Question on test taking strategy

[sbesbesbe]

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Hi there SDN,

I have a question on test taking strategy!
Please give me tips and advice, you smart, intelligent, ex-DAT test takers LOL

Right now, I am feeling most worried on BIO section...
thus I want to skip the entire BIO section and start on OC right away.
I just feel like if I go through BIO section first, it will make me lose my confidence and screw up OC and GC section.
I plan to click "next" bottom 40 times (ㅡ.ㅡ😉 and start OC and GC THEN go back to BIO section...probably waste a good minute or so...

If I finish GC section, it doesn't automatically "finish" if I have nothing done on BIO right?
I don't really know how the system works BUT are we required to stay for the entire 90 min of the natural science section or if we feel like we don't need any more time (Certainly not going to happen for me), is there like a "finish" bottom where can we finish early and start PAT?
If I finish GC, do I have to click "previous" 100 times...or like crack dat, is there a review section where we can view which questions have been not answered, marked?

What do you guys think about my "strategy" going into the exam?
PLease help! I'm freaking out! omg...

 

[PointEstimate]

I think that's a silly strategy, but if that's what you want to do and feel most comfortable with, then you should go for it.

I think this plan has the potential to backfire. What if you hit some roadblocks in the chemistry sections? Then you burned both some bio time that you had allotted because you didn't feel that comfortable with the section as a whole AND spent more time than you had anticipated on the chemistries. I personally would rather use every minute tackling a question rather than avoiding the inevitable.

You aren't required to spend the entire 90 min; I finished with a minute or 2 and just clicked myself through to the next section. You get a review page with the option of going through the questions you left blank or marked.

Best of luck

 

[sbesbesbe]

I think that's a silly strategy, but if that's what you want to do and feel most comfortable with, then you should go for it.

I think this plan has the potential to backfire. What if you hit some roadblocks in the chemistry sections? Then you burned both some bio time that you had allotted because you didn't feel that comfortable with the section as a whole AND spent more time than you had anticipated on the chemistries. I personally would rather use every minute tackling a question rather than avoiding the inevitable.

You aren't required to spend the entire 90 min; I finished with a minute or 2 and just clicked myself through to the next section. You get a review page with the option of going through the questions you left blank or marked.

Best of luck

thanks for your input
I know this might not work too well for me...maybe I should reconsider...

can we look at this review page any time we want or is it only at the end of GC last question.

thanks

 

[PointEstimate]

I want to say it's at the end, but not entirely certain.

Also, it's bio -> GC -> OC in terms of order. It might not matter for you, but I thought practicing the questions in that order helped me since that's the order in which they appear on the test.

 

[sbesbesbe]

I want to say it's at the end, but not entirely certain.

Also, it's bio -> GC -> OC in terms of order. It might not matter for you, but I thought practicing the questions in that order helped me since that's the order in which they appear on the test.

thought it was BIO-> OC-> GC
thanks for that!

any others opinions?
also how should I do w timing?
I've read somewhere that it's best to have most time with GC
so something like BIO 25min, GC 40min, OC 25min
what do you guys think?

 

[PointEstimate]

thought it was BIO-> OC-> GC
thanks for that!

any others opinions?
also how should I do w timing?
I've read somewhere that it's best to have most time with GC
so something like BIO 25min, GC 40min, OC 25min
what do you guys think?

You should take some practice exams to figure out what works best for you. I don't think there's a set strategy that works for everyone so you should optimize yourself to perform as well as you are capable of doing. Some people are GC wizards and don't need that much time but will need some time working through some orgo stuff. Others get orgo down but struggle with bio. I think it'd be best if you figure out your strengths and weaknesses (and not what you think you know and don't know, but with some practice exams) so you can allot your time properly. If all else, you got some practice questions under your belt.

 

[qnzbabi91]

Deffinitely do the test in order. Otherwise, you may inavertently skip questions. It will get too confusing. I spent 10 min on bio like I did on all my practices. You either know the answer or you don't for this section. If you aren't sure, select an answer, mark it and if time permits go back and check it over. Gen chem takes 30 min for me. On the test, I had a bunch of hard ones, so I marked them picked the answer i thought was most right, and OC took me 20 minutes. Then, I checked over my answers. I suggest on your white board to mark off sections during the tutorial like 4 boxes across and 4 down so 16 boxes to put work so in case you go back to a question you don't waste time searching for where you did previous work or even worse redo work you already spent precious time doing. I checked over my marked ones at the end for 10 min then I clicked quickly through them all. Good luck!

 

[Glimmer1991]

Well, I actually disagree with all these people. 🙂 😀

For the sciences, I thought that if I had started with the BIO and/or the GC, my confidence may have gotten all messed up. OC is definitely my strong suit. Before I went into the test, I had every intention of clicking right through until I got to question 71 for the OC stuff.

However, I glanced at the first bio question and realized I knew it. And then I realized I knew the next one, and the next. So, I kept going through bio.

I really, REALLY don't like GC, though, so I skipped right through them all to the OC when I finished the BIO section. After finishing OC, I then went back to the GC stuff and did them.

I don't think you should run into any problems with accidentally skipping questions. The final page before you move on to the PAT gives an overview of all the questions, the ones you skipped, and the ones you marked. I actually had accidentally skipped a biology question--I probably double-clicked the "next" button and didn't realize it. Be sure to check over that page!

Burning the 1 minute on skipping through to OC didn't make a difference in the end. I finished the sciences with about 40 minutes left and checked over all of my answers.

Best of luck to you! Let me know if you need any more advice!

 

[two thirty]

You don't get to the review screen until the end. You have to skip every question.

That said, I don't recommend your strategy, but I was freaking out about 5 keyholes in to the PAT section, so I skipped to angles and then just the rest of keyholes and TFE last.

 

[Msmouth]

I would not skip. Just do lot's of bio practice question, like qvault, cliffs, or destroyer. You will waste time. If there is a question you're not sure of, mark it and move on. If I didn't know something within a few seconds I just marked and kept going. After I completed orgo I had about 8 minutes left and I was able to review my marked questions.

 

[jhc83]

I agree, its not the best idea..... I would highly recommend taking numerous practice exams just so that you get used to the order of the exam as well as timing. I think timing is a big issue for some people and can hurt them tremendously if they dont know how to manage it. Therefore try not to think about skipping around as this will most likely make you feel disoriented when you are already freakin out about the exam. You probably do not want to have to spend time thinking about that strategy as you need to focus on answering the questions. I highly recommend doing datqvault esp. bio.... It helped me a lot......


Good luck!!