DAT Breakdown and Materials

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XOdontist

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I just took my DAT today and these are my scores along with the study materials I used/ I found helpful.
Biology: 17
General Chemistry: 29
Organic Chemistry: 21
Reading Comprehension: 19
Quantitative Reasoning: 28
PAT: 22
TS: 20
AA: 23

Biology:
Clearly I struggle with biology as it was my lowest score, also i didn't stop shaking until like the last 5 questions... However, part of this was due to me being confident that I could score high in the other categories. I viewed this section as I could study a bunch and still only get a 20 where if I study gen chem I can score high. However, this section is possible to get a high score on! My best advice for this section would be to read Baron's AP Biology 3rd edition and make TONS of flashcards. Also Bozeman Science videos were pretty good as well. Bio questions were very similar to bio questions asked in DAT bootcamp.
General Chemistry:
Okay first off, I want to say that I put most of my effort into general chemistry because at the beginning of my studying it was my weakest section... apparently I went a little overboard and scored through the roof. I watch Chad's videos for gen chem and that provided an excellent foundation. Then I used DAT destroyer (UNTIMED!!). Destroyer will bring your confidence down but if you can score around 50-60% correct you should do fine. Finally I used DAT bootcamp for the rest... It honestly doesn't get better than bootcamp in terms of what the questions are most similar to. Bootcamp arguably helped me the most.
Organic Chemistry:
I did not study much for this section as I am fresh out of organic chemistry and my organic chem professor was a wizard. However, I found that DAT destroyer was really good for orgo. DO NOT IGNORE NMR AND IR they will show up. Other than that, questions were very similar to Bootcamp like gen chem.
Perceptual ability:
DAT bootcamp is absolutely phenomenal for this section. There really isn't much more to say. PAT on the real thing was quite a bit easier than bootcamp.
Reading Comprehension:
I would highly advise studying for this section. Again, use bootcamp because it is the best resource to gauge where you are. Studying for this pertains to finding the best reading strategy that suits you. I was scoring 16's on bootcamp until i utilized search and destroy. Once i adopted this method my practice test scores were 20's. One piece of advice, don't bank on all of the article being the same length.. my first one was extremely short and the next two were definitely longer so I had terrible pace (plus had a solid 2 minute leg cramp and almost freaked out in the testing center).
Quantitative Reasoning:
Reason I scored so high on this section is because I'm a math tutor... honestly this section was a breeze to me because I teach 80% of the material to students that I tutor. However, do not take this section lightly especially if you are not a math wiz.. Bootcamp and Math Destroyer are hands down best materials for this section.

Summary:
Bootcamp is 100% the best investment I could have possible made. I am not some sort of genius (clearly by my bio score), I had to work really hard to get these scores and I truly dedicated myself to studying. Also, I did not feel ready for this until the day before. For whatever reason, call it hindsight bias if you want, but I seriously kept dreaming and envisioning myself scoring a 23 AA. I could visualize the screen showing a 23 and somehow I knew I would get this score one way or another. Best of luck to all of you that still need to take the DAT and for those that are also applying to dental school this cycle.
I'm not great about checking messages on this but if any of you have questions feel free to post a comment or PM me, I'd be happy to talk!

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Congrats.QR question. What do you tutor? Because there is a bit of everything so you couldn't possibly know everything?
 
I tutor finite math which covers a lot of probability, combinations, permutations, and a bunch of various math subjects. Working as a tutor year round just keeps my algebra, trig, and other various math skills really sharp.
 
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I would say they were pretty comparable. Bootcamp does a really good job with that section. However, some of the ones on bootcamp were absolutely absurd (hard). The data sufficiency sections were spot on in bootcamp though.
 
Would you say that RC was similar to bootcamp in terms of the amount of analytical questions?
 
Bootcamp has more analytic questions than there were on the actual thing. I paced myself really poorly in this section and I think it could have been a bit easier than bootcamp
 
Were the IR questions out of the ordinary though? Bootcamp seemed to ask the obvious ones like 1720 for ketone and broad 3200 for OH.
 
The IR and NMR questions were pretty straight forward. Just know your functional groups and where their peaks are.
 
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Search and destroy is looking at the question and just skimming the passage for the answer. You don't actually read the whole passage at any point
 
I just took my DAT today and these are my scores along with the study materials I used/ I found helpful.
Biology: 17
General Chemistry: 29
Organic Chemistry: 21
Reading Comprehension: 19
Quantitative Reasoning: 28
PAT: 22
TS: 20
AA: 23

Biology:
Clearly I struggle with biology as it was my lowest score, also i didn't stop shaking until like the last 5 questions... However, part of this was due to me being confident that I could score high in the other categories. I viewed this section as I could study a bunch and still only get a 20 where if I study gen chem I can score high. However, this section is possible to get a high score on! My best advice for this section would be to read Baron's AP Biology 3rd edition and make TONS of flashcards. Also Bozeman Science videos were pretty good as well. Bio questions were very similar to bio questions asked in DAT bootcamp.
General Chemistry:
Okay first off, I want to say that I put most of my effort into general chemistry because at the beginning of my studying it was my weakest section... apparently I went a little overboard and scored through the roof. I watch Chad's videos for gen chem and that provided an excellent foundation. Then I used DAT destroyer (UNTIMED!!). Destroyer will bring your confidence down but if you can score around 50-60% correct you should do fine. Finally I used DAT bootcamp for the rest... It honestly doesn't get better than bootcamp in terms of what the questions are most similar to. Bootcamp arguably helped me the most.
Organic Chemistry:
I did not study much for this section as I am fresh out of organic chemistry and my organic chem professor was a wizard. However, I found that DAT destroyer was really good for orgo. DO NOT IGNORE NMR AND IR they will show up. Other than that, questions were very similar to Bootcamp like gen chem.
Perceptual ability:
DAT bootcamp is absolutely phenomenal for this section. There really isn't much more to say. PAT on the real thing was quite a bit easier than bootcamp.
Reading Comprehension:
I would highly advise studying for this section. Again, use bootcamp because it is the best resource to gauge where you are. Studying for this pertains to finding the best reading strategy that suits you. I was scoring 16's on bootcamp until i utilized search and destroy. Once i adopted this method my practice test scores were 20's. One piece of advice, don't bank on all of the article being the same length.. my first one was extremely short and the next two were definitely longer so I had terrible pace (plus had a solid 2 minute leg cramp and almost freaked out in the testing center).
Quantitative Reasoning:
Reason I scored so high on this section is because I'm a math tutor... honestly this section was a breeze to me because I teach 80% of the material to students that I tutor. However, do not take this section lightly especially if you are not a math wiz.. Bootcamp and Math Destroyer are hands down best materials for this section.

Summary:
Bootcamp is 100% the best investment I could have possible made. I am not some sort of genius (clearly by my bio score), I had to work really hard to get these scores and I truly dedicated myself to studying. Also, I did not feel ready for this until the day before. For whatever reason, call it hindsight bias if you want, but I seriously kept dreaming and envisioning myself scoring a 23 AA. I could visualize the screen showing a 23 and somehow I knew I would get this score one way or another. Best of luck to all of you that still need to take the DAT and for those that are also applying to dental school this cycle.
I'm not great about checking messages on this but if any of you have questions feel free to post a comment or PM me, I'd be happy to talk!
Congrats and thaks for posting such a detailed breakdown! Quick question about math- I've really been struggling with probablility (permutations, combinations) and data sufficiency questions (they honestly seem more like logic than math). How would you suggest studying for these sections? Thank you:)
 
I just took my DAT today and these are my scores along with the study materials I used/ I found helpful.
Biology: 17
General Chemistry: 29
Organic Chemistry: 21
Reading Comprehension: 19
Quantitative Reasoning: 28
PAT: 22
TS: 20
AA: 23

Biology:
Clearly I struggle with biology as it was my lowest score, also i didn't stop shaking until like the last 5 questions... However, part of this was due to me being confident that I could score high in the other categories. I viewed this section as I could study a bunch and still only get a 20 where if I study gen chem I can score high. However, this section is possible to get a high score on! My best advice for this section would be to read Baron's AP Biology 3rd edition and make TONS of flashcards. Also Bozeman Science videos were pretty good as well. Bio questions were very similar to bio questions asked in DAT bootcamp.
General Chemistry:
Okay first off, I want to say that I put most of my effort into general chemistry because at the beginning of my studying it was my weakest section... apparently I went a little overboard and scored through the roof. I watch Chad's videos for gen chem and that provided an excellent foundation. Then I used DAT destroyer (UNTIMED!!). Destroyer will bring your confidence down but if you can score around 50-60% correct you should do fine. Finally I used DAT bootcamp for the rest... It honestly doesn't get better than bootcamp in terms of what the questions are most similar to. Bootcamp arguably helped me the most.
Organic Chemistry:
I did not study much for this section as I am fresh out of organic chemistry and my organic chem professor was a wizard. However, I found that DAT destroyer was really good for orgo. DO NOT IGNORE NMR AND IR they will show up. Other than that, questions were very similar to Bootcamp like gen chem.
Perceptual ability:
DAT bootcamp is absolutely phenomenal for this section. There really isn't much more to say. PAT on the real thing was quite a bit easier than bootcamp.
Reading Comprehension:
I would highly advise studying for this section. Again, use bootcamp because it is the best resource to gauge where you are. Studying for this pertains to finding the best reading strategy that suits you. I was scoring 16's on bootcamp until i utilized search and destroy. Once i adopted this method my practice test scores were 20's. One piece of advice, don't bank on all of the article being the same length.. my first one was extremely short and the next two were definitely longer so I had terrible pace (plus had a solid 2 minute leg cramp and almost freaked out in the testing center).
Quantitative Reasoning:
Reason I scored so high on this section is because I'm a math tutor... honestly this section was a breeze to me because I teach 80% of the material to students that I tutor. However, do not take this section lightly especially if you are not a math wiz.. Bootcamp and Math Destroyer are hands down best materials for this section.

Summary:
Bootcamp is 100% the best investment I could have possible made. I am not some sort of genius (clearly by my bio score), I had to work really hard to get these scores and I truly dedicated myself to studying. Also, I did not feel ready for this until the day before. For whatever reason, call it hindsight bias if you want, but I seriously kept dreaming and envisioning myself scoring a 23 AA. I could visualize the screen showing a 23 and somehow I knew I would get this score one way or another. Best of luck to all of you that still need to take the DAT and for those that are also applying to dental school this cycle.
I'm not great about checking messages on this but if any of you have questions feel free to post a comment or PM me, I'd be happy to talk!

Great scores!!! I you have any questions about applications feel free to pm me.
 
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Congrats and thaks for posting such a detailed breakdown! Quick question about math- I've really been struggling with probablility (permutations, combinations) and data sufficiency questions (they honestly seem more like logic than math). How would you suggest studying for these sections? Thank you:)
My simple answer is do as many practice problems as possible with math destroyer. If you don't own math destroyer KHAN academy does an excellent job explaining how to solve probability problems and even ties permutations and combinations in. KHAN academy is an excellent resource for probability, permutations, and combinations.
If you find that this resource isn't helping and you are lost on how to solve certain problems please PM me a specific example and I will take you through my step by step thought process on how I solve a math problem.
Hope this helps!
 
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