PAT - 21
QR - 30
RC - 21
BIO - 20
GC - 24
OC - 22
TS - 22
AA - 23 (99.7%)
THANK YOU BASED GOD IM DONE. THANK YOU SDN FOR EVERYTHING. So many resource and helpful people. Special thanks to those I bothered over PM and helped me out and told me to calm down haha. 1 point/question away from 24 AA, oh well im still happy
During the course of my studies (6 weeks) I was lazy first week, got motivated during next 3 weeks then I started getting burnt out. My number one advice: DONT BE LAZY!! I'm kind of disappointed that I got a 20 in Bio because I spent so much time early in my studies, but my last week of study I really started to lose motivation to study and got distracted.. I slowly forgot everything about Bio. So my advice.. don't be like me it's stupid and I felt stupid when I started the test and #1-3 I was so iffy because it was stuff I went over, I just couldn't remember 100%. Keep strong and own the test!
Don't be discouraged when you are not getting scores you want on your practice tests. Don't let the practice scores get to you, but pin point out your weaknesses and improve on the concepts you don't understand.
Also, when I went over the destroyer my first run, I was not doing that horrible on GC/Bio (getting like 75-85% right) but I was getting owned on OC ( was getting 33% on my first several sets of 30 questions). I was ready to give up right there, but after reading some breakdowns I was determined to make this my BEST section. I rewatched some of Chad's videos and re did his quizzes and looked over my notes again and slowly I was getting better and gained confidence.
Practice Scores:
Because I hate it when people post breakdowns and don't post practice scores.. like come on son I'm tryna see how you did so I can compare
Don't know what happened to my achiever test 3 but essentially I got the same scores as test #2.
Materials:
Chad's Videos and Quizzes: [10/10] If you aren't a Chem GOD, you MUST get this right here. He seriously knows what shows up on the DATs and focuses heavily on it. Listen carefully to each and every single word when you watch his videos and take GOOD notes. Watch his videos a fastplay again if you need to ( I rewatched several sections on GC and rewatched most of his OC again, although he sounds like a little child in fastplay)
AP Cliffs: [9/10] - The typical Cliffs helped me remember things from Gen Bio goes here.
DAT Qvault [9/10] - The Bio section is almost a must. They really ask similar types of questions and questions likely to show up on the DAT. Some random/indepth questions here and there but I guess it doesn't hurt to know them.
I give a 9 because the OC section has mistakes in em and there are some random ass GC/OC questions (lab, weird conceptual) But it's still crazy similar how my average practice scores compared to my real scores
DAT Destroyer [10/10] - Really fills the gaps in knowledge that Chad did not emphasize but might show up on the DATs. The conceptual questions from GC and OC are CRUCIAL!
Don't just memorize answers, memorize the concepts behind every single question.. and you are guaranteed a +20 on all science sections.
CDP/CDR [9/10] On point and good practice; timing is very similar to real thing. Keyholes on CDP are more shaped based vs proportion based on real thing. CDR's passages are not the scientific passages you would see on real thing, but still types of questions are similar. S&D is more doable on real test.
Math Destroyer [7/10] - I'm pretty good at math but math destroyer covers and helps you remember things that you forgot since the last math class. However, the questions on the math destroyer are WAYYY harder and more calculation intensive/bigger numbers! The numbers on the real thing is a lot smaller and easier to solve, however I still recommend this to those that want some challenge and want the real QR section to be a breeze.
Achiever [7/10] definitely harder than the real test. Use it for RC/PAT. The Key holes are on par. Achiever PAT and RC really whips you into shape. Expect +2-4 point jump on the real thing (+3 TS jump for me)
Topscore [8/10] - Pretty representative but random taxonomy questions you would probably not see on the real test. There are couple of mistakes here too. I got 22 on my TS on my 3rd test, which I took 2 day before the exam. Similar results too.
KBB [5/10] - used for some reference for the eco/taxonomy/physio sections and my weaknesses in GC/OC. The answers to the test in the back had some errors and the difficult was pretty easy. But still not that bad.
DAT Bootcamp(test #1's only) [9/10] - Pretty good, I got very similar scores when I took these test compared to my real test. 24 in GC, 21 in Bio, and 20 in OC, granted I took the OC when I was really struggling. I liked these more than topscore or achiever
AP Chemistry Princeton- [8.5/10] - I found this on my last week of studying in my bookshelf. I forgot I had this! It helped me cover some conceptual stuff that I really wanted to go over and the some of the practice quizzes/tests on the back are actually pretty similar to the real thing. Not bad. I can see this as an alternative to Chad's GC if you are already good at chem.
The Breakdown:
Bio:
Oh my god. First three questions, like I said above, I could have gotten it right if I didn't forget my stuff. Overall it was pretty easy except 1/3 of my bio section was weirdly worded/really conceptual. Saw some words I've never seen before and maybe 1-2 questions I never encountered throughout my studies/practice tests. Like people say, the bio section is really broad and does not go into much details, but know the concepts well because there were a handful of application-style questions.
GC::
I was aiming for a 30 on this section because when I was doing Chad's quizzes and destroyer problems I was really owning it except I would make stupid/silly mistakes by not reading the question fully and just diving into the answers.
But after practice I was getting it down. I had maybe 10 calculations and rest conceptual There was only one question that was tricky and it was on nuclear binding energy. So when they say know everything Chad says! KNOW EVERYTHING HE SAYS. It was a small thing he mentioned but guess what. it showed up on my test. And I guess I made another silly mistake or two.
OC:
The OC really is much easier compared to the Destroyer. Not many tricky questions like the destroyer, BUT I had 2 multistep reactions and 1 question I have never ever seen in my life in my studies. I was like WTF? I got a pretty hard ochem section and this took up more time than I wanted. I went over the roadmap several times and re-read Chad's notes multiple times. Although Destroyer makes you feel like s*** and feel dumb as hell it really helps you so get through the whole thing. This really is a section you can improve on easily because majority of the time, the real test is very easy. Make this a section your highest scoring section, it will be worth it. I was also really aiming high on this section.
RC:
I was soooo worried about this section because I can't read at alll. If you look in my prac scores, I was getting 17s in CDR and I got a dam 15 on 2007 ADA test.. I changed my strategy up from S&D to read first 3-4 questions and read 2-3 paragraphs and answering whatever popped up on the passage and got a 21 on test 5, which made me feel better. For example, I would skip the tone/audience questions but look for questions that are really specific or asks something about paragraph 2 or 3 or something then start reading the first few paragraphs. You should be able to answer the next several questions, then read more questions then read passage, repeat.
But I feel that the real DAT you can S&D easier ( I freaked out a little bit on my real test and did a half-assed S&D on the first passage, DONT DO THIS! Stick with your plan, when I came to tone questions, I really had no clue wtf I just read ). The timing on this section is around the same as CDR. I'm so happy I scored above 20 on this section.
QR:
Way easier than math destroyer. When I ran through the math destroyer, I would get >35/40 correct and run out of time for maybe 2 questions.
On the real thing I marked one question and breezed through it with 12 minutes left, I even slowed my pace more than usual to not make silly mistakes, which paid off. I used 11 minutes to CONFIRM that marked question and got it right!
I was really hoping to raise my AA with this section and I'm glad it worked out.PAT
The first 4 keyhole questions took me 5 minutes then I realized I might be effed for the rest of the thing. I had to breeze through it and just went with my gut on the rest of the keyholes (they are harder than CDP, but there are CDP-type questions thrown in there too)
TFE was similar to CDP, but again I breezed through it because of the time I was worried about.
There was one hole punching question that honestly could have gone either way because of the way they presented it, which I was kind of mad about but the rest were easy and something you can figure out if you are doing well on hole punching on CDP
Cubes smaller and easier to count, no weird illusions or those mind**** cubes that theres no way you can tell if it's a cube or not.
Pattern folding had more shape-type questions. No dice on mine
Compared to CDP, the pictures are a little bigger (like angles, cubes) so just be weary of that. When I was counting cubes I wasnt used to how BIG these cubes were...pause.
Tl,dr;
The real DAT will be easier than someone of you think. It really is. Devote your time to the chem sections, those are easiest to improve. Practice keyholes on achiever. Math destroyer is harder than the real thing. Find the right RC strategy for you. Keep calm and
that test
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