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I have some random time here at work and decided to drop a little knowledge on all of you out there taking the DAT soon. Im no genius, but I thought it would be cool to give some advice that worked for me and I wish I would have known before all this.
(1) Kaplan Class: I took the Kaplan class last year and it worked out pretty good. The physical class itself is useless. The only thing I garnished from it was some pretty good strategies for the cube counting. The online resources are what make this baby worth the $1000+ price tag. Their online stuff far surpassed anything I saw anywhere else. (pre-made note cards are awesome too).
BEWARE! A lot of their $#!* Is wrong. One of the downsides to their information is that there are so many mistakes. I cant count how many times I found a question was right and marked wrong.
Kaplans keyhole examples were pretty on the money, though they were a bit more complex during the exam. Everything (PA) else was a bit more intense.
Kaplans reading comp was way harder than the actual exam. Their strategy for this one was complicated, time consuming and ridiculous. DONT LISTEN TO anything they try to tell you about this strategy (writing complicated notes out). Completely useless.
Kaplans Organic Chemistry and Chemistry sections were pretty on the money for the exam. Sn1 Sn2 heavy. The calculations on the DAT are simple compared to theirs.
I consistently got 16s and a 14 on the first exam of theirs and scored a 20 on the DAT. I thought the DAT was easier.
Other random notes:
(2)Dont try to copy the angle from the paper or screen when you are trying to rank angles. I had practiced in this manner and was pissed to find out that the scratch paper they give you was colored, preventing tracing of angles.
(3)Cube counting is the ONLY way to FLY! It may seem like you are taking up too much time, but in the end this will save you time on the complex shapes on the cube section. (Meaning writing out how many of each numbered sided cubes there are and then answering the questions)
(4)I have asked many people that took the DAT last year with me about their reading comprehension topics. I was surprised to find, out of the five people I spoke with, how much overlap there was on the reading questions. It would be HIGHLY beneficial to try to find topics other people had and if anyone remembers anything specific. Their must not be many different subjects. Worth a try if youre stressing. If you dont believe me, ask a few friends.
(5) The biology section of my exam seemed to be all biochemistry. What type of bond is their in antibodies? type stuff with some Krebs cycle intermediates (major ones) identification. Nothing too hard if I had been prepared for a more biochemistry-type section. P.s I remember they asked one ridiculously simple Taxonomy question.
(6) Dont forget to keep your paperwork when you pay for your DAT. There really is no way of tracking down which schools you sent your DAT scores too if you loose it! ARGH!
And .. APPLY EARLY. Just like Financial aid, the earlier you get you application in, the better your chances are.
(1) Kaplan Class: I took the Kaplan class last year and it worked out pretty good. The physical class itself is useless. The only thing I garnished from it was some pretty good strategies for the cube counting. The online resources are what make this baby worth the $1000+ price tag. Their online stuff far surpassed anything I saw anywhere else. (pre-made note cards are awesome too).
BEWARE! A lot of their $#!* Is wrong. One of the downsides to their information is that there are so many mistakes. I cant count how many times I found a question was right and marked wrong.
Kaplans keyhole examples were pretty on the money, though they were a bit more complex during the exam. Everything (PA) else was a bit more intense.
Kaplans reading comp was way harder than the actual exam. Their strategy for this one was complicated, time consuming and ridiculous. DONT LISTEN TO anything they try to tell you about this strategy (writing complicated notes out). Completely useless.
Kaplans Organic Chemistry and Chemistry sections were pretty on the money for the exam. Sn1 Sn2 heavy. The calculations on the DAT are simple compared to theirs.
I consistently got 16s and a 14 on the first exam of theirs and scored a 20 on the DAT. I thought the DAT was easier.
Other random notes:
(2)Dont try to copy the angle from the paper or screen when you are trying to rank angles. I had practiced in this manner and was pissed to find out that the scratch paper they give you was colored, preventing tracing of angles.
(3)Cube counting is the ONLY way to FLY! It may seem like you are taking up too much time, but in the end this will save you time on the complex shapes on the cube section. (Meaning writing out how many of each numbered sided cubes there are and then answering the questions)
(4)I have asked many people that took the DAT last year with me about their reading comprehension topics. I was surprised to find, out of the five people I spoke with, how much overlap there was on the reading questions. It would be HIGHLY beneficial to try to find topics other people had and if anyone remembers anything specific. Their must not be many different subjects. Worth a try if youre stressing. If you dont believe me, ask a few friends.
(5) The biology section of my exam seemed to be all biochemistry. What type of bond is their in antibodies? type stuff with some Krebs cycle intermediates (major ones) identification. Nothing too hard if I had been prepared for a more biochemistry-type section. P.s I remember they asked one ridiculously simple Taxonomy question.
(6) Dont forget to keep your paperwork when you pay for your DAT. There really is no way of tracking down which schools you sent your DAT scores too if you loose it! ARGH!
And .. APPLY EARLY. Just like Financial aid, the earlier you get you application in, the better your chances are.
