So...When are you taking the DAT?

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I am with you doc... I take the DAT on the 13th Aug, this coming wed :scared:
When are you taking yours and how have you been scoring on topscore?
 
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I'm still studying for it. Suppose to take it early Aug but due to me turning in my app this week, theres no point. So I'm taking it early Sept..and will be surely over-prepared.

When are u taking yours doc?
 
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When I called some of my schools...some told me they get the scores a lot quicker starting this year (its electronic now I think)...so no worries hopefully.
 
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Yeh I called the Tx schools and they said the same.

How long have you been studying and what are you aiming for?
 
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im still studying guys, taking it on sept 10.
hopefully we all get some crazy scores. good luck!
 
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Aug 26 if I feel prepared...I want to kill this test...let us all kill it.
What books are you all using?
Keep studying...I got 6 hours straight yesterday.
Went through Cliffs and basically rewrote it...also notes on Kaplan...moving onto Shaums. So far studying Bio.

WOOT!
 
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doc3232 said:
Aug 26 if I feel prepared...I want to kill this test...let us all kill it.
What books are you all using?
Keep studying...I got 6 hours straight yesterday.
Went through Cliffs and basically rewrote it...also notes on Kaplan...moving onto Shaums. So far studying Bio.

WOOT!
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Shaums is pretty cool, I read Cliff's once and going into my second time, and I read Shaums through once.

Reading cliffs before Shaums is a smart idea since Shaums is freakin dense.

I should write notes down but I'm too lazy.... kkk
 
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I got through half of Shaum's and realized that everything I was reading stuck in my head a day or less, and then got completely forgotten. I think Shaums is only good if you have the time and patience to go through it like 3 times or more. For bio I am memorizing my Kaplan notes, then going through the sections related to what I studied in Cliffs, then ExamKrackers, and then my hyperlearning MCAT bio review book from PR (taking notes as necessary). I hope this is enough to negate my lack of patience with Shaums! For the past 2.5 weeks Ive been studying 5am -> 10pm...boy, I'm tired.

I hope we all make 20+ !!
 
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What methods do yall use for hole punching? I'm scoring near perfect on CDP except the hole punching..where I literally only get half of those right..

Any visualization tips?
 
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yakuza said:
What methods do yall use for hole punching? I'm scoring near perfect on CDP except the hole punching..where I literally only get half of those right..

Any visualization tips?
Click to expand...

I used to eyeball it and do it in my head but I started using the tic-tac-toe method instead. It's working out after some practice.
 
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Optimism Smiles said:
I got through half of Shaum's and realized that everything I was reading stuck in my head a day or less, and then got completely forgotten. I think Shaums is only good if you have the time and patience to go through it like 3 times or more. For bio I am memorizing my Kaplan notes, then going through the sections related to what I studied in Cliffs, then ExamKrackers, and then my hyperlearning MCAT bio review book from PR (taking notes as necessary). I hope this is enough to negate my lack of patience with Shaums! For the past 2.5 weeks Ive been studying 5am -> 10pm...boy, I'm tired.

I hope we all make 20+ !!
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yea, Shaums is only good if you have the knowledge prior to reading it, if I didn't take my bio courses before reading Shaums my head probably would of :bang: then


:boom:
 
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TeamGuo said:
I used to eyeball it and do it in my head but I started using the tic-tac-toe method instead. It's working out after some practice.
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Hmm..how long does it take you to finish hole punching? I tried the tic tac toe method but it took me longer than usual. And hole punching takes me 15min lol..even though I get half of them wrong
 
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yakuza said:
Hmm..how long does it take you to finish hole punching? I tried the tic tac toe method but it took me longer than usual. And hole punching takes me 15min lol..even though I get half of them wrong
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for crack when I timed myself I think I spent about 45 sec per question. It took me long time at first too, I just had to get used to it.
 
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TFE biggest problem for me....like 1 min/question

hole punching used to be a problem, but now its like 30-40 seconds/question with score 13-15

actually cut some out and hole punch it urself and repeat the same one like 3-4 times...u get to see general pattern of it.
 
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for hole punching i do the extra 2500 that u get from cdp in the royal edition along w/the tic tac toe method.

gl everyone!
 
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So once you get there and sit down...do the tutorial then make 4x4 tictactoe, make 15 or less. Then when PAT comes around, they are ready for you.
 
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I had some extra time at the end of my science section, so I made 15 boxes for the hole punching. I didn't need to make any squares within the box cause the laminated sheet already had lines, so that was helpful.
 
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Optimism Smiles said:
5am -> 10pm...boy, I'm tired.
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Wow.... I hope you sleep before the test.... You're worried about getting a 20+?! I'm worried you're gonna get a 30 :meanie:... From your extensive Bio reviewing, you should know that the body needs to wind down and be in a low metabolically active state, i.e. 😴😴😴, in order to recharge... Just some good advice....
 
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MiamiNole20 said:
Wow.... I hope you sleep before the test.... You're worried about getting a 20+?! I'm worried you're gonna get a 30 :meanie:... From your extensive Bio reviewing, you should know that the body needs to wind down and be in a low metabolically active state, i.e. 😴😴😴, in order to recharge... Just some good advice....
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haha thanks 🙂 I actually get about 6-7 hrs of sleep a night, though. It's bad because I have NO idea where this summer went. I spent like a month just reading and taking notes and I don't really consider that studying. Then I pushed back my test date over and over and over again and before I knew it, it was August. I'm just a horrible standardized test taker so I'm freaking out a wee bit!

...I will be getting some sleep before my exam. I'm actually looking forward to it because I can wake up at 7am, not 5!
 
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i'm still studying 🙁
i write on the 21st.. haha
need to go through destroyer.. got it in the mail a couple days ago.. need to startT!!
 
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Optimism Smiles said:
haha thanks 🙂 I actually get about 6-7 hrs of sleep a night, though. It's bad because I have NO idea where this summer went. I spent like a month just reading and taking notes and I don't really consider that studying. Then I pushed back my test date over and over and over again and before I knew it, it was August. I'm just a horrible standardized test taker so I'm freaking out a wee bit!

...I will be getting some sleep before my exam. I'm actually looking forward to it because I can wake up at 7am, not 5!
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15 hours a day is intense...wow...I am jealous to be honest. I consider 7 hours a huge success...hahaha, not joking.
Keep it up, but take a half day or full day off soon. It will be worth it. Trust me.
 
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doc3232 said:
15 hours a day is intense...wow...I am jealous to be honest. I consider 7 hours a huge success...hahaha, not joking.
Keep it up, but take a half day or full day off soon. It will be worth it. Trust me.
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half day rests are def. appreciated... I feel already burnt out after 1.5 weeks kkk

I wish my eyes open at 5 am...
 
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doc3232 said:
15 hours a day is intense...wow...I am jealous to be honest. I consider 7 hours a huge success...hahaha, not joking.
Keep it up, but take a half day or full day off soon. It will be worth it. Trust me.
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thanks guys 🙂 I'll try! 7 hours is really good, too!
 
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Writing my September 2nd! Was a pushback from July 14th because I thought it would be better to wait to finish taking my Organic Chemistry 2 . I called the schools i am interested in and they said Sept 2. is fine for in terms of application. I am submitting my application as soon as my organic chem exam is marked (Approx August 15) and am going to Fax my DAT scores to the schools of my interest on Sept 2 as soon as I get home from my exam. The only school I wanna go to is Tufts. Good luck everyone, and I hope everyone is being efficient. I wasted most of June trying to figure out how to study but I am good now.
 
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artanis said:
Writing my September 2nd! Was a pushback from July 14th because I thought it would be better to wait to finish taking my Organic Chemistry 2 . I called the schools i am interested in and they said Sept 2. is fine for in terms of application. I am submitting my application as soon as my organic chem exam is marked (Approx August 15) and am going to Fax my DAT scores to the schools of my interest on Sept 2 as soon as I get home from my exam. The only school I wanna go to is Tufts. Good luck everyone, and I hope everyone is being efficient. I wasted most of June trying to figure out how to study but I am good now.
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hahaha, I know what you're saying. I wasted the month of July making useless notes I will not be looking at again. I think we all have to start like that and it might not have been so useless, but rather just felt like that because repetition is needed.
Study hard peeps.
 
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yakuza said:
What methods do yall use for hole punching? I'm scoring near perfect on CDP except the hole punching..where I literally only get half of those right..

Any visualization tips?
Click to expand...

Hey Dude,

This used to be the case for me when I started Crack like a month ago. Stop doing crack tests and focus on your hole punch weakness before you keep going on. Kaplan is easier to practice on because they are just a lot easier. What I do is I do a 4x4 Grid, and I look at the right-most diagram with the hole punch and put that first corresponding hole onto my grid, and move from right to left unfolding and putting the corresponding holes. This will work for all of them. You need to get the hang of recognizing that even though you put an initial "hole" in your grid (I use X's), sometimes you have to erase it because that part of the paper was folded maybe in the second step and did NOT get punched by the end right-most picture. Seriously, take a real piece of paper and do like 20 questions with actual paper folding and punching. I had started with Barron's and they provided me with this kinda paper and I just photocopied 20 and did questions, it realllllllllly helped me. Now my weakness is angles but theres not much you can practice for that and its not even a weakness, I am just not getting perfect lol. Hole punching and Cube counting should be automatic 15/15 on your real test. So ensure you get the easy marks!
 
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count me in!
i need to push it back till Sep. 15 since i have not even touch bio and math yet🙁
 
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artanis said:
Hey Dude,

This used to be the case for me when I started Crack like a month ago. Stop doing crack tests and focus on your hole punch weakness before you keep going on. Kaplan is easier to practice on because they are just a lot easier. What I do is I do a 4x4 Grid, and I look at the right-most diagram with the hole punch and put that first corresponding hole onto my grid, and move from right to left unfolding and putting the corresponding holes. This will work for all of them. You need to get the hang of recognizing that even though you put an initial "hole" in your grid (I use X's), sometimes you have to erase it because that part of the paper was folded maybe in the second step and did NOT get punched by the end right-most picture. Seriously, take a real piece of paper and do like 20 questions with actual paper folding and punching. I had started with Barron's and they provided me with this kinda paper and I just photocopied 20 and did questions, it realllllllllly helped me. Now my weakness is angles but theres not much you can practice for that and its not even a weakness, I am just not getting perfect lol. Hole punching and Cube counting should be automatic 15/15 on your real test. So ensure you get the easy marks!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice bro. But then for the grid method, doesn't it take awhile to erase? lol, takes me about ~5seconds to erase after every problem. Thats over a minute for 15 problems =[
 
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yakuza said:
Thanks for the advice bro. But then for the grid method, doesn't it take awhile to erase? lol, takes me about ~5seconds to erase after every problem. Thats over a minute for 15 problems =[
Click to expand...

while your in your tutorial, make 15 grids!!
 
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im taking mine end of sept as a retake, when I took the Dat in June I totaly bomed the PAT so please please for those savers, what strategy did you use for TFE, angles, folding, keys, im only good at cubes and punching, i really need the help, for the TFE on the real exams i tried counting lines not working.

please help guys
 
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im taking mine on wednesday but im bombing my practice tests! i've been studying all summer but i start school the 25th so I can't push it back to september. Do you guys think its a bad idea to just cross my fingers and take the test wednesday while planning a retake for spring break? (i'm not applying until next summer...)
 
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yakuza said:
Thanks for the advice bro. But then for the grid method, doesn't it take awhile to erase? lol, takes me about ~5seconds to erase after every problem. Thats over a minute for 15 problems =[
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Hey.

I usually finish this section in about 10-11 minutes for Crack Dat PAT and even faster for Kaplan and Baron's stuff. I practice assuming I have no time to predraw grids/tables etc. I went to Kinkos, bought 3 sheets of hard paper, and laminated it. I also use pretty fat markers (not like fine point or fat like permanent but somewhere in between) but I basically bought all that stuff to practice to maximize the efficiency of my time. When you erase only one X block, just use your finger and smudge it out lol. You draw a grid for every question which should take 2-3 seconds at most. Just don't get lazy and try to visualize it at first. First ACTUALLY do the folding and punching, then the visualizing will come to you I can guarentee it. My first Crack DAT PAT I got like 60% haha, then I went back to Baron's and practiced each section individually to see how it works. Do not rely solely on Crack DAT PAT for the pattern folding tho, I hear it differs.
 
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urDDS said:
im taking mine end of sept as a retake, when I took the Dat in June I totaly bomed the PAT so please please for those savers, what strategy did you use for TFE, angles, folding, keys, im only good at cubes and punching, i really need the help, for the TFE on the real exams i tried counting lines not working.

please help guys
Click to expand...

TFE:
My algorithm is as follows -
1) Find the 1 that differs the most from the other 3, compare with the other 3 and just make sure its actually wrong.

2) With the 3 left over, there should be 2 that are very similar that differ in something subtle. Go to the OTHER one (not the 2 similar) and compare and see why that one is not right.

3) With the 2 left over, look for the difference between the 2. That difference should be looked at in the original 2 givens to see which one is the correct one.

Angles -
1.Find biggest and smallest, write them down.
2.Compare the 2 middle ones.
a) If acute, ride the outter angle til you hit the vertex for both of the angles. The steeper one is obviously the smaller angle.

b) If Obtuse, ride the inner angle til it hits the vertex. The steeper one in this case is the smaller angle.

Folding -
For patterns, you should look for the main shape, not the main folds. Find that in the answers. In hard cases, there would be 2 very similar or 2 possibilities. Now look solely at the 2 possibilities and find the difference. Compare that difference to the original and see which one is not possible.

Keys -
Same algorithm as TFE.
 
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cwalsh said:
im taking mine on wednesday but im bombing my practice tests! i've been studying all summer but i start school the 25th so I can't push it back to september. Do you guys think its a bad idea to just cross my fingers and take the test wednesday while planning a retake for spring break? (i'm not applying until next summer...)
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Dude take the word retake out of your vocab. You need confidence in order to succeed in this test. Without it you will likely not do well. In school, you won't get any labs/tests in the first 2 weeks so make it 2 weeks into school if you need more time. That is what I would do. I've been studying for the DAT simultaneously with school right now and its working fine for me.
 
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cwalsh said:
im taking mine on wednesday but im bombing my practice tests! i've been studying all summer but i start school the 25th so I can't push it back to september. Do you guys think its a bad idea to just cross my fingers and take the test wednesday while planning a retake for spring break? (i'm not applying until next summer...)
Click to expand...

What exact scores did you get? We would like to help...
 
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artanis said:
Dude take the word retake out of your vocab. You need confidence in order to succeed in this test. Without it you will likely not do well. In school, you won't get any labs/tests in the first 2 weeks so make it 2 weeks into school if you need more time. That is what I would do. I've been studying for the DAT simultaneously with school right now and its working fine for me.
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I 100% agree...go in thinking your going to ROCKKKKK it.
 
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well i've taken about 4 practice exams between kaplan and topscore and i'm literally averaging about a 15 everytime (give or take a point here and there). I've used everything: been through destroyer twice, crack dat, kaplan, cliffs, exam krackers so to say i'm frustrated is an understatement. in between the 13th and starting school i already paid for a vacation (figured before i would be in dire need after spending my entire summer in the library haha) but anyway yeah, I would be in the same boat about feeling prepared or not in 2 weeks anyway so i can't really push it back. i'm still pushing through studying and going over all of my tests (and i'll try and work on confidence haha) but say that doesn't go over so well...are retakes really frowned on?
 
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cwalsh said:
well i've taken about 4 practice exams between kaplan and topscore and i'm literally averaging about a 15 everytime (give or take a point here and there). I've used everything: been through destroyer twice, crack dat, kaplan, cliffs, exam krackers so to say i'm frustrated is an understatement. in between the 13th and starting school i already paid for a vacation (figured before i would be in dire need after spending my entire summer in the library haha) but anyway yeah, I would be in the same boat about feeling prepared or not in 2 weeks anyway so i can't really push it back. i'm still pushing through studying and going over all of my tests (and i'll try and work on confidence haha) but say that doesn't go over so well...are retakes really frowned on?
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I don't know about retakes...but they can't help you. I am in a similar situation. But when it comes around and if I don't feel ready, I will push it off till winter break. Which Kaplan tests did you take?
 
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Cwalsh, I'm in the same position, I have been studying for two months and my achiever scores and Kaplan are just pathetic. My date is on the 27th and school starts on the 25th, but I am gonna push it back until early september. My achiver scores are;

Test 1

Bio 17 😡 (mad cause I spent about a month studying for this)
Ochem 13:scared:
Gchem 14😱
PAT 13😱
QR 16
RC 20🙄 (i got lucky)

Test 2

Bio 13😕
Ochem 13😕
Gchem 13😕
PAT 16🙂 Better than 13 I suppose
QR 16
RC 19

It seems like the more I study the more I mess up...

My point is though, dont take it if your not ready, why? because number one some school average both your score after you retake. So if you bomb it first time around, even if you get stellar score the second time around your still in a bad position. Second, I think most schools expect you to do amazing your second time around so you have great amount of pressure on you. Don't go in with crossed fingers, the outcome could be disastrous. Anyways thats my two cents.....by the way I hate achiever....AHHHHH cant wait to take the third one and get 10's across the board. 🙁
 
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