Which practice tests best reflect DAT?

[IFMB22]

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So I have been studying for my first DAT for the past 6 weeks and have been primarily listening to what yalls advice as far as good material to study for the DAT. I have purchased Cliffs AP Bio, Kaplan BB, Barron's MCAT, and Crack DAT PAT Royal Flush (the pricey one with added science sections).

One thing that I have noticed from all these various guides is how inconsistent my results from the practice tests are. In order from easiest to hardest, I've noticed that Kaplan < Cliffs AP < Barron's MCAT < CPD (science). This applies to bio, ochem, and gchem with huge margins between scores (a matter of 8 points at times).


I guess what I'm asking all you seasoned DAT takers, is what practice tests/questions are most reflective of the actual DAT?



I know biology is a crapshoot due to sheer volume of info which is why I enjoyed the AP Cliffs and Barrons MCAT (which is nicely detailed in physiology and anatomy) for studying. Do you feel that the actual DAT bio questions can be answered by text found in Kaplan, AP Cliffs and/or Barron's?

For m, Ochem is a piece of cake on the Kaplan and the ADA practice test, is this representative of the actual DAT? What would be a good reflection of the actual ochem section in the DAT? I heard Destroyer can make you run the risk of overstudying for the section. Since study time is precious and I am already pretty quick at ochem, would anyone endorse Destroyer as a solid study guide?

Is Gchem more or less difficult than Kaplan?




in summary: which sections from which study guides best reflects the difficulty and style of the DAT?




Thanks

 

[UCLAzy]

i dont mean to be rude..but perform a search. everybody pretty much has a "dat breakdown" (might want to search that?) after they take the dat where they detail subject by subject what materials they thought prepared them best. good luck

 

[IFMB22]

Good advice, but Ive read those threads and have bought the guides suggested. All I am wondering is which practice tests best reflects the DAT in terms of difficulty and presentation.

Im wondering if the actual DAT is more like the Kaplan practice test, the ADA test, Barron's quizes, or the tests on the CDP bundle. From what I've experienced, these all ranged in difficulty and structure of questioning.

 

[Hot Homer]

I cant say for all but I have heard that the ADA test is not an actual representation of the DAT-its much easier and I have also heard that topscore is a lot more difficult.
Again, this is what I have heard I have not used either one yet.

 

[Broncos85]

I would strongly recommend getting your hands on the destroyer because its fantastic for the sciences. If you want something that is representative of the test almost everyone agrees that the destroyer is very representative of the actual DAT

 

[doc3232]

I would strongly recommend getting your hands on the destroyer because its fantastic for the sciences. If you want something that is representative of the test almost everyone agrees that the destroyer is very representative of the actual DAT

Well, it is representative of the handful of "hard" questions. But you have to remember that the majority of the test is actually "easy" questions.
Topscore and Achiever were similar IMO. Kaplan also.

They all did a great job.

 

[samer saab]

Hey Man i didnt take the test yet 2 more days but i can tell you that i used almost all the sources what i found best was DAT achiever and topscore. They may be a bit harder but that is always better so u will ACE that real dat so in my opinion practive these too in addition kaplan and u should be good

 

[klutzy1987]

I think the most accurate practice test is probably topscore, and the most useful tool to know what to study is destroyer. The questions in destroyer are on the more difficult side but the questions cover every important topic for the DAT. If something isn't mentioned in the destroyer you can feel pretty confident that its not on the DAT.

 

[DiscoBalls]

I agree, topscore is the most accurate overall depiction of the DAT. However, it's PAT sucks and its RC is easier.

 

[klutzy1987]

I agree, topscore is the most accurate overall depiction of the DAT. However, it's PAT sucks and its RC is easier.

Yeah but all of the practice tests are way too easy on the RC and PAT. CDP is the only program thats spot on in regards to PAT.