New Prometric Rules?? (took the dat today)

[Surive123]

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[Toofly01]

Thanks for the replies 🙂 That doesn't sound too bad. Now all I gotta do is take the darn thing.

 

[Lovepredent]

Boy, that's unfortunate that they are rude. It doesn't help that we are all already nervous. In addition, I'm a bit disappointed that we can't set up for cube counting anymore... How did you practice for your test? Did you get a whiteboard or dry erase board or just used scratch paper? Been practicing with scratch paper.. Any advice would be appreciated : )

 

[ushaseos]

When given a choice go to a testing center in some smaller town. I had the choice of taking this in San Francisco or my smaller home town in Norther Cali. When my sister took the MCAT in SF, her experience was similar to the OPs. My prometric center was full of delightful old people who were very polite and welcoming. The only thing they were strict about was that you had to have the ID on you at all times and you could only take 1 pair of foam ear-plugs (I took a silicone custom pair which was apparently a no-no). The person who printed out my score just looked at it to make sure my name and such was right then just said something like "good job" in a grandfatherly way. Basically my experience was quaint and incident-free. I don't think I wrote much before the test and I certainly didn't draw 15 4x4 matrices...by the time the test rolled around, I was doing the hole punches in my head.

These things are very much luck of the draw though. There is hardly anything you can do to figure this out short of waiting outside the center and asking people "How was your testing experience?" and hope they give you a straight answer.

 

[Surive123]

Hey Guys, figured I'd give an update. Just retook the DAT last week and got a 21 AA so I'm happy. I literally only studied 3 weeks. I retained a lot of the information.

Even with that 18 (what a joke...), I still received 4 interviews. Some of the schools that I've posted that I applied to, I ended up not even doing secondaries for, so really I received 4 interviews out of 6 total applications. All the interviews went really well and they didn't even ask me about my old score of a 16 PAT lulzzzzz.

Forwarded my new scores via email to all the schools but one (Michigan requires official reports) and they all literally said, "Wow, great job!".

Went to the same Prometric center as last time - same rules. No sweat. I actually had more than 3 hours of sleep this time. Last 10 minutes of the sciences I prepared for cubes/hole punching (only drew 3 matrices..only used 1).

I'll respond to the earlier questions in a bit - have an exam in an hour I need to finish cramming for. 👍

 

[junglecat]

I have heard about the biology section from many of my friends that took the dat and are now in their 3rd year of dental. The best advice they gave me was this "the biology is so random and do not use kaplan". The best books they suggest are cliffs and schaums. also for the rest i heard dat destroyer was good and something called topscore or gold something. I myself am trying to figure out what books are best. but thanks for the heads up of the chem ! I thought i was great at chem and also scored lower on this section (bc of all the time i spent on the biol).

 

[LaFleur]

Hey Guys, figured I'd give an update. Just retook the DAT last week and got a 21 AA so I'm happy. I literally only studied 3 weeks. I retained a lot of the information.

Even with that 18 (what a joke...), I still received 4 interviews. Some of the schools that I've posted that I applied to, I ended up not even doing secondaries for, so really I received 4 interviews out of 6 total applications. All the interviews went really well and they didn't even ask me about my old score of a 16 PAT lulzzzzz.

Forwarded my new scores via email to all the schools but one (Michigan requires official reports) and they all literally said, "Wow, great job!".

Went to the same Prometric center as last time - same rules. No sweat. I actually had more than 3 hours of sleep this time. Last 10 minutes of the sciences I prepared for cubes/hole punching (only drew 3 matrices..only used 1).

I'll respond to the earlier questions in a bit - have an exam in an hour I need to finish cramming for. 👍

Great job on the improvement!!! 😀 What did you change about the way you studied for this test vs the last one?

 

[Surive123]

Are you saying you studied for 6 months for the DAT?

Just start drawing those six lines as you're analyzing the folds without looking at the board. It shouldn't be detrimental at all to your timing.

Did you take enough Biology courses or do well in Chem?

Not strict studying, but worrying/focusing on - yes. The past year I was involved in 2 research labs on campus (simultaneously), I had a dental internship, complex hospital involvement, among other things (i.e. 19 credits uni, clubs and organizations). Whenever I had a second where I wasn't doing those other things, I was studying, sometimes this only allowed 1-2 times a week at a block of 2-4 hours..or multiple times a week only for 30 minutes. I had zero down time, I drove myself nuts constantly thinking about how I could squeeze more time into study...and then to actually study.

With a 3.9 GPA...I did well in Chem and Bio. As I've said, it was just the mind game. Not sleeping well the night before, being anxious about the test, and then with the condescending/rude attitudes of the manager completely freaking me out with threats....yeah, it affected my performance.

Boy, that's unfortunate that they are rude. It doesn't help that we are all already nervous. In addition, I'm a bit disappointed that we can't set up for cube counting anymore... How did you practice for your test? Did you get a whiteboard or dry erase board or just used scratch paper? Been practicing with scratch paper.. Any advice would be appreciated : )

Exactly with the bolded. I just used scrap paper. Just use CRACK PAT and really get your timing down. Practice, practice, practice!

Great job on the improvement!!! 😀 What did you change about the way you studied for this test vs the last one?

Absolutely nothing. In fact, I was actually more prepared my first go-around than I was with this one. I just made sure I took a melatonin the night before. I wasn't about to only get 3 hours of sleep again 😉

Funny too is that manager that I had the hard time with the first time, was the person who actually processed me my second time. She didn't remember me. I was super nice (almost sarcastically lol...) just in case.

 

[predentalguy20]

Not strict studying, but worrying/focusing on - yes. The past year I was involved in 2 research labs on campus (simultaneously), I had a dental internship, complex hospital involvement, among other things (i.e. 19 credits uni, clubs and organizations). Whenever I had a second where I wasn't doing those other things, I was studying, sometimes this only allowed 1-2 times a week at a block of 2-4 hours..or multiple times a week only for 30 minutes. I had zero down time, I drove myself nuts constantly thinking about how I could squeeze more time into study...and then to actually study.

With a 3.9 GPA...I did well in Chem and Bio. As I've said, it was just the mind game. Not sleeping well the night before, being anxious about the test, and then with the condescending/rude attitudes of the manager completely freaking me out with threats....yeah, it affected my performance.



Exactly with the bolded. I just used scrap paper. Just use CRACK PAT and really get your timing down. Practice, practice, practice!


Absolutely nothing. In fact, I was actually more prepared my first go-around than I was with this one. I just made sure I took a melatonin the night before. I wasn't about to only get 3 hours of sleep again 😉

Funny too is that manager that I had the hard time with the first time, was the person who actually processed me my second time. She didn't remember me. I was super nice (almost sarcastically lol...) just in case.

you probably got an easier version of the test.

 

[Surive123]

you probably got an easier version of the test.

I would disagree. They were rather similar. I just had composure this time around.

I doubt there are tests that differ vastly in difficulty, and since this test is based on averages of others that have also taken the test, your score is a reflection of that.

 

[predentalguy20]

I would disagree. They were rather similar. I just had composure this time around.

I doubt there are tests that differ vastly in difficulty, and since this test is based on averages of others that have also taken the test, your score is a reflection of that.

hhmm, i guess that kind of makes sense. I was really nervous when taking the test and i felt super prepared coming in.

 

[503224]

hhmm, i guess that kind of makes sense. I was really nervous when taking the test and i felt super prepared coming in.

Did that affect your score?

 

[503224]

Not strict studying, but worrying/focusing on - yes. The past year I was involved in 2 research labs on campus (simultaneously), I had a dental internship, complex hospital involvement, among other things (i.e. 19 credits uni, clubs and organizations). Whenever I had a second where I wasn't doing those other things, I was studying, sometimes this only allowed 1-2 times a week at a block of 2-4 hours..or multiple times a week only for 30 minutes. I had zero down time, I drove myself nuts constantly thinking about how I could squeeze more time into study...and then to actually study.

With a 3.9 GPA...I did well in Chem and Bio. As I've said, it was just the mind game. Not sleeping well the night before, being anxious about the test, and then with the condescending/rude attitudes of the manager completely freaking me out with threats....yeah, it affected my performance.

Absolutely nothing. In fact, I was actually more prepared my first go-around than I was with this one. I just made sure I took a melatonin the night before. I wasn't about to only get 3 hours of sleep again 😉

Funny too is that manager that I had the hard time with the first time, was the person who actually processed me my second time. She didn't remember me. I was super nice (almost sarcastically lol...) just in case.

Oh my goodness, how did you manage to study with all those commitments? That sounds like a helluva schedule!

That's good to know! I'm always encouraged by knowing that if people work hard they do well on this exam! Yeah, sleeping 3 hours the night before will do that to you, as will getting worked up and panicked because something didn't go the way it was supposed to. I've freaked out like that before, and it made me do very poorly on an exam I was otherwise well prepared to take. I think a lot of people have been there.

It's hilarious about the manager. Well, at least you got through it, did well on the exam, and she didn't remember you!

I would disagree. They were rather similar. I just had composure this time around.

I doubt there are tests that differ vastly in difficulty, and since this test is based on averages of others that have also taken the test, your score is a reflection of that.

It wouldn't be fair if they did differ significantly. It is a standardized test after all.

 

[predentalguy20]

Did that affect your score?

I think so. Coming into the testing center my heart was pounding. I got a 21AA on topscore (only did one test) but 19aa on the real thing.