Retook DAT and lower scores (HELP!)

[JourneyMan37]

I am in a really strange/scary position..

I took the DAT last year and scored a 17 AA and retook it couple weeks ago and scored a 16 AA (breakdowns are below).

I am not sure what went wrong on my second DAT, I used bootcamp, mikes videos, chads, make bio notes etc. I must say....I should've taken more full length exams to get timing and better feel for questions instead of taking sectionals. DAT Destroyer should have been used more too. However, time is running out..

DAT first time/second time:

PAT: 18-->20
QR: 15-->16
RC: 20-->17
BIO:14-->16
GC: 18-->19
OC: 17-->15
TS: 16-->16
AA: 17-->16

I am recent graduate of UNC w/ 3.25 sgpa and have been accepted into LECOM's Post-Bac for Fall 2017, which holds a seat for me at LECOM Dental if meet a gpa requirement in the program, have good interview, 17+ AA DAT. I know this may sound good for my bad position, but its putting all my eggs in one basket on this program.

However, I want to be ready for dental school when it comes (I know the post bac will help me!), but as far as DAT....I am not sure what to do given my situation above. I want to get your thoughts on my Post bac situation and maybe a 3rd DAT retake.

Any thoughts, comments will be appreciated!

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[Faefly]

You can always retake a third time.
Third time a charm.
Just relax, take a time to breathe, have some fun, reevaluate your mistakes, and learn from them.
I think since self-study didn't work for you, it's time to do one of these highly expensive dat courses, but I guess with all you have learned, the course will reinforce your knowledge and improve your dat. Again, you shouldn't neglect destroyer or bootcamp while you take that course.

At the end of the day, this dat score does not define you.

Best of luck!

 

[Boredom5]

I agree with Faefly you should re-take the DAT. But I would recommend that you sit down for a day and think about both DAT tests and write down any questions you remember and overall reflect on what type of questions you didn't understand and those you did understand. And used that as a base for your study. And looking at the difference in score it looks more like you are having an issue with your foundation for the most part.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

How did you use the resources you listed above to prepare on a daily basis?

 

[DAT Destroyer]

I am in a really strange/scary position..

I took the DAT last year and scored a 17 AA and retook it couple weeks ago and scored a 16 AA (breakdowns are below).

I am not sure what went wrong on my second DAT, I used bootcamp, mikes videos, chads, make bio notes etc. I must say....I should've taken more full length exams to get timing and better feel for questions instead of taking sectionals. DAT Destroyer should have been used more too. However, time is running out..

DAT first time/second time:

PAT: 18-->20
QR: 15-->16
RC: 20-->17
BIO:14-->16
GC: 18-->19
OC: 17-->15
TS: 16-->16
AA: 17-->16

I am recent graduate of UNC w/ 3.25 sgpa and have been accepted into LECOM's Post-Bac for Fall 2017, which holds a seat for me at LECOM Dental if meet a gpa requirement in the program, have good interview, 17+ AA DAT. I know this may sound good for my bad position, but its putting all my eggs in one basket on this program.

However, I want to be ready for dental school when it comes (I know the post bac will help me!), but as far as DAT....I am not sure what to do given my situation above. I want to get your thoughts on my Post bac situation and maybe a 3rd DAT retake.

Any thoughts, comments will be appreciated!

Feel free to message me when you start studying again and I will be happy to discuss your study plan. Don't beat yourself up, like others stated this does not define you and perhaps I can give you some direction to allow you to Destroy the DAT Beast in the 3rd round.

Nancy

 

[JourneyMan37]

How did you use the resources you listed above to prepare on a daily basis?

I made my own notes for biology via Cliffs AP, chemistry via chads and mikes, and orgo mainly chads. I make a reaction chart for all the orgo rxns needed, but found my self mostly memorizing stuff for this section. As far as bio, i really though i would improve I felt great going into the exam and took a little bit different approach to studying biology this time around. I felt like 50% of what i learned and mastered in my bio review was not even on the exam. There was probably 6-8 questions on the exams where I had to make a educated guess.

I did 60% DAT destroyer for bio, 30% for orgo, none for GC bc I used mikes videos.

As for math...i strictly used Bootcamp math practice exams and made notes for every section i was getting questions wrong in.

Truth be told, i took lots of sectionals instead of full length exams (like a full natural sciences exam). I think part of my problem is timing, because i feel like i know the information but come test day i just feel rushed. I know the easy answer is to just practice, but i thought i did that this time around....and i guess i don't really have much to prove.

Please help!

 

[JourneyMan37]

Also, I'm not sure if I should take the LECOM post-bac opportunity given I just need to maintain the gpa and have a good interview to matriculate into their dental school only. By choosing this option, I would not need to retake the DAT and essentially work my butt off on meeting the grades, as opposed to, retaking DAT this year and applying next cycle all around.