DAT prep resources advice

[schne152]

Hello,

I'm looking for advice on what resources I should use to prepare for the DAT. Full disclosure, my undergrad degrees were computer science and economics, so I currently have 0 knowledge of any of the material on the exam. I still plan to take the courses required for dental school, but the dentist I'm shadowing encouraged me to take the DAT before formally taking the courses.

From the research I've done, the general consensus is that Kaplan is overrated and Bootcamp is too expensive. I've heard a lot of good things about Booster, Destroyer and Chad. I've heard a few suggest Qvault and Genius, but less frequent than the former resources.

Keeping in mind that I'm starting from square one, what resources do you recommend I use in preparation for the DAT?

Cheers!

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[DAT Destroyer]

schne152

I do highly suggest you take the required courses before you begin studying for the DAT Exam, I am not sure why your dentist recommended otherwise, but depending on how old he is it may have been many years ago that he took that DAT and the DAT is much more challenging than it was years ago and also competition getting into dental school is fierce. The 2 sources you recommended are used by many students taking the DAT with success. I am sure others will chime in too.

Wishing you the best..Nancy...#think30

 

[sierra1303]

Look up 'Chad's free DAT practice exams'

 

[basskleff]

I would add the Princeton Review's 2nd Edition DAT book. It is good book. Honestly, I don't know about that advice of taking the DAT before any pre-requisite natural science or health courses?? The thing you want to consider is, what will the schools think of retakes of DAT if you're not competitive and how uncompetitive(badly) could your first crack at the DAT be and how would that figure in? I think you should talk with more pre-health, pre-med counselors at your school? Yeah, it may be postponing things, but you want to know how things factor in the big picture. Yeah, I've read a few things here about people not having a 2nd semester of a core course like Orgo, and I can say personally, I was in that situation, and I got a 19 on Orgo in the 2014 DAT. So here and there it seems people can make up and accommodate for missing coursework, but the whole thing?.... I was accepted and started at a dental school for the class of 2022, but had to leave suddenly for a health issue. Big bummer! So I am retaking the DAT and starting the whole process.
I am looking at booster and bootcamp now and about to purchase something. From Princeton, and without 2nd Orgo Semester,

I had 21 Bio, 20 GC, 19 OC, 19 RC, 17PAT and 16 QRT for the 2014 DAT. Frankly, I felt I ran out of practice time on QRT and PAT and it was getting late in the cycle. But I got interviews at BU(waitlist), NYU(waitlist), U-Maryland, UNLV, U-Detroit Mercy(waitlist) over 3 cycles from those scores. I am very non-traditional. Cheers! Good Luck!

I will add this anecdote. In my class, I spoke the first orientation week with a very traditional guy, a doctor's son, a great guy- he said his highest score was a 15. So, there are many factors at play! For me, that wouldn't have worked, Age is against me, but so there it is. I have to perform really well or the phone would be a dial tone.. ah hem, abstruse, archaic analogy.. my text would be white space! The school was Canadian and small class size and well regarded.

 

[Hi Just Lurking]

Hey! I majored in Latin and Psychology, so I understand where you’re coming from. Tbh I used Kaplan and I thought it was decent. - but I’d say that you would be fine just buying the book. The extra videos etc. are not worth the $$. The book was nice because it explained everything from the most basic level and built off of that.

Scores:
AA/TS/RC/PAT
22/23/22/21