- Joined
- May 24, 2017
- Messages
- 56
- Reaction score
- 55
First off, I'd like to thank @orgoman22 and their entire staff. If you want to score big, bigger than you would ever dream you could score, LIVE, BREATHE, EAT, SLEEP, DRINK DAT Destroyer. Also, DAT Bootcamp by @Ari Rezaei is another absolutely essential resource along with @FeralisExtremum and his Biology Bible that we all know and love. Get these and live by them. Also, a huge shoutout to my parents for being 100% behind me the whole summer, there's nothing like a family that has your back.
Overall approach:
I cut myself off from the rest of the planet starting June 1st, studying 8 hours a day with very few breaks. I treated the DAT as a job, not just something extra that I had to do. I went through the Destroyers for the sciences 3 times each. It was well worth it for me, especially for the chemistries. I took Orgo and Equilibrium and Analysis a while back, so I needed big time review here.
Biology: DAT Destroyer, BC, and Feralis Notes. Memorize everything in these resources. Learn to love them, take them out to nice dinners, the whole 9 yards. You won't be sorry that you did, that I can tell you. Also, a hidden gem here is DAT Qvault. I had 3 or 4 questions that came straight from it today in some form or fashion. I also extensively used Crash Course and Bozeman to clear up difficult concepts like the Immune System.
Test Day: 21: What I said to myself on test day, "I won't get plants, most people never see any." WRONG. I had 3. Trying to chase down random bio facts is like shooting a bullet, with a smaller bullet, while blind folded, riding a horse. That why this section is so difficult. I also had 3 taxonomy questions. Feralis' taxonomy sheet saved my butt here, bigtime. This was a really random version. It had no rhyme or reason and a lot of questions were poorly worded. Physiology is my strength and I was not rewarded for it on this test. I felt prepared enough to make a 26 plus here so I'm not thrilled with this. I spent by far the most time on this subject. The best plan of action here is to pull as many sources together as you can so have as many "biology tentacles" as possible. But, find the balance where you aren't overwhelmed. I found Biology to be more difficult than BC.
Organic Chemistry: I lived and breathed Chads Videos, Mikes Videos, and DAT Destroyer. I personally found Mikes Videos to be much easier to watch and far more concise. Mike also covers important things that Chad does not. At the end of every video, that smile of his made me laugh every single time, not because of humor, but because of sheer discomfort. Although, he is the man.
Test Day:24: Orgo was a good mix of concepts and reactions and I found it much easier than BC. I would have love to have seen some of the questions I saw on my DAT today in my orgo course. I got wrecked in orgo my sophomore year and it feels fantastic to get the last laugh here. The test was a good mixture of basic reactions, acid/base concepts, aromaticity, all of the usual suspects.
General Chemistry: I used the same strategy here as I did for orgo. Mikes all day long. Everything you need to know for gen chem is in those videos and in the Destroyer. Stick to these 2 resources and you will nail it.
Test Day:24: This test definelty hit my strengths. It was a conceptual heavy test with only 2-4 calculations that are all covered in Mikes. I honestly thought I got a 30 here as I was done with this section in about 12 minutes. Lot of P table questions and bonding questions. All calculations were simple plug and chug with some slight manipulation. Make sure to read the question CAREFULLY. Assume nothing. I caught myself jumping the gun several times and almost messed up doing so.
PAT: 18:I have no expertise here. But, I used BC and I can say that my Keyhole and TFE were much harder than BC. I had 7 rocks. What is a rock you say? Google "rocks" and what pops up was what was on my test. I had one that looked like a Transformer and expected to see Optimus Prime on the next question. This section shook me up and drained my time. But, everything else was on par with BC.
Reading Comprehension:24: My first 2 passages were very difficult. Neither were search and destroy friendly so I used the hybrid method of looking at questions before reading which I found very effective. I got lucky on the last passage as it was about something I was very familiar with. I could quickly answer most of the questions from prior knowledge. Big tip here: Crack DAT RC is VERY REPRESENTATIVE. I got 23's on CDRC tests and 18-23 on BC. Crack DAT prepares you well for the tone questions of which I had many.
QR:20: I squeaked by on this one. I put by far the least amount of work into this section and I wasn't punished for it. However, I went through Math Destroyer 1-10 and did all of the BC tests. I could have done better here with more work but I am very ok with this score. Mustapha at DAT Destroyer is FANTASTIC and I highly recommend him; he is a fantastic guy. I had 6-8 QC questions and 2-3 Data Sufficiency questions that were much easier than BC. I also surprisingly had 8 or 9 graph style questions that required interpretation. Nothing new if you have been in chem/bio labs which we all have.
Final Thoughts:
This process is one like no other and its truly something that only people that have done it understand. I'm from the Gulf Coast, so I'm used to being on the boat all summer and fishing instead of being Vitamin D deprived locked up indoors all day. I feel like I have been in hyper sleep for the past 2.5 months. It is almost like when Mark Wahlberg returns to Earth in Planet of the Apes and they have completely taken over and everything has changed. Everyone in your life has continued at their rate and speed and it feels like you are watching it all fly by. But, if there is one thing that I have learned from all my business major friends, its the value of an investment. If someone told you to do nothing but one thing the entire summer that would eventually lead to your dreams coming true, would you do it? Of course you would! When you value this process as an investment into your life dream, common sense takes the helm and says "yeah I better keeps doing these 600 Destroyer problems." I remember when I was first wanting to be a dentist and looking up the DAT and what the process entailed. I was like, "oh the average is a 20 I can easily do that." Then I ventured to SDN after my dad alerted me to its existence. What I found was the land of the top 1% and saw 25's and 26's being thrown around like beads from Mardi Gras float and people with 3.7 GPA's and 24 AA's asking if they "had a chance to get in"
. I was already having doubts that there was no way I could get a score like that. I never thought I was smart enough. WRONG. I quickly learned that this is not a test of raw intelligence. It is a test of character, work ethic, and competitive energy. Sure, you have to know the material, but nobody walks into the DAT without preparation and cracks a 20+ with college courses alone; it does not happen. The point of this spill is, never believe you can't do it. The standard of excellence on this site and the resources mentioned are the keys to unlocking the door that hides your life goal of becoming a DMD; all you have to do is turn the knob and walk through it. Best of luck to everyone!
Overall approach:
I cut myself off from the rest of the planet starting June 1st, studying 8 hours a day with very few breaks. I treated the DAT as a job, not just something extra that I had to do. I went through the Destroyers for the sciences 3 times each. It was well worth it for me, especially for the chemistries. I took Orgo and Equilibrium and Analysis a while back, so I needed big time review here.
Biology: DAT Destroyer, BC, and Feralis Notes. Memorize everything in these resources. Learn to love them, take them out to nice dinners, the whole 9 yards. You won't be sorry that you did, that I can tell you. Also, a hidden gem here is DAT Qvault. I had 3 or 4 questions that came straight from it today in some form or fashion. I also extensively used Crash Course and Bozeman to clear up difficult concepts like the Immune System.
Test Day: 21: What I said to myself on test day, "I won't get plants, most people never see any." WRONG. I had 3. Trying to chase down random bio facts is like shooting a bullet, with a smaller bullet, while blind folded, riding a horse. That why this section is so difficult. I also had 3 taxonomy questions. Feralis' taxonomy sheet saved my butt here, bigtime. This was a really random version. It had no rhyme or reason and a lot of questions were poorly worded. Physiology is my strength and I was not rewarded for it on this test. I felt prepared enough to make a 26 plus here so I'm not thrilled with this. I spent by far the most time on this subject. The best plan of action here is to pull as many sources together as you can so have as many "biology tentacles" as possible. But, find the balance where you aren't overwhelmed. I found Biology to be more difficult than BC.
Organic Chemistry: I lived and breathed Chads Videos, Mikes Videos, and DAT Destroyer. I personally found Mikes Videos to be much easier to watch and far more concise. Mike also covers important things that Chad does not. At the end of every video, that smile of his made me laugh every single time, not because of humor, but because of sheer discomfort. Although, he is the man.
Test Day:24: Orgo was a good mix of concepts and reactions and I found it much easier than BC. I would have love to have seen some of the questions I saw on my DAT today in my orgo course. I got wrecked in orgo my sophomore year and it feels fantastic to get the last laugh here. The test was a good mixture of basic reactions, acid/base concepts, aromaticity, all of the usual suspects.
General Chemistry: I used the same strategy here as I did for orgo. Mikes all day long. Everything you need to know for gen chem is in those videos and in the Destroyer. Stick to these 2 resources and you will nail it.
Test Day:24: This test definelty hit my strengths. It was a conceptual heavy test with only 2-4 calculations that are all covered in Mikes. I honestly thought I got a 30 here as I was done with this section in about 12 minutes. Lot of P table questions and bonding questions. All calculations were simple plug and chug with some slight manipulation. Make sure to read the question CAREFULLY. Assume nothing. I caught myself jumping the gun several times and almost messed up doing so.
PAT: 18:I have no expertise here. But, I used BC and I can say that my Keyhole and TFE were much harder than BC. I had 7 rocks. What is a rock you say? Google "rocks" and what pops up was what was on my test. I had one that looked like a Transformer and expected to see Optimus Prime on the next question. This section shook me up and drained my time. But, everything else was on par with BC.
Reading Comprehension:24: My first 2 passages were very difficult. Neither were search and destroy friendly so I used the hybrid method of looking at questions before reading which I found very effective. I got lucky on the last passage as it was about something I was very familiar with. I could quickly answer most of the questions from prior knowledge. Big tip here: Crack DAT RC is VERY REPRESENTATIVE. I got 23's on CDRC tests and 18-23 on BC. Crack DAT prepares you well for the tone questions of which I had many.
QR:20: I squeaked by on this one. I put by far the least amount of work into this section and I wasn't punished for it. However, I went through Math Destroyer 1-10 and did all of the BC tests. I could have done better here with more work but I am very ok with this score. Mustapha at DAT Destroyer is FANTASTIC and I highly recommend him; he is a fantastic guy. I had 6-8 QC questions and 2-3 Data Sufficiency questions that were much easier than BC. I also surprisingly had 8 or 9 graph style questions that required interpretation. Nothing new if you have been in chem/bio labs which we all have.
Final Thoughts:
This process is one like no other and its truly something that only people that have done it understand. I'm from the Gulf Coast, so I'm used to being on the boat all summer and fishing instead of being Vitamin D deprived locked up indoors all day. I feel like I have been in hyper sleep for the past 2.5 months. It is almost like when Mark Wahlberg returns to Earth in Planet of the Apes and they have completely taken over and everything has changed. Everyone in your life has continued at their rate and speed and it feels like you are watching it all fly by. But, if there is one thing that I have learned from all my business major friends, its the value of an investment. If someone told you to do nothing but one thing the entire summer that would eventually lead to your dreams coming true, would you do it? Of course you would! When you value this process as an investment into your life dream, common sense takes the helm and says "yeah I better keeps doing these 600 Destroyer problems." I remember when I was first wanting to be a dentist and looking up the DAT and what the process entailed. I was like, "oh the average is a 20 I can easily do that." Then I ventured to SDN after my dad alerted me to its existence. What I found was the land of the top 1% and saw 25's and 26's being thrown around like beads from Mardi Gras float and people with 3.7 GPA's and 24 AA's asking if they "had a chance to get in"
. I was already having doubts that there was no way I could get a score like that. I never thought I was smart enough. WRONG. I quickly learned that this is not a test of raw intelligence. It is a test of character, work ethic, and competitive energy. Sure, you have to know the material, but nobody walks into the DAT without preparation and cracks a 20+ with college courses alone; it does not happen. The point of this spill is, never believe you can't do it. The standard of excellence on this site and the resources mentioned are the keys to unlocking the door that hides your life goal of becoming a DMD; all you have to do is turn the knob and walk through it. Best of luck to everyone!
