Difficulty of QR on DAT 2021

[sunshinedental]

Hello! I was wondering how those who recently took the DAT felt about the QR section? I've been preparing using Booster and I have been struggling quite a bit with scores ranging from 13-19 (about 19/40 to 25/40). My exam is in a few days and I have been going through questions and making sure that I understand the methods and formulas, however I feel as though QR on the exam might be up in the air. How do you think Booster QR compared to the actual QR section? Was it about the same? Easier or harder? This has just been extremely anxiety provoking for me and I appreciate all the feedback!

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[Flossaraptor]

Actual was way easier for me

 

[sunshinedental]

Actual was way easier for me

Was your score vastly different from your practice exam scores? I'm not sure if Booster scoring is just really low, but it's throwing me off and making me lose confidence :/

 

[Flossaraptor]

It was a couple points different

 

[HowToTeeth101]

Hello! I was wondering how those who recently took the DAT felt about the QR section? I've been preparing using Booster and I have been struggling quite a bit with scores ranging from 13-19 (about 19/40 to 25/40). My exam is in a few days and I have been going through questions and making sure that I understand the methods and formulas, however I feel as though QR on the exam might be up in the air. How do you think Booster QR compared to the actual QR section? Was it about the same? Easier or harder? This has just been extremely anxiety provoking for me and I appreciate all the feedback!

I was scoring anywhere between 13-15 on timed tests and 17-19 on untimed tests on Booster. I scored an 18 on my second attempt. For my first attempt, I utilized Bootcamp and Destroyer and averaged around 17-25 correct answers on untimed tests and scored an 18 on my first attempt. The math you encounter in these prep courses is much harder compared to what you see on the real DAT.

 

[sunshinedental]

I was scoring anywhere between 13-15 on timed tests and 17-19 on untimed tests on Booster. I scored an 18 on my second attempt. For my first attempt, I utilized Bootcamp and Destroyer and averaged around 17-25 correct answers on untimed tests and scored an 18 on my first attempt. The math you encounter in these prep courses is much harder compared to what you see on the real DAT.

This was so helpful, thank you! Did you feel like Booster prepared you well for the second attempt? I'm just having a hard time memorizing the formulas and it is really slowing me down

 

[HowToTeeth101]

This was so helpful, thank you! Did you feel like Booster prepared you well for the second attempt? I'm just having a hard time memorizing the formulas and it is really slowing me down

For sure! I think Booster suited my approach alot better than Bootcamp for the second time around. I focused on doing and reviewing practice problems rather than reviewing topics and the explanations and problems given by Booster were more representatives of what you'd see on the real DAT. Bootcamp is a good resource, however, I preferred the layout of Booster, especially for PAT, and the quality/difficulty of questions for the sciences.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Hello! I was wondering how those who recently took the DAT felt about the QR section? I've been preparing using Booster and I have been struggling quite a bit with scores ranging from 13-19 (about 19/40 to 25/40). My exam is in a few days and I have been going through questions and making sure that I understand the methods and formulas, however I feel as though QR on the exam might be up in the air. How do you think Booster QR compared to the actual QR section? Was it about the same? Easier or harder? This has just been extremely anxiety provoking for me and I appreciate all the feedback!

At this point in your studies I would focus on your weak areas in regards to the QR section. This is a troubling section for a lot of students for many reasons, one being the time limit and being the last section of the DAT, students are tired.

Have a good strategy, don't burn off to much time on a problem, if you find a problem you just can't solve you are better off giving it your best choice and move on, easier problems will be ahead. I know students tell me they are so tired at this point, but hang in there.

Wishing you the best...Nancy, Destroyer

 

[sunshinedental]

At this point in your studies I would focus on your weak areas in regards to the QR section. This is a troubling section for a lot of students for many reasons, one being the time limit and being the last section of the DAT, students are tired.

Have a good strategy, don't burn off to much time on a problem, if you find a problem you just can't solve you are better off giving it your best choice and move on, easier problems will be ahead. I know students tell me they are so tired at this point, but hang in there.

Wishing you the best...Nancy, Destroyer

Thank you Nancy! I just recently took the DAT and scored a 19 in the QR section, however I am planning on retaking as my AA was not what I was hoping to receive

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Thank you Nancy! I just recently took the DAT and scored a 19 in the QR section, however I am planning on retaking as my AA was not what I was hoping to receive

Hi Sunshine,

Glad it worked out in the QR section, if I can help you in anyway answering questions regarding your retake, etc. Let me know. If you don't mind sharing what sections did you score low in that make a retake necessary?

Nancy

 

[sunshinedental]

Hi Sunshine,

Glad it worked out in the QR section, if I can help you in anyway answering questions regarding your retake, etc. Let me know. If you don't mind sharing what sections did you score low in that are make a retake necessary?

Nancy

I received a 19 TS due to an 18 in Biology and Organic Chemistry, I scored well in Gen Chem with a 21. I also scored an 18 on the PAT section, which I definitely want to improve on since it was a weakness of mine! I'm a little nervous about retaking it just because I would like to score 21+ and I'm afraid of repeating the same mistakes, however I'm not exactly sure where I went wrong. I am going to dedicate more time to DAT Destroyer the second time around, as I focused primarily on Booster's practice exams and question banks for most of the science sections. I was a little confused since I was scoring well and had a good grasp on Organic Chemistry and the exam felt very similar to my practice exams, so I'm not too sure where I went wrong there. I also scored a 20 in RC, which was shocking since I was scoring 21-23 on my practice exams so I just overall feel as though I did not perform to the best of my abilities. I am planning on retaking in January since I am taking a gap year!

 

[ChemistryDentist]

I received a 19 TS due to an 18 in Biology and Organic Chemistry, I scored well in Gen Chem with a 21. I also scored an 18 on the PAT section, which I definitely want to improve on since it was a weakness of mine! I'm a little nervous about retaking it just because I would like to score 21+ and I'm afraid of repeating the same mistakes, however I'm not exactly sure where I went wrong. I am going to dedicate more time to DAT Destroyer the second time around, as I focused primarily on Booster's practice exams and question banks for most of the science sections. I was a little confused since I was scoring well and had a good grasp on Organic Chemistry and the exam felt very similar to my practice exams, so I'm not too sure where I went wrong there. I also scored a 20 in RC, which was shocking since I was scoring 21-23 on my practice exams so I just overall feel as though I did not perform to the best of my abilities. I am planning on retaking in January since I am taking a gap year!

Overall, great job on the DAT! Although those were not the scores you seem to have been hoping for, you at least now have experience taking the exam and know what to expect. Sometimes those practice tests just do not give you an accurate reading on how you will score on exam day, because the questions can always be entirely different than what you've seen, focus on your weaknesses instead, etc. Regardless of what happened, I think putting more time into the Destroyers would be very beneficial for you, especially considering it seems that you have them already! They are truly the bible for the science sections of the DAT, and the Math Destroyer should easily help you get up that QR score (especially when paired with the associated YouTube videos).

Your positive attitude and plan going forward makes me think you will end up doing great the next time around! Spend some more time with the Destroyers, sit in the discomfort of not quite understanding the material for a while, and continue to add to that foundation you started before taking the exam the first time. In the end, it should work out if you put in more of the work.

Best of luck!