Start with Kaplan BB. It's a good resource to rekindle all that science knowledge you once knew, but now forgotten. I saved most of my notes, lab manuals, textbooks, and filled in gaps with those. Kaplan is great for gchem and orgo, but bio is slackin. BE SURE TO WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN. either on a notebook, study outlines, or even typing it, just make sure you write it into your brain. or you can re-read Cliffs and Kaplans 6 times over and shoot yourself in the head.
I highly recommend Cliff's AP BIO, AND PRINCETON REVIEW AP CHEM. not alot of people mention ap chem prep book, but it is VERY VERY good. The section tests and esp. back-of-book AP tests are right on par w/ the real DAT (if not harder).
So, I basically rewrote all my notes, read through AP prep books and stuff for the first 1.5 weeks. I didn't really feel a sense of urgency until 2 weeks. If you really focus, you can absorb stuff like a sponge. just don't get too antsy and feel burnt out.
WEEK 1.5 - 3 - PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE (EVERY DAY, 12+ HOURS PER DAY)
Okay, so about now I'm obsessively checking SDN for DAT DONE posts and trying to gain all the info about the sections, tests, what to expect, and all the reading comprehension passages I pray I won't get. It really helped alot, even though i felt like i was re-reading the same stuff every post. During the real thing, I'd be like..."Ohh..I remember when someone mentioned something about this..or THANK GOD NO FRAP...and etc etc." (P.S. THERE DEFINATELY IS AN ERROR IN THE ORGO SECTION - WHERE DID THAT METHYL COME FROM????? hah. )
So by now, I know all about destroyer, topscore, crack, achiever, and all this stuff to waste your money on. I finally bought destroyer, reluctantly though - i thought it was all hype and people were marketing for them - but it really was a really good resource. (thanks PSU SHC!) So the first week, I went through bio and gchem and orgo and math. I finally finished on sunday (my test was the coming thursday). Destroyer is super overkill for gchem and orgo btw..I did AP bio tests, AP chem tests (the best). I was doing fairly in destroyer (~2 wrong per 10 questions) so I was kinda nervous. I took notes on everything I didn't know about..EVEN the small details. yep yep. def. saw some destroyer q's on the real thing. Redid all off BIO destroyer and went through destroyer chem - conceptual q's only in next 2 days.
I decided to buy crack - the $70 cuz i thought i spent toooo much money already on dat crap, and it was REALLY worth it. I'll post my crack scores later. I thought it wasn't that hard so w/e. save your money. do 5 of them twice = 10. money in the bank.
The saturday before my test, I finally decided to buy topscore. That was a good buy for $50. But, they didn't email me the license until monday so go figure. w/e. basically I did a topscore test monday, tues, wed. (the day before my real one) VERY SIMILLAR TO REAL THING. Take notes on the problems you miss.
So seriously, if you put in a good 3 weeks of study and don't let it completely take over your life, you'll do fine. Make sure you still keep yourself sane and don't lock up on your desk chair all day. take the weekends off. enjoy your last summers while they last. but be prepared to buckle down the last week or so.
Ok this is super long let me just cut to the good stuff.
MY SCORES:
BIO 22 (95.2)
GCHEM 22 (88.7)
ORGO 27 (98.2)
RC 21 (80.2)
QR 21 (87.2)
PAT 21 (93)
TS 23 (97.7)
AA 22 (95.4)
Yeah, I was super super excited. I think I got real lucky with everything. I didn't think it was hard AT ALL. easier than ALL the practice tests I did - kaplan, topscore, destroyer, ap chem..(minus RC, PAT)
so here's the breakdown: don't get intimidated by everyone else' posts.
BIO - It wasn't that bad. I thought it'd be super random and crap but it was OK. a couple questions like wtf.... but only 1 i really had NO clue on. make sure you know ur genetics. no frap though so thank god. go through destroyer twice.
CHEM - EASY. i don't even know. most conceptual. when ur doing destroyer just do the conceptual ones..seriously.
ORGO - EASY. def 1 question no right answer, a couple spec. questions, super straight forward. i think i got a perfect. (27?)
DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ANSWERS. i re-did ALL my questions and def. found a couple dumb mistakes. READ THE QUESTIONS THROROUGHLY
PAT - keyholes weird i think...harder that crack. everything else is comparable. CRACK was a great resource. the entire dat format is exactly like cracks. TFE same, angles easier, hole punch EASY, cube a bit easier (i had one w/ like 25) exactly like crack minus optical illusions, pattern fold easier. kind of hoping for a higher score though...21 was the lowest i ever got on crack.
RC - I had 3 easy passages. I finished w/ like 15 minutes left, redid the ENTIRE thing over. bridges, epidimology, CNS. good stuff 🙂 searched and destroyed. about same as TS. except no gay questions like "all of the following EXCEPT.." i hate that crap. more tone stuff too but not much - like 5 non-search-and-destroy questions.
QR - pretty dang hard, but not THAT bad. I was skipping alot of questions early but got on a roll and was all good. tip - use guess & check w/ the answer choices if straight up solving it is too hard. trig trig trig. even if i studied more i would've not changed much. (destoryer = good)
TESTING CONDITIONS
nice - BETHESDA, MD has a great prometric site. make sure you get there on time though..and bring quarters....(thank god for a 15 min tutorial section) flat screen lcds, and very quiet.
lamanated sheets and dry-erase pens - who cares??? it's all the same in the end. study w/ pen/paper and you'll be fine on test day. it's not that serious...
Ok. wow. super long. i hope you DAT-DONE obsessed people are happy! I can post topscore and crack scores if you want.
p.s. i am applying to 2010 cycle. take the dat's after sophomore year when everything is fresh.
oh yeah if you have any q's lemme know. i know everyone else helped me out alot so time to give back!
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