Should I retake?

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pma96

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Hi there!
I took the DAT today and these are my scores: AA:21, TS:21, Bio:23, GC:22, OC:19, RC:24, QR:16, PAT:19
I'm very happy with my scores, except for (obviously) Quantitative Reasoning. I focused the time that I had to study on the sciences and did not practice math as much, and my scores reflected that. Also I got nervous and spent too much time on the first questions and ran out of time and had to guess on ~10 questions. I'm wondering if a retake is absolutely necessary. I really don't want to invest the money and time in studying and taking the DAT again just for the QR section, especially because I think I did very well in Bio and RC and and I don't want to risk not doing as well the second time.
Any advice on what should I do? Thanks! :)
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Wow congrats on the great scores. The only school I wouldn't apply to is Roseman. They have a strict score minimum of 17 in all subjects of the DAT. Not sure about other schools. Apply widely and you should receive some interviews next cycle.
 
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DocDoom said:
Wow congrats on the great scores. The only school I wouldn't apply to is Roseman. They have a strict score minimum of 17 in all subjects of the DAT. Not sure about other schools. Apply widely and you should receive some interviews next cycle.
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Thanks! You just gave me some hope lol
 
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Your scores look solid. I wouldn't retake unless you have a very, very low GPA. Good luck!
 
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Coral Teef said:
Oh wow, so what did you do to get those scores?
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The main resource that I used to practice was Bootcamp. I had the destroyer but unfortunately I did not have time to go over it. For GC I watched Chad's videos and for OC Mike's. I took extensive notes and read them various times and went back to them as I was doing problems. I would say bootcamp is a must and the most representative of the actual exam for the chemistries. For Bio, I read Cliff's extensively and read Feralis's only for the Anatomy and Physiology section and did flashcards of every single concept, because I knew that it was my weakest area as I haven't taken that class in college. Something that definitely helped me was having a strong background in Biology after taking classes like Biochem, genetics, microbiology, evolution, etc, since the Bio section was very random and I got questions on things that I saw in my classes but never while studying. And!!! Watching Crashcourse on Youtube also helped me to learn things more dynamically and have pictures of the concepts, as I am a visual learner. Bootcamp was very representative and I even got one question that looked almost exactly like a question from bootcamp.
For RC, I honestly thought it was going to be my worst section, since I was doing not so well on the bootcamp practice tests, and I didn't have a clear strategy like search and destroy that worked for me. Something that occurred to me in the beginning of the RC in the real thing was to read ~3/4 of the passage carefully and use the highlight option to highlight key words, weird words, and numbers/years/percentages that I knew could be asked later. After reading 3/4s, I would start answering questions and for the ones that I had not seen, I would select whatever, mark them, and move on. Then after going over all the questions, I would read the remaining 1/4th of the passage and go back and answer the questions that I had marked. That worked very well for me. I think the key is to have a clear idea of where things are in the passage so that you can easily go back and look for the answer if you need to.
 
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Thanks for the tips! I'll check out Bootcamp's free test, it might help with simulating the test, but when I looked at DAT Destroyer's Facebook Study Group it seems to have everything I need for the sciences. Plus, I really like the personalized and professional customer service by Nancy. She answered all my questions!
 
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Coral Teef said:
Thanks for the tips! I'll check out Bootcamp's free test, it might help with simulating the test, but when I looked at DAT Destroyer's Facebook Study Group it seems to have everything I need for the sciences. Plus, I really like the personalized and professional customer service by Nancy. She answered all my questions!
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That's great! I definitely wish I would have had more time to do the Destroyer because if you know how to solve those problems you are more than prepared for the real test. I just felt that I was taking too long to solve the destroyer problems and I wanted to prioritize more basic concepts and problems. Good luck in your study!
 
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pma96 said:
That's great! I definitely wish I would have had more time to do the Destroyer because if you know how to solve those problems you are more than prepared for the real test. I just felt that I was taking too long to solve the destroyer problems and I wanted to prioritize more basic concepts and problems. Good luck in your study!
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Thanks and I know exactly what you mean!!! What could be more like the DAT than the answers to the DAT like on the DAT DESTROYER? My friend told me that one of her answers was m/z 28???? I can't remember if it was 281? or 28???? hmmm.... but she did tell me the DAT Destroyer has them and to pay careful attention to the explanations. That's how I know I wont regret it. You did good still and good luck on your application. =)
 
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pma96 said:
Hi there!
I took the DAT today and these are my scores: AA:21, TS:21, Bio:23, GC:22, OC:19, RC:24, QR:16, PAT:19
I'm very happy with my scores, except for (obviously) Quantitative Reasoning. I focused the time that I had to study on the sciences and did not practice math as much, and my scores reflected that. Also I got nervous and spent too much time on the first questions and ran out of time and had to guess on ~10 questions. I'm wondering if a retake is absolutely necessary. I really don't want to invest the money and time in studying and taking the DAT again just for the QR section, especially because I think I did very well in Bio and RC and and I don't want to risk not doing as well the second time.
Any advice on what should I do? Thanks! :)
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Congratulations! With the info given a retake should not be necessary.

Dr. Jim Romano
 
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Coral Teef said:
Thanks and I know exactly what you mean!!! What could be more like the DAT than the answers to the DAT like on the DAT DESTROYER? My friend told me that one of her answers was m/z 28???? I can't remember if it was 281? or 28???? hmmm.... but she did tell me the DAT Destroyer has them and to pay careful attention to the explanations. That's how I know I wont regret it. You did good still and good luck on your application. =)
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Thanks!

orgoman22 said:
Congratulations! With the info given a retake should not be necessary.

Dr. Jim Romano
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Thank you! I'm relieved to hear that.:rofl:
 
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My scores are really similar and I have received multiple interviews so you should be fine as long as your GPA is around the average! Congrats!
 
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