All throughout my undergraduate career I always used the excuse, “oh I am just a bad test taker, that is why I am not acing every exam.” After three months of intense DAT prep, I am here to tell you that anything is possible. If you are serious about attending dental school, you need to make it your number one and only priority.
I am currently in graduate school, since I did not make dental school my top priority while in undergrad. After revamping my study habits, I am back on track, and can proudly say that my GPA is now competitive for dental school.
The main reason for this post was I wanted to go over my DAT prep materials, and some strategies I learned throughout the process. The one book that is MANDATORY if you want to score well on the DAT is the DAT Destroyer and Math Destroyer from Orgoman. These two books are worth every penny. My one piece of advice while working through these books is make sure you have plenty of time. The DAT Destroyer is very thorough, so the first time I went through it took me more time than I had planned in my study schedule. Make sure you understand every correct and incorrect answer.
Biology:
Three years ago I found this to be one of the toughest sections, which is embarrassing to say as a Biology major. I went into the exam assuming my biology background would help carry me, however it was one of my lowest scores (16). This year, I made sure I knew every detail of the Destroyer Bio section and it showed in my score of a 22. I made note cards on Quizlet of all the correct and incorrect questions in the destroyer. I listened to these notecards throughout the day during my study breaks. Most importantly, these were the notecards I reviewed right before I went to bed. I was thrilled to see how well the Destroyer prepared me when I began my exam with the biology section.
General Chemistry:
This is another section I saw a huge jump in my scores (16 -> 21). Once again the DAT Destroyer goes into so much detail, there were no surprises on my exam. I went through the Destroyer and wrote down a list of all the important formulas. During the 15 minute tutorial, I wrote down as many as these formulas as I could remember, which made this section that much easier.
Organic Chemistry:
Know the Destroyer road maps, especially for the tricky mechanisms. After writing down these road maps, I posted them all my over the walls of my house so while I was brushing my teeth or making dinner I could review what agent is needed to create cis alkene, for example. The Destroyer definitely goes into more detail than the actual exam, but this is the preparation you need to move quickly through this section. Make pneumonics for any concepts that you have trouble remembering.
Reading Comp:
Expose yourself to any type of science article every day. Whether you read a short article in Science or Wired magazine, the more you know definitely helps. Spend 20 minutes for each article and force yourself to be excited for every topic they give you. The more excited you are about the passage, the more likely you are to pick up on a small detail search and destroy question. As I went through this section, I read the first paragraph of each of the three passages to get an idea of what I was about to skim through. Then, I read the first sentence and wrote down important key words or phrases, which gave me an idea of what was in each paragraph. From then on, it was just search and destroy looking for specific sentences and saving questions about tone of the passage till the end.
PAT:
I know I have read different strategies on SDN so I will just mention something different. I have always struggled with the larger angles in the angle ranking section. I was given advice to start drawing out these large angles with a protractor so I could distinguish the small differences between the angles. Another strategy I used was to start with the angle ranking in the PAT. I felt I needed to have the most energy and not have my eyes dried out after going through the Keyhole and TFE.
In summary, make sure you complete the DAT Destroyer twice (three times was the magic number for me) before you sit down for the DAT. Hopefully, if the Orgoman is reading this post, I want him to know grateful I am for all of his hard work. Without the Destroyer, I would likely still be stuck at an 18. Finally, be confident and always go with your gut answer. Hopefully my story shows you that anything is possible with the right work ethic
Good luck to everyone! It's not a matter of IF you will get in, it is a matter of WHEN you will get in to dental school.
PAT - 19
QR - 20
RC - 22
BIO - 22
GC - 21
OC - 23
AA - 22
TS - 22
I am currently in graduate school, since I did not make dental school my top priority while in undergrad. After revamping my study habits, I am back on track, and can proudly say that my GPA is now competitive for dental school.
The main reason for this post was I wanted to go over my DAT prep materials, and some strategies I learned throughout the process. The one book that is MANDATORY if you want to score well on the DAT is the DAT Destroyer and Math Destroyer from Orgoman. These two books are worth every penny. My one piece of advice while working through these books is make sure you have plenty of time. The DAT Destroyer is very thorough, so the first time I went through it took me more time than I had planned in my study schedule. Make sure you understand every correct and incorrect answer.
Biology:
Three years ago I found this to be one of the toughest sections, which is embarrassing to say as a Biology major. I went into the exam assuming my biology background would help carry me, however it was one of my lowest scores (16). This year, I made sure I knew every detail of the Destroyer Bio section and it showed in my score of a 22. I made note cards on Quizlet of all the correct and incorrect questions in the destroyer. I listened to these notecards throughout the day during my study breaks. Most importantly, these were the notecards I reviewed right before I went to bed. I was thrilled to see how well the Destroyer prepared me when I began my exam with the biology section.
General Chemistry:
This is another section I saw a huge jump in my scores (16 -> 21). Once again the DAT Destroyer goes into so much detail, there were no surprises on my exam. I went through the Destroyer and wrote down a list of all the important formulas. During the 15 minute tutorial, I wrote down as many as these formulas as I could remember, which made this section that much easier.
Organic Chemistry:
Know the Destroyer road maps, especially for the tricky mechanisms. After writing down these road maps, I posted them all my over the walls of my house so while I was brushing my teeth or making dinner I could review what agent is needed to create cis alkene, for example. The Destroyer definitely goes into more detail than the actual exam, but this is the preparation you need to move quickly through this section. Make pneumonics for any concepts that you have trouble remembering.
Reading Comp:
Expose yourself to any type of science article every day. Whether you read a short article in Science or Wired magazine, the more you know definitely helps. Spend 20 minutes for each article and force yourself to be excited for every topic they give you. The more excited you are about the passage, the more likely you are to pick up on a small detail search and destroy question. As I went through this section, I read the first paragraph of each of the three passages to get an idea of what I was about to skim through. Then, I read the first sentence and wrote down important key words or phrases, which gave me an idea of what was in each paragraph. From then on, it was just search and destroy looking for specific sentences and saving questions about tone of the passage till the end.
PAT:
I know I have read different strategies on SDN so I will just mention something different. I have always struggled with the larger angles in the angle ranking section. I was given advice to start drawing out these large angles with a protractor so I could distinguish the small differences between the angles. Another strategy I used was to start with the angle ranking in the PAT. I felt I needed to have the most energy and not have my eyes dried out after going through the Keyhole and TFE.
In summary, make sure you complete the DAT Destroyer twice (three times was the magic number for me) before you sit down for the DAT. Hopefully, if the Orgoman is reading this post, I want him to know grateful I am for all of his hard work. Without the Destroyer, I would likely still be stuck at an 18. Finally, be confident and always go with your gut answer. Hopefully my story shows you that anything is possible with the right work ethic
Good luck to everyone! It's not a matter of IF you will get in, it is a matter of WHEN you will get in to dental school.
PAT - 19
QR - 20
RC - 22
BIO - 22
GC - 21
OC - 23
AA - 22
TS - 22
