Practice DAT's Vs. Real DAT

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DATSPR2015

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I'm going to be taking the DAT in a little less than two weeks. I'm wondering how well scores from Top Score, Kaplan Tests, and DAT BC compare to the real thing. Here are some of my scores.

Bio/Chem/OChem/PAT/RC/QR

Top Score -16/18/19/21/21/20

Kaplan - 17/17/17/24/21/19

DAT BC Avg - 20/20/19/21/?/19

What is the best comparison to the real DAT? Of these these programs. Thoughts on the ADA practice tests as well as Achiever tests would be great too!
 
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Only the sample ADA test was anything like the real DAT (probably unsurprising).

The Kaplan tests were very thorough and the copious amount of practice questions were the most useful part. However, I wouldn't say Kaplan's tests were like the real DAT -- the real Bio section is just so broad and esoteric, the QR was harder than Kaplan's, but the GC and OC were both laughably easy after Kaplan stuff. The PAT was just about right, though. I used Crack the DAT for PAT as well and I found that really helpful for extra practice and getting fast at that section. DAT Destroyer helped me with QR and seemed more realistic than Kaplan.
 
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Kaplan's sciences are significantly harder than the real DAT, so I wouldn't worry about those 17's you got. However, Kaplan's PAT is A LOT, A LOT EASIER!!! I was pretty shocked by the difficulty of some PAT questions I got on the real test. Some of those angles and keyholes were just cray! Don't even bother with Kaplan's PAT, use Bootcamp instead! Kaplan's RC was also a bit easier than the real thing I thought.
Bootcamp is pretty similar in difficulty. I think it is the most reliable estimator of your scores, after the ADA tests!
 
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Practice tests I took from bootcamp and the dat destroyer were much harder than the actual thing.
 
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I just took the first Achiever test and got

Bio/Chem/OChem/PAT/RC/QR/TS/AA
14/17/19/19/17/16/17/17

Where do you think I'm at with my preparation with these scores?
 
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Here's what I thought:

Acheiver is overboard hard. Don't even attempt.
ADA practice tests were much easier than the real thing, however my scores were pretty similar soo maybe the grading scale changed idk.
Bootcamp is too hard in math and reading. Don't even look at math.
Destroyer is a little harder in all sections. Really good practice.
DATqVault is a little too hard for sciences but SPOT ON for math and PAT ( I think this was the best investment I made)
CrackDATPAT is spot on (minus the tricky cube counting ones).
Kaplan (used my friend's lol) was too hard in sciences and too easy in PAT/Reading. I don't recommend
 
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I got similar scores to your practice tests and then I took the ADA's test from 2009, and got 24s... and that's what I got on my real DAT. So, I think you should take the ADA's test, and if you are happy with those scores, you are good to go. 🙂
 
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I'd love to take the 2009 ADA Test but if I ordered it now it wouldn't arrive in time, is there a way to take it online? My DAT is scheduled for a week from today, I'm freaking out!

My second achiever test scores were

Bio/GC/OC/PAT/RC/QR/TS/AA

16/15/17/18/18/15/16/16

Worse than the first one but not by much.
 
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in my recent experience, DAT bootcamp is pretty much right where you score on the real deal
 
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@gsquared for all sections? Here are my averages

Bio-25
GC-23
OC-21
PAT-20
RC-20
QR-19

What should I expect? I've seen people score higher than BC and even some score lower...I don't want to score less than 20 on any science
 
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I scored higher on my practice bio (24), but it wasn't too far off from my real Bio score (21). GC/OC pretty much the same. Hope that helps.
 
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Hm... I've heard 2009 practice dat is kinda weird with reviewing the solutions so I might just call it good on practice tests and just study my notes/do problems from DAT destroyer until Monday.

My average from the 3 achiever tests were

Bio/GC/OC/PAT/RC/QR/TS/AA
15/16/18/19/17/17/16/17


About where do you guys think I'm at with those scores?
 
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the ADA exams would be the best because they are actual DATs. The 2009 test is usually regarded as a more accurate score predictor, but all that matters is that one test version on test day.
 
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For those who care to know how the Real Deal compared to the achiever tests

Average on Achieiver Tests

Bio/GC/OC/PAT/RC/QR/TS/AA
15/16/18/19/17/17/16/17

Score on REAL DAT

Bio/GC/OC/PAT/RC/QR/TS/AA
21/22/21/23/19/18/21/20

+6/+6/+3/+4/+2/+2/+5/+3
 
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DATSPR2015 said:
For those who care to know how the Real Deal compared to the achiever tests

Average on Achieiver Tests

Bio/GC/OC/PAT/RC/QR/TS/AA
15/16/18/19/17/17/16/17

Score on REAL DAT

Bio/GC/OC/PAT/RC/QR/TS/AA
21/22/21/23/19/18/20

+6/+6/+3/+4/+2/+2/+3
Click to expand...

Either your TS score or AA score doesn't make sense. TS has to be more than 20 and AA is ????
 
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Ive been averaging 18-20 through the first three bootcamp science exams (OC, GC, BIO) all improving scores but it still makes me nervous. Exam is in a week does anyone know how these compare to real DAT or how it was in their experience?
 
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Bootcamp Bio is harder IMO. Ochem is about right, Gen chem is too calculation based, I think I had like 3-4 calculations and the rest were theory and understanding the equations.
PAT is harder on bootcamp. CrackdatPAT is about right on difficulty.
Destroyer math is spot on. RC on bootcamp is pretty accurate.

For bootcamp:
I usually got 18-21 on bio, 25 on real one. Exam was way easier here
~ 20-25 on ochem. Real test was a 20. I kind slacked on reviewing my reactions the last week, my mistake.
21-30 on gchem. 23 on real test.

Real DAT: Bio 25, OChem 20, GChem 23
 
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Thank you! Congrats on your scores and I'm glad to hear you were in the same ball park as I am. At this point as long as I get 20+ I will be happy.
 
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