This is my second post ever. I've been reading a lot of threads here for the past 3~4 months....so I'm putting up a post in case this can be of any help to someone
So, finally done! DAT was the only thing left...application being mailed on 7/30
Here's what I got
PAT 29 (99.9%)
QR 30 (100.0%)
RC 22 (84.4%)
Bio 28 (99.7%)
GC 22 (91.8%)
OC 23 (94.4%)
TS 24 (99.1%)
AA 25 (99.9%)
I've been getting
PAT/QR/RC/Bio/GC/OC/TS/AA
Topscore 1 24/24/23/21/21/21/21/22
Topscore 2 26/22/29/20/21/23/21/23
Topscore 3 28/26/22/21/21/20/21/22
CDP 23 23 23 25 28
Achiever ranged from 17-21 in all sections (too lazy to look up since the software's funky).
PAT : Achiever PAT's keyholes are way too hard in my opinion. Angles are on par. I think the angle section is definitely some luck here and there. CDP is pretty representative of all sections.
QR: So, I'm not really good with probability, and I don't remember half the trig formulas I used to know back in high school. I think that's why I got low-mid 20s in Topscore and Achiever. In the real one, ones that involved trig or probability weren't too advanced, so I did fine. Again, Achiever expects too much in-depth trig/probability in my opinion. I think you only need to know the most important formulas regarding trig/probability. If you want to make sure and have lots of time, then I guess you might as well try to know some of the harder formulas.
RC: So, slow reader here. As much as I hate admitting this, I end up resorting to search and destroy method for these standardized test. 22's okay I guess. Definitely more inference/comprehensive question in the real one compare to Topscore....not much more to say.
Bio: I'm Bio major (molecular and cell), so I got the cell bio/genetics down. I'm also pretty familiar with animal physiology. I think Kaplan covers most important ones. I also skimmed Campbell's to make sure I'm comfortable with most topics. I didn't really get any taxonomy questions (phew...worst topic for me). Style was quite different from Topscore tho...I know a lot of facts (which Topscore usually go for), but the real DAT had some comprehensive questions (can't recall the exact questions...my brain's in relax mode now). Some of the questions, I knew the answer not because I saw it on Topscore or Kaplan, but because I just knew it from one of my many bio classes. I used KBB and Campbell's, and I recommend getting some background info from Campbell's and Cliff's AP Bio(didn't use this, but heard it's good) especially if you're not Bio major.
Gchem: Thought I would do better in this one. But I guess 1-2 questions make a lot of difference in 20-30 range. KBB. No additional knowledge besides KBB and intro gen chem from freshman year.
Ochem: Also thought I would do better in this section (bio was most concerning one, but ended up being my best.haha). Used KBB and skimmed my orgo book. Again, I think KBB's pretty representative. In the beginning, when I just started to prepare for the DAT, I made a mistake of getting too in-depth with topics not covered in DAT. I think it's important to know the basic characteristics in addition to knowing the reactions, since there's probably going to be some questions regarding acidity/basicity of a molecule/particular hydrogen, etc.
Studied for about 7-8 weeks. I tried to refresh my memories (I think I would've done better a year ago, when all the gen chem/orgo knowledge were still fresh in my head)...so first couple of weeks I tried hard reviewing...skimming the text books. After that, the rest of 4 weeks I studied about 3-6 hours a day. Had two part time jobs going on (so,pretty much a full time job I guess) and also lots of fun stuff to do around me, so I wasn't one of those people who studied 3 weeks full out. But I think it's definitely doable to do well after studying 3-4 weeks if you can afford to study really hard for those weeks.
Hopefully this score's good enough to get me into a school I want!
So, finally done! DAT was the only thing left...application being mailed on 7/30
Here's what I got
PAT 29 (99.9%)
QR 30 (100.0%)
RC 22 (84.4%)
Bio 28 (99.7%)
GC 22 (91.8%)
OC 23 (94.4%)
TS 24 (99.1%)
AA 25 (99.9%)
I've been getting
PAT/QR/RC/Bio/GC/OC/TS/AA
Topscore 1 24/24/23/21/21/21/21/22
Topscore 2 26/22/29/20/21/23/21/23
Topscore 3 28/26/22/21/21/20/21/22
CDP 23 23 23 25 28
Achiever ranged from 17-21 in all sections (too lazy to look up since the software's funky).
PAT : Achiever PAT's keyholes are way too hard in my opinion. Angles are on par. I think the angle section is definitely some luck here and there. CDP is pretty representative of all sections.
QR: So, I'm not really good with probability, and I don't remember half the trig formulas I used to know back in high school. I think that's why I got low-mid 20s in Topscore and Achiever. In the real one, ones that involved trig or probability weren't too advanced, so I did fine. Again, Achiever expects too much in-depth trig/probability in my opinion. I think you only need to know the most important formulas regarding trig/probability. If you want to make sure and have lots of time, then I guess you might as well try to know some of the harder formulas.
RC: So, slow reader here. As much as I hate admitting this, I end up resorting to search and destroy method for these standardized test. 22's okay I guess. Definitely more inference/comprehensive question in the real one compare to Topscore....not much more to say.
Bio: I'm Bio major (molecular and cell), so I got the cell bio/genetics down. I'm also pretty familiar with animal physiology. I think Kaplan covers most important ones. I also skimmed Campbell's to make sure I'm comfortable with most topics. I didn't really get any taxonomy questions (phew...worst topic for me). Style was quite different from Topscore tho...I know a lot of facts (which Topscore usually go for), but the real DAT had some comprehensive questions (can't recall the exact questions...my brain's in relax mode now). Some of the questions, I knew the answer not because I saw it on Topscore or Kaplan, but because I just knew it from one of my many bio classes. I used KBB and Campbell's, and I recommend getting some background info from Campbell's and Cliff's AP Bio(didn't use this, but heard it's good) especially if you're not Bio major.
Gchem: Thought I would do better in this one. But I guess 1-2 questions make a lot of difference in 20-30 range. KBB. No additional knowledge besides KBB and intro gen chem from freshman year.
Ochem: Also thought I would do better in this section (bio was most concerning one, but ended up being my best.haha). Used KBB and skimmed my orgo book. Again, I think KBB's pretty representative. In the beginning, when I just started to prepare for the DAT, I made a mistake of getting too in-depth with topics not covered in DAT. I think it's important to know the basic characteristics in addition to knowing the reactions, since there's probably going to be some questions regarding acidity/basicity of a molecule/particular hydrogen, etc.
Studied for about 7-8 weeks. I tried to refresh my memories (I think I would've done better a year ago, when all the gen chem/orgo knowledge were still fresh in my head)...so first couple of weeks I tried hard reviewing...skimming the text books. After that, the rest of 4 weeks I studied about 3-6 hours a day. Had two part time jobs going on (so,pretty much a full time job I guess) and also lots of fun stuff to do around me, so I wasn't one of those people who studied 3 weeks full out. But I think it's definitely doable to do well after studying 3-4 weeks if you can afford to study really hard for those weeks.
Hopefully this score's good enough to get me into a school I want!
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I'm in Cali and applying to a lot of those same schools so maybe I'll see you at interviews! 
