Opinion on DATS Tests?

Celtron

Was just wondering what people think about the DATS tests? I don't rate them at all. Did them on ty and based on them i apparently had bad numerical reasoning even though I got a B in junior cert maths (was highly disappointed as I got a B in the mocks) and have been getting mostly A's and the odd B in higher level maths, applied maths and physics. A lot of my classmates picked their subjects based on 'guidance teacher's' recommendations based on their results and the majority seem to hate their subjects and find them hard, and those of us who didn't take the recommendations and picked the subjects we thought we would like the most are doing great, maybe they were marked incorrectly in my school or maybe they somehow mixed up people's results

randylonghorn

I tend to take all aptitude (and indeed personality) tests with a large grain of salt tbh.

The results can be interesting and maybe worth having a think about, but I certainly wouldn't make any decisions based solely on them!!

Apparently, I had a pretty high aptitude for maths and the sciences.

And ok, I loved maths and I always did well in it, and even continued it into first year of uni, but the sciences left me cold ... well, physics not so much, but bio and chem bored me to tears.

So maybe I did have an aptitude for them, but that was more than cancelled out by my total lack of interest!

So I just didn't do them, end of story. I did the subjects I enjoyed and was interested in, and never regretted it, either on results day or subsequently.

Celtron wrote: »

A lot of my classmates picked their subjects based on 'guidance teacher's' recommendations based on their results and the majority seem to hate their subjects and find them hard, and those of us who didn't take the recommendations and picked the subjects we thought we would like the most are doing great ...

Sounds about right tbh.

If you are interested in and enjoy a subject, you will tend to find it easier to do well in it. It isn't an absolute rule by any means, you'll meet people who will tell you "I love X but I struggle with it!" (and that probably IS about a mismatch of interest and aptitude), but for the most part, it's easier to do well in a subject you enjoy.

That's equally true for college or whatever you decide to do post-LC, and why it's such a bad idea to pick a course or indeed a career based SOLELY on factors like salary, guaranteed employment (insofar as employment is guaranteed in any area) or, indeed, your parents' opinion.

Nothing wrong with taking any of those factors on board in your thinking, but unless you're actually interested in the course / career, you'll probably struggle with it and end up making yourself miserable.

Celtron

My biggest problem with them is that it said I have an average aptitude for math even though it just clicks with me naturally, when I showed my maths teacher the results from the dats test word for word he said 'Well that's b...sh.t of the highest level' and its not just me , like surely if a subject just clicks with you that should be a better indication to do it rather than a test.