Hi everyone! Just took the DAT today, and I did well! Had a lot of fear and pressure going in since my GPA is relatively low, so I'm glad it's over with. Hopefully this will be good enough for one (all I need is 1!) dental school.
Scores:
PAT: 22
QR: 30
RC: 30
Bio: 24
GC: 26
OC: 23
TS: 24
AA: 27
Materials used:
DAT Bootcamp- Most helpful thing, most accurate to the exam
Chad's Videos - Orgo and GC (Chad is great and responds quickly on fb!)
Feralis original notes- just the clotting process section since Bootcamp doesn't include it for some reason
Destroyer - Overly difficult, so I didn't think it was particularly helpful and only did a few of the tests.
Time spent:
I've been fearful about taking the DAT, because my GPA isn't great and have put it off a few times. I studied on and off for a while, and finally got the nerve up to actually take the test this time. In between, I would forget things, so it obviously was a terrible way to study. This time around, I probably spent around 2 months intensely studying a few hours almost every day and finally took it after this spring break of 1 week of just focusing on the DAT. More than anything, I found this process tested the ability to work under pressure for me. It's scary to think about so much of the future decided by the results of one test. Therefore, I cut myself off from social media for that week, installed the StayFocusd extension on Chrome and tried to counter any negative emotions when looking at my practice test scores.
When cramming during the final week, I finished all the Bootcamp practice tests while focusing on my problem areas (PAT + TS + QR). The Bootcamp question tagging tool was great, and allowed me to tag and practice over and over again the questions I missed/didn't understand. The day before the test I looked over all of these as well as my summarized notes of important concepts I struggled with. I believe making a summarized and easy to read set of notes is one of the best ways to prep for the test, especially if you need to cram.
PAT: Not a whiz at this, and I definitely struggled with TFE, angles, and keyholes. Hole punch and cube counting are more straightforward, and I found that I could often score near perfect on these 2 subjects. The rest kind of felt up in the air, and I probably should have just practiced more before the test. I would recommend focusing on the sections you know you can improve on and then just trying your best with the rest. I found Bootcamp's tests to be fairly similar in level to the real DAT and I averaged around 20-22 in Bootcamp. The real one had a few easier questions, but the difficulty level was similar in general.
QR: Bootcamp's QR is honestly much much harder than the actual DAT. In fact, in almost all the sections, I mostly scored lower on the practice tests and was always rushing for time. This was great, since it made me feel more relaxed in the real DAT and I was actually able to finish at a more relaxed pace with good timing. For QR, I just practiced all the tests and practice problems in Bootcamp and focused on my weak points. On Bootcamp tests, I was scoring around 20-22, so it was surprising I scored so high on the real one.
RC: I also felt Bootcamp's RC was harder than the real one. The real DAT passages were somewhat simpler to read and the questions felt more straightforward. As long as I searched in the passage I was able to find the answers. I also had a lot of time left over at the end (10 min), so I was able to go back through and check. With Bootcamp, I usually just finished on time and I averaged around a 25. I've always been good at reading from the beginning though, which I think may be because I spend most of my free time reading in general. The method I used was to read through the first few paragraphs more thoroughly while highlighting important info, then skimming the rest of the paragraphs' first few sentences to get their main points, before going back to questions to do search and destroy.
Bio: I mostly just read through and highlighted the Bootcamp notes. I found them much easier to understand and far less intimidating than Feralis, so I'd recommend just using those. I also thought the quizlet flashcards Bootcamp provides were fun to study with if things look intimidating. I probably should have reviewed more intensely before the test instead of just working on questions. I averaged around a 23-24 in Bootcamp so they were fairly accurate to the actual test.
GC: I went through Chad's course of videos first, and then Mike's from Bootcamp and made a summary of notes. Honestly, I'd recommend doing it the other way around to be more efficient. Try the Bootcamp videos first, take practice tests, and then take Chad's if you need a more thorough understanding of concepts. I averaged a 21-22 on Bootcamp, so I think the real DAT was easier.
OC: I had a break in between studying for the DAT, so I forgot a lot of OC and ended up reviewing more closely to the test. Of course, it'd be best to continuously study and take the test when you're fresh off of OC! I mostly ended up doing the same thing as GC and taking notes from Chad and Bootcamp and doing all the Bootcamp practice tests. I averaged around a 21 on Bootcamp OC, but a few days before the DAT I did a practice test and got an 18 and felt crushed for a day or so. It felt like a wake up call to focus more on OC, so I did that and my practice test scores went up again. Cramming works, y'all! Not the best way to study and extremely anxiety inducing but it's not the end of the world if you need to do it!
We can all do it! Good luck everybody!
