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- May 27, 2014
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I took DAT past week and I wanted to share my insight as 4the time DAT taker.
I have nothing to brag, but I do want to help those who are NORMAL average Joe (This is not for those with AA25 in their Junior year in undergrad with 3.7 sGPA
)
I'm ONLY going to talk about BIOLOGY section. We all know how to do well on GC, OC from other Breakdowns that say the same thing. Only if it was that easy, right?
If you wonder why your past preparation did not produce the score like other successful SDNers, or if you are unsure where you stand in your preparation in terms of the score, this breakdown might help you to assessment what score you might expect on the real test. Be honest with yourself and see which category you are in. People with fabulous scores did not just stroll through the park, watch every sitcom, have night out with friends, and took the test to find out "Oh hey look, I got 25. Yay.
"
Edit: Be sure to check out my reply below with the sample picture of Destroyer!
No longer a single, but married, and became a father of two kids! (as of 2020)
BIO 16 (34.5%) (2011)
How to achieve this score:
1) Be sure to ONLY read through your Bio textbook. Highlight few stuff, and look at figures. It will serve as refresher from what you've learned in your intro biology classes, seeing what you already know.
2) Feel good about what you already know and SKIP the part where you dont understand. (I hated female ovarian cycle, hormones, and cell-mediated immunity. S0 I skipped, and prayed that it would not show up on my real DAT) I used Kaplan GRE Subject Test: Biology. Do not go over any problems. Just read casually, because life is too short to be discouraged by questions that you do not know the answers to. But remember! Be sure to enjoy what you read! It sure was very fun way to learn!
4) At the end of the DAT preparation, be proud of all the highlights and underlines that you've marked on your book.
5) Go into Prometric center like a boss, take the test, and get 16.
(At this time, I did not know about the SDN community or its existence.)
Duration of the study: 2 months
BIO 17 (2014)
How to achieve this score:
1) Read bunch of breakdowns from SDN, and get all pumped up after learning the power of DAT destroyer, Topscore, DAT Achiever, Qvault, Bootcamp, Khan's academy, and Feralis Note. You are very excited because you can't wait to post your own breakdown of AA25.
2) Read CliffAP from cover to cover. Solve the problems at the end of the each chapter. You should have missed no more than 5 per chapter.
3) Print out Feralis note. Read from cover to cover. When you read, you should have highlighted, underlined, and even draw your own figures/pictrues on your note. Read very carefully. But do not take any notes or solve any questions. Just read the Feralis note in detail.
4) After that, you should feel ready to destroy the Destroyer. You go over the questions by reading the question, and selecting the correct answer. If you got it wrong, you flip over to the answer page and read. Just read the answer, nod your head, and move on to the next question. A bit of daydreaming is allowed. You are excited every time you see the question with answer choice E/All of Above! These questions are dead give away and you don't have to go over the answers, obviously, because you got it right. You tell yourself 'Guessing is an important skill in DAT. ' Yay, one less question to wrestle with, right?
5) When the answer choice do not make sense, look for answers on Feralis note. But if you can't find the answer, just give up looking for it and tell yourself 'I hope it's not gonna be on the test.'
6) In the midst of these preparations, go hang out with friends on weekends. I went out to watch World Cups games with friends on weekdays when I didn't feel like studying. Watch movies and go out for eat. Afterall, you are going through a stressful time and studying is hard, so you deserve all the "de-stressing."
7) By this time, you should have ran out of time to go over other test banks. You originally planned to go over everything like 3 times, but you tell yourself, 'I'll be okay. I read Feralis note very carefully and went over the Destroyer once, so I feel like I know the stuff! Those SDNers who went over Destroyers three times weren't as smart as me. I can produce same result with less effort.'
8) Expects score of 22 on the real thing.
9) Go into Prometric center like a boss, take the test, and get 17.
Duration of the study: 100 days
BIO 19 (2015)
How to achieve this score:
1) Read bunch of breakdowns from SDN, and get very discouraged by all the AA25. But you are still excited because you can't wait to post your own breakdown of AA25, this time.
2) Without delay, make a fancy The Ultimate DAT Schedule that says "Go over 100 Destroyer biology, 100 Destroyer GC, and 100 OC questions PER DAY." According to this schedule, you will go over Destroyer 5 times in 3 weeks, no problem.
3) You first read CliffAP and Feralis note, same way as you did last year (2014 #2,3 above)
4) You start studying for Destroyer, and realize that life do not turn out to be the way you want it to be. You get behind your schedule in first 2 days. After a week of catching up game, you make another schedule, named The Ultimate DAT Schedule the ReMAKE. Marks today as "DAY 1"
5) After another 2 weeks, you ditch the schedule, because you got sick and tire of catch up game again at this point.
6) You have gone through DAT Destroyer once. You have solved* every question and read the answers.
*Solve: Read answers to all the questions you got wrong. Watch Khan's academy videos for concept you don't understand. You even gave thoughts to every answer choices you got CORRECT or incorrect.
7) Take Bootcamp tests. After each test, you read over the answers. Yes, just read over, nod your head, and move on. Tell yourself, 'I hope I wouldn't miss this question on real test'!
8) I scored in range of 17~20 on Bootcamp. I felt good, because according to SDN, I can expect +2 to my actual exam.
9) Expects score of 21 on the real thing.
10) Go into Prometric center like a boss, take the test, and get 19.
Duration of the study: 110 days
BIO 21 (2016)
How to achieve this score:
1) You first read CliffAP and Feralis note, same way as you did last year (2014 #2,3 above)
2) Know that successfully completing 40 Destroyer questions a day is sufficient. But spend about 15 minute per question, looking over EVERY words on the question that you are not 100% sure about. Do not care if you have chosen the correct answer or not. Care only to see if you are familiar with everything on that question.
Example: If the Destroyer question states
3) Actively write down all that you have looked up on the side on the empty spaces on the Destroyer, or on separate notebook.
4) Also read the back of the book explanation to learn additional facts.
5) Watch Khan's academy videos, and add into your note of facts. Video sources will help you approach the topics that you are most afraid to tackle. For me, it was female ovarian cycle, hormones, and cell-mediated immunity (2011 #2 above), for example. I watched all the relevant videos and solved the questions on that website.
6) You should have went over the Destroyer once in detail. You feel like you remember nothing.
7) Take Bootcamp tests. After each test, you'd read over the answers, and do the same drill as how you approached the Destroyer: Look up every word and concept from the questions AND answer explanations. I screened shot everything, wrote down on separate notebook.
8) I scored in range of 18~20 on Bootcamp. According to SDN, I can expect +2 to my actual exam. But I learned from last year not to trust that trend (2015 #8)
9) Go into Prometric center most humbly, take the test, and get 21.
Duration of the study: 160 days
Danger Indicator:
Check to see if you fall into any one of these!
1) Are you afraid of learning certain concepts because it's hard to understand or remember? Are you avoiding these areas? Are you hoping that you would get lucky and these topic would not show up on the real DAT?
2) Are you reading textbook/prep book passively? Does your reading consists only of highlighting/underlining? Are you not looking up other sources to look at it from different angle?
3) Are you completing the Destroyer by merely trying to select right answers?
4) Are you making schedule that are tangible? Are you falling behind often in your schedule?
5) Do you dream of getting 25, but you find yourself watching TV or on Facebook or SDN, more than an hour a day?
6) Are you predicting your score by adding a point to your BC score, ADA 2009, Qvault, or Topscore? Not everyone falls into that trend, unfortunately. Assess your methods of acquiring knowledge, instead.
Last words:
I originally planned to go over the Destroyer 3 times, but like last year and the year before, I made the same mistake. We all make same mistake again and again, right? I was a bit ashamed to write about my long journey with DAT, having to take it 4 times, crappy GPA, non-traditional, and having to study close to 5 months just to reach 21 Bio. But I've shared all this to connect with some of those who are reading this. I know only SMALL number of community has superb DAT success story. Congratulation. But to those who are not able to write your own Breakdown because it's sub 20, don't be discouraged. If you had to study 5 months, don't be discouraged. If you had to retake 3 times, don't be discouraged. If you have GPA lower than 3.0, be little concerned. I have been there, and done it all.
If you are preparing for the test right now, Be honest with yourself and see if you are doing what I have done above. And if you are doing what I am doing, you can, perhaps, expect corresponding score. Going over Destroyer twice or three times does not guarantee over 20. It's HOW you approach the Destroyer and other resources. I do think, however, if I have gone over the Destroyer twice on 2016, I could have raised the actual score, because I know I have approached the Destroyer the right way and utilized the full potential. So, I hope you learn from me and achieve your dream for the sake of others! I will post a page of my Destroyer to demonstrate. I thank Ari and Dr. Orgoman for for the resources!
In Christ.
p.s.
Random Fun Facts:
1) The period table now includes few constants in the bottom (2016)
2) You can gain extra one minute by not clicking the sigh "Your session has expired." Believe it or not, I've tried and tests to be true since 2011 to 2016.
3) The percentage next to the final score disappeared after 2011 (I'm not sure when, but my first test had it!)
4) Highlight feature was added in RC (2016)
5) The break has increased from 15min to 30min (2016)
6) The numeric pad on keyboard can now be used on calculator (2016).
7) The price of DAT in 2011 was $225
8) The price of DAT in 2015 was $415
8) The price of DAT in 2016 is now $430
I have nothing to brag, but I do want to help those who are NORMAL average Joe (This is not for those with AA25 in their Junior year in undergrad with 3.7 sGPA
)I'm ONLY going to talk about BIOLOGY section. We all know how to do well on GC, OC from other Breakdowns that say the same thing. Only if it was that easy, right?
If you wonder why your past preparation did not produce the score like other successful SDNers, or if you are unsure where you stand in your preparation in terms of the score, this breakdown might help you to assessment what score you might expect on the real test. Be honest with yourself and see which category you are in. People with fabulous scores did not just stroll through the park, watch every sitcom, have night out with friends, and took the test to find out "Oh hey look, I got 25. Yay.
" My credential:
Took DAT 4 times (2011, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Non-traditional
Biology major
< 2.0 undergraduate sGPA
Studied the material "wrong way": GRE Subject Test: Biology (2011)
Studied the material "Right way": CliffAP, Feralis Note, DAT Destroyer, Bootcamp, etc. (2016)
No girlfriend aka single
Edit: Be sure to check out my reply below with the sample picture of Destroyer!
No longer a single, but married, and became a father of two kids! (as of 2020)
BIO 16 (34.5%) (2011)
How to achieve this score:
1) Be sure to ONLY read through your Bio textbook. Highlight few stuff, and look at figures. It will serve as refresher from what you've learned in your intro biology classes, seeing what you already know.
2) Feel good about what you already know and SKIP the part where you dont understand. (I hated female ovarian cycle, hormones, and cell-mediated immunity. S0 I skipped, and prayed that it would not show up on my real DAT) I used Kaplan GRE Subject Test: Biology. Do not go over any problems. Just read casually, because life is too short to be discouraged by questions that you do not know the answers to. But remember! Be sure to enjoy what you read! It sure was very fun way to learn!
4) At the end of the DAT preparation, be proud of all the highlights and underlines that you've marked on your book.
5) Go into Prometric center like a boss, take the test, and get 16.
(At this time, I did not know about the SDN community or its existence.)
Duration of the study: 2 months
BIO 17 (2014)
How to achieve this score:
1) Read bunch of breakdowns from SDN, and get all pumped up after learning the power of DAT destroyer, Topscore, DAT Achiever, Qvault, Bootcamp, Khan's academy, and Feralis Note. You are very excited because you can't wait to post your own breakdown of AA25.
2) Read CliffAP from cover to cover. Solve the problems at the end of the each chapter. You should have missed no more than 5 per chapter.
3) Print out Feralis note. Read from cover to cover. When you read, you should have highlighted, underlined, and even draw your own figures/pictrues on your note. Read very carefully. But do not take any notes or solve any questions. Just read the Feralis note in detail.
4) After that, you should feel ready to destroy the Destroyer. You go over the questions by reading the question, and selecting the correct answer. If you got it wrong, you flip over to the answer page and read. Just read the answer, nod your head, and move on to the next question. A bit of daydreaming is allowed. You are excited every time you see the question with answer choice E/All of Above! These questions are dead give away and you don't have to go over the answers, obviously, because you got it right. You tell yourself 'Guessing is an important skill in DAT. ' Yay, one less question to wrestle with, right?
5) When the answer choice do not make sense, look for answers on Feralis note. But if you can't find the answer, just give up looking for it and tell yourself 'I hope it's not gonna be on the test.'
6) In the midst of these preparations, go hang out with friends on weekends. I went out to watch World Cups games with friends on weekdays when I didn't feel like studying. Watch movies and go out for eat. Afterall, you are going through a stressful time and studying is hard, so you deserve all the "de-stressing."
7) By this time, you should have ran out of time to go over other test banks. You originally planned to go over everything like 3 times, but you tell yourself, 'I'll be okay. I read Feralis note very carefully and went over the Destroyer once, so I feel like I know the stuff! Those SDNers who went over Destroyers three times weren't as smart as me. I can produce same result with less effort.'
8) Expects score of 22 on the real thing.
9) Go into Prometric center like a boss, take the test, and get 17.
Duration of the study: 100 days
BIO 19 (2015)
How to achieve this score:
1) Read bunch of breakdowns from SDN, and get very discouraged by all the AA25. But you are still excited because you can't wait to post your own breakdown of AA25, this time.
2) Without delay, make a fancy The Ultimate DAT Schedule that says "Go over 100 Destroyer biology, 100 Destroyer GC, and 100 OC questions PER DAY." According to this schedule, you will go over Destroyer 5 times in 3 weeks, no problem.
3) You first read CliffAP and Feralis note, same way as you did last year (2014 #2,3 above)
4) You start studying for Destroyer, and realize that life do not turn out to be the way you want it to be. You get behind your schedule in first 2 days. After a week of catching up game, you make another schedule, named The Ultimate DAT Schedule the ReMAKE. Marks today as "DAY 1"
5) After another 2 weeks, you ditch the schedule, because you got sick and tire of catch up game again at this point.
6) You have gone through DAT Destroyer once. You have solved* every question and read the answers.
*Solve: Read answers to all the questions you got wrong. Watch Khan's academy videos for concept you don't understand. You even gave thoughts to every answer choices you got CORRECT or incorrect.
7) Take Bootcamp tests. After each test, you read over the answers. Yes, just read over, nod your head, and move on. Tell yourself, 'I hope I wouldn't miss this question on real test'!
8) I scored in range of 17~20 on Bootcamp. I felt good, because according to SDN, I can expect +2 to my actual exam.
9) Expects score of 21 on the real thing.
10) Go into Prometric center like a boss, take the test, and get 19.
Duration of the study: 110 days
BIO 21 (2016)
How to achieve this score:
1) You first read CliffAP and Feralis note, same way as you did last year (2014 #2,3 above)
2) Know that successfully completing 40 Destroyer questions a day is sufficient. But spend about 15 minute per question, looking over EVERY words on the question that you are not 100% sure about. Do not care if you have chosen the correct answer or not. Care only to see if you are familiar with everything on that question.
Example: If the Destroyer question states
"Which statement regarding bacteria is false?"
a) Most bacterial cells reproduce by binary fission
b) Bacterial cells have a single chromosome which is a circular DNA molecule which is replicated and parceled out to daughter cells
c) Pili help bacteria attach to one another as a prelude to conjugation
d) Pili can be used by bacteria to attach to mucous membranes
(I have italicized the words that you should have embraced to generate string of "potential" DAT questions)
You would ask creative questions and look up Google, Wiki, Feralis, CliffAP to answer your own random questions:
a) How do eukaryotic cells reproduce? What other reproduction method is there? How does this different from "budding off" or "regeneration?"
b) Is plasmid circular DNA too? Plasmid and plasma sounds similar, I should not get these two confused.
c) What is pili? What are conjugation, transduction, transformation, and how do they differ? Which one involves integration of host DNA strands? What does the word "prelude" means anyway?
d) Where are mucous membranes found in our body? Where else can Pili be used to attach to?
3) Actively write down all that you have looked up on the side on the empty spaces on the Destroyer, or on separate notebook.
4) Also read the back of the book explanation to learn additional facts.
5) Watch Khan's academy videos, and add into your note of facts. Video sources will help you approach the topics that you are most afraid to tackle. For me, it was female ovarian cycle, hormones, and cell-mediated immunity (2011 #2 above), for example. I watched all the relevant videos and solved the questions on that website.
6) You should have went over the Destroyer once in detail. You feel like you remember nothing.
7) Take Bootcamp tests. After each test, you'd read over the answers, and do the same drill as how you approached the Destroyer: Look up every word and concept from the questions AND answer explanations. I screened shot everything, wrote down on separate notebook.
8) I scored in range of 18~20 on Bootcamp. According to SDN, I can expect +2 to my actual exam. But I learned from last year not to trust that trend (2015 #8)
9) Go into Prometric center most humbly, take the test, and get 21.
Duration of the study: 160 days
Danger Indicator:
Check to see if you fall into any one of these!
1) Are you afraid of learning certain concepts because it's hard to understand or remember? Are you avoiding these areas? Are you hoping that you would get lucky and these topic would not show up on the real DAT?
2) Are you reading textbook/prep book passively? Does your reading consists only of highlighting/underlining? Are you not looking up other sources to look at it from different angle?
3) Are you completing the Destroyer by merely trying to select right answers?
4) Are you making schedule that are tangible? Are you falling behind often in your schedule?
5) Do you dream of getting 25
, but you find yourself watching TV or on Facebook or SDN, more than an hour a day?6) Are you predicting your score by adding a point to your BC score, ADA 2009, Qvault, or Topscore? Not everyone falls into that trend, unfortunately. Assess your methods of acquiring knowledge, instead.
Last words:
I originally planned to go over the Destroyer 3 times, but like last year and the year before, I made the same mistake. We all make same mistake again and again, right?
I was a bit ashamed to write about my long journey with DAT, having to take it 4 times, crappy GPA, non-traditional, and having to study close to 5 months just to reach 21 Bio. But I've shared all this to connect with some of those who are reading this. I know only SMALL number of community has superb DAT success story. Congratulation. But to those who are not able to write your own Breakdown because it's sub 20, don't be discouraged. If you had to study 5 months, don't be discouraged. If you had to retake 3 times, don't be discouraged. If you have GPA lower than 3.0, be little concerned. I have been there, and done it all. If you are preparing for the test right now, Be honest with yourself and see if you are doing what I have done above. And if you are doing what I am doing, you can, perhaps, expect corresponding score. Going over Destroyer twice or three times does not guarantee over 20. It's HOW you approach the Destroyer and other resources. I do think, however, if I have gone over the Destroyer twice on 2016, I could have raised the actual score, because I know I have approached the Destroyer the right way and utilized the full potential. So, I hope you learn from me and achieve your dream for the sake of others! I will post a page of my Destroyer to demonstrate. I thank Ari and Dr. Orgoman for for the resources!In Christ.
p.s.
Random Fun Facts:
1) The period table now includes few constants in the bottom (2016)
2) You can gain extra one minute by not clicking the sigh "Your session has expired." Believe it or not, I've tried and tests to be true since 2011 to 2016.
3) The percentage next to the final score disappeared after 2011 (I'm not sure when, but my first test had it!)
4) Highlight feature was added in RC (2016)
5) The break has increased from 15min to 30min (2016)
6) The numeric pad on keyboard can now be used on calculator (2016).
7) The price of DAT in 2011 was $225
8) The price of DAT in 2015 was $415
8) The price of DAT in 2016 is now $430
Last edited:
