- Joined
- Feb 18, 2017
- Messages
- 220
- Reaction score
- 165
Hello, SDN community!
Scores
PAT: 21
QR: 23
RC: 18
BIO: 21
GC: 22
OC: 22
TS: 22
AA: 21
Background
- Nontraditional student, transferred from Cal-State Northridge and my local community college to UCLA with history as my major. I was attending both colleges at the same time my 2nd year before transferring, but I did not take any science courses at the community college.
- science GPA: 3.05
- overall GPA: 3.38
- I took general chemistry my 1st year of college at CSUN and performed very poorly both semesters. I received a C- my first year, only to retake it and earn an A- the semester after. I also earned a C+ in biology and a D in trigonometry that same semester. My science GPA has been garbage since.
- Before I began tackling the DAT, I finished general biology, genetics, organic chemistry, and one quarter of upper division biochemistry at UCLA.
Materials
- DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
- DAT Destroyer (10/10)
- Math Destroyer (8.5/10)
- DAT Q-Vault Biology (9.5/10)
- Chad's Videos (8/10)
- Feralis Notes (10/10)
- Cliff's AP Biology (8.5/10)
- Bozeman Science on YouTube (9.5/10)
- Khan Academy on YouTube (10/10)
Study Schedule
- I studied for ~2.5 months
- I followed Ari's schedule at first, but made some adjustments after the second or third week because some biology chapters were taking me too long to read and really grasp. After learning the material (time consuming part), I spent about 5 weeks working through DAT Destroyer, a bit of Math Destroyer, and any other set of practice questions I could get my hands on.
- I really don't think you should force yourself to stick to someone else's schedule. I was getting stressed out midway because Ari's schedule was a bit too fast-paced for me, and I for whatever reason thought I had to keep up with him in order to score 20+. Some nights I'd be sitting for 11-12 hours straight just to stay on track. Don't do this!
Section Breakdown
PAT (21)
Practice, practice, practice! Bootcamp generators are key here. It's going to be extremely frustrating at first but you'll eventually get the hang of it. Once you find yourself answering ~90% of the questions correctly, start using the timer. Once you feel you got the timing down, take the practice tests to see where you stand. In my opinion, I honestly thought the PAT on the real thing is nearly identical to Bootcamp in terms of difficulty. I did get two ridiculous keyhole problems (rocks), but other than that, it's honestly the same. I think the reason why my score is average is because I ran out of time and started guessing through most of the pattern folding section.
QR (23)
I was actually struggling with this section because of QC, so I'm very happy with my score. For practice, I took the first 7 Math Destroyer tests, all but one of them untimed. Those problems were difficult, but I wouldn't say it's overkill. Just a little outdated. I think Bootcamp's QR problems were extremely representative of what you'll see on the real thing, so if you're scoring around 20 on your practice tests, you should be just fine on test day. I had very few trigonometry problems, but lots of algebra, statistics, and especially QC. It sure felt like 15/40 problems were QC.
RC (18)
My advice for this section is to not take my advice! I just read the entire thing, highlighted key words along the way, and tried using S&D and a technique of my own. It's called "educated guessing because I'm running out of time." Not very effective, so I won't get into detail about it. One thing I can say is that the articles were slightly easier to read than the ones from Bootcamp.
BIO (21)
You've probably heard this a million times, and you're going to hear it again here. Breadth over depth! Keep in mind that the test is completely random. It's not balanced like the practice tests on Bootcamp and Q-Vault. I personally didn't get anything on plants or ecology. It was mostly molecular biology, some genetics, and just one or two questions on taxonomy and evolution. You need to use DAT Destroyer and Feralis Notes to do well on this section. I started off by reading Cliff's AP Biology and copying Feralis Notes onto a notebook but noticed it's taking too much time. Instead, I started reading the chapters section by section and relied on YouTube videos to help me retain the information. Once you're done learning the basics, start tackling DAT Destroyer and make sure you go through every single problem. Know what each answer choice is and why that is or isn't the right answer. Something isn't clear? Make a notecard for it. I'd recommend downloading Anki to save time. Remember, use it as a learning tool. If you're going to use it as a score predictor, you're confidence will likely drop very quickly.
GC (22)
Chad's videos are awesome for GC! Especially for those who have struggled with GC like myself. Take detailed notes, take his quizzes, and then start tackling DAT Destroyer. I think DAT Destroyer is key for this section. I went through it twice and kept track of which questions I got wrong on Microsoft Word in order to review them later. It sure is difficult, but once it starts clicking for those questions, the real thing will be cake. I honestly thought I was going to score ~25 on this section. I was feeling pretty good throughout. The calculations weren't difficult and the conceptual questions were generally basic, so I don't know what happened. Might've made a few careless mistakes here and there.
OC (22)
Same as GC, minus Chad's videos. I think Chad comes up short for organic chemistry. I'd give Mike's videos a try. I actually loved organic chemistry so a bunch of reagents and mechanisms from my classes were still fresh in my head. Make sure to memorize the roadmaps from DAT Destroyer and do all the problems twice! I thought I was going to score ~25 on this section too. Very basic material. I don't even think I marked anything. It is what it is, I guess.
OTHER
- I think my scores are kind of funny. They almost make no sense. I barely have anything lower than an A- for classes that require lots of reading and writing (even the upper division ones), but I ended up with an 18 for RC. It's the opposite for the sciences. I barely even passed some of those classes (GC) and somehow ended up with a total science average of 22. If I'm lucky enough to land a couple of interviews, I wonder if they'll ask me about this, lol.
- Make sure to get enough sleep, eat well, and don't let the stress consume you. I learned the importance of this the hard way. I didn't take too many breaks, lost about 15 pounds, and one of the few interactions I had with someone other than a family member was with my girlfriend, which unfortunately ended up in heartbreak literally a week before my exam, lol. My score probably suffered because of all these things. So don't make the same mistakes I made and please take care of yourself.
- THANK YOU to all those who took the time out of their day to reach out and help me when I needed it most. I haven't posted much on here, but every time I have, there was always someone looking to help. Also, THANK YOU to @Ari Rezaei, @FeralisExtremum, and @orgoman22 for providing me and many others the tools necessary to perform well on this exam. I appreciate y'all.
- If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me!
Scores
PAT: 21
QR: 23
RC: 18
BIO: 21
GC: 22
OC: 22
TS: 22
AA: 21
Background
- Nontraditional student, transferred from Cal-State Northridge and my local community college to UCLA with history as my major. I was attending both colleges at the same time my 2nd year before transferring, but I did not take any science courses at the community college.
- science GPA: 3.05
- overall GPA: 3.38
- I took general chemistry my 1st year of college at CSUN and performed very poorly both semesters. I received a C- my first year, only to retake it and earn an A- the semester after. I also earned a C+ in biology and a D in trigonometry that same semester. My science GPA has been garbage since.
- Before I began tackling the DAT, I finished general biology, genetics, organic chemistry, and one quarter of upper division biochemistry at UCLA.
Materials
- DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
- DAT Destroyer (10/10)
- Math Destroyer (8.5/10)
- DAT Q-Vault Biology (9.5/10)
- Chad's Videos (8/10)
- Feralis Notes (10/10)
- Cliff's AP Biology (8.5/10)
- Bozeman Science on YouTube (9.5/10)
- Khan Academy on YouTube (10/10)
Study Schedule
- I studied for ~2.5 months
- I followed Ari's schedule at first, but made some adjustments after the second or third week because some biology chapters were taking me too long to read and really grasp. After learning the material (time consuming part), I spent about 5 weeks working through DAT Destroyer, a bit of Math Destroyer, and any other set of practice questions I could get my hands on.
- I really don't think you should force yourself to stick to someone else's schedule. I was getting stressed out midway because Ari's schedule was a bit too fast-paced for me, and I for whatever reason thought I had to keep up with him in order to score 20+. Some nights I'd be sitting for 11-12 hours straight just to stay on track. Don't do this!
Section Breakdown
PAT (21)
Practice, practice, practice! Bootcamp generators are key here. It's going to be extremely frustrating at first but you'll eventually get the hang of it. Once you find yourself answering ~90% of the questions correctly, start using the timer. Once you feel you got the timing down, take the practice tests to see where you stand. In my opinion, I honestly thought the PAT on the real thing is nearly identical to Bootcamp in terms of difficulty. I did get two ridiculous keyhole problems (rocks), but other than that, it's honestly the same. I think the reason why my score is average is because I ran out of time and started guessing through most of the pattern folding section.
QR (23)
I was actually struggling with this section because of QC, so I'm very happy with my score. For practice, I took the first 7 Math Destroyer tests, all but one of them untimed. Those problems were difficult, but I wouldn't say it's overkill. Just a little outdated. I think Bootcamp's QR problems were extremely representative of what you'll see on the real thing, so if you're scoring around 20 on your practice tests, you should be just fine on test day. I had very few trigonometry problems, but lots of algebra, statistics, and especially QC. It sure felt like 15/40 problems were QC.
RC (18)
My advice for this section is to not take my advice! I just read the entire thing, highlighted key words along the way, and tried using S&D and a technique of my own. It's called "educated guessing because I'm running out of time." Not very effective, so I won't get into detail about it. One thing I can say is that the articles were slightly easier to read than the ones from Bootcamp.
BIO (21)
You've probably heard this a million times, and you're going to hear it again here. Breadth over depth! Keep in mind that the test is completely random. It's not balanced like the practice tests on Bootcamp and Q-Vault. I personally didn't get anything on plants or ecology. It was mostly molecular biology, some genetics, and just one or two questions on taxonomy and evolution. You need to use DAT Destroyer and Feralis Notes to do well on this section. I started off by reading Cliff's AP Biology and copying Feralis Notes onto a notebook but noticed it's taking too much time. Instead, I started reading the chapters section by section and relied on YouTube videos to help me retain the information. Once you're done learning the basics, start tackling DAT Destroyer and make sure you go through every single problem. Know what each answer choice is and why that is or isn't the right answer. Something isn't clear? Make a notecard for it. I'd recommend downloading Anki to save time. Remember, use it as a learning tool. If you're going to use it as a score predictor, you're confidence will likely drop very quickly.
GC (22)
Chad's videos are awesome for GC! Especially for those who have struggled with GC like myself. Take detailed notes, take his quizzes, and then start tackling DAT Destroyer. I think DAT Destroyer is key for this section. I went through it twice and kept track of which questions I got wrong on Microsoft Word in order to review them later. It sure is difficult, but once it starts clicking for those questions, the real thing will be cake. I honestly thought I was going to score ~25 on this section. I was feeling pretty good throughout. The calculations weren't difficult and the conceptual questions were generally basic, so I don't know what happened. Might've made a few careless mistakes here and there.
OC (22)
Same as GC, minus Chad's videos. I think Chad comes up short for organic chemistry. I'd give Mike's videos a try. I actually loved organic chemistry so a bunch of reagents and mechanisms from my classes were still fresh in my head. Make sure to memorize the roadmaps from DAT Destroyer and do all the problems twice! I thought I was going to score ~25 on this section too. Very basic material. I don't even think I marked anything. It is what it is, I guess.
OTHER
- I think my scores are kind of funny. They almost make no sense. I barely have anything lower than an A- for classes that require lots of reading and writing (even the upper division ones), but I ended up with an 18 for RC. It's the opposite for the sciences. I barely even passed some of those classes (GC) and somehow ended up with a total science average of 22. If I'm lucky enough to land a couple of interviews, I wonder if they'll ask me about this, lol.
- Make sure to get enough sleep, eat well, and don't let the stress consume you. I learned the importance of this the hard way. I didn't take too many breaks, lost about 15 pounds, and one of the few interactions I had with someone other than a family member was with my girlfriend, which unfortunately ended up in heartbreak literally a week before my exam, lol. My score probably suffered because of all these things. So don't make the same mistakes I made and please take care of yourself.
- THANK YOU to all those who took the time out of their day to reach out and help me when I needed it most. I haven't posted much on here, but every time I have, there was always someone looking to help. Also, THANK YOU to @Ari Rezaei, @FeralisExtremum, and @orgoman22 for providing me and many others the tools necessary to perform well on this exam. I appreciate y'all.
- If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me!
Attachments
Last edited:
I could've sworn the average for pre-dental students is about 20AA!
