First of all, thank you to all SDN'ers. I read many advices and strategies here that helped me take the test.
I started studying Jan 1. and I took my test Feb 9. I just graduated so I had all day to study.
My scores:
PAT: 20
QR: 24
RC: 21
BIO: 21
GCHEM: 23
OCHEM: 23
Science Average: 22
Total average: 22
Materials I studied: Chad's videos for Gchem and Ochem, DAT destroyer for Gchem and Ochem, Feralis notes for Bio, DAT bootcamp(I didn't really buy the bootcamp, I just watched strategy videos)
The reason I am posting my score is to tell a lot of people not to worry. I read a lot of posts with the craziest scores and how people studied for it for three whole months doing nothing but studying. I read those as well thinking that I wasn't prepared enough for the test. However, you should all know that those are really really rare cases. I didn't do a single practice exams.
For a little over a month, this is what I did to get those scores:
BIO: I am a bio major, so I didn't worry too much. I read Ferali's note over once and skimmed it through once again the night before the test. Didn't spend too much time memorizing detailed things. Bio is such a broad subject that it's really enough to know the basics of each chapter.
GCHEM: I learned by watching Chad's videos first. I didn't take notes, but I took screenshots every time Chad would finish writing on the board. I watched it about twice and by going over the screenshots, I made sure I knew the material. However, the real learning curve came with the DAT Destroyer. This is what saved me. DAT destroyer is a little overkill. Yes. Its questions are a lot harder than the actual DAT questions. My first 100 questions, I was getting most of it wrong. But each question I would check the answer and read the explanations and I was learning it as I was solving. By 200-300th questions, I was getting most of them right. The night before the test I looked over the questions I got wrong and made sure I knew why.
OCHEM:Same thing as GChem.
QR: I have always been good at math so I didn't study for the subject
PAT: I was very tempted to buy the bootcamp but I didn't because I am cheap. Instead, I watched all the tutorial strategy videos they have online for free. Those strategies really helped me. Also, I knew my worst section of the PAT, so I skipped it and did it at the end.
RC: Did not study. However, I watched a strategy video for reading. The strategy is: You read the question first, and then remember the keyword from the question to find it in the passage. you read the part of the passage, and then answer the question. It worked pretty well for me.
And that's it guys. I went in the testing center thinking that I was not prepared at all. I am sure a lot of you guys are also worried, reading all these people getting crazy scores. I am here to tell you that it will all be fine!
I started studying Jan 1. and I took my test Feb 9. I just graduated so I had all day to study.
My scores:
PAT: 20
QR: 24
RC: 21
BIO: 21
GCHEM: 23
OCHEM: 23
Science Average: 22
Total average: 22
Materials I studied: Chad's videos for Gchem and Ochem, DAT destroyer for Gchem and Ochem, Feralis notes for Bio, DAT bootcamp(I didn't really buy the bootcamp, I just watched strategy videos)
The reason I am posting my score is to tell a lot of people not to worry. I read a lot of posts with the craziest scores and how people studied for it for three whole months doing nothing but studying. I read those as well thinking that I wasn't prepared enough for the test. However, you should all know that those are really really rare cases. I didn't do a single practice exams.
For a little over a month, this is what I did to get those scores:
BIO: I am a bio major, so I didn't worry too much. I read Ferali's note over once and skimmed it through once again the night before the test. Didn't spend too much time memorizing detailed things. Bio is such a broad subject that it's really enough to know the basics of each chapter.
GCHEM: I learned by watching Chad's videos first. I didn't take notes, but I took screenshots every time Chad would finish writing on the board. I watched it about twice and by going over the screenshots, I made sure I knew the material. However, the real learning curve came with the DAT Destroyer. This is what saved me. DAT destroyer is a little overkill. Yes. Its questions are a lot harder than the actual DAT questions. My first 100 questions, I was getting most of it wrong. But each question I would check the answer and read the explanations and I was learning it as I was solving. By 200-300th questions, I was getting most of them right. The night before the test I looked over the questions I got wrong and made sure I knew why.
OCHEM:Same thing as GChem.
QR: I have always been good at math so I didn't study for the subject
PAT: I was very tempted to buy the bootcamp but I didn't because I am cheap. Instead, I watched all the tutorial strategy videos they have online for free. Those strategies really helped me. Also, I knew my worst section of the PAT, so I skipped it and did it at the end.
RC: Did not study. However, I watched a strategy video for reading. The strategy is: You read the question first, and then remember the keyword from the question to find it in the passage. you read the part of the passage, and then answer the question. It worked pretty well for me.
And that's it guys. I went in the testing center thinking that I was not prepared at all. I am sure a lot of you guys are also worried, reading all these people getting crazy scores. I am here to tell you that it will all be fine!
