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- Oct 28, 2013
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Ahh! So excited that I actually get to post this!
Clearly my scores aren't the best ever (especially compared to others here on SDN), but I can't really complain. I got a ton of motivation from reading other people's breakdowns, so if I can help motivate any of you, I'll be happy.
Before I start, I recommend people check out @DogeDDS 's breakdown... for some reason, it helped me a lot so I figured I might as well pass it on: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/such-breakdown-25aa-26ts-23pat-wow.1063267/
So I took the DAT this afternoon, and these were my scores:
PAT: 24
QR: 19
RC: 25
Bio: 25
GC: 22
OC: 24
TS: 23
AA: 23
Background: I'm going to apply with a 3.3 oGPA and ~3.2 sGPA, but I have a 3.97 trend over the last 50-ish credits. I knew I had to do well on this thing, in order to have a shot at this cycle, and like I said, I'm pretty happy with my scores.
Exam Day: My exam was at 2PM, so I had a nice breakfast/lunch of eggs, steak, toast and potatoes at ~11:30AM, because I knew if it was any closer to 2PM I wouldn't be able to eat. Make sure you get some food in you before you take the exam, because you want to feel as comfortable as possible. For snacks, I brought Gatorade, a banana and a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich, if anyone is at all interested
Study Material:
Cliff's AP Bio (13/10)
Qvault Bio (11/10)
DAT Bootcamp (11/10)
DAT Destroyer (9/10)
Chad's Videos (9/10)
Qvault Gen Chem and Orgo (8/10)
Kaplan Blue Book (7.5/10)
Math Destroyer (7.5/10)
CrackDAT PAT (2/10)
Study Time: I started studying the second week of January because I knew I'd have to mostly focus on school. I took 14 credits this semester, which is a lower than usual, but it turned out to be just the right amount -- any more and I would've been overwhelmed. I used @dentalWorks' study schedule, except broke each day down into two days. I'd read Kaplan/AP Bio one day, then watch Chad's videos the next. This schedule worked really well for me because I'm good at retaining information for long periods of time, but it might not work for some people.
Even with half-day loads, I was still dedicating 4-5 hours to the DAT a day. Match this with school work, and I was literally going to classes for 2/3 hours, then coming home and studying for another 10-12 hours. It sucked. A lot. I wouldn't recommend anyone do this unless you really need too, but it does work. Obviously school was my priority, so whenever exams came around, I'd take some time away from DAT study and put it towards a specific subject. I took Eukaryotic Cell Structure and Molecular Genetics this semester, and luckily they overlapped with DAT studies quite a bit.
So now for the actual exam...
PAT (24): Bootcamp all the way. Seriously, don't even bother with CrackDAT PAT. The Keyhole is WAY too easy, and I just hated the exams in general. I took two CrackDAT PAT exams and then didn't touch the software after that. Bootcamp, on the other hand, is gold. I did 4 points better on the real PAT than I did on ANY Bootcamp PAT exam (highest I got is 20 on Bootcamp), and I think it was the most representative. Keyholes in Bootcamp is very representative of the real DAT, and judging on how well I scored on the PAT, I'd reckon they prepared me well. Hole Punch, Cube Counting and TFE were about as hard as the Bootcamp exams (TFE was by far my favorite/best section), but Pattern Folding seemed RIDICULOUSLY easier. Angles sucked, as they do in Bootcamp (I averaged 7-9/15 wrong on every Bootcamp exam), but they do prepare you for the real deal.
QR (19): I have nothing to say here. I hate math, always have, always will. I'm a memorizer, not a mathemetizer. I feel nothing was really representative of this section, however... Math Destroyer and Bootcamp were both WAY harder, to the point where I feel it actually hurt me more than helped. That being said, a bunch of people have had a lot of success with these two sources, so I'm probably just an exception.
RC (25): I'm surprised I actually did this well... I got to the third passage with only 12 minutes left, but luckily it just happened to cover something Microbiology related. I was able to fully read every passage and do every question in the 60 minute period. I hate Search and Destroy, so my recommendation is the "outline" method where you write a few words per paragraph in order to remember where everything is. My paragraphs were 13, 13 and 8 paragraphs long by the way.
Bio (25): I thought I was getting rocked the entire time I was taking this section. I literally started cursing Bootcamp in my head for royally screwing me over on the DAT. However, as my scores show, I did pretty well, and thus I must whole-heartedly recommend Bootcamp. Along with Bootcamp, I used Qvault Bio, which I feel was slightly more representative of the real DAT than Bootcamp. Both are still must-use sources however, and I cannot recommend them enough.
GC (22): Bootcamp prevails. Hands down, Bootcamp was the best. Qvault was okay here, but Bootcamp was definitely better. Would still recommend both. No Nernst equation (lol), but I did get an Ecell question, so make sure you brush up on your batteries. A few trends, a few equations, pretty well spread out.
OC (24): The entire time I was taking this, I thought it was WAY to easy. I'm pretty sure I only missed one or two, which makes sense with the score. Bootcamp and Qvault were both MUCH more difficult, although Bootcamp was definitely more representative as a whole. I got a surprising amount of mechanisms, however this was to my advantage as mechanisms were my strong suit (like I said, I'm a memorizer).
So there you go. I forgot to mention Chad's videos, but like everybody says, he's the man. The only change I would have changed in my study schedule would be to watch Chad's a second time closer to my exam, because I had basically forgotten everything by the time I started doing problems. Also, Destroyer is a GOD SEND for Orgo, Bio and Gen Chem, I went through it one and a half times, and it was amazing.
Sorry everything is kinda unorganized and I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes. I'm a few beers in right now, and I'm going to enjoy watching TV for the first time in at least two weeks. Feel free to ask me any questions, and GOOD LUCK ON YOUR EXAM! You can do it!
Finally my practice scores! I always used to stalk people's threads to see how my scores compared, so I figured other people might find this useful:
Bootcamp:
(Bio/GC/OC/RS/PAT/QR)
Test 1: 23/20/21/20/20/19
Test 2: 23/20/24/20/19/20
Test 3: 19/24/20/19/20/20
Test 4: 22/21/21/25/20/18
Test 5: 22/22/21/23/20/20
---
Qvault:
(Subject: Test 1/Test 2/Test 3...)
Bio: 23/22/22/23/23/22/23/25/25/21
GC: 24/20/21/26/22/ (didn't do Tests 6-10)
OC: 24/24/20/21/21/20/19/22/ (didn't do Tests 9 & 10)
---
2009 ADA Practice Exam (Paper Version)
Bio: 38/40 GC: 26/30 OC: 25/30 RS: 39/50 PAT: 84/90 QR: 31/40
---
Real DAT: 25/22/24/25/24/19 (just so you don't have to scroll up if you want to compare!)
Good luck everyone!
Clearly my scores aren't the best ever (especially compared to others here on SDN), but I can't really complain. I got a ton of motivation from reading other people's breakdowns, so if I can help motivate any of you, I'll be happy.
Before I start, I recommend people check out @DogeDDS 's breakdown... for some reason, it helped me a lot so I figured I might as well pass it on: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/such-breakdown-25aa-26ts-23pat-wow.1063267/
So I took the DAT this afternoon, and these were my scores:
PAT: 24
QR: 19
RC: 25
Bio: 25
GC: 22
OC: 24
TS: 23
AA: 23
Background: I'm going to apply with a 3.3 oGPA and ~3.2 sGPA, but I have a 3.97 trend over the last 50-ish credits. I knew I had to do well on this thing, in order to have a shot at this cycle, and like I said, I'm pretty happy with my scores.
Exam Day: My exam was at 2PM, so I had a nice breakfast/lunch of eggs, steak, toast and potatoes at ~11:30AM, because I knew if it was any closer to 2PM I wouldn't be able to eat. Make sure you get some food in you before you take the exam, because you want to feel as comfortable as possible. For snacks, I brought Gatorade, a banana and a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich, if anyone is at all interested
Study Material:
Cliff's AP Bio (13/10)
Qvault Bio (11/10)
DAT Bootcamp (11/10)
DAT Destroyer (9/10)
Chad's Videos (9/10)
Qvault Gen Chem and Orgo (8/10)
Kaplan Blue Book (7.5/10)
Math Destroyer (7.5/10)
CrackDAT PAT (2/10)
Study Time: I started studying the second week of January because I knew I'd have to mostly focus on school. I took 14 credits this semester, which is a lower than usual, but it turned out to be just the right amount -- any more and I would've been overwhelmed. I used @dentalWorks' study schedule, except broke each day down into two days. I'd read Kaplan/AP Bio one day, then watch Chad's videos the next. This schedule worked really well for me because I'm good at retaining information for long periods of time, but it might not work for some people.
Even with half-day loads, I was still dedicating 4-5 hours to the DAT a day. Match this with school work, and I was literally going to classes for 2/3 hours, then coming home and studying for another 10-12 hours. It sucked. A lot. I wouldn't recommend anyone do this unless you really need too, but it does work. Obviously school was my priority, so whenever exams came around, I'd take some time away from DAT study and put it towards a specific subject. I took Eukaryotic Cell Structure and Molecular Genetics this semester, and luckily they overlapped with DAT studies quite a bit.
So now for the actual exam...
PAT (24): Bootcamp all the way. Seriously, don't even bother with CrackDAT PAT. The Keyhole is WAY too easy, and I just hated the exams in general. I took two CrackDAT PAT exams and then didn't touch the software after that. Bootcamp, on the other hand, is gold. I did 4 points better on the real PAT than I did on ANY Bootcamp PAT exam (highest I got is 20 on Bootcamp), and I think it was the most representative. Keyholes in Bootcamp is very representative of the real DAT, and judging on how well I scored on the PAT, I'd reckon they prepared me well. Hole Punch, Cube Counting and TFE were about as hard as the Bootcamp exams (TFE was by far my favorite/best section), but Pattern Folding seemed RIDICULOUSLY easier. Angles sucked, as they do in Bootcamp (I averaged 7-9/15 wrong on every Bootcamp exam), but they do prepare you for the real deal.
QR (19): I have nothing to say here. I hate math, always have, always will. I'm a memorizer, not a mathemetizer. I feel nothing was really representative of this section, however... Math Destroyer and Bootcamp were both WAY harder, to the point where I feel it actually hurt me more than helped. That being said, a bunch of people have had a lot of success with these two sources, so I'm probably just an exception.
RC (25): I'm surprised I actually did this well... I got to the third passage with only 12 minutes left, but luckily it just happened to cover something Microbiology related. I was able to fully read every passage and do every question in the 60 minute period. I hate Search and Destroy, so my recommendation is the "outline" method where you write a few words per paragraph in order to remember where everything is. My paragraphs were 13, 13 and 8 paragraphs long by the way.
Bio (25): I thought I was getting rocked the entire time I was taking this section. I literally started cursing Bootcamp in my head for royally screwing me over on the DAT. However, as my scores show, I did pretty well, and thus I must whole-heartedly recommend Bootcamp. Along with Bootcamp, I used Qvault Bio, which I feel was slightly more representative of the real DAT than Bootcamp. Both are still must-use sources however, and I cannot recommend them enough.
GC (22): Bootcamp prevails. Hands down, Bootcamp was the best. Qvault was okay here, but Bootcamp was definitely better. Would still recommend both. No Nernst equation (lol), but I did get an Ecell question, so make sure you brush up on your batteries. A few trends, a few equations, pretty well spread out.
OC (24): The entire time I was taking this, I thought it was WAY to easy. I'm pretty sure I only missed one or two, which makes sense with the score. Bootcamp and Qvault were both MUCH more difficult, although Bootcamp was definitely more representative as a whole. I got a surprising amount of mechanisms, however this was to my advantage as mechanisms were my strong suit (like I said, I'm a memorizer).
So there you go. I forgot to mention Chad's videos, but like everybody says, he's the man. The only change I would have changed in my study schedule would be to watch Chad's a second time closer to my exam, because I had basically forgotten everything by the time I started doing problems. Also, Destroyer is a GOD SEND for Orgo, Bio and Gen Chem, I went through it one and a half times, and it was amazing.
Sorry everything is kinda unorganized and I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes. I'm a few beers in right now, and I'm going to enjoy watching TV for the first time in at least two weeks. Feel free to ask me any questions, and GOOD LUCK ON YOUR EXAM! You can do it!
Finally my practice scores! I always used to stalk people's threads to see how my scores compared, so I figured other people might find this useful:
Bootcamp:
(Bio/GC/OC/RS/PAT/QR)
Test 1: 23/20/21/20/20/19
Test 2: 23/20/24/20/19/20
Test 3: 19/24/20/19/20/20
Test 4: 22/21/21/25/20/18
Test 5: 22/22/21/23/20/20
---
Qvault:
(Subject: Test 1/Test 2/Test 3...)
Bio: 23/22/22/23/23/22/23/25/25/21
GC: 24/20/21/26/22/ (didn't do Tests 6-10)
OC: 24/24/20/21/21/20/19/22/ (didn't do Tests 9 & 10)
---
2009 ADA Practice Exam (Paper Version)
Bio: 38/40 GC: 26/30 OC: 25/30 RS: 39/50 PAT: 84/90 QR: 31/40
---
Real DAT: 25/22/24/25/24/19 (just so you don't have to scroll up if you want to compare!)
Good luck everyone!
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