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- Aug 12, 2017
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I just took my DAT today and did better than I was anticipating with a 21AA. I wanted to make a brief post to encourage people who are still studying and still feeling like they're not hitting the scores that they want to get on the actual test. Obviously this is just my experience, but I thought I'd share.
Breakdown:
PAT: 21
QR: 19
RC: 23
Bio: 21
GC: 19
OC: 21
TS: 20
AA: 21
I originally had my test scheduled for October 26th, but pushed it back a month because even though I had planned to study for about 3 months, I didn't start studying until the beginning of September. I will be a non-traditional applicant since I graduated last December (2016) and actually have to finish up about 3 more pre-reqs this upcoming spring. So, at the moment I'm not taking classes but I am working as a dental assistant. Luckily, I have Mondays/Fridays off and so I've been spending 6-8 hours/day studying Friday through Monday (closer to 10 hours in the last 3 or so weeks) and an hour or so after work on workdays if I wasn't too exhausted.
I used DAT Bootcamp, DAT Destroyer, Math Destroyer, and Chad's videos as my main resources. For both gen chem and o chem, Chad's videos were by far the most valuable in my opinion. He lays everything out in a clear and concise manner. Bootcamp was amazing for having realistic practice tests in the sense that the test platform looked almost identical to the real test and I felt the difficulty of these tests were on par with the real one too. Both Destroyer books were useful for drilling/practicing, though sometimes with the bio section, I fell into the habit of selecting (e) all of the above, just because there was a pattern of that always being the answer, not because I actually knew it was the answer. That was me being a bit lazy and the book being a bit predictable. Really valuable resource too, though.
I also bought the Kaplan book right when I began studying, but I didn't use it much--it didn't seem comprehensive enough, especially for bio. I did like how they had the o chem mechanisms listed in an easy-to-follow way and reviewed that chapter this past week leading up to the exam. I don't recommend their free full-length tests though! I totally freaked myself out a week and a half before today by taking their first one. Below are my scores from that test--I really lost confidence because of these results. So maybe avoid those practice tests.
Overall, though, I want to make it clear that I performed better on the real thing than any of the practice tests. So, if you're not quite where you want to be and your exam is soon--don't worry too much! I think the environment of the testing center and the fact that I knew it was the real deal made me more focused, less fatigued, and strangely more calm. I also didn't doubt myself as much because I knew I wouldn't even be reviewing these answers like I did on all the practice tests.
To everyone still studying: good luck and BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!
Breakdown:
PAT: 21
QR: 19
RC: 23
Bio: 21
GC: 19
OC: 21
TS: 20
AA: 21
I originally had my test scheduled for October 26th, but pushed it back a month because even though I had planned to study for about 3 months, I didn't start studying until the beginning of September. I will be a non-traditional applicant since I graduated last December (2016) and actually have to finish up about 3 more pre-reqs this upcoming spring. So, at the moment I'm not taking classes but I am working as a dental assistant. Luckily, I have Mondays/Fridays off and so I've been spending 6-8 hours/day studying Friday through Monday (closer to 10 hours in the last 3 or so weeks) and an hour or so after work on workdays if I wasn't too exhausted.
I used DAT Bootcamp, DAT Destroyer, Math Destroyer, and Chad's videos as my main resources. For both gen chem and o chem, Chad's videos were by far the most valuable in my opinion. He lays everything out in a clear and concise manner. Bootcamp was amazing for having realistic practice tests in the sense that the test platform looked almost identical to the real test and I felt the difficulty of these tests were on par with the real one too. Both Destroyer books were useful for drilling/practicing, though sometimes with the bio section, I fell into the habit of selecting (e) all of the above, just because there was a pattern of that always being the answer, not because I actually knew it was the answer. That was me being a bit lazy and the book being a bit predictable. Really valuable resource too, though.
I also bought the Kaplan book right when I began studying, but I didn't use it much--it didn't seem comprehensive enough, especially for bio. I did like how they had the o chem mechanisms listed in an easy-to-follow way and reviewed that chapter this past week leading up to the exam. I don't recommend their free full-length tests though! I totally freaked myself out a week and a half before today by taking their first one. Below are my scores from that test--I really lost confidence because of these results. So maybe avoid those practice tests.
Overall, though, I want to make it clear that I performed better on the real thing than any of the practice tests. So, if you're not quite where you want to be and your exam is soon--don't worry too much! I think the environment of the testing center and the fact that I knew it was the real deal made me more focused, less fatigued, and strangely more calm. I also didn't doubt myself as much because I knew I wouldn't even be reviewing these answers like I did on all the practice tests.
To everyone still studying: good luck and BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!
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