Dat 6/21/07 Done!!!

[chrisvocker]

Just got back from the testing center ten minutes ago.

PAT: 21 (94%)
QR: 19 (82%)
RC: 18 (39%)
Bio: 21 (92%)
GC: 19 (72%)
OC: 20 (85%)
TS: 20
AA:19


Study materials: Destroyer, Topscore, Kaplan online

Well, here are my thoughts:

Bio: the biology gods were with me today, like hardcore. I am still a little shocked at my bio score, as there were at least 9 questions that I was very iffy on. Got the chicken teeth question. Still don't know what that answer is. Definitely stuff on there not covered by Kaplan. Destroyer bio helped....actually a few EXACT questions, and I'm talking about those obscure questions. Got lucky that I did a quick review 2 hours before the DAT of the destroyer questions that I missed....b/c one exact question showed up about sperm.

GC: ehh, ok. I didnt study this section very well. It's conceptual and has few calcs. If I had studied my materials a little more I would have gotten a few more questions.

OC: felt really good about this section. Not a lot of crazy reactions that I had been preparing for...maybe 2-3. Was clueless on at least 2 questions, but it was overall pretty simple conceptual questions and knowing some basic rxns

PAT: i was scared of this thing going in. Took a Kaplan practice DAT two days ago and missed 21 of the first 30 questions. My opinion: Kaplan is dead on in preparation. Angles not TOO bad. A few crazy hole punches. Overall not bad.

RC: thought I had done better. I was expecting inference type questions, and I definitely got them. I was a little pressed for time, though the passages were NOT insanely long. They are manageable, just don't get stuck on one or two questions b/c you are determined to find the answer (my problem).

QR: lot of word problems and statistics/probability. Thought I did better as math is a strong subject of mine. Probably made some careless arithmetic mistakes, partly due to -->

the fricken dry erase markers. They definitiely gave me BIG tipped markers, which were always drying out. Somtimes I could barely read the #s I had written in QR and had to restart the problem. I asked the Thomson attendant for paper and pencil and she said that TODAY the ADA sent out a letter saying "NO pencil and paper for people taking the DAT unless you get special permission...." dunno what special permission means...Maybe you should call them up if you want pencil/paper.


So, what do you all think? I really have my heart set on UNC-CH (as it is my state school) but am applying to a few other south eastern schools . 4.0 GPA, lots of volunteer/leadership/award stuff. Mediocre involvment with shadowing dentists. On a scale from 1 to 'you're a shoe-in' what do you think my chances are?

And, thanks to all of the posters on this forum. I have found the info on here extremely valuable.

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[D D S 2 B]

Good job...congratulations...I dont think you will have a problem getting in.

 

[laundry]

by chicken teeth, do you mean like an evolutionary question about the evolutionary loss of teeth?

If so, we studied this in vertebrate zoo, and it's an evolutionary modification to ease flight because it makes your head lighter. Of course, chickens became secondarily flightless...

 

[laundry]

oh yea...good job on the test too bud

...iwonder if you can bring your own smaller dry erase markers...I'd hate to be stuck with whiteboard fat ones....

 

[predent0305]

Congrats- your scores are great! How were you doing on practice tests, did you go up or down on the actual test? Also, many people are saying that GCHEM is conceptual and destroyer seems to be more math- did you find the destroyer helpful for the chem section?

 

[Joey413]

Great Job..you'lll be drilling teeth before you know it!!

 

[faranak]

GOOD JOB ON YOUR SCORES! BUT are u really kidding for askin if you get in or not?? NO seriously ...... why would you ask such a question when you already know your answer !

 

[UNC2008]

GOOD JOB ON YOUR SCORES! BUT are u really kidding for askin if you get in or not?? NO seriously ...... why would you ask such a question when you already know your answer !

Agreed...As much I know UNC SOD...I can guarantee that you are IN. Just don't screw up the interview.
p.s. I'm applying too, so wish me luck

 

[levyusupov]

competitive scores.... but with ur GPA u should have no problems.

good luck in the rest of the process.

 

[leeaf]

congrat on ur great score
I'm pretty sure u will get few seats for interview

by the way, did you use the updated dat destroyer??
i mean when did u buy it? can u tell me the number of questions on bio section in dat destroyer?

For gchem..
was it similar to the dat destroyer aswell? or more similar to topscore one?
I actually have both of them and the questions on destroyer is really hard for me and i only got a week left
was there any crazy calc like in destroyer or just some simple calc?

Thanks in advance

 

[chrisvocker]

First, thank you to everyone for the encouragement and confidence boosters. This whole application process wracks my nerves sometimes, especially when I see all the mid-20s scores that you all are posting.

To answer some questions,

First, the chicken teeth question..well, I can't go into the detail of it (SDN's policy), but I can tell you that it's meant to throw you off. It is REALLY out there, but if you use a little common sense you can narrow it down to two choices, and one of those two makes a whole lot of sense (someone PMed me who had the question and told me what the answer is, and we agreed). And, it had nothing to do with evolutionary relationships.

Topscore/Destroyer/Kaplan comparison to real DAT:

My practice scores: there really was little consistency to them...except for RC and QR. I was scoring 20+ in those practice tests....and well, the real DAT just kinda kicked me. I dunno. RC has a lot of tone/inference questions. QR had less algebra that I had hoped for and more questions where I think you needed to know certain equations. I think I also made stupid math errors. I did not use destroyer to study QR (maybe I should have).

For my science practice tests, on the real thing I scored on par for GC and OC. 19 and 20 were about my averages on practice tests (both kaplan and topscore). For biology, like I said, either I was in the zone and didn't realize it or I made some lucky guesses. My heart was pounding for the 1st 30 questions (I couldn't believe I was finally taking the real thing). Some of the bio questions they asked, I recognized what concept they were asking, but they just made the question confusing.

Gchem is definitely way more coneptual than kaplan/destroyer/topscore train you for. But, if you go through destroyer and understand the concepts behind the calculations, you'll be fine. And DO NOT just pass over those obscure sounding questions. I made that mistake and it cost me at least 2 questions in the chemistry sections. Organic chem just seemed a lot easier than any of the three practice materials that I used. It really was just basic stuff.

And, my last observation: like everyone has been saying, there was NOT a SINGLE hormone question on the whole thing. If you have to cut a corner in your studies, cut that one, IMO.

..iwonder if you can bring your own smaller dry erase markers...I'd hate to be stuck with whiteboard fat ones....

I doubt it, they are VERY anal about testing procedure. THey wouldn't let my friend use his own pencil when he took it last year (and even told him he couldn't bring Kleenex's in ... his nose runs uncontrollably when he's nervous

 

[Courtesy]

Good scores!
You'll be fine

 

[quikag1]

great job, i dont know much about SE schools but with ur GPA and those DATs i can't imagine that youll have a problem. Good luck