- Joined
- Jul 18, 2015
- Messages
- 39
- Reaction score
- 53
hey y'all! i just took my DAT two days ago and i'm so happy to say that it's finally over!
before i go into my breakdown, i just want to say a huge thanks to Ari's invaluable DAT Bootcamp, Dr. Mike's wonderful GC/OC videos, and Dr. Romano + Nancy's beast DAT Destroyer!
PAT 23
QR 29
RC 20
BIO 22
GC 23
OC 23
TS 23
AA 23
time spent studying: ~3 months
Resources used:
since i'm a biology major, i expected my bio score to be the highest among my sciences, but breadth over depth is truly key here. i only used the barron's ap biology book as my only source of information when i started compiling my bio notes, so try to get as much exposure to different resources as well. the real intensive biology review came when i started utilizing DAT destroyer and made over 1,000+ flashcards for both terminology and main concepts. on the actual test, the questions were fairly straightforward for the most part with an exception of a few questions that were very anatomy specific and i just had to guess on those, but overall i'm pleased with this score.
GC (23):
mike's videos are the BEST. i took gen chem a year ago, so my brain was still rusty and mike's review was both concise yet straight to the point. however, studying for gen chem was probably my least favorite only because i didn't know how much calculation/conceptual questions i would get on test day. i'm more comfortable with gc concepts and guess what come test day? mine was more calculation heavy so i was a little bit shorter on time, but it is doable!
OC (23):
like i said, mike's videos for OC are extremely informative yet simple - i would say there is not a single topic that was not covered on the DAT! orgo was my least favorite subject in college, but soon came to be my favorite topic to study for the DAT. and not to mention, the dat destroyer, although challenging the first round, became essential to understanding certain topics and the 2nd round became a breeze!
PAT (23):
thank you ari, thank you ari, thank you ari.
the PAT section is truly the embodiment of "practice makes perfect." i would wake up every morning and dedicate half an hour going through angle, TFE, hole punching, cube counting generators just to wake up my brain and once you get this momentum going, studying for the PAT becomes seamless! now for my actual test.... i had 6-7 rock keyhole questions and i just wanted to cry (not really but kinda lol) - but these rock keyholes were manageable and it helps if u can visualize these 3D images in ur head. as for the rest, i would say TFE, angles, hole punching, and cube counting are more or less on par with BC. i only found pattern folding to be much easier than bootcamp.
RC (20):
now this was the section i was most worried for because reading has never been my forte and to be completely honest, i still didn't have a solid RC strategy even going into test day. sometimes i used BYU's method and other times i just read the passage in its entirety (with highlighting) and then answered the questions in chronological order. had i gotten 1 point higher on my RC score, i would have gotten a 24AA, but 'tis life haha. although i can't offer much advice on this section, i would just say find a strategy that works for you and stick with it.
QR (29):
ok this came by as the biggest surprise. i've always been very confident in basic algebra/trig/geometry, but when i found out that they were going to revise the QR section to incorporate more data analysis, quantitative comparison, and probability/statistics questions, i started to panic. i didn't take AP stats in high school, nor have i taken a single stats class yet in college so i was worried that might affect my QR score. fear not! the QC questions on bootcamp definitely prepared me well for this section and the actual QC questions on the test were very doable. also, i never used math destroyer, but the QR questions in the back of the DAT destroyer worked just fine for me
overall, i'm very happy with my score because when i was going through the SNS questions at the beginning of the test, i didn't feel completely confident in my answers and i thought i might even have to retake it. but don't let that mindset get the best of you and push all the way 'till the end!
in case this is helpful, here are my practice test scores as well:
. . . . . . bio/gc/oc/pat/rc/qr/AA
BC #1: 25/25/21/22/19/20/22
BC #2: 25/24/20/22/19/24/22
BC #3: 26/26/21/22/20/24/23
BC #4: 23/26/20/20/25/22/23
2007 : 20/25/30/23/19/26/24
2009 : 23/26/27/25/19/20/23
also, would anyone mind chancing me?
just to give a brief background, i am a rising junior with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 and a science GPA of 3.5 (i'm fairly confident i can bring my gpa up to 3.6 by the time i apply next cycle, but obviously nothing's set in stone). i have 400+ hours of clinical experience working as a dental assistant, member of my school's pre-dental club, community service as a math tutor (2+ years), and i will be working at a research lab this upcoming semester.
i was wondering if you guys can lend some insight into how my odds are stacked when i apply for dental school next cycle?
although i wasn't that active of a member in the sdn community, i've received a lot of helpful resources and support from others by reading their dat breakdowns and testing experiences - so thank you once again!
before i go into my breakdown, i just want to say a huge thanks to Ari's invaluable DAT Bootcamp, Dr. Mike's wonderful GC/OC videos, and Dr. Romano + Nancy's beast DAT Destroyer!
PAT 23
QR 29
RC 20
BIO 22
GC 23
OC 23
TS 23
AA 23
time spent studying: ~3 months
Resources used:
- Barron's AP Bio
- DAT destroyer
- DAT bootcamp (+ mike's videos)
since i'm a biology major, i expected my bio score to be the highest among my sciences, but breadth over depth is truly key here. i only used the barron's ap biology book as my only source of information when i started compiling my bio notes, so try to get as much exposure to different resources as well. the real intensive biology review came when i started utilizing DAT destroyer and made over 1,000+ flashcards for both terminology and main concepts. on the actual test, the questions were fairly straightforward for the most part with an exception of a few questions that were very anatomy specific and i just had to guess on those, but overall i'm pleased with this score.
GC (23):
mike's videos are the BEST. i took gen chem a year ago, so my brain was still rusty and mike's review was both concise yet straight to the point. however, studying for gen chem was probably my least favorite only because i didn't know how much calculation/conceptual questions i would get on test day. i'm more comfortable with gc concepts and guess what come test day? mine was more calculation heavy so i was a little bit shorter on time, but it is doable!
OC (23):
like i said, mike's videos for OC are extremely informative yet simple - i would say there is not a single topic that was not covered on the DAT! orgo was my least favorite subject in college, but soon came to be my favorite topic to study for the DAT. and not to mention, the dat destroyer, although challenging the first round, became essential to understanding certain topics and the 2nd round became a breeze!
PAT (23):
thank you ari, thank you ari, thank you ari.
the PAT section is truly the embodiment of "practice makes perfect." i would wake up every morning and dedicate half an hour going through angle, TFE, hole punching, cube counting generators just to wake up my brain and once you get this momentum going, studying for the PAT becomes seamless! now for my actual test.... i had 6-7 rock keyhole questions and i just wanted to cry (not really but kinda lol) - but these rock keyholes were manageable and it helps if u can visualize these 3D images in ur head. as for the rest, i would say TFE, angles, hole punching, and cube counting are more or less on par with BC. i only found pattern folding to be much easier than bootcamp.
RC (20):
now this was the section i was most worried for because reading has never been my forte and to be completely honest, i still didn't have a solid RC strategy even going into test day. sometimes i used BYU's method and other times i just read the passage in its entirety (with highlighting) and then answered the questions in chronological order. had i gotten 1 point higher on my RC score, i would have gotten a 24AA, but 'tis life haha. although i can't offer much advice on this section, i would just say find a strategy that works for you and stick with it.
QR (29):
ok this came by as the biggest surprise. i've always been very confident in basic algebra/trig/geometry, but when i found out that they were going to revise the QR section to incorporate more data analysis, quantitative comparison, and probability/statistics questions, i started to panic. i didn't take AP stats in high school, nor have i taken a single stats class yet in college so i was worried that might affect my QR score. fear not! the QC questions on bootcamp definitely prepared me well for this section and the actual QC questions on the test were very doable. also, i never used math destroyer, but the QR questions in the back of the DAT destroyer worked just fine for me
overall, i'm very happy with my score because when i was going through the SNS questions at the beginning of the test, i didn't feel completely confident in my answers and i thought i might even have to retake it. but don't let that mindset get the best of you and push all the way 'till the end!
in case this is helpful, here are my practice test scores as well:
. . . . . . bio/gc/oc/pat/rc/qr/AA
BC #1: 25/25/21/22/19/20/22
BC #2: 25/24/20/22/19/24/22
BC #3: 26/26/21/22/20/24/23
BC #4: 23/26/20/20/25/22/23
2007 : 20/25/30/23/19/26/24
2009 : 23/26/27/25/19/20/23
also, would anyone mind chancing me?
just to give a brief background, i am a rising junior with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 and a science GPA of 3.5 (i'm fairly confident i can bring my gpa up to 3.6 by the time i apply next cycle, but obviously nothing's set in stone). i have 400+ hours of clinical experience working as a dental assistant, member of my school's pre-dental club, community service as a math tutor (2+ years), and i will be working at a research lab this upcoming semester.
i was wondering if you guys can lend some insight into how my odds are stacked when i apply for dental school next cycle?
although i wasn't that active of a member in the sdn community, i've received a lot of helpful resources and support from others by reading their dat breakdowns and testing experiences - so thank you once again!
