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- Apr 28, 2012
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Ok well I didn't really curbstomp it, but I studied hard and Im proud of thescores I got. I'm just a regualr guy with a full time school schedule trying tostudy hard and get into dental school. I'm in all sorts of extra curricularsand I value having a social life on the weekends, so I'm proof that that canall be done while still managing to achieve respectable scores.
PA: 24
QR: 17
RC: 21
BI: 20
GC: 22
OC: 20
TS: 21
AA: 20
Crack Dat Pat: 20, 19, 20, 20, 20
Kaplan BB: BI 18 GC 14 OC 21
Top Score 1: AA 16, BI 16, GC 13, OC 15, PA 20, QR 17, RC 19, TS 15
Top Score 2: AA 19, BI 20, GC 18, OC 19, PA 23, QR 19, RC 19, TS 19
Top Score 3: AA 18, BI 17, GC 17, OC 19, PA --, QR 18, RC 20, TS 18
Basic Overview: I started studying about 3 months ahead of test time(4/26/11). One of the first things I would recommend would be to buy a giant 5subject notebook to take notes in. By test time I had two different notebookswith random piles of notes scattered everywhere. I studied for two hours a dayup until two weeks before i took the DAT. Two weeks before the test was finalsweek in school for me, so that week I got zero DAT done. Basically, the weekbefore the test was go week. I went hardcore.... I would go to the library at9, take practice tests, review old material, look up new material, slam two redbulls, then repeat the whole cycle.
The night before the test I took a benedryl to help me sleep. (Around testtime, 6 hours is great night of sleep). Another thing i would recommend that Iscrewed up on was just that... stay fresh and healthy by getting plenty ofsleep. By the end of my test my body just hated me because of all the caffieneand lack of sleep. But hey, go hard or go home. I was super nervous before theactual test, but the ladies at the prometric center were very nice and I gotalong great with them. The entire test I didn't feel confident at all, but whenI got my scores back at the end I was so jacked I started fist pumping andflexing haha.
Resources:
Chads videos Math only.
Kaplan Blue Book. Good starting point for the sciences.
Crack Dat Pat. Worthevery penny.
*Wish I wouldve used the destroyer but I ran out of time.
Biology (20): Random! Im pretty upset actually that I had to spend so much time on thisstupid section. Nothing but a random barrageof stupid questions spread across every conceivable topic even remotely relatedto bio. Study KBB to get an overview,then go back to freshman bio notes to study broad, not deep. The trick is to not over study, but rathercover many topics. I felt a 20 was about right, as getting above a 22 on bio isfantastic and is more dependent on luck than anything else.
Gen Chem (22): Trust me when I say that the chemistrysections on the actual test are a bit of a relief compared to top score and theKaplan test. Much less calculationdependent. KBB and finding random infoon google helped me get a good overview, and then topscore helped fine tunethings. If you tend to be good withconceptual than things will go your way. I was very weak with chemistry when I started, but dont let poor practicetest scores get you down. If you feelconfident you know your basic stuff youre good to go.
O Chem (20): Im a bit disappointed here actually. Eventhough my test scores dont really show it, I like ochem and I learned all ofthe reactions front and back. I made astack of about 50 reactions, and on the real test I only used three. All of the questions were spectroscopy stuff,sn1/e1 reactions, and random conceptual stuff that I really didnt focuson. I honestly felt my test could havegone better if there were more reactions. Kaplan was a good start, and reviewing my old organic notes helped methrough the rest.
PAT (24): Curb Stomp! But really, buy crack dat pat and do it all the time and you will befine. I got four points higher than mypractice tests so dont worry if youre a little low. Hole punching is easier and pattern foldingis harder, the rest are the same.
RC (21): I felt good on practice tests by doing the searchand destroy method. If you stay focusedand juiced up the test will go well. Mypassages were a little difficult, but luckily I pulled through. I felt like they were easier, more straightforeward questions than topscore and Kaplan asked. I didnt use any practice other than thetopscore tests.
QR (17): Ouch. I didnt start looking at chads videos untilone week before the test, and my resultsshowed. Its unfortunate because I feelif I would have done a little better on this section it couldve bumped me upto a 21 aa. Even so, chads videos weregreat, Im just bad at math and I thought the real thing was difficult, more sothan even the practice tests. If I couldvedone it again, I would have started early, practiced more, and done destroyer.
So there ya have it. Not a lot of resources, just a lot of hard work and smart planning. Imliving proof that a regular guy with a Harley who goes deer hunting too muchand wants to be a dentist some day can study enough to get good scores to go todental school. Study hard and have faithand good things will happen! J
