FINALLY it's my turn! I want to thank Worried, njohns, and everybody else who helped me out on here. I honestly couldn't have done it without you guys!
PAT: 19 (67.8%)
QR: 21 (96.4%)
RC: 26 (98.5%)
BIO: 24 (98.9%)
GC: 22 (91.8%)
OC: 22 (90.4%)
TS: 23 (97.8%)
AA: 23 (98.7%)
Here's the material I used [with a rating]:
Crack DAT PAT (10 test edition) [9/10]
Chad's Videos [10/10]
Alan's Biology Notes [7.5/10]
KBB and all the software that come with Kaplan [9/10]
Cliff's AP Bio [2/10] - I didn't use this much, not that it's bad.
DAT Destroyer + Math Destroyer [10/10]
Top Score [8/10]
Kaplan Final (2 weeks prior to the DAT)
BIO: 21 (89%)
GC: 18 (66%)
OC: 21 (88%)
RC: 25 (97%)
QR: 21 (92%)
PAT: 19 (79%)
Top Score #3 (2 days before the DAT)
BIO: 19
GC: 18
OC: 18
PAT (used CDP): 21
RC: 22
QR: 23
I'm not going to compare and discuss each of the sections against my practice material, there seem to be quite a plethora of good threads that break that down really well. What I'd like to do is share with you what I did in my final couple of weeks leading up to the DAT. By then, I had already finished the Destroyer twice, made notes on Chad's OC and GC videos (only watched a few of the QR ones), and read through KBB's Bio section and a few Cliff's chapters here and there when I didn't fully understand something. I would like to add that Alan's Bio notes follow KBB's Bio section pretty well and may help yall as yall review the KBB. However, I like to organize my notes differently so after I kinda added my own notes on top of his, I re-did some of the major stuff, like excretion, digestion, the nervous system, etc.
I think what helped me the most was that approx. two weeks prior to my test, I started doing a full length practice test every other day. I think I did exactly 5, it just happened to work out that I had two Kaplan's left and 3 Top Scores (I used CDP for the PAT sections). Kaplan's practice tests (not the midterm, diagnostic, or final) were definitely HARDER than the real thing. I scored consistently terrible on them, no where near my actual score. I think using practice tests to try and gauge where you are is useless. I was more interested in using the practice tests to keep myself fresh and to point out any weaknesses. Believe me folks, I had tons. TONSSS! I was awful at GC (still am) and barely grasped OC (Chad's videos helped immensely here). Bio has always been my strength and personally enjoyed reviewing all of it (except plants).
Anyways, the practice tests really helped me bone up on my weaknesses like GC and OC and I'd highly recommend a tough 2 week regimen of practice tests every other day leading up to the exam. On the days between, I would go over what I had gotten wrong from the day before and then would do 30 or so Destroyer problems in each section. I was extremely paranoid about forgetting something I thought I had already learned and then discover on the DAT that it had left my brain for good. Also, you may feel like taking a practice DAT and then doing NOTHING for the rest of the day is a waste. I felt like that too at the time, but now that I look back I wouldn't do it any differently.
I would also like to add that my undergraduate cGPA is only a 3.3 and I graduated with a degree in Cell and Molecular Biology last December. I think that just goes to show that if you put in the work, you can truly ace the DAT. I think it's misleading when someone posts insanely high scores on the DAT but had like a 3.8+ GPA at a upper tier University. I went to a small, lower tier University and really didn't focus until I set my sights on dental school my last year and a half of college. By then the damage was already done on my GPA. I was determined to prove myself with the DAT though. I'm definitely not the brainy type and I really want to try and give hope to the people who think they can't do well on the DAT because their undergraduate GPA was low. When I saw the scores on the screen, I couldn't believe they were actually my scores. I thought it had to have been a sample or something. I refused to believe it until the lady printed it out and it had my name on it.
I'm not sure if this "breakdown" is what yall were looking for, please feel free to ask questions though and I will answer them when I see them. It's truly been a blessing that my girlfriend pointed this forum out to me back in August. These last couple of months studying have been rough and I couldn't have gotten through it and succeeded without you guys. Thanks!
I have a question: my PAT score is pretty bad, how bad will that hurt me?
edit: I noticed that Salmoides wanted me to talk about the PAT section so I'll discuss it a little. CDP was great for PAT practice. I thought 10 tests were perfect, I started out at 16, got up to 21 and fell back down to 18 and then back up to 20-21. I was pretty bad at PAT at the beginning, it just took me too long to do everything. Don't fret about the real DAT's PAT, CDP prepares you well, although I felt like the pattern folding on the DAT was a bit harder. I just got really distracted by the hole punching section, it was easy but the paper showing the different "answers" were a little different. There was more space around the edges than what I was used to. I can't properly explain it on here but for example, when I looked a hole punch they did, I would be like "ok, that's the 2nd to last row from the top" but in reality it was the last row, I just hadn't accounted for the extra spacing they give. Idn if that makes sense? Again, I was really bad at PAT so any sort of minute differences really threw me off. I would say if you can consistently score 21+ on CDP you'll do much better than me. I only got to 21 like once or twice. I mainly hovered between 18-20 and hit 20 a little more frequently.
PAT: 19 (67.8%)
QR: 21 (96.4%)
RC: 26 (98.5%)
BIO: 24 (98.9%)
GC: 22 (91.8%)
OC: 22 (90.4%)
TS: 23 (97.8%)
AA: 23 (98.7%)
Here's the material I used [with a rating]:
Crack DAT PAT (10 test edition) [9/10]
Chad's Videos [10/10]
Alan's Biology Notes [7.5/10]
KBB and all the software that come with Kaplan [9/10]
Cliff's AP Bio [2/10] - I didn't use this much, not that it's bad.
DAT Destroyer + Math Destroyer [10/10]
Top Score [8/10]
Kaplan Final (2 weeks prior to the DAT)
BIO: 21 (89%)
GC: 18 (66%)
OC: 21 (88%)
RC: 25 (97%)
QR: 21 (92%)
PAT: 19 (79%)
Top Score #3 (2 days before the DAT)
BIO: 19
GC: 18
OC: 18
PAT (used CDP): 21
RC: 22
QR: 23
I'm not going to compare and discuss each of the sections against my practice material, there seem to be quite a plethora of good threads that break that down really well. What I'd like to do is share with you what I did in my final couple of weeks leading up to the DAT. By then, I had already finished the Destroyer twice, made notes on Chad's OC and GC videos (only watched a few of the QR ones), and read through KBB's Bio section and a few Cliff's chapters here and there when I didn't fully understand something. I would like to add that Alan's Bio notes follow KBB's Bio section pretty well and may help yall as yall review the KBB. However, I like to organize my notes differently so after I kinda added my own notes on top of his, I re-did some of the major stuff, like excretion, digestion, the nervous system, etc.
I think what helped me the most was that approx. two weeks prior to my test, I started doing a full length practice test every other day. I think I did exactly 5, it just happened to work out that I had two Kaplan's left and 3 Top Scores (I used CDP for the PAT sections). Kaplan's practice tests (not the midterm, diagnostic, or final) were definitely HARDER than the real thing. I scored consistently terrible on them, no where near my actual score. I think using practice tests to try and gauge where you are is useless. I was more interested in using the practice tests to keep myself fresh and to point out any weaknesses. Believe me folks, I had tons. TONSSS! I was awful at GC (still am) and barely grasped OC (Chad's videos helped immensely here). Bio has always been my strength and personally enjoyed reviewing all of it (except plants).
Anyways, the practice tests really helped me bone up on my weaknesses like GC and OC and I'd highly recommend a tough 2 week regimen of practice tests every other day leading up to the exam. On the days between, I would go over what I had gotten wrong from the day before and then would do 30 or so Destroyer problems in each section. I was extremely paranoid about forgetting something I thought I had already learned and then discover on the DAT that it had left my brain for good. Also, you may feel like taking a practice DAT and then doing NOTHING for the rest of the day is a waste. I felt like that too at the time, but now that I look back I wouldn't do it any differently.
I would also like to add that my undergraduate cGPA is only a 3.3 and I graduated with a degree in Cell and Molecular Biology last December. I think that just goes to show that if you put in the work, you can truly ace the DAT. I think it's misleading when someone posts insanely high scores on the DAT but had like a 3.8+ GPA at a upper tier University. I went to a small, lower tier University and really didn't focus until I set my sights on dental school my last year and a half of college. By then the damage was already done on my GPA. I was determined to prove myself with the DAT though. I'm definitely not the brainy type and I really want to try and give hope to the people who think they can't do well on the DAT because their undergraduate GPA was low. When I saw the scores on the screen, I couldn't believe they were actually my scores. I thought it had to have been a sample or something. I refused to believe it until the lady printed it out and it had my name on it.
I'm not sure if this "breakdown" is what yall were looking for, please feel free to ask questions though and I will answer them when I see them. It's truly been a blessing that my girlfriend pointed this forum out to me back in August. These last couple of months studying have been rough and I couldn't have gotten through it and succeeded without you guys. Thanks!
I have a question: my PAT score is pretty bad, how bad will that hurt me?
edit: I noticed that Salmoides wanted me to talk about the PAT section so I'll discuss it a little. CDP was great for PAT practice. I thought 10 tests were perfect, I started out at 16, got up to 21 and fell back down to 18 and then back up to 20-21. I was pretty bad at PAT at the beginning, it just took me too long to do everything. Don't fret about the real DAT's PAT, CDP prepares you well, although I felt like the pattern folding on the DAT was a bit harder. I just got really distracted by the hole punching section, it was easy but the paper showing the different "answers" were a little different. There was more space around the edges than what I was used to. I can't properly explain it on here but for example, when I looked a hole punch they did, I would be like "ok, that's the 2nd to last row from the top" but in reality it was the last row, I just hadn't accounted for the extra spacing they give. Idn if that makes sense? Again, I was really bad at PAT so any sort of minute differences really threw me off. I would say if you can consistently score 21+ on CDP you'll do much better than me. I only got to 21 like once or twice. I mainly hovered between 18-20 and hit 20 a little more frequently.
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