- Joined
- Oct 28, 2016
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 6
Hi guys,
I just took the DAT today, and boy am I glad its over! I wanted to share with you how I did on it without spending a SINGLE PENNY on test prep (I am a poor graduate student, so its not like I had the money anyway
)
Here is what I used for studying/practice:
1. Biology- Notes from college biology classes, MCAT books from my school library and the public library, Cliff's notes.
2. Gen Chem- Notes from college GC classes, exams from college classes, MCAT GC, Chad's videos (HE IS AMAZING!!)
3. Orgo- Notes from college Orgo classes, exams from college classes, MCAT OC. (I have a masters in OC, so this wasn't a huge deal for me!)
4. PAT- DAT BootCamp Angle ranking generator, DAT Genius Hole punching and cube counting generator.
5. RC- Nothing.
6. QR- SAT books from library, GRE books from library, Khan Academy for probability (This helped immensely!)
Here are the practice tests I took:
1. Kaplan 2016 DAT book (Available at my school library, that came with two practice tests)
Scores:
Test 1: Bio-21, GC-17, OC-20, PAT-16, RC- 22, QR-16---> AA- 19
Test 2: Bio-22, GC- 22, OC-22, PAT-20, RC-24, QR-17---> AA-21
2. DAT Bootcamp free practice test
Score: (This is after I had taken the section tests, and I did not know that the questions would be pretty much the same, so I don't count these scores to be representative)
Bio- 28, GC-30, OC-24, PAT- 23, RC-23, QR- 30
*Note* BC is amazing, and if I had money, I would have invested in getting a membership.
3. DAT genius free practice test
Score:
Bio-19, GC-18, OC-20, PAT-20, RC-20, QR-19
4. 2007 ADA test (Online version)
Bio-23, GC-21, OC-24, PAT-22, QR-20
5. 2009 ADA test (Online version) (I lost the piece paper with my scores on it, but they were in the range as above)
Actual test:
Bio- 20 (I was very disappointed with my score. I had 12-13 ecology questions, 5-6 genetic questions, and ZERO human anatomy/physiology or plant anatomy/physiology questions)
GC-26
OC-26
PAT-21
RC-22
QR-24
AA-24
Things you should learn from my DAT experience:
1. DON'T LET YOUR FIRST TEST RESULTS SCARE YOU! After seeing my first Kaplan test results, I almost quit, had it not been for my parents and my fiance. The first test IS going to be bad! The trick is to get over it and do better.
2. Just as important as it is, not to get discouraged, it is also necessary to not get too encouraged! I was elated after seeing my BC score, but I had to tell myself constantly that it was a cheat test because I have seen some of the questions. Take inspiration from good scores, but don't let them get to your head.
3. The test prep tools out there are AMAZING and if I got a chance to take my DAT again, I would definitely invest in some PAT practice. But if you really work hard and set your mind to it, anything is possible! I knew I did not have money to invest, and so I focused on getting 15/15 on the PAT sections with the free resources.
5. Don't ignore ecology and genetics (like I did!)
4. POSITIVE ATTITUDE IS MAGIC. The most important thing was getting the blessings of my elders before the test, and keeping a positive attitude. I had an hour drive to the test center, and I sang at the top of my voice the whole way (Good thing I drove by myself). I gave myself a pep talk in the bathroom in the break.
GOOD LUCK!! I hope you got something out of this Just be positive, work hard, and you will be unstoppable!
I just took the DAT today, and boy am I glad its over! I wanted to share with you how I did on it without spending a SINGLE PENNY on test prep (I am a poor graduate student, so its not like I had the money anyway
)Here is what I used for studying/practice:
1. Biology- Notes from college biology classes, MCAT books from my school library and the public library, Cliff's notes.
2. Gen Chem- Notes from college GC classes, exams from college classes, MCAT GC, Chad's videos (HE IS AMAZING!!)
3. Orgo- Notes from college Orgo classes, exams from college classes, MCAT OC. (I have a masters in OC, so this wasn't a huge deal for me!)
4. PAT- DAT BootCamp Angle ranking generator, DAT Genius Hole punching and cube counting generator.
5. RC- Nothing.
6. QR- SAT books from library, GRE books from library, Khan Academy for probability (This helped immensely!)
Here are the practice tests I took:
1. Kaplan 2016 DAT book (Available at my school library, that came with two practice tests)
Scores:
Test 1: Bio-21, GC-17, OC-20, PAT-16, RC- 22, QR-16---> AA- 19
Test 2: Bio-22, GC- 22, OC-22, PAT-20, RC-24, QR-17---> AA-21
2. DAT Bootcamp free practice test
Score: (This is after I had taken the section tests, and I did not know that the questions would be pretty much the same, so I don't count these scores to be representative)
Bio- 28, GC-30, OC-24, PAT- 23, RC-23, QR- 30
*Note* BC is amazing, and if I had money, I would have invested in getting a membership.
3. DAT genius free practice test
Score:
Bio-19, GC-18, OC-20, PAT-20, RC-20, QR-19
4. 2007 ADA test (Online version)
Bio-23, GC-21, OC-24, PAT-22, QR-20
5. 2009 ADA test (Online version) (I lost the piece paper with my scores on it, but they were in the range as above)
Actual test:
Bio- 20 (I was very disappointed with my score. I had 12-13 ecology questions, 5-6 genetic questions, and ZERO human anatomy/physiology or plant anatomy/physiology questions)
GC-26
OC-26
PAT-21
RC-22
QR-24
AA-24
Things you should learn from my DAT experience:
1. DON'T LET YOUR FIRST TEST RESULTS SCARE YOU! After seeing my first Kaplan test results, I almost quit, had it not been for my parents and my fiance. The first test IS going to be bad! The trick is to get over it and do better.
2. Just as important as it is, not to get discouraged, it is also necessary to not get too encouraged! I was elated after seeing my BC score, but I had to tell myself constantly that it was a cheat test because I have seen some of the questions. Take inspiration from good scores, but don't let them get to your head.
3. The test prep tools out there are AMAZING and if I got a chance to take my DAT again, I would definitely invest in some PAT practice. But if you really work hard and set your mind to it, anything is possible! I knew I did not have money to invest, and so I focused on getting 15/15 on the PAT sections with the free resources.
5. Don't ignore ecology and genetics (like I did!)
4. POSITIVE ATTITUDE IS MAGIC. The most important thing was getting the blessings of my elders before the test, and keeping a positive attitude. I had an hour drive to the test center, and I sang at the top of my voice the whole way (Good thing I drove by myself). I gave myself a pep talk in the bathroom in the break.
GOOD LUCK!! I hope you got something out of this
Just be positive, work hard, and you will be unstoppable! 
