Fellow SDN members,
I took my DAT today. I have been visiting this site frequently for the past few months. Even before I registered myself as an SDN member, I was a lurker. It's hard to believe that this day is already here. Without SDN, I would not have learned about Chads videos and DAT Destroyer, CDP, etc.
I will not reveal my numerical scores, because my purpose isn't to flaunt my score, but to let you guys know what I thought about the DAT and how I
Okay, so my test was at 1. For the past several weeks, I have been staying up all night and waking up late in the morning as I was preparing for the DAT. This was bad news for my DAT test day because I am usually asleep at that time. This morning, I was also feeling sleepy due to staying up all night. So I ingested a bunch of caffeinated beverages to help stay awake and alert for the test. After going through the check in process, I started on my DAT - the bio section.
BIO - Are you kidding me?!?! This test was a huge collection of the most random, half-hazardly assorted questions. Never, have I ever seen any collection of such questions on any of the practice tests I took. I know what people mean when they say this section is random. But there were also many questions that were very simple and straightforward. I felt really good about the numerous easy questions that were in this section. But there were also some highly detailed random questions that I was unsure about. The format of the questions were also unlike any other bio question I have ever seen.
To prepare, I used the free DATQvault, Barron's and Campbell's I read Barrons AP Bio once a short while back, and didn't read it again. Barrons, by far provides a highly readable and compact, yet adequately broad overview of biology. I highly recommend this book, especially to those who don't have much time. I also used the Campbell's textbook, mainly for its physiology section. I didn't actually read the entire chapter for every topic. I just skimmed through it and focussed on the diagrams/illustrations and keywords. It was especially helpful for learning the entire physiology section, and the animal behavior, and development topics. If I had more time, I would definetely have spent it reading more. On the actual test, I was surprised by the question style. I had never seen anything like it and thought they were unusual.
CHEM - This section was mostly straightforward. There were some oddball questions here too. But most questions were simple and straighforawrd. Chad's videos and DAT Destroyer prepared me well. Destroyer should be used more as a study guide than as actual practice questions. The questions were funkily worded here as well. Again, no practice test accurately matched the style of the questions. Chad's videos are the most underpriced resources for the chemistry sections. Seriously, his videos teach you the chemistry you need to know for the DAT, at a higly affordable price.
O.Chem - This section definetely had some oddball questions over random topics not covered in Chad's videos or even Destroyer. But most of the questions were fairly straightforward.
After finishing the Sciences section, I had mixed feelings about it. The 'random' questions are not just restriced to the Bio section. My Gen. Chem and O.Chem. sections also had some questions over things I had never seen before. I had mixed feelings about the science section because there were questions that were either really easy, or questions that were really random and unknowable. There were very few 'intermediate' type questions, like those found the the Destroyer.
To be continued
I took my DAT today. I have been visiting this site frequently for the past few months. Even before I registered myself as an SDN member, I was a lurker. It's hard to believe that this day is already here. Without SDN, I would not have learned about Chads videos and DAT Destroyer, CDP, etc.
I will not reveal my numerical scores, because my purpose isn't to flaunt my score, but to let you guys know what I thought about the DAT and how I
Okay, so my test was at 1. For the past several weeks, I have been staying up all night and waking up late in the morning as I was preparing for the DAT. This was bad news for my DAT test day because I am usually asleep at that time. This morning, I was also feeling sleepy due to staying up all night. So I ingested a bunch of caffeinated beverages to help stay awake and alert for the test. After going through the check in process, I started on my DAT - the bio section.
BIO - Are you kidding me?!?! This test was a huge collection of the most random, half-hazardly assorted questions. Never, have I ever seen any collection of such questions on any of the practice tests I took. I know what people mean when they say this section is random. But there were also many questions that were very simple and straightforward. I felt really good about the numerous easy questions that were in this section. But there were also some highly detailed random questions that I was unsure about. The format of the questions were also unlike any other bio question I have ever seen.
To prepare, I used the free DATQvault, Barron's and Campbell's I read Barrons AP Bio once a short while back, and didn't read it again. Barrons, by far provides a highly readable and compact, yet adequately broad overview of biology. I highly recommend this book, especially to those who don't have much time. I also used the Campbell's textbook, mainly for its physiology section. I didn't actually read the entire chapter for every topic. I just skimmed through it and focussed on the diagrams/illustrations and keywords. It was especially helpful for learning the entire physiology section, and the animal behavior, and development topics. If I had more time, I would definetely have spent it reading more. On the actual test, I was surprised by the question style. I had never seen anything like it and thought they were unusual.
CHEM - This section was mostly straightforward. There were some oddball questions here too. But most questions were simple and straighforawrd. Chad's videos and DAT Destroyer prepared me well. Destroyer should be used more as a study guide than as actual practice questions. The questions were funkily worded here as well. Again, no practice test accurately matched the style of the questions. Chad's videos are the most underpriced resources for the chemistry sections. Seriously, his videos teach you the chemistry you need to know for the DAT, at a higly affordable price.
O.Chem - This section definetely had some oddball questions over random topics not covered in Chad's videos or even Destroyer. But most of the questions were fairly straightforward.
After finishing the Sciences section, I had mixed feelings about it. The 'random' questions are not just restriced to the Bio section. My Gen. Chem and O.Chem. sections also had some questions over things I had never seen before. I had mixed feelings about the science section because there were questions that were either really easy, or questions that were really random and unknowable. There were very few 'intermediate' type questions, like those found the the Destroyer.
To be continued
Last edited:
