Hey guys, I super nervous about my DAT. I have it coming up in about 2 weeks and I keep getting 18's and 19's on my Bootcamp tests. At this point, I understand bootcamp inside and out (literally) and Understand everything I miss. Am I ready? Please leave honest feedback, I am so so so nervous. Thanks!
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Hi Kieys! Do you mind giving us a breakdown of your average scores for every section?
To make it brief, my lowest was QR, at a 17 🙁
My RC is normally a 19 or 20
All sciences are around 18-20. Lowest being the Bio at 18.
PAT always 20-22
This is pretty much for every individual test/full length exam. I hope this is enough info. Thank you
I'm super stressed because I'm shooting for a 19-20AA on this test. My GPA I feel is good (overall 3.74)(Science 3.63), and I've been working in a dental lab for about 3 years waxing teeth and making crown, bridges, implant parts, veneers, etc. I've talked to many doctors and most say with my grades and the fact I can wax a tooth perfectly while only being in college, shoot for a 20 on the DAT. I know that's low standards but I am such a person that always struggles with standardized tests, always. 🙁 I have this HUGE fear for this test. I know people at my University that got in with 19's, so I'm just trying to be realistic. But as always, I'm always going to try my best. Thank you so much.
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You have an excellent GPA and your resume with 3 years working in a dental lab is going to look amazing.
With your scores I think a 19-20 AA is very doable and that with your current scores you will receive a score around that if not higher 😀
My QR scores were: 19; 21, and 18 for the three bootcamp practice tests I took but I got a 22 on the real thing. Bootcamp is slightly harder on the real thing.
The trick to QR on the real test is the timing. I was able to determine pretty quickly if I could or couldn't solve a problem and so I skipped the ones I knew I couldn't do. If I remember correctly I skipped 4-5 questions. You will have some problems that you can solve easily but they take a long time to solve (at least for me because I didn't memorize some random formula) because I skipped the problems I knew I couldn't get I focused my time on these types of problems.
Your PAT scores are looking nice 😀. Don't let the PAT section of the test demoralize you stay positive no matter how hard you find it on the real test. I was averaging 20-21 on the bootcamp tests but got a 17 on the real thing. I attribute this to not staying focused on the cube counting (which are free points imo) also the hole punching threw me off but just stay clam and collected but also make sure your timing yourself. I felt a little down after this section but I wasn't going to let it impact my reading and math score (the PAT doesn't affect your AA score so just try to get 17+).
Bio is very hard to study just because you can be tested on so much. My test was extremely random. If I had to do it all over again I wouldn't focus so much on the very fine details but rather the bigger picture. I got a 20 on the real test and was averaging mid 20s on the bootcamp tests.
Your RC is pretty decent. My bootcamp RC scores were 17 and 18 for my first two tests but then improved to low 20s for the lasts tests. I just had to find a strategy and stick to it. My biggest advice leading up to your test is if your the kind of person that takes notes as you read (which I do) buy a expo marker and laminated paper (this is what your given on the real test). I wasn't able to write as fast or clearly as I normally would've been able to with pencil and paper so my timing was thrown off a bit so practice using what your going to be given on the real test.
GChem: averaged low 20s on bootcamp got 22 on real thing.
OChem: averaged 18-20 on bootcamp got 30 on real thing.
I spent a lot of time studying Chad's notes for both GChem and OChem and they were all I used to study the material. I think if you focus more time on studying Chad's OChem packets you will see your score greatly improve on the real test.
Bootcamp is harder then the real test so don't get discouraged about your scores.
You should take the 2007 free test and 2009 paid test offered. My scores were pretty similar to both of those tests.
Let me know if you have any questions about a specific section and I would be happy to answer.
With your scores I think a 19-20 AA is very doable and that with your current scores you will receive a score around that if not higher 😀
My QR scores were: 19; 21, and 18 for the three bootcamp practice tests I took but I got a 22 on the real thing. Bootcamp is slightly harder on the real thing.
The trick to QR on the real test is the timing. I was able to determine pretty quickly if I could or couldn't solve a problem and so I skipped the ones I knew I couldn't do. If I remember correctly I skipped 4-5 questions. You will have some problems that you can solve easily but they take a long time to solve (at least for me because I didn't memorize some random formula) because I skipped the problems I knew I couldn't get I focused my time on these types of problems.
Your PAT scores are looking nice 😀. Don't let the PAT section of the test demoralize you stay positive no matter how hard you find it on the real test. I was averaging 20-21 on the bootcamp tests but got a 17 on the real thing. I attribute this to not staying focused on the cube counting (which are free points imo) also the hole punching threw me off but just stay clam and collected but also make sure your timing yourself. I felt a little down after this section but I wasn't going to let it impact my reading and math score (the PAT doesn't affect your AA score so just try to get 17+).
Bio is very hard to study just because you can be tested on so much. My test was extremely random. If I had to do it all over again I wouldn't focus so much on the very fine details but rather the bigger picture. I got a 20 on the real test and was averaging mid 20s on the bootcamp tests.
Your RC is pretty decent. My bootcamp RC scores were 17 and 18 for my first two tests but then improved to low 20s for the lasts tests. I just had to find a strategy and stick to it. My biggest advice leading up to your test is if your the kind of person that takes notes as you read (which I do) buy a expo marker and laminated paper (this is what your given on the real test). I wasn't able to write as fast or clearly as I normally would've been able to with pencil and paper so my timing was thrown off a bit so practice using what your going to be given on the real test.
GChem: averaged low 20s on bootcamp got 22 on real thing.
OChem: averaged 18-20 on bootcamp got 30 on real thing.
I spent a lot of time studying Chad's notes for both GChem and OChem and they were all I used to study the material. I think if you focus more time on studying Chad's OChem packets you will see your score greatly improve on the real test.
Bootcamp is harder then the real test so don't get discouraged about your scores.
You should take the 2007 free test and 2009 paid test offered. My scores were pretty similar to both of those tests.
Let me know if you have any questions about a specific section and I would be happy to answer.
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I scored higher than my Bootcamp scores in all of my section besides Biology (which I tied).
Here are my averages in all sections (DAT Bootcamp, DAT Genius, and DAT Destroyer which dragged some of my averages down) and my actual DAT Scores.
QR - 23.1 / 30
Bio - 18.4 / 20
GC - 18.6 / 23
OC - 20.0 / 30
PAT - 19.5 / 22
I did not practice the reading section because I was confident in that section. If you haven't yet, try a few different strategies to see which one works best for you, but your score is good.
QR - Bootcamps questions are pretty representative of the types of questions that you will see. If you are getting 17's and you understand your mistakes you should be able to get 18-19 on the DAT. The important part there is to understand your mistakes. This means that when you see a similar problem, you should be able to do it without repeating your mistakes. This is also regarded as one of the least looked at sections, so a lower score is alright. People have gotten in with less than 18 on this section, so anything above that is decent. Check out this video for a general overview of topics
Bio - This sections is one of the most difficult to study for as it covers a large range of topics. I found it better to go for range instead of depth on these topics. I ended up running out of time and not being able to study everything I wanted to. If you are getting 18+ in this test, I think that you should be good. The way I learned most of my information was from Cliffs AP Bio and Bozeman Science videos. You can also use the Bio note I gave you in the binder 😉
Chemistries - GC is more conceptual and calculations, while OC is mostly memorization of reactions. You can raise your score in OC if needed by memorizing more reactions and practicing them. This can be time consuming, so it may be more beneficial to work on other sections. Chad's videos are good for this section. You can buy the ones at coursesaver, or use the one's at Chadsvideos.com as an alternative.
The most important thing is to be confident in yourself!
Here are my averages in all sections (DAT Bootcamp, DAT Genius, and DAT Destroyer which dragged some of my averages down) and my actual DAT Scores.
QR - 23.1 / 30
Bio - 18.4 / 20
GC - 18.6 / 23
OC - 20.0 / 30
PAT - 19.5 / 22
I did not practice the reading section because I was confident in that section. If you haven't yet, try a few different strategies to see which one works best for you, but your score is good.
QR - Bootcamps questions are pretty representative of the types of questions that you will see. If you are getting 17's and you understand your mistakes you should be able to get 18-19 on the DAT. The important part there is to understand your mistakes. This means that when you see a similar problem, you should be able to do it without repeating your mistakes. This is also regarded as one of the least looked at sections, so a lower score is alright. People have gotten in with less than 18 on this section, so anything above that is decent. Check out this video for a general overview of topics
Bio - This sections is one of the most difficult to study for as it covers a large range of topics. I found it better to go for range instead of depth on these topics. I ended up running out of time and not being able to study everything I wanted to. If you are getting 18+ in this test, I think that you should be good. The way I learned most of my information was from Cliffs AP Bio and Bozeman Science videos. You can also use the Bio note I gave you in the binder 😉
Chemistries - GC is more conceptual and calculations, while OC is mostly memorization of reactions. You can raise your score in OC if needed by memorizing more reactions and practicing them. This can be time consuming, so it may be more beneficial to work on other sections. Chad's videos are good for this section. You can buy the ones at coursesaver, or use the one's at Chadsvideos.com as an alternative.
The most important thing is to be confident in yourself!
