Best DAT study resources

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jheidenr

jheidenr

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(vote above-choose all that apply) What resources were/are most helpful to you in studying for the DAT?
 
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hands down the kaplan blue book..i saw so much material from it on the real thing..topscore is also a must have because it familiarizes u with the layout and it's a good gauge as to at what your weak areas are..however don't expect the real thing to have questions that r quite as detailed..also barron's is a good resource for the PAT and i found this website that has some good supplemental bio info

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookTOC.html

i also used my bio textbook a bit and the cd that came with it which helped because of all the diagrams that kaplan left out

the kaplan course is probably a big waste of money..i signed up for it when i was planning on taking the mcat and the guy teaching it was like my age and had no idea what he was doing! half the kids on the class knew more than he did..what a joke!
 
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what is the kaplan blue book?? anyways, i chose "other" but what i really wanted to choose was the kaplan practice tests (is that the same as the blue book?). i just took those over and over and they helped a lot. i'm mainly talking about the science practice tests...the other tests were ok too...but in my opinion..the pat is really hard to study for since it's so much harder on the real thing. but basically for the science part, i took the practice tests and made sure i knew why the correct answer was correct and why the wrong answers were wrong...
 
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The kaplan blue book is exactly the same as the course book if you take the kaplan class( I compared) It science review is also the same as the Kaplan MCAT book.( I have Both)

The PAT is not that hard if you practice. It is very intuitive, and the more you do it the better you get. Also you don't need a high PAT score. You just need to prove you aren't impaired.
 
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Schaum's Outlines for Biology, Organic Chemistry, and General Chemistry are also very good. I use them as a supplements. I am in the process now of studying for the DAT. I use the Kaplan book for my primary text. In addition, I use Barron's for the PAT and Top Score to simulate the real computerized test. So far all is well, and I can't wait to take it and flex some mental muscle.
 
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I voted for the course because it includes all of Kaplan's extra exams, subject tests, and computerized practice tests. Those were even more helpful to me than the blue book.
 
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I have a kaplan blue book, but im not sure if it's the exact one that everyone seems to be talking about. I ordered this book from amazon.com. It's a third edition, thick book that comes with a cd and a practice test. Is that the one everyone has? On the binder it says "higher score guaranteed"! I sure hope so! Its isbn number is 074324149s. Can someone help? Thanks in advance fellow dat-ers.
 
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D. All of the above.

I didn't take the kaplan course, but I had materials from it, so I guess my Kaplan stuff was a mix between the course and the blue book. I also used TopScore and the barron's book. I think they did the trick. . .got a 20/21, which was waaaaayyyyy up from my initial practice test.

My 2 cents.

-Brian
 
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Best study aid for the DAT is Princeton Review's Hyperlearning. Its simply the best. Kaplan, topscore, nor anything else can compete with it.

And trust me, I've used all of them.
 
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I studies with the red book, same as blue and I use the 1001 mcat ques for ochem and chm, i had some mcat flashcards for the sciences and i used some gre prep books for the math. I would say your old notes for bio is best except for the anatomy portions where you should either take A+P or just study the blue book. for pat i used the blue book but i used another dat prep book that had some real good tips on some of the sections like the box counting... not sure name of it but i got a 19 on pat. anyways you just count all the boxes and rank by how many sides exposed then you just look at your tally for each question about that set. start bottom left counting count first level and repeat for each level. worked for me... it may seem slower at first than just answering each question individual but in the end i think it is faster. it also had tips about the hole punch but i cant remember them all, they woked well though. i will look up the name of the book and report back. also i will be selling all my stiff soon as i dont think i will be retaking the test(20/20/19)may not want to follow my math advice as i got a 16 🙁. i also have a TS disk i just bought two months ago as well as a stack of prep books.
 
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The Kaplan Book Is Definitely the Bible of the DAT. It is so complete, it is the only resource where you can actually increase your chances of getting the necessary SCORE to get into Dental School. Also, Barron's is great on the PAT Section, Both books are a MUST I Say A MUST for DAT Prep.
 
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october said:
Could someone give me the exact title of the Barron's book so that i could pick it up. Title, publisher and year would be great.


thanx
Click to expand...


Sure, the book's name is: Barron's How to prepare for the DAT (Dental Admission Test)...........That's it
 
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The best resource is the Kaplan Q-Bank (sorry, you need to take the class to get this one) for everything but PAT, do all of them. Yes, I mean all of them. Watch those videos too. Take all full-time practice. Oh, and then do all the Q-Bank again. TopScore is the only thing similar to the real thing for the PAT. It is not that close (nothing can really compare), but it the best there is.

Oh, and get a hold of the sample DAT from the ADA! It is an excellent resource that most miss. It is an actual DAT, some of my questions reapeared almost word for word.
 
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Would anyone recommend the Kaplan course over doing the Blue book by themselves? I am debating on taking the class vs self-teaching...
 
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mnotarom said:
Would anyone recommend the Kaplan course over doing the Blue book by themselves? I am debating on taking the class vs self-teaching...
Click to expand...

From what people say, it's better to teach yourself. Kaplan is for the person who isn't self-disciplined enough to stick to a schedule. If that's you, than go for it. The idea is that if you can do without it than do without. I think it's $1200 if I'm correct and that $1200 can be invested in much better study materials if you can control yourself and buy some ass glue.. lots of it.
 
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I vote that since many of us used "other", you should expand the options a bit. I feel like Destroyer, Achiever, Topscore, Cliff's, Chad's videos, etc. are used by many of the people who did very well on the DAT.

Having "other" is misleading and unhelpful to many who are looking for the best combination of study materials.
 
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mnotarom said:
Would anyone recommend the Kaplan course over doing the Blue book by themselves? I am debating on taking the class vs self-teaching...
Click to expand...

It really depends on how disciplined you are. There are many students that do fine without the class, but if you are like me, the class might not be such a bad idea lol. It is a little expensive, but might be worth it. The book you get at the course is very similar to the blue book. If you do the class they have a lot of quizzes online and some practice tests. If you decide not to do the class, I'm sure you can find some other materials to practice like CrackDAT, Achiever, DAT destroyer, etc..
Good luck👍!!
 
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