- Joined
- Apr 17, 2017
- Messages
- 17
- Reaction score
- 20
Hi everyone,
Been a long time lurker on SDN. Just took my DAT on Tuesday and wanted to contribute somehow to those taking the test in the future. Also wanted to take the chance to thank Dr. Romano and Nancy (@orgoman22), @Ari Rezaei, @joelm, @Biomechanix, @BYU4you and @FeralisExtremum for all of their resources and guidance.
Background: Nontraditional student with a major in Business Administration. Took a few bio and chem classes very early during undergrad and the rest of my dental prerequisites after graduating. GPA: 3.9 sGPA: 4.0
Breakdown:
PAT: 20
QR: 18
RC: 25
BIO: 24
CHEM: 21
OCHEM: 26
TS: 23
AA: 23
Schedule: Studied throughout a 3 month period. Initially starting with 6 hours a day for the first 2 and a half months and ramping it up to 10-12 for the last two weeks. Wasn’t able to finish a single full length test on bootcamp and didn’t do the 2007 or 2009 practice tests.
Materials used:
DAT destroyer 2014/2018
Math destroyer 2014
Chad’s videos
DAT bootcamp
Feralis’ Notes
Cliffs AP BIO 3rd edition
Anki flash cards
In the order of breakdown:
1. PAT: Didn’t allocate much time to PAT as I should have so I was glad I ended up with a 20. Sparsely did some generators on bootcamp and did 1 practice test and scored a 20. Not much else to say. I believe bootcamp is the best resource to use for practice. Joel’s videos were great.
2. QR: I was always terrible at math after finishing calculus. Did all 15 tests in math destroyer and did all of the bootcamp test but always did it slow. Just couldn’t figure out the timing, which became my biggest issue during the exam. Most of the problems were very simple in nature but setting it up just took me longer than I expected so I was satisfied with an 18 after marking about 15 problems. Bootcamp test scores ranged from 18-21.
3. RC: Did terrible initially on the bootcamp tests to the point where I got 22/50 for test 10. Was extremely frustrated up until the last few days before the exam. Bootcamp tests were extremely difficult when compared to the actual exam. However, they are necessary to do. I believe the best use of bootcamp for RC is developing a strategy that works well for you and testing multiple strategies that can be utilized. Ended up using BYU4you’s balance method with passage mapping. On the DAT, I just dropped the mapping and did the balance method in combination with S/D. Had 10 morning minutes to spare at the end. Bootcamp test scores ranged from 17-22.
4. Bio: Utilized a bunch of resources for this. Started by skimming Cliff’s AP bio once. Then switch to an Anki deck provided by biomechanix. After getting a good foundation, I used Feralis’ notes up until the day before the test. Went through DAT destroyer 2014 and 2018 once. DAT destroyer will destroy your soul, but will expose you to a wide variety of bio questions. Like everyone says bredth over depth. Took all 10 bootcamp bio tests. Scores ranged from 20-25.
5. Chem: My second most hated subject behind QR. Watched Chad’s videos twice for gen chem and made a set of flash cards based on his videos. Did destroyer 2014 4 times and did 2018 twice. Towards the end, I made a list of problems that I consistently missed and reviewed them over and over until it became second nature. Did all 10 bootcamp tests. Scores ranged from 19-23.
6. Ochem: My favorite subject. Started studying for Ochem before I even took the classes. Chad is the best for Ochem. He teaches Ochem in a way that an elementary school student can understand. Watched his Ochem series 3 times. Also watched Mike’s videos. Excellent as well and simplified some of the material that Chad taught. Mike’s was amazing for HNMR, CNMR and IR. Went through destroyer the same amount as gen chem and made flash cards out of Chad’s vidoes. Didn’t use the roadmaps in destroyer since I had trouble visualing the reactions in map form. Did all 10 bootcamp tests. Scored ranged from 21 to 30.
Day before the test: Did some light review throughout the day for bio, genchem and ochem. Tried to sleep at 10 but couldn’t sleep until 2AM.
Day of the test: Woke up at 6AM. Got ready, had some beef jerky and had my friend drive me to the testing center. Did some QR review for units. Arrived and checked in at about 7:30. Test began exactly at 8. Couldn’t write anything during the tutorial. Took the full 30 minute break after the PAT to relax.
Final thoughts: I thought I was going to end up with an AA of 18. Most recommended review materials: Chad’s and Feralis. Bootcamp and destroyer are a must for practice and learning. The questions will frustrate you to no end, but will prepare you well for test day. Don’t focus too much on the practice test results. As long as you learned from mistakes and understand the reasoning, everything will be fine.
Been a long time lurker on SDN. Just took my DAT on Tuesday and wanted to contribute somehow to those taking the test in the future. Also wanted to take the chance to thank Dr. Romano and Nancy (@orgoman22), @Ari Rezaei, @joelm, @Biomechanix, @BYU4you and @FeralisExtremum for all of their resources and guidance.
Background: Nontraditional student with a major in Business Administration. Took a few bio and chem classes very early during undergrad and the rest of my dental prerequisites after graduating. GPA: 3.9 sGPA: 4.0
Breakdown:
PAT: 20
QR: 18
RC: 25
BIO: 24
CHEM: 21
OCHEM: 26
TS: 23
AA: 23
Schedule: Studied throughout a 3 month period. Initially starting with 6 hours a day for the first 2 and a half months and ramping it up to 10-12 for the last two weeks. Wasn’t able to finish a single full length test on bootcamp and didn’t do the 2007 or 2009 practice tests.
Materials used:
DAT destroyer 2014/2018
Math destroyer 2014
Chad’s videos
DAT bootcamp
Feralis’ Notes
Cliffs AP BIO 3rd edition
Anki flash cards
In the order of breakdown:
1. PAT: Didn’t allocate much time to PAT as I should have so I was glad I ended up with a 20. Sparsely did some generators on bootcamp and did 1 practice test and scored a 20. Not much else to say. I believe bootcamp is the best resource to use for practice. Joel’s videos were great.
2. QR: I was always terrible at math after finishing calculus. Did all 15 tests in math destroyer and did all of the bootcamp test but always did it slow. Just couldn’t figure out the timing, which became my biggest issue during the exam. Most of the problems were very simple in nature but setting it up just took me longer than I expected so I was satisfied with an 18 after marking about 15 problems. Bootcamp test scores ranged from 18-21.
3. RC: Did terrible initially on the bootcamp tests to the point where I got 22/50 for test 10. Was extremely frustrated up until the last few days before the exam. Bootcamp tests were extremely difficult when compared to the actual exam. However, they are necessary to do. I believe the best use of bootcamp for RC is developing a strategy that works well for you and testing multiple strategies that can be utilized. Ended up using BYU4you’s balance method with passage mapping. On the DAT, I just dropped the mapping and did the balance method in combination with S/D. Had 10 morning minutes to spare at the end. Bootcamp test scores ranged from 17-22.
4. Bio: Utilized a bunch of resources for this. Started by skimming Cliff’s AP bio once. Then switch to an Anki deck provided by biomechanix. After getting a good foundation, I used Feralis’ notes up until the day before the test. Went through DAT destroyer 2014 and 2018 once. DAT destroyer will destroy your soul, but will expose you to a wide variety of bio questions. Like everyone says bredth over depth. Took all 10 bootcamp bio tests. Scores ranged from 20-25.
5. Chem: My second most hated subject behind QR. Watched Chad’s videos twice for gen chem and made a set of flash cards based on his videos. Did destroyer 2014 4 times and did 2018 twice. Towards the end, I made a list of problems that I consistently missed and reviewed them over and over until it became second nature. Did all 10 bootcamp tests. Scores ranged from 19-23.
6. Ochem: My favorite subject. Started studying for Ochem before I even took the classes. Chad is the best for Ochem. He teaches Ochem in a way that an elementary school student can understand. Watched his Ochem series 3 times. Also watched Mike’s videos. Excellent as well and simplified some of the material that Chad taught. Mike’s was amazing for HNMR, CNMR and IR. Went through destroyer the same amount as gen chem and made flash cards out of Chad’s vidoes. Didn’t use the roadmaps in destroyer since I had trouble visualing the reactions in map form. Did all 10 bootcamp tests. Scored ranged from 21 to 30.
Day before the test: Did some light review throughout the day for bio, genchem and ochem. Tried to sleep at 10 but couldn’t sleep until 2AM.
Day of the test: Woke up at 6AM. Got ready, had some beef jerky and had my friend drive me to the testing center. Did some QR review for units. Arrived and checked in at about 7:30. Test began exactly at 8. Couldn’t write anything during the tutorial. Took the full 30 minute break after the PAT to relax.
Final thoughts: I thought I was going to end up with an AA of 18. Most recommended review materials: Chad’s and Feralis. Bootcamp and destroyer are a must for practice and learning. The questions will frustrate you to no end, but will prepare you well for test day. Don’t focus too much on the practice test results. As long as you learned from mistakes and understand the reasoning, everything will be fine.
