Dat 8-23-07

[ean]

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Here are my scores-
bio-19
gchem-18
ochem-18
RC-19
QR-16
TS-18
AA-18
PAT-26

I spent the last ~8 weeks studying; I studied 6 days / week for 4-10 hours each day. The materials I used were Destroyer, Achiever, Kaplan flash cards, Barron's chem and bio books, Kaplan Blue Book, and Wikipedia. I invested most of my time using Destroyer and achiever, and I referenced the others, when I needed clarification or wanted to look deeper into a topic. I will do the infamous breakdown of each section.

Bio- When I started this section, I was a head case. I got about 5 or 6 questions in, and there were 2 questions that I had already guessed on, so my mindset was out of wack. I then did a crazy thing and decided to skip ahead to o-chem, so I could get my head back in the game. After finishing o-chem, I was in a better mindset, and the rest of the bio section went better. I was surprised that I didn't have any questions about glycolysis, Kreb's cycle, or the ETC, since I thought that these would make up several questions. The questions were similar to those of acheiver and destroyer, but most of them followed the mainstream biology and didn't go off into crazy, little details. I felt like it was written fair. I honestly thought that I scored at least a 20, but oh well.

Gchem- Because of how I did my science section, this happened to be my last of the sciences. I can't complain about getting an 18, because I had to guess on the last 5 or 6. There were only about 3 or 4 calculations, but I would still recommend knowing all of the basic equations. Some of the questions didn't require me to plug numbers into the equations, but they required me to know what the equations were and how to apply them. Destroyer is a great prep. If you know how to do all of the Destroyer questions, you will be money in this section. I didn't remember all of the formulas that Destroyer went over, but if I had, I would have gotten at least 3 or 4 more questions right.

O-chem- I really thought I did better on this section. I was expecting to see a 24 or higher for my score on this one. I don't know where I went wrong, but it all seemed pretty straight forward. Definately know your SN2/SN1/E2/E1 reactions; the Destroyer roadmaps are awesome. If you go through destroyer, you will be set.

QR- Most of these problems weren't tough, but they required a knowledege of all of the algebra, geometry, and trig rules. There were quite a few word problems. Know all of the basics, and work on speed.

RC- I am pleased with my score. I was scared of this section, going into the test, and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Most of the tone questions were pretty straight forward, and it was easy to rule out the wrong answers. I read the opening paragraph and then went straight to the questions. I hunted for the answers, after reading the questions.

PAT- I am fortunate. This section has always been fairly easy for me. I used Achiever, and it was a good resource. Achiever is way tougher than the real thing. Some of the angle ranking questions were tricky, but I just looked for the smallest and largest angles. By doing that, I was able to get the right answer w/o messing with the middle angles. It wasn't too bad. I had to pee so bad during this section. I hurried through it and finished 10 minutes early, so I could go to the bathroom.

My GPA is pretty low (2.9), and this is my third time applying. I was really hoping to do better on the DAT, but I am relieved to have it behind me. I really hope that it is enough for me to get in to dental school. I am a married father, and I just had my 27th birthday, yesterday, so I hope that I can get on with my life and get in to school. I would love to hear your feedback. Thanks

 

[denticus]

Hey I think that you did a great job on the DAT and almost all of your scores are consistent. QR should not hold you back and you totally rocked the PAT; that must be 100 percetilish cause I got a 24 and it was 99.5 percentile. Anyway, congrats and good luck.

 

[ean]

Hey I think that you did a great job on the DAT and almost all of your scores are consistent. QR should not hold you back and you totally rocked the PAT; that must be 100 percetilish cause I got a 24 and it was 99.5 percentile. Anyway, congrats and good luck.

Thanks. My PAT was 99.8%. The last time I took it, I got a 27, and that was 100 percentile. I am relieved that my scores are at least consistent and that my lowest is QR at 16.

 

[DentsDoItBetter]

holy **** ean......

your PAT score is out of this world....... how long have you practiced to get that 26???? and what kind of aids did you use?

dont tell me that you are just naturally good at those or i will have to throw a brick at you haha....

wow congrats...even though you had several week points....the scores look solid....

 

[pluginchugin]

I am in a very similar position that you are! good luck to the both of us

 

[ean]

holy **** ean......

your PAT score is out of this world....... how long have you practiced to get that 26???? and what kind of aids did you use?

dont tell me that you are just naturally good at those or i will have to throw a brick at you haha....


I took the DAT for the first time, 2 summers ago. Other than my dat prep, I haven't done anything special to practice. I have specific strategies that I use for each section that seem to work well for me. I don't have time to explain them right now, but I could later, if you really want to know. It is a combination of kaplan strategies and my own approaches.

I am also fortunate that this section comes fairly easy for me. My brother did well on the PAT, so maybe it is genetic or how we were raised.

 

[ean]

holy **** ean......

your PAT score is out of this world....... how long have you practiced to get that 26???? and what kind of aids did you use?

dont tell me that you are just naturally good at those or i will have to throw a brick at you haha....[quote/]



I took the DAT for the first time, 2 summers ago. Other than my dat prep, I haven't done anything special to practice. I have specific strategies that I use for each section that seem to work well for me. I don't have time to explain them right now, but I could later, if you really want to know. It is a combination of kaplan strategies and my own approaches.

I am also fortunate that this section comes fairly easy for me. My brother did well on the PAT, so maybe it is genetic or how we were raised.

 

[DentsDoItBetter]

please private message me about your techniques or if you have time please get back to me. i am taking my DAT exam this incoming friday so i would really appreciate it if you could help me out with this section. i am just horrible at it

thank you so much for taking time and helping me out

 

[Jo07]

haha me too! I'm taking it Friday and hole punching kills me.

Any help would be appreciated 😀

 

[DentsDoItBetter]

JoO7...are you as scared as i am about the DAT......

im so nervous, anxious, scared, yet i want to take it and get my life back....


AHHHHH what else do you have to do until friday???? (study material wise)

 

[ean]

Top-front-end view For this one, I think that practice is key. The way I started getting this section down was by imagining that I am in a helicopter and the object in view is a building that I am flying around. If you can rotate the object in your mind, while remembering which lines are where, then you can do it. Before I look at the answer choices, I predict exactly what the hidden view is going to look like. If I go straight to the answer choices, then I get confused. It is important to practice this one, because it is one that is easy to make mistakes on. Before I submit any answers, I always double check to make sure that I am not putting a dashed line where a solid line should be (and vise versa).

Hole punching I mentally unfold the paper, one fold at a time, making sure that I know exactly which holes are being punched at which places. This works most of the time, but for the confusing ones that are a pain to do mentally, I use scratch paper. I draw a 4x4 grid (with 16 possible places for the holes to be punched). As I mentally unfold the paper, I mark each of the holes on my grid. This takes a bit longer, but it is a sure way to check yourself, and it works. If you are struggling with this section, then it might be a good idea to make 15 grids on your scratch paper and use the grid approach.

Angle ranking This is a section that you should fly through. If you spend too much time on this section, then you will likely run out of time at the end. My approach is to find the smallest and largest angles. By doing this, you don't even need to mess with the middle angles. Be aware of angles that are close to 90 degrees; rarely are all of the angles obtuse, so pay close attention to how large the angles are in regards to 90.

Keyhole Be patient with this one. On the test, they will have some shapes that will be very close to the correct answer but slightly off. They will throw in slight variations that can be confusing. I take my time on this section, because it is easy to make mistakes. Check every angle and side. I imagine what kind of shadow will be cast, if a light were to shine on the object. If you have achiever, the answers are great, if you use the program that comes with it. This can help you see where the keyhole is derived from. One caution is that the test makers like to make certain angles and widths seem wider or narrower than they really are - be careful.

Cube counting I go pretty quick on this section. To do this one quick and right, you need to become familiar with which cubes will have a certain # of sides painted. Practice and go over you mistakes. As you do this, you will get quicker and will be able to recognize each cube by the position it is in. The Kaplan approach is to make a chart to keep track of how many cubes there are in the figure and then break that down into how many have 1,2,3... sides painted, and at the end adding them up to make sure that you counted correctly. I don't use this approach, because it takes too long for me, but it might help you, if you are struggling with it.

Pattern folding Like all of the sections, this one takes practice. Don't forget to always fold into the page. I typically pick one of the larger / major sides and build the entire object around it, in my head. Then, I look for the lines, dots, designs etc. that are on the object and I compare them in respect to one another. It is always good to double check your work on this section before submitting an asnwer, because mistakes areeasily made.

Well, this took me a while. I hope it is helpful to someone out there. I am no expert at the whole PAT thing, but these are things that have helped me improve. Good luck to you all.