Beginning my DAT studies

[allthesp]

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I hope on taking the DAT within three months (I need to apply to dental schools this semester). Currently my science GPA is hovering around 3.85 with all prereqs completed.

From reading old discussions, it seems that the Kaplan Blue Book is the most highly recommended study tool, particularly coupled with Schuam's Outlines. I think that this should cover most of the sections, but I have also heard great things about Chad's Videos.

My questions:
1) Would the Blue Book plus Schuam's be sufficient for foundations?
2) Are Chad's Video's truly that helpful, particularly after review from the Blue Book and Schuam's?
3) What should I use to study the PAT? Crack Dat PAT?
4) What is a convenient, and inexpensive, source for additional questions? Destroyer is heavily mentioned, but I would prefer not to purchase an item that seems to condone such spammy practices.

Thank you.

 

[dentalWorks]

I hope on taking the DAT within three months (I need to apply to dental schools this semester). Currently my science GPA is hovering around 3.85 with all prereqs completed.

From reading old discussions, it seems that the Kaplan Blue Book is the most highly recommended study tool, particularly coupled with Schuam's Outlines. I think that this should cover most of the sections, but I have also heard great things about Chad's Videos.

My questions:
1) Would the Blue Book plus Schuam's be sufficient for foundations?
2) Are Chad's Video's truly that helpful, particularly after review from the Blue Book and Schuam's?
3) What should I use to study the PAT? Crack Dat PAT?
4) What is a convenient, and inexpensive, source for additional questions? Destroyer is heavily mentioned, but I would prefer not to purchase an item that seems to condone such spammy practices.

Thank you.

Where did you hear this? Schaums is rarely mentioned, KBB is a good GC and Orgo resource, but thats about it.

The most commonly used resources for GC and Orgo are chads vids + DAT destroyer. The reason why there are alot of "condoned spammy practices" is because... well they work effectively.

As far biology goes, Cliffs AP is most talked about resource, its most likely good enough to land you a respectable 19-20, but don't expect much higher. If your aiming for higher, you'll need a heavier resource (college text like Campbell) and good reasoning skills to answer the few "WTF" questions on the real deal.

PAT, no brainer, Crack DAT PAT

for MATH, the one I like is Math Destroyer, others rave about Crack DAT Math (but I have no experience with it)

for reading.... not many resources available

thats about it for a home-study guide. If you don't like or don't have much self decipline, you can enroll into the Kaplan course ($1000+ I think), which seems to have an excellent online resource ~ filled with practice tests and quizzes (I never used it ~ but I've read a few people who utalized the online resources religiously and managed phenomenal scores)

 

[Philippines03j]

I hope on taking the DAT within three months (I need to apply to dental schools this semester). Currently my science GPA is hovering around 3.85 with all prereqs completed.

From reading old discussions, it seems that the Kaplan Blue Book is the most highly recommended study tool, particularly coupled with Schuam's Outlines. I think that this should cover most of the sections, but I have also heard great things about Chad's Videos.

My questions:
1) Would the Blue Book plus Schuam's be sufficient for foundations?
2) Are Chad's Video's truly that helpful, particularly after review from the Blue Book and Schuam's?
3) What should I use to study the PAT? Crack Dat PAT?
4) What is a convenient, and inexpensive, source for additional questions? Destroyer is heavily mentioned, but I would prefer not to purchase an item that seems to condone such spammy practices.

Thank you.

???😱

I am not sure that I have ever heard this. Kaplan can be decent for some sections of biology but only as a supplement (too basic). I looked at my schaum's and was done with it in about 5 minutes. Boring paragraphs of info = No good for me

I agree with Dental Works...👍

CliffsAP biology = 10x better than schaum's but supplement it with bio textbook or internet for some of the physiology stuff.👍

 

[reely989]

I hope on taking the DAT within three months (I need to apply to dental schools this semester). Currently my science GPA is hovering around 3.85 with all prereqs completed.

From reading old discussions, it seems that the Kaplan Blue Book is the most highly recommended study tool, particularly coupled with Schuam's Outlines. I think that this should cover most of the sections, but I have also heard great things about Chad's Videos.

My questions:
1) Would the Blue Book plus Schuam's be sufficient for foundations?
2) Are Chad's Video's truly that helpful, particularly after review from the Blue Book and Schuam's?
3) What should I use to study the PAT? Crack Dat PAT?
4) What is a convenient, and inexpensive, source for additional questions? Destroyer is heavily mentioned, but I would prefer not to purchase an item that seems to condone such spammy practices.

Thank you.

I don't understand the hate for Schaum's honestly. I didn't find it that hard to read, and if you want specific details about something, I thought it was the best balance between specifics and condensation. I'd agree that Cliff's AP bio is the best biology resource available (that I found anyway). But, as dental works said, they tend to pull random questions from college texts (Campbell's and whatever the other one is, I forget at the moment) that you really can't expect to know. Many biology questions are freebies, but they will hit you with specific questions that fall through the cracks of all these other resources.

I had no experience with Chad's videos for mine, but I found Ohio State's organic flash card website great for the reactions in Organic. The concepts in organic are sufficiently covered in Kaplan I thought, anything I didn't understand, I'd usually look up online or watch a video on khan academy.

I'd say if you have the money, Destroyer is probably good, especially since you have the time to go through all of it. It gets raved about all the time, and many people who use it seem to do very well.

All this being said, I thought the only thing the Kaplan Book was good enough for was general chem, though I only think that because I had access to the white book that had practice problems after every section.

 

[elaine]

i don't understand the hate for schaum's honestly. I didn't find it that hard to read, and if you want specific details about something, i thought it was the best balance between specifics and condensation. I'd agree that cliff's ap bio is the best biology resource available (that i found anyway). But, as dental works said, they tend to pull random questions from college texts (campbell's and whatever the other one is, i forget at the moment) that you really can't expect to know. Many biology questions are freebies, but they will hit you with specific questions that fall through the cracks of all these other resources.

I had no experience with chad's videos for mine, but i found ohio state's organic flash card website great for the reactions in organic. The concepts in organic are sufficiently covered in kaplan i thought, anything i didn't understand, i'd usually look up online or watch a video on khan academy.

I'd say if you have the money, destroyer is probably good, especially since you have the time to go through all of it. It gets raved about all the time, and many people who use it seem to do very well.

All this being said, i thought the only thing the kaplan book was good enough for was general chem, though i only think that because i had access to the white book that had practice problems after every section.

how do i purchase the ohio state organic flash card website
thanks

 

[reely989]

It's free. Just do a google search for it. It's just a huge number of electronic reaction cards seperated by functional groups. Might not be great for everyone, but I found that much easier than the kaplan book, and I learned the reactions better by simple repetition. I regret not utilizing that website more in my preparation.

As I mentioned though, I never used Chad's or Destroyer, so you might want to look into those. The ACS also has study guides for Organic and General Chemistry, though I have no experience with those either.

If I had the preparation to do over, with the same amount of time that I had (3 weeks), I'd probably buy Schaum's, Cliffs AP, Chad's Videos, and maybe the ACS guides. But, this is just me, different people have different preferences I suppose. Though, it's hard to argue with some of the results the Destroyer seems to get. My main issue with the Destroyer is the price. If it was lowered to 50 dollars or so, it would be a no brainer, but at its current price, I don't know that I would buy it even if I had months to prepare.

Keep in mind, all of this is very subjective. What score are you aiming for? You have the time to prepare to shoot for pretty much any score you want. It just depends. If you only want a 20 or so, you can get by with less rigorous study material, but if you want a score in the high 20s, you will probably want to go with the more intense study material such as Destroyer, Chad's Videos, and the reference texts for Biology.

 

[Ghostface17]

Where did you hear this? Schaums is rarely mentioned, KBB is a good GC and Orgo resource, but thats about it.

The most commonly used resources for GC and Orgo are chads vids + DAT destroyer. The reason why there are alot of "condoned spammy practices" is because... well they work effectively.

As far biology goes, Cliffs AP is most talked about resource, its most likely good enough to land you a respectable 19-20, but don't expect much higher. If your aiming for higher, you'll need a heavier resource (college text like Campbell) and good reasoning skills to answer the few "WTF" questions on the real deal.

PAT, no brainer, Crack DAT PAT

for MATH, the one I like is Math Destroyer, others rave about Crack DAT Math (but I have no experience with it)

for reading.... not many resources available

thats about it for a home-study guide. If you don't like or don't have much self decipline, you can enroll into the Kaplan course ($1000+ I think), which seems to have an excellent online resource ~ filled with practice tests and quizzes (I never used it ~ but I've read a few people who utalized the online resources religiously and managed phenomenal scores)

I'm starting to study as well and I'm using essentially all the resources Dentalworks just mentioned!