2023 DAT Breakdown (23AA/23TS/17PAT)

[AlokkaMo]

Hey guys! As stated by many breakdown OP’s before me, I’ve been lurking here for a minute, and so I felt obligated to pay it forward by writing my own breakdown! (Take a deep breath, it's doable! You got this!)

Scores:
PAT - 17
QR - 20
RC - 24
BIO - 27
GC - 22
OC - 21
TS - 23
AA - 23

Background:
Failed out of my state’s university my first try at it. Was more focused on the social aspect of college, rather than the academic. Enrolled in a community college a couple years later, and graduated with my associates with a 3.7 GPA. This was a much needed confidence boost, and so I re-enrolled at my state’s university, and did really well, making dean's list every semester, and after applying for academic amnesty, finished with a 3.5 GPA.

Materials used:

1. DAT booster
   1. This program is awesome. Depending on your timeline, they have a 8, 10, or 12 week study-schedule that you can follow if you’re the type of person that needs a structured study routine. The bio cheat sheets are excellent, and really give you all you need to know for the bio section, in a very easily digestible manner. I also found Booster to be great because they provide you with like a million questions for each topic, and you can mark your questions too. This is super helpful, because it allows you to see what type of questions you get wrong a lot so you can work on those areas, and then revisit those questions later. As many have stated in their breakdowns before me, the questions on Booster’s practice exams were indeed representative of the real exam. Just grind the practice exam questions until you are consistently scoring well, and you should be fine.
2. Youtube
   1. Gen Chem
      1. Chad’s videos - Chad is a great teacher, and makes seemingly complex topics really understandable. He’s got videos for every topic you need to know for the DAT. Highly recommend his videos on acid/base chemistry (buffers, titrations, etc).
      2. The Organic Chemistry Tutor - This dude is a machine. He’s got so many videos on a wide range of subjects/topics, where he goes through a lot of problems. Used him to brush up on Gen Chem, Orgo and Quantitative Reasoning.
   2. Organic Chemistry
      1. Leah4Sci - Loved Leah for Orgo. She’s got a bunch of videos on mechanisms and tips/tricks to save time on a lot of questions.
      2. Chad’s videos
      3. The Organic Chemistry Tutor
   3. Biology
      1. NinjaNerd - His videos are really in depth, and his teaching style is very clear and concise. I watched most of his videos at 1.5x speed since they are pretty long, but his videos are excellent in brushing up on topics you feel you are weak in.
      2. Khan Academy - wide variety of videos you can use to reinforce info on topics you feel you need to work on
      3. AKLECTURES - Great, in depth lectures on a variety of topics. I watched most of his videos on 1.5x to brush up on weak topics.

Study Timeline:

1. Winter 2021: I was originally planning on taking the DAT summer 2021, and so after doing research, I settled on DATbooster as my primary study method. It was most affordable and based on what I read, was extremely representative. This time period was when I got the bulk of my content review down. When I first started studying, it felt overwhelming, and I didnt know where to start. So I used DATbooster’s 12 week study schedule as a sort of outline for the topics I would need to study.I spent about 6-8 hours studying every day for about 2 months, but unfortunately, due to personal circumstances, I had to delay my exam.
2. Fall 2022: After delaying my exam for more than a year, it was time to get back on the grind. I re-subscribed to DATbooster and was lucky to find a discount code on Reddit for 15% off. (The discount code is STUDYSMART, not sure if it still works). I spent about a month reviewing what I had already studied, using the study schedule to guide me. I then took a practice test, to see where I was at, and surprisingly did well. I believe my first practice exam I scored a 20AA. This definitely gave me a confidence boost, showing me that I am totally capable of doing well on this exam.
3. January 2023 : After that practice test, I scheduled my actual test for February 2023. From the day I scheduled my test, to the day before test day, I just grinded practice exam questions. I went through all timed and untimed practice tests for OC, GC, QR and BIO multiple times, until I was consistently scoring 25 and above on these practice tests. I also went through about 5 full length practice tests, to build up my stamina for the actual test. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. The DAT is a long test, and is mentally exhausting. You have to know what you’re up against and although it is not necessary to go through all the full length timed practice exams, it's important to run through a few just to get a general idea of the timing of the test, as well as the order of sections, and different strategies you can use.
   1. As far as the PAT section, I wish I had a better brain for it. I really felt it was my weakest section, and so I put most of my energy and focus on doing well on the other sections, to balance out my poor performance on the PAT. For some reason, Keyholes and TFE never clicked for me, and although DATbooster does have a lot of resources dedicated to PAT preparation, a lot of their explanations and strategies didn’t work for me. My PAT scores on practice exams varied wildly, from 17 to a 20, so I just hoped for the best on test day. I do not recommend this, unless you are very confident in your ability on other sections. Had I done better on PAT, I could have had an even better score, but I am still satisfied.

Exam (2/24) :

1. Bio (27): This section was pretty easy for me. At this point it's a cliche to say this on these DAT forums but “breadth over depth” is the name of the game here. Grinding through the biology practice test questions on booster multiple times is what worked for me, and there were even some of the same questions word for word.
2. GC (22): A lot of it was just conceptual and if there was a calculation, it was super simple. Everything was doable in your head basically, however I used the provided laminated blank sheets to do all my conversions. Make sure all your units match up (if you’re calculating molarity, and you’re given mL, make sure to convert etc). The questions on the real test were simpler than the practice tests questions on booster!
3. OC (21): Maybe 2 or 3 reaction mechanism questions. The rest was a lot of conceptual based questions. My exam had maybe 4 or 5 H-NMR questions alone. A lot of ranking acid strength, carbocation stability, hybridization states and stuff like that. Again, not to sound like an advertisement for DATbooster, but seriously - if you get to a point where you just grind the practice test for each section over and over until you are consistently doing well, you will be set for the actual exam, I promise.
4. PAT (17): My worst section, obviously. I didn’t spend as much time as I should have improving here, because this section seriously stressed me out. My strategy was to jump to question 31, and start with angle ranking followed by hole punching, cube counting, pattern folding, and then looping back and going through 1-30, which are the keyhole and TFE questions. Hopefully you can find a strategy that will get you a better score here than me!
5. RC (24): Search and destroy. This worked for me, but to each their own. I didn’t study much for this section, as I am a pretty good reader, but again, to each their own.. You should see what strategy works for you!
6. QR (20): I feel like I could have done better on this section. I was scoring really well on the practice test questions, but I feel like my time management wasn’t as good on test day. This is why it is important to build up your stamina for the actual exam, because by the time you’re on the QR section, you’ll be pretty mentally tired, or at least I was. The questions were mostly word problems and probability. There were a lot of graph analysis questions that were really easy. Again, the questions on the actual test are much simpler than the practice test questions. If a question is too time consuming, just mark and move on and revisit at the end if you have time. Time management is key for this section.

Ending Advice:

The DAT is certainly a daunting task, but you are smart and capable! The fact you are at this point in your academic career and have goals to become a dentist is commendable. However, becoming a dentist is no easy task and therefore you should have the highest standards for yourself in terms of the work you put in. Yes, you may have to sacrifice some of your social life in order to do well on this exam, but the satisfaction from EARNING the score you get is unmatched. Lean on your support system, and reach out when you’re stressed - just know, you are not alone! Pick the study program that works for you based on your research, and get to it - Good luck!

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[DAT Destroyer]

Congratulations! You should get plenty of interviews with scores like these. I agree with your statement " Pick the study program that works for you based on your research, and get to it "

I might add that students have different learning styles, what works for one may not for for the other.

Bottom line it takes a lot of hard work to achieve high scores!

Nancy, co/owner, Destroyers