Originally posted by freedyx3
Hi Korg
Also, what sections on the DAT do you think requires more studying? I've heard that the Bio section is tougher then in the kaplan book.
Of course this varies on an individual basis. I zipped through the bio section. I even smiled at the monitor because one question on the DAT was the exact same question in Barron and Kaplan regarding mitochondria being the smallest organelles in the cell. I really believe Kaplan was great at preparing me for biology related to plants and behavior (conditioning, etc). I got very little background in these two topics in undergrad so I had to rely almost 100% on kaplan and barron for knowledge. I ended up doing really well on biology. I don't remember specifics, but I do know that Kaplan had more than enough information in the study guide than appeared on the exam. BUT, whatever came up on the exam was most definitely covered in Kaplan regarding biology.
Barron also helped immensely. As far as anatomy and physiology in Kaplan.. also VERY helpful but keep in mind I had a very extensive background in undergrad so when I came across one sentence about say.. myelination, in kaplan, I suddenly remembered almost everything I learned about it in undergrad. When test time came, questions about the nervous system seemed like clown shoes because I dealt with much more difficult stuff in undergrad. As far as hormones go..kaplan rocks. use FLAT PIG to your advantage. I distinctly remember writing this pneumonic out when I took the test. It helped me a lot.
My weakest point was Quantitative Reasoning (scored under 20). I took it for granted while studying for the DAT and ended up not even finishing that section on the real exam. I believe the quantitative reasoning on the DAT was similar in difficulty as in Kaplan's and Barron's study guides, but I just did not put much effort in shortening my test time and utilizing shortcuts found in the the study books. On a side note, I remember Barron had some errors in it, glaring errors so be wary. If you swear something it correct but Barron says NO, then find out the real answer by asking people. Kaplan gave me great prep for reading comprehension. In the preface to Kaplan's reading comp study section, they emphasized that reading comp is hard on the DAT because it is very technically oriented. This was not the case during my actual DAT test. I kept waiting for the really "challenging" passage to come up and stump me, but it never happened. Kaplan proved to be harder than the actual DAT when it came to reading comp. For Ochem, I took out my actual college notes and studied them side by side with Kaplan and Barron. Kaplan and Barron are great GUIDES for ochem in my opinion, but they are just that..guides. Kaplan pointed me in the right direction and I relied on my college notes for the actual "heavy stuff" like mechanisms, criteria for Sn1, Sn2, E1, E2, etc. I had a rather incredible Ochem teacher in college though who was extremely efficient and anal about teaching OChem, so my notes were super organized and written in such a logical manner that even spock would be proud. If your notes for Ochem aren't so great, open up your textbook and refresh yourself alongside kaplan.
I think kaplan and your notes, or other study guides, or textbooks can work in concert to make you do your best on the DAT. hope that helps.
KorgTuner
