8/3 2017 DAT Breakdown

[CGT008]

Just finished taking my DAT this week. I studied for a total of 8 weeks. The first four weeks consisted of 6-7 hours of studying a day with breaks on Sundays. The last 4 weeks consisted of 3 hours a night, because of work, with one FL practice test every Sunday. My breakdown is provided below and resource ratings are based on my opinion only. For those who haven’t taken the exam yet, I wish you the best of luck and hope I was helpful.


PAT 22
RC 19 (bad time management)
QR 21
OC 22
Bio 23
Chem 27
TS 24
AA 22
20 in RC would’ve put me at 23 smh


Practice test scores:
21, 23, 24, 21

sGPA: 3.1 GPA 3.2
I know, pretty darn low. My first year and a half were terrible (no failures, but very terrible). However, I had a massive upward trend in the last two years and several EC’s including shadowing.


Resources used:

Feralis Bio Notes 11/10

I have this saved as Bio Bible on my computer lol. It’s very dense, but it fills in all the holes that Cliff’s had and adds more. I got several bio questions right because of the extra information provided in this book. It’s a must have for studying the DAT.

Cliff’s Bio 7.5/10

This resource gives you most of what you need, but as I mentioned before this source has some holes in certain topics. It is best to use this along with Feralis and videos so you can get the best understanding of the information while seeing diagrams or demonstrations of how things work.

Chad’s Videos 8/10

Everything you need for chem and ochem PERIOD. Take good notes. Write down what he says, not just the reactions or formulas.

Scientific American 8/10

Great sources for reading. The more you read the faster you become. I hate SnD as a method, but on the exam you’ll have at least one article where you can use SnD. Just read 5 articles a day and manage your time properly. On my exam I had 3 min left with 13 questions left to do because I got a lot on tone and inference questions and decided to solve those instead of skipping and returning.

DAT Destroyer 8.5/10

This is one of the best resources for reviewing concepts and perfecting problem solving skills. Most of the questions apply several concepts at once so it gives you extra reps of information. It also has some pretty complex questions on things you may have never seen before, which ironically also helped me on the real exam.

DAT Bootcamp 9.5/10

This is the best resource overall although I do not recommend just using it alone. Bootcamp’s questions are at a difficulty slightly harder than the real thing, except PAT. Bootcamp PAT is WAY HARDER than the real exam. I never finished a Bootcamp PAT exam, but finished with 13 min left on the real thing. The scores on your practice exams are usually the scores you will get.

Final Thoughts

I am satisfied with my score, but not jumping for joy. I had a higher standard for myself to make up for my GPA so of course I’m not excited, but I did very well. I’m also bummed about RC because a 20 would have given me a 23 AA. On the bright side, I don’t have to take it again. I will see how the application process goes. Wish me luck guys!!!

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[artist2022]

Great scores! The practice scores you listed (or are they AA?), were they from BC (if so, which exams?) or from the 2007/2009 Practice Tests (if so, which one?). Good luck this cycle! Your DAT helps your GPA, don't worry.

 

[CGT008]

All of the practice tests were Bootcamp AA (full length tests 2-5). I took the last exam 4 days before the real thing and I probably should have snuck one more in, but I spent a lot of time reviewing problems and going through my notes. Thanks for the kind words!!

 

[Triumph111]

Congratulations on the great scores, did you see anything in bio that surprised you? I have mainly been studying feralis and obviously been through destroyer

 

[CGT008]

Congratulations on the great scores, did you see anything in bio that surprised you? I have mainly been studying feralis and obviously been through destroyer

A few questions surprised me (I don't think I can say which topics of bio lol) because they just seemed like unorthodox questions that I though would be low yield, but they were in the notes I had taken from feralis so I had a good idea of the answers. I'd say bio was mostly fact questions, but a good chunk required a bit pf a deeper understanding of the topics. No question was harder than anything in destroyer.

For example (a bad example) one question could be what type of pokemon is squirtle and another question could be why did he lose to pikachu or which evolution would be best for squirtle to perform ____ function?

But taking the exam was such a weird feeling. It was almost as if I wasn't taking the real thing. I had time to spare in every section except reading, but I was freaking out before the exam. Once I went in to take it, all the nervousness went away, UNTIL READING when I had 3 min left and it threw me off a bit for QR.

 

[Triumph111]

A few questions surprised me (I don't think I can say which topics of bio lol) because they just seemed like unorthodox questions that I though would be low yield, but they were in the notes I had taken from feralis so I had a good idea of the answers. I'd say bio was mostly fact questions, but a good chunk required a bit pf a deeper understanding of the topics. No question was harder than anything in destroyer.

For example (a bad example) one question could be what type of pokemon is squirtle and another question could be why did he lose to pikachu or which evolution would be best for squirtle to perform ____ function?

But taking the exam was such a weird feeling. It was almost as if I wasn't taking the real thing. I had time to spare in every section except reading, but I was freaking out before the exam. Once I went in to take it, all the nervousness went away, UNTIL READING when I had 3 min left and it threw me off a bit for QR.

Lmao okay thank you!! That's a hilarious example lol!!!

 

[Pearl E. White]

Awesome scores! You did great!

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Great work! Glad to hear my notes helped you and I think the really strong TS is going to go a long way to make up for that GPA. Thanks for sharing your breakdown!

 

[dentistaporfavor]

Were those your scores for the first time through BC or second time?

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Just finished taking my DAT this week. I studied for a total of 8 weeks. The first four weeks consisted of 6-7 hours of studying a day with breaks on Sundays. The last 4 weeks consisted of 3 hours a night, because of work, with one FL practice test every Sunday. My breakdown is provided below and resource ratings are based on my opinion only. For those who haven’t taken the exam yet, I wish you the best of luck and hope I was helpful.


PAT 22
RC 19 (bad time management)
QR 21
OC 22
Bio 23
Chem 27
TS 24
AA 22
20 in RC would’ve put me at 23 smh


Practice test scores:
21, 23, 24, 21

sGPA: 3.1 GPA 3.2
I know, pretty darn low. My first year and a half were terrible (no failures, but very terrible). However, I had a massive upward trend in the last two years and several EC’s including shadowing.


Resources used:

Feralis Bio Notes 11/10

I have this saved as Bio Bible on my computer lol. It’s very dense, but it fills in all the holes that Cliff’s had and adds more. I got several bio questions right because of the extra information provided in this book. It’s a must have for studying the DAT.

Cliff’s Bio 7.5/10

This resource gives you most of what you need, but as I mentioned before this source has some holes in certain topics. It is best to use this along with Feralis and videos so you can get the best understanding of the information while seeing diagrams or demonstrations of how things work.

Chad’s Videos 8/10

Everything you need for chem and ochem PERIOD. Take good notes. Write down what he says, not just the reactions or formulas.

Scientific American 8/10

Great sources for reading. The more you read the faster you become. I hate SnD as a method, but on the exam you’ll have at least one article where you can use SnD. Just read 5 articles a day and manage your time properly. On my exam I had 3 min left with 13 questions left to do because I got a lot on tone and inference questions and decided to solve those instead of skipping and returning.

DAT Destroyer 8.5/10

This is one of the best resources for reviewing concepts and perfecting problem solving skills. Most of the questions apply several concepts at once so it gives you extra reps of information. It also has some pretty complex questions on things you may have never seen before, which ironically also helped me on the real exam.

DAT Bootcamp 9.5/10

This is the best resource overall although I do not recommend just using it alone. Bootcamp’s questions are at a difficulty slightly harder than the real thing, except PAT. Bootcamp PAT is WAY HARDER than the real exam. I never finished a Bootcamp PAT exam, but finished with 13 min left on the real thing. The scores on your practice exams are usually the scores you will get.

Final Thoughts

I am satisfied with my score, but not jumping for joy. I had a higher standard for myself to make up for my GPA so of course I’m not excited, but I did very well. I’m also bummed about RC because a 20 would have given me a 23 AA. On the bright side, I don’t have to take it again. I will see how the application process goes. Wish me luck guys!!!

Congratulations! Amazing scores! DAT Beast Destroyed.

And I agree, the bright side is, it is over and you are free!

Wishing you the best...

Dr. Romano and Nancy

 

[CGT008]

Were those your scores for the first time through BC or second time?

First time. I only took each test once. Then I reviewed the questions and made a quizlet for the questions I really struggled with. If I took the exams a second time I would've remembered the answers so it would have been redundant.

 

[helloboys]

Just finished taking my DAT this week. I studied for a total of 8 weeks. The first four weeks consisted of 6-7 hours of studying a day with breaks on Sundays. The last 4 weeks consisted of 3 hours a night, because of work, with one FL practice test every Sunday. My breakdown is provided below and resource ratings are based on my opinion only. For those who haven’t taken the exam yet, I wish you the best of luck and hope I was helpful.


PAT 22
RC 19 (bad time management)
QR 21
OC 22
Bio 23
Chem 27
TS 24
AA 22
20 in RC would’ve put me at 23 smh


Practice test scores:
21, 23, 24, 21

sGPA: 3.1 GPA 3.2
I know, pretty darn low. My first year and a half were terrible (no failures, but very terrible). However, I had a massive upward trend in the last two years and several EC’s including shadowing.


Resources used:

Feralis Bio Notes 11/10

I have this saved as Bio Bible on my computer lol. It’s very dense, but it fills in all the holes that Cliff’s had and adds more. I got several bio questions right because of the extra information provided in this book. It’s a must have for studying the DAT.

Cliff’s Bio 7.5/10

This resource gives you most of what you need, but as I mentioned before this source has some holes in certain topics. It is best to use this along with Feralis and videos so you can get the best understanding of the information while seeing diagrams or demonstrations of how things work.

Chad’s Videos 8/10

Everything you need for chem and ochem PERIOD. Take good notes. Write down what he says, not just the reactions or formulas.

Scientific American 8/10

Great sources for reading. The more you read the faster you become. I hate SnD as a method, but on the exam you’ll have at least one article where you can use SnD. Just read 5 articles a day and manage your time properly. On my exam I had 3 min left with 13 questions left to do because I got a lot on tone and inference questions and decided to solve those instead of skipping and returning.

DAT Destroyer 8.5/10

This is one of the best resources for reviewing concepts and perfecting problem solving skills. Most of the questions apply several concepts at once so it gives you extra reps of information. It also has some pretty complex questions on things you may have never seen before, which ironically also helped me on the real exam.

DAT Bootcamp 9.5/10

This is the best resource overall although I do not recommend just using it alone. Bootcamp’s questions are at a difficulty slightly harder than the real thing, except PAT. Bootcamp PAT is WAY HARDER than the real exam. I never finished a Bootcamp PAT exam, but finished with 13 min left on the real thing. The scores on your practice exams are usually the scores you will get.

Final Thoughts

I am satisfied with my score, but not jumping for joy. I had a higher standard for myself to make up for my GPA so of course I’m not excited, but I did very well. I’m also bummed about RC because a 20 would have given me a 23 AA. On the bright side, I don’t have to take it again. I will see how the application process goes. Wish me luck guys!!!

On the QR, did you have any trig/ geometry? And did you have a of QC?

 

[CGT008]

On the QR, did you have any trig/ geometry? And did you have a of QC?

My suggestion would be to focus on QC and prob/stat the most. Put trig on the back burner.

 

[helloboys]

Lol, thank you. Probability and QC are my best ones. I usually get most right in BC for probability. And it doesn't take a lot of time to solve. I hate applied mathematics because they take the longest.

 

[sparkledoc44]

congrats what were your individual breakdown scores for bootcamp?

 

[CGT008]

congrats what were your individual breakdown scores for bootcamp?

.........PAT/ RC/ QR/ BIO/ GC/ OC/ TS/ AA
test 2: 16/ 20/ 19/ 23/ 23/ 21/ 22/ 21
test 3: 19/ 20/ 20/ 26/ 30/ 21/ 26/ 23
test 4: 20/ 22/ 23/ 26/ 21/ 26/ 24/ 24 (easiest test in my opinion)
test 5 17/ 20/ 17/ 23/ 21/ 23/ 22/ 21 (hardest exam in my opinion. I also slacked off on the math cause I was tired)

I did test 1 when I first got Bootcamp just to see where I stood. This was even before I started content review, but since I remembered the answers the second time I tried taking it, I just closed it and didn't bother with it.