I never thought that I would be bragging about the DAT, but here are my DAT scores!
Test 1 Test 2
PA 20 PA 21 (89.2%)
QR 17 QR 19 (92.9%)
RC 16 RC 19 (67.6%) 😀
BIO 19 BIO 17 (55.7%) 😱
GC 19 GC 22 (95.2%)
OC 16 OC 23 (97.1%) 👍
TS 18 TS 19 (82.8%)
AA 17 AA 20 (93.4%) 😀🙂
Overall: I am very happy with these scores. I know this is not a 23 like most of you on this site, but I do not think this score will keep me out of many schools. I am also happy that I did not bomb any section, except for the 17 in BIO. I was planning on taking this mid-Dec, but then I discovered most of the dead-lines were early Dec. I probably would have laughed at you 6 months ago if you told me I could get a 20 on the DAT. If I can do this, anyone can! Thanks SDN for all of your help. I went from the 46th% to the 93rd%!!!!!!!
BIO: This section was considerably more difficult this time. It was my only score that went down. I do not think studying much more would have helped my score in this section. The questions were very odd. Many questions were application of very advanced BIO concepts that I was very surprised to see on this exam. At least one was right out of Cliffs AP BIO. Genetics problems were tricky, and word problems did not make much sense (even though I am a senior BIO major). I guessed on about 10 of these which I did not have a clue about, and guessed on some others after narrowing them down. I was actually happy it only went down to a 17 after seeing the questions.
GC: Very basic. I did not study much for this section, and I got a "C" in CHM 2. Just know that canceling units and "rank the following" are really all you need to know to get a decent score.
OC: Fairly straightforward. I studied A LOT for OC. I feel that OC and GC are the most important sections to master in order to get a high AA. Each of the chemistry sections are only 30 questions, while the five other sections have 40, 50, and 40 questions. This means (as far as calculating AA) that each GC and OC question is worth more, because every section counts towards 1/5th of the AA. I definitely used this knowledge to my advantage while studying.
PA: I am naturally good at this, and did not study at all for it. I am sure with some practice I could have scored very high, but would rather focus on my weaknesses to achieve a well rounded score. Also, I don't think any scores in the 90th percentile are keeping me out of Dental school. Here are some helpful tips. (I only got a "17" on DAT Achiever)
Angle ranking: These are tough on the DAT, but make sure after you pick an answer, "verify" it by looking at the angles in order. They should appear to "open up" as you go through. This may sound stupid, but I felt it was very helpful in ranking the angles.
Aperture passing: I usually like to start with the one that looks the least like the actual object. A lot of times the object fits if you manipulate it the right way. I started this way because the correct answer was rarely the one that resembled the object as it was presented. If I got the answer choices down to two, I would compare them to figure it out. There is usually one obvious difference between two close answer choices.
Cube counting: Count slow. Double or even triple count the answers...you have time. Make sure get 100% in this part of the PAT, since it is so much easier than the rest of it.
RC: I read very slowly, comprehend horribly, and have the memory of a goldfish. I would have been happy with a 17. Words can not describe how happy I am with a 19 (I was getting 13-15 on DAT Achiever, and I got a 16 on the previous test). IF I CAN GET A 19 ON THIS SECTION ANYONE CAN! I attribute my score, or at least my improvement to "Search and Destroy". THANK YOU SDN MEMBERS FOR TEACHING ME THIS!!!!!!!
QR: This is my other strength. I though I was getting a 20+ on this section. The QR section was very basic, and mostly logical. I got a 19 and I skipped all of the trig problems (approx. 3-5 of them).
The weapons:
DAT DESTROYER (2009 ed): The best $165 ever spent. You learn by attempting to answer a question, then it explains the answer and the other choices. This is how I (and I think most people) learn best. It allows you to correct mistakes, and learn from them. Went through both OC and QR 1.5X, and BIO 0.5X. I did not understand 99% of the GC section, so I did not bother with it. I felt it was overkill, and I was right. OC section was excellent, and got me a 23. QR was great, but filled with misprints. This frustrating and distracting more than anything, but did not have any incorrect answers. I thought for $165 it would be better edited, however, it is still worth every penny. Get the DAT destroyer.
Chads Videos: The best thing that money can't buy. Watched OC videos 1.5X, and half of the GC videos. These videos cover major concepts very well, just be sure to set aside 20-30 hours to watch them. Cameraman is distracting because he sounds like Darth Vader breathing into the microphone on some videos, while on others he is checking out Chad instead of looking at the whiteboard. Highly recommend these videos, and THANK YOU CHAD FOR MAKING THESE!!!!!!!
KBB: I used it last time for everything, but this time for GC. Worth it for GC.
Cliff's AP BIOLOGY (I got 2nd Ed.): I didn't have time to get through this book completely, but definitely a great book. Questions at end of chapters are very basic, but that what the DAT is. Make sure you know a little bit about everything for the BIO section. Ironically, Cliffs AP BIO was the best edited DAT resource out of all of them, yet I bought it for $5 shipped (used).
Notes (from Alan I believe): Someone emailed me some BIO notes which where a brief summary of KBB BIO and DAT BIO. Worth looking at if you can find them. Just search for "Alan's notes", they are on SDN somewhere.
DAT Achiever: I absolutely hated this program. I know a lot of you like this, but I did not. If your head is getting big, and you want your ego crushed, then get Achiever. I got about a 15 TS, 15 AA, and 17 PAT for the achiever tests that I did. The test was overall way too hard, and I did not see how this was helpful to me. I think confidence is very important when taking a test. Getting 13-16 on everything did not inform me where I needed improvement, and destroyed any confidence that I had built up from studying X hours per day. The explanations were weak, especially when compared to DAT Destroyer. RC was very hard, and most of the questions I was getting right were at the end of each passage where I ran out of time and guessed. Another problem is that Achiever must connect to the internet in order to download each test, in order to verify the license. This is very frustrating if you are having internet connectivity problems the day before the test, when you are trying to practice a full length exam. I think if I were to do it again I would try Topscore.
Bookmarks: The best bookmarks were rejection letters from this cycle, and my previous DAT scores. This may sound silly, but if you start to lose motivation while studying, get distracted, etc. seeing a rejection letter or sub-par DAT scores will snap you right back into studying mode.
Now it is down to BU, NYU, and UCSF (I wont get my hopes up for UCSF). I am a white male 👎, I have a 3.3 GPA and a 3.2 science GPA, but I will be adding a 4.0 on after this semester! I have been working in a Dental practice for 1.5 years, however, I think 90% of the school care primarily about GPA/DAT. Hope to get some interviews soon!
Test 1 Test 2
PA 20 PA 21 (89.2%)
QR 17 QR 19 (92.9%)
RC 16 RC 19 (67.6%) 😀
BIO 19 BIO 17 (55.7%) 😱
GC 19 GC 22 (95.2%)
OC 16 OC 23 (97.1%) 👍
TS 18 TS 19 (82.8%)
AA 17 AA 20 (93.4%) 😀🙂
Overall: I am very happy with these scores. I know this is not a 23 like most of you on this site, but I do not think this score will keep me out of many schools. I am also happy that I did not bomb any section, except for the 17 in BIO. I was planning on taking this mid-Dec, but then I discovered most of the dead-lines were early Dec. I probably would have laughed at you 6 months ago if you told me I could get a 20 on the DAT. If I can do this, anyone can! Thanks SDN for all of your help. I went from the 46th% to the 93rd%!!!!!!!
BIO: This section was considerably more difficult this time. It was my only score that went down. I do not think studying much more would have helped my score in this section. The questions were very odd. Many questions were application of very advanced BIO concepts that I was very surprised to see on this exam. At least one was right out of Cliffs AP BIO. Genetics problems were tricky, and word problems did not make much sense (even though I am a senior BIO major). I guessed on about 10 of these which I did not have a clue about, and guessed on some others after narrowing them down. I was actually happy it only went down to a 17 after seeing the questions.
GC: Very basic. I did not study much for this section, and I got a "C" in CHM 2. Just know that canceling units and "rank the following" are really all you need to know to get a decent score.
OC: Fairly straightforward. I studied A LOT for OC. I feel that OC and GC are the most important sections to master in order to get a high AA. Each of the chemistry sections are only 30 questions, while the five other sections have 40, 50, and 40 questions. This means (as far as calculating AA) that each GC and OC question is worth more, because every section counts towards 1/5th of the AA. I definitely used this knowledge to my advantage while studying.
PA: I am naturally good at this, and did not study at all for it. I am sure with some practice I could have scored very high, but would rather focus on my weaknesses to achieve a well rounded score. Also, I don't think any scores in the 90th percentile are keeping me out of Dental school. Here are some helpful tips. (I only got a "17" on DAT Achiever)
Angle ranking: These are tough on the DAT, but make sure after you pick an answer, "verify" it by looking at the angles in order. They should appear to "open up" as you go through. This may sound stupid, but I felt it was very helpful in ranking the angles.
Aperture passing: I usually like to start with the one that looks the least like the actual object. A lot of times the object fits if you manipulate it the right way. I started this way because the correct answer was rarely the one that resembled the object as it was presented. If I got the answer choices down to two, I would compare them to figure it out. There is usually one obvious difference between two close answer choices.
Cube counting: Count slow. Double or even triple count the answers...you have time. Make sure get 100% in this part of the PAT, since it is so much easier than the rest of it.
RC: I read very slowly, comprehend horribly, and have the memory of a goldfish. I would have been happy with a 17. Words can not describe how happy I am with a 19 (I was getting 13-15 on DAT Achiever, and I got a 16 on the previous test). IF I CAN GET A 19 ON THIS SECTION ANYONE CAN! I attribute my score, or at least my improvement to "Search and Destroy". THANK YOU SDN MEMBERS FOR TEACHING ME THIS!!!!!!!
QR: This is my other strength. I though I was getting a 20+ on this section. The QR section was very basic, and mostly logical. I got a 19 and I skipped all of the trig problems (approx. 3-5 of them).
The weapons:
DAT DESTROYER (2009 ed): The best $165 ever spent. You learn by attempting to answer a question, then it explains the answer and the other choices. This is how I (and I think most people) learn best. It allows you to correct mistakes, and learn from them. Went through both OC and QR 1.5X, and BIO 0.5X. I did not understand 99% of the GC section, so I did not bother with it. I felt it was overkill, and I was right. OC section was excellent, and got me a 23. QR was great, but filled with misprints. This frustrating and distracting more than anything, but did not have any incorrect answers. I thought for $165 it would be better edited, however, it is still worth every penny. Get the DAT destroyer.
Chads Videos: The best thing that money can't buy. Watched OC videos 1.5X, and half of the GC videos. These videos cover major concepts very well, just be sure to set aside 20-30 hours to watch them. Cameraman is distracting because he sounds like Darth Vader breathing into the microphone on some videos, while on others he is checking out Chad instead of looking at the whiteboard. Highly recommend these videos, and THANK YOU CHAD FOR MAKING THESE!!!!!!!
KBB: I used it last time for everything, but this time for GC. Worth it for GC.
Cliff's AP BIOLOGY (I got 2nd Ed.): I didn't have time to get through this book completely, but definitely a great book. Questions at end of chapters are very basic, but that what the DAT is. Make sure you know a little bit about everything for the BIO section. Ironically, Cliffs AP BIO was the best edited DAT resource out of all of them, yet I bought it for $5 shipped (used).
Notes (from Alan I believe): Someone emailed me some BIO notes which where a brief summary of KBB BIO and DAT BIO. Worth looking at if you can find them. Just search for "Alan's notes", they are on SDN somewhere.
DAT Achiever: I absolutely hated this program. I know a lot of you like this, but I did not. If your head is getting big, and you want your ego crushed, then get Achiever. I got about a 15 TS, 15 AA, and 17 PAT for the achiever tests that I did. The test was overall way too hard, and I did not see how this was helpful to me. I think confidence is very important when taking a test. Getting 13-16 on everything did not inform me where I needed improvement, and destroyed any confidence that I had built up from studying X hours per day. The explanations were weak, especially when compared to DAT Destroyer. RC was very hard, and most of the questions I was getting right were at the end of each passage where I ran out of time and guessed. Another problem is that Achiever must connect to the internet in order to download each test, in order to verify the license. This is very frustrating if you are having internet connectivity problems the day before the test, when you are trying to practice a full length exam. I think if I were to do it again I would try Topscore.
Bookmarks: The best bookmarks were rejection letters from this cycle, and my previous DAT scores. This may sound silly, but if you start to lose motivation while studying, get distracted, etc. seeing a rejection letter or sub-par DAT scores will snap you right back into studying mode.
Now it is down to BU, NYU, and UCSF (I wont get my hopes up for UCSF). I am a white male 👎, I have a 3.3 GPA and a 3.2 science GPA, but I will be adding a 4.0 on after this semester! I have been working in a Dental practice for 1.5 years, however, I think 90% of the school care primarily about GPA/DAT. Hope to get some interviews soon!
