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Hi Guys

I am planning to take the cDAT in February and I will be officially starting my review after my finals. I am trying to spend as little amount on the prep materials so I wanted to know what the recommendation for the PAT section and just overall review for the exam would be? I have searched this forum extensively and there isn't any clear response for what people would recommend for the cDAT. I am more interested in how datcrusher holds up in comparison to other companies.

I have a solid bio background because of my major, and I will be reviewing chem. Currently I have Feralis and AP Cliff's, IQ publications reading and Bio/chem book, kaplan review notes (1000 page book), and the  CDA 2014 manual. I am planning to get Chad's videos ($50) for chem and just need something for the PAT section and some extra practice exams and questions.

I saw that the datcrusher is pretty cheap overall, includes everything I would need, and is geared towards the cDAT. Then there's datbootcam and crackthedat who offer more practice questions, a lot of extra stuff that I wouldn't need, higher prices and are not geared towards the cDAT. So it would be really helpful to see what you guys would recommend to get for online practice.

Also, since I have the 2014 CDA manual, i wanted to know if I should get a 2017 manual or if they have the same content for the practice exam that's included?

 

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I honestly would not spend the money on the manual when you can use the funds elsewhere. Because with the manual, i know first hand that they only change a small number of things IF they change anything at all. So i would say you are best to put that money into another resource. In terms of what you have now and the fact that you want to keep things at a minimum, here is what i would suggest.

Chem: Chad's Videos will be sufficient. I don't think this one is up for debate! and it is relatively cheap!

Bio: AP Cliff. I wouldn't bother with Feralis. You can cross reference AP cliff with it if you want but AP Cliff will great by itself.

RC: Currently no one has RC exams that mimick the Canadian DAT. datcrusher RC was too straightforward (although they have said that they are in the process of changing this for the next cycle), datbootcamp is too complex (as it should be since the american DAT has a different style of RC), and personally i feel like IQ is a little too easy and outdated.  So for RC i say go through IQ and use the kaplan book (I actually never used the Kaplan book so i won't comment on it) since you already have them and afterwards, see if you feel like you need more practice and go from there.

PAT:  Definitely go through the kaplan book first. After that, i would either go with bootcamp or crusher. they are both really strong for their PAT section. bootcamp will give you more questions, crusher will give you printable generators which some people prefer. crackthedat is also good but i found the quality of the questions to be low sometimes. 

hope that helps! I have pretty much used every resource available so feel free to ask me any further questions!

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Don't buy chads videos. I highly recommend you to use DAT Boot Camp. Its a 3 month subscription. Worth it. Specially for chem the videos they have you will ace the chem (Mikes videos) 

Also ... For the pat .. If you want to spend minimum time .. You will receive a minimum grade. Take it from a DAT vet. Lmao

Best of luck ...

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For resources, I'd say your actual course notes from school are the best tool. Lots of important info there for ecology, physiology (if you've taken it), chemistry for sure, etc. If you find you're weak in an area or haven't taken the course then for sure supplement it with those tools above. I generally found the Kaplan DAT review book to be enough for me but to each their own. It's important not to go too overboard with resources, especially if you're also trying to balance school. GL buddy. 

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9 hours ago, Barah M Tarabein said:

Don't buy chads videos. I highly recommend you to use DAT Boot Camp. Its a 3 month subscription. Worth it. Specially for chem the videos they have you will ace the chem (Mikes videos) 

Also ... For the pat .. If you want to spend minimum time .. You will receive a minimum grade. Take it from a DAT vet. Lmao

Best of luck ...

What do you mean "buy" chad's videos? Aren't they just free online?

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4 hours ago, westcoastbestcoast said:

What do you mean "buy" chad's videos? Aren't they just free online?

There are specific Chad's videos that are geared towards the DAT on coursesavers for $50 for 30 days. There's another set of just general chem vids that are for like $10 I think. I don't think there's any free ones.

 

6 hours ago, YaBoyTaeshawn said:

For resources, I'd say your actual course notes from school are the best tool. Lots of important info there for ecology, physiology (if you've taken it), chemistry for sure, etc. If you find you're weak in an area or haven't taken the course then for sure supplement it with those tools above. I generally found the Kaplan DAT review book to be enough for me but to each their own. It's important not to go too overboard with resources, especially if you're also trying to balance school. GL buddy. 

That's really helpful. Unfortunately I didn't keep many of my notes. I have a solid background in physiology, anatomy, developmental bio, and cell and molecular biology. I know I will need to brush up on courses like ecology and evolution if it's on it. For chem, I've only taken first year chem and organic chemistry, but I did pretty well on those so I think it won't be too hard to relearn the material. Yes it's very true not to go overboard especially with Feb exam talking place in midterm season...

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5 hours ago, hamza-1199 said:

That's really helpful. Unfortunately I didn't keep many of my notes. I have a solid background in physiology, anatomy, developmental bio, and cell and molecular biology. I know I will need to brush up on courses like ecology and evolution if it's on it. For chem, I've only taken first year chem and organic chemistry, but I did pretty well on those so I think it won't be too hard to relearn the material. Yes it's very true not to go overboard especially with Feb exam talking place in midterm season...

Wow, you will probably do pretty well on bio

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Have any of you taken the Princeton review mock exams they hold at universities, and how that compares to the actual DAT?

I took one recently and found that the bio was easy (not really any specific details tested), chem was easy (but I don't think I did well because haven't reviewed chem),  PAT was okay (3 of the hole punching were hard...couldn't really see how the paper unfolded), and RC was hard (articles were long and not enough time).

I did this before any actual content review so I didn't expect to do well or anything. I wanted to know if others have done that mock DAT and how it compares to the actual DAT.

 

 

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7 hours ago, hamza-1199 said:

Have any of you taken the Princeton review mock exams they hold at universities, and how that compares to the actual DAT?

I took one recently and found that the bio was easy (not really any specific details tested), chem was easy (but I don't think I did well because haven't reviewed chem),  PAT was okay (3 of the hole punching were hard...couldn't really see how the paper unfolded), and RC was hard (articles were long and not enough time).

I did this before any actual content review so I didn't expect to do well or anything. I wanted to know if others have done that mock DAT and how it compares to the actual DAT.

 

 

Can't speak for the Princeton review however putting this into perspective the Biology should be easy for you since its your major, chemistry should be relatively easy since its just first year stuff, PAT is just repetition and basically how often you've done it, and for RC the length of the article should have no effect on whether its difficult or not since you shouldn't be reading it anyways (ironic its called reading comprehension amiright). 

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11 hours ago, YaBoyTaeshawn said:

Can't speak for the Princeton review however putting this into perspective the Biology should be easy for you since its your major, chemistry should be relatively easy since its just first year stuff, PAT is just repetition and basically how often you've done it, and for RC the length of the article should have no effect on whether its difficult or not since you shouldn't be reading it anyways (ironic its called reading comprehension amiright). 

What would be the best method for RC? I know a lot of people use search and destroy, but when it comes to questions that ask "which of the following is true/not true based on the article?" you have to go through all the options and that takes too much time.

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I used Kaplan and found it really helpful overall (I also had bought a number of the other resources but comparatively found that one the most helpful). For RC I did not use search and destroy for exactly the reason you quote above - the true/not try overall understanding of the article required. Speed reading practice came in really helpful to ensure I got through the articles.

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I would also not recommend the search and destroy method. It has become outdated. The Canadian DAT has adapted and it is no longer a good method to achieve a good score since questions are heavily scrambled. People who may have written the old DAT will tell you to use search and destroy but be wary of that! the length of the articles will certainly matter in my opinion. 

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5 hours ago, hamza-1199 said:

What would be the best method for RC? I know a lot of people use search and destroy, but when it comes to questions that ask "which of the following is true/not true based on the article?" you have to go through all the options and that takes too much time.

I really think the most important part is using the method wisely. Obviously you're going to have to use judgement to see if you can apply the method to the question but the most important part for me was using the method on certain questions really gave me that much more time to focus on more time consuming questions/ articles. Use it if you want or don't is all I can say. Worked well for me and I took the DAT last November which I would consider pretty recent. 

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5 hours ago, Barah M Tarabein said:

Anytime man! I forgot to tell you about their bio ... They have 10 exams ... Read or memorize all the info below every question that comes up after you submit the answers. Trust me. I'm talking about the section that goes over every answer choice. So much details in there. Plus the critical info section they have for every question. A LOT OF INFO ... but well damn worth it. of course, if you decide to go with Boot Camp 

Sounds like a promotional campaign for DATBootcamp lol

Edit: In fact most of your posts sound like advertisements for DATBootcamp

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On 25/11/2017 at 7:15 PM, Duststar said:

Sounds like a promotional campaign for DATBootcamp lol

Edit: In fact most of your posts sound like advertisements for DATBootcamp

LOOOL; and yes, this made me laugh out loud. I honestly just care man, sharing info in which I know it will certainly help you fellows out there. 

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