- Joined
- Aug 15, 2014
- Messages
- 324
- Reaction score
- 344
As usual, numbers first:
PAT: 25
QR: 21
RC: 24
Bio: 24
GC: 23
OC: 25
TS: 24
AA: 23
A bit of background: Bio major, graduated early from Chapel Hill a couple of years ago. As a person who has been vet-med for the past few years, I began considering studying for the DAT last summer after looking into the career and I bought DAT destroyer mid-August after watching most of Chad's Videos. I bought bootcamp mid-October (mainly for PAT sections) and I planned to (and did) take the DAT when the subscription ended in January.
Study routine and schedule: Over the months, I read a lot of breakdowns where students claimed to have spent 10-12 hours a day for weeks in preparation for this exam. Although I don't consider myself a bad student, I've never been able to keep my focus on one activity for that amount of time. On average, I spent approximately 2 hours a day from mid-August to mid-December (2014) studying for the DAT with breaks every few days or so. I also have a full-time job, so I had to study when I could. Thankfully, my job is awesome (seriously, working with monkeys is pretty sweet) and my boss was awesome enough to allow me to study when I needed to. I would only study a couple of subjects a day and I spent more on trouble areas (orgo, gc) than others. I found it useful to document my progress in Destroyer using excel and I also made a pretty decent study guide for bio in the process (see attached) where I wrote facts that I had trouble remembering.
Overall DAT exam: I got there about 20 mins early and was the first to go into the testing room. Sign in went well (other than me putting my stuff in the wrong locker, oops). As one can see, I was a bit amped/adrenaline-rushed going into the exam but settled into the bio pretty easily. My proctors made a point to tell me NOT to write on my 2 laminated grid sheets during the tutorial
but it turned out that I had about ~5 mins left after reviewing all of my marked q's on the science portion to make grids and cube charts. PAT went well and I took a quick break after to eat a bite of granola and use the toilet. Before I started, I also made the smart decision NOT to wear my jacket into the exam room as you apparently can't take any clothing off in the testing room. I would have been dying in there if that occurred. RC and QR went relatively quickly and I was out of there in about 4.5 hours total. Computer was actually pretty fast and the calculator allowed me to use the numberpad, which was very nice (no clicking #'s). Anyway, on to the specific sections:
PAT: Bootcamp rules for this, hands down. I think the actual DAT absolutely paled in comparison to the difficulty of bootcamp. For example, I was spending ~13 mins on average on the keyholes/apertures on bootcamp and was lucky to get 10/15 right; on the actual DAT, these were very obvious and much easier shapes and I got through with them in less than ten mins. TFE was easier as well; shapes were simple and akin to easier ones on bootcamp. Angles were also easier IMO as there seemed to be greater than 3 degrees difference between most angles; however, there were a few that were VERY similar that I probably got wrong. Hole punching was easy as usual using the grid method. Cubes weren't too bad but I wasn't expecting there to be just 2 questions for one figure; all of bootcamp's cubes have 3 questions associated with them. Pattern folding was easier than bootcamp but bootcamp definitely prepared me well as this was one of my weaker sections on the PAT. For reference, I was scoring around 20 on bootcamp PAT exams.
QR: I did about 3 or 4 Math Destroyer exam along with ~90 questions in the regular Destroyer math section in preparation. I wasn't fearing this section too much as I have always been proficient in math and was getting most of the Destroyer math q's right on the first go. Math destroyer is much harder than the actual DAT and I found the Math section in Destroyer to be much more similar to the actual exam. That being said, math destroyer will definitely help you conquer those few difficult q's that the DAT throws out at you. I would say ~30 I could answer within 40 seconds and the rest required a bit more knowledge and consideration. Also, KNOW YOUR UNIT CIRCLE AND TRIG FUNCTIONS. I'm glad I reviewed this because I had quite a few q's that required trig knowledge.
RC: I was fearing this section the most as I know dental schools weigh it heavily and also because I've never scored particularly high on reading sections on other standardized exams (660 on SAT reading, I think, and 156 or 70th percentile on GRE a couple years ago). I searched and destroyed most questions and the passages were (thankfully) straightforward to allow this. The three essays were science related and shorter than those found in bootcamp as well. Probably 90% could be answered w/ S&D.
Bio: This section was a blur, honestly, but in a good way. Most questions were very fundamental and required little deep knowledge. I didn't get any questions on the digestive system and only one on hormones. I did guess on a couple; one relating to taxonomy (and damn, I studied for this a bit as it was a problem area) and one on action potentials. There were quite a few questions that require only knowledge of simple definitions. I did get a few genetics questions that required math but nothing too time-consuming. Overall, on par with bootcamp but easier than Destroyer although the latter will prepare you well just based on the sheer # of questions.
GC: This was my second most-feared sections even though I got A's in undergrad. Thankfully, the exam wasn't too bad and was VERY similar in bootcamp in terms of question topics and wording. Destroyer helped a LOT in this section for preparation. I did about 200 of the problems in Destroyer and they definitely helped; I probably would have gotten those extra few right if I had dedicated more time to this section in destroyer. I remember 2 or 3 spontaneity questions on my exam as well as a few questions that gave you reactant/product concentrations and asked you to figure out if the reaction would shift left or right, etc.
OC: I studied the most for this section (did all q's in Destroyer once and then answering again q's that I got wrong the first time) and I am ecstatic with this score. I didn't do well in undergrad O-chem (B-, C in Orgo 1 and 2, respectively) but forced myself to relearn the material. For me, this section was RIDICULOUSLY easier than both bootcamp and Destroyer, the latter of which was definitely overkill. There were no multi-step synthesis problems (like those seen in destroyer) but I did have a few easy C-13 q's as well as some lab techniques. There were also some resonance questions so definitely know how to draw lewis structures if you don't remember the forms for common molecules.
STUDY MATERIALS:
Chad's Videos: 10/10 I started watching these in August and finished Orgo + some Gen Chem by the end of September. As most people agree, Chad is the man. He explains everything well and I honestly believe that I could have pulled a 20+ score in GC and OC just from watching these videos alone. I also used his reaction table as my bible for the past few months (attached below). Definitely worth the money for those on the edge.
Bootcamp: 10/10 By far the closest thing to the real exam. The PAT practice exams/generators alone are probably worth the ~$120 and the rest of the practice tests will give you a great idea of the topics that you will see on the actual exam. PAT is much more difficult than the actual exam but it will prepare you well for the real thing. The other tests are useful for identifying problem areas in your knowledge.
Destroyer: 9/10 Definitely overkill, but definitely useful for what it's meant for, which is blowing your TS score out of the water. I rate this 9/10 because I honestly feel like it induced anxiety (haha) but it honestly isn't very representative of the difficulty of the actual DAT. This is just my opinion however.
In conclusion, I'd like to thank Glimmer and everyone else who wrote detailed DAT breakdowns in the past: I would not have ever studied as well as I did if I did not have SDN as a resource to guide me through the process. I'm so relieved and I still can't believe my scores are what they are, and the idea that I'm actually going to become a dentist! Now it's only a matter of time.
P.S., for those interested, top choices are my in-state schools (UNC & ECU).
P.P.S. I've also attached a grid sheet PDF that I made that resembles the sheet your receive on the actual DAT; I printed and used this for practice for hole-punching.
EDIT: removed some details to avoid any issues with confidentiality.
PAT: 25
QR: 21
RC: 24
Bio: 24
GC: 23
OC: 25
TS: 24
AA: 23
A bit of background: Bio major, graduated early from Chapel Hill a couple of years ago. As a person who has been vet-med for the past few years, I began considering studying for the DAT last summer after looking into the career and I bought DAT destroyer mid-August after watching most of Chad's Videos. I bought bootcamp mid-October (mainly for PAT sections) and I planned to (and did) take the DAT when the subscription ended in January.
Study routine and schedule: Over the months, I read a lot of breakdowns where students claimed to have spent 10-12 hours a day for weeks in preparation for this exam. Although I don't consider myself a bad student, I've never been able to keep my focus on one activity for that amount of time. On average, I spent approximately 2 hours a day from mid-August to mid-December (2014) studying for the DAT with breaks every few days or so. I also have a full-time job, so I had to study when I could. Thankfully, my job is awesome (seriously, working with monkeys is pretty sweet) and my boss was awesome enough to allow me to study when I needed to. I would only study a couple of subjects a day and I spent more on trouble areas (orgo, gc) than others. I found it useful to document my progress in Destroyer using excel and I also made a pretty decent study guide for bio in the process (see attached) where I wrote facts that I had trouble remembering.
Overall DAT exam: I got there about 20 mins early and was the first to go into the testing room. Sign in went well (other than me putting my stuff in the wrong locker, oops). As one can see, I was a bit amped/adrenaline-rushed going into the exam but settled into the bio pretty easily. My proctors made a point to tell me NOT to write on my 2 laminated grid sheets during the tutorial
but it turned out that I had about ~5 mins left after reviewing all of my marked q's on the science portion to make grids and cube charts. PAT went well and I took a quick break after to eat a bite of granola and use the toilet. Before I started, I also made the smart decision NOT to wear my jacket into the exam room as you apparently can't take any clothing off in the testing room. I would have been dying in there if that occurred. RC and QR went relatively quickly and I was out of there in about 4.5 hours total. Computer was actually pretty fast and the calculator allowed me to use the numberpad, which was very nice (no clicking #'s). Anyway, on to the specific sections:PAT: Bootcamp rules for this, hands down. I think the actual DAT absolutely paled in comparison to the difficulty of bootcamp. For example, I was spending ~13 mins on average on the keyholes/apertures on bootcamp and was lucky to get 10/15 right; on the actual DAT, these were very obvious and much easier shapes and I got through with them in less than ten mins. TFE was easier as well; shapes were simple and akin to easier ones on bootcamp. Angles were also easier IMO as there seemed to be greater than 3 degrees difference between most angles; however, there were a few that were VERY similar that I probably got wrong. Hole punching was easy as usual using the grid method. Cubes weren't too bad but I wasn't expecting there to be just 2 questions for one figure; all of bootcamp's cubes have 3 questions associated with them. Pattern folding was easier than bootcamp but bootcamp definitely prepared me well as this was one of my weaker sections on the PAT. For reference, I was scoring around 20 on bootcamp PAT exams.
QR: I did about 3 or 4 Math Destroyer exam along with ~90 questions in the regular Destroyer math section in preparation. I wasn't fearing this section too much as I have always been proficient in math and was getting most of the Destroyer math q's right on the first go. Math destroyer is much harder than the actual DAT and I found the Math section in Destroyer to be much more similar to the actual exam. That being said, math destroyer will definitely help you conquer those few difficult q's that the DAT throws out at you. I would say ~30 I could answer within 40 seconds and the rest required a bit more knowledge and consideration. Also, KNOW YOUR UNIT CIRCLE AND TRIG FUNCTIONS. I'm glad I reviewed this because I had quite a few q's that required trig knowledge.
RC: I was fearing this section the most as I know dental schools weigh it heavily and also because I've never scored particularly high on reading sections on other standardized exams (660 on SAT reading, I think, and 156 or 70th percentile on GRE a couple years ago). I searched and destroyed most questions and the passages were (thankfully) straightforward to allow this. The three essays were science related and shorter than those found in bootcamp as well. Probably 90% could be answered w/ S&D.
Bio: This section was a blur, honestly, but in a good way. Most questions were very fundamental and required little deep knowledge. I didn't get any questions on the digestive system and only one on hormones. I did guess on a couple; one relating to taxonomy (and damn, I studied for this a bit as it was a problem area) and one on action potentials. There were quite a few questions that require only knowledge of simple definitions. I did get a few genetics questions that required math but nothing too time-consuming. Overall, on par with bootcamp but easier than Destroyer although the latter will prepare you well just based on the sheer # of questions.
GC: This was my second most-feared sections even though I got A's in undergrad. Thankfully, the exam wasn't too bad and was VERY similar in bootcamp in terms of question topics and wording. Destroyer helped a LOT in this section for preparation. I did about 200 of the problems in Destroyer and they definitely helped; I probably would have gotten those extra few right if I had dedicated more time to this section in destroyer. I remember 2 or 3 spontaneity questions on my exam as well as a few questions that gave you reactant/product concentrations and asked you to figure out if the reaction would shift left or right, etc.
OC: I studied the most for this section (did all q's in Destroyer once and then answering again q's that I got wrong the first time) and I am ecstatic with this score. I didn't do well in undergrad O-chem (B-, C in Orgo 1 and 2, respectively) but forced myself to relearn the material. For me, this section was RIDICULOUSLY easier than both bootcamp and Destroyer, the latter of which was definitely overkill. There were no multi-step synthesis problems (like those seen in destroyer) but I did have a few easy C-13 q's as well as some lab techniques. There were also some resonance questions so definitely know how to draw lewis structures if you don't remember the forms for common molecules.
STUDY MATERIALS:
Chad's Videos: 10/10 I started watching these in August and finished Orgo + some Gen Chem by the end of September. As most people agree, Chad is the man. He explains everything well and I honestly believe that I could have pulled a 20+ score in GC and OC just from watching these videos alone. I also used his reaction table as my bible for the past few months (attached below). Definitely worth the money for those on the edge.
Bootcamp: 10/10 By far the closest thing to the real exam. The PAT practice exams/generators alone are probably worth the ~$120 and the rest of the practice tests will give you a great idea of the topics that you will see on the actual exam. PAT is much more difficult than the actual exam but it will prepare you well for the real thing. The other tests are useful for identifying problem areas in your knowledge.
Destroyer: 9/10 Definitely overkill, but definitely useful for what it's meant for, which is blowing your TS score out of the water. I rate this 9/10 because I honestly feel like it induced anxiety (haha) but it honestly isn't very representative of the difficulty of the actual DAT. This is just my opinion however.
In conclusion, I'd like to thank Glimmer and everyone else who wrote detailed DAT breakdowns in the past: I would not have ever studied as well as I did if I did not have SDN as a resource to guide me through the process. I'm so relieved and I still can't believe my scores are what they are, and the idea that I'm actually going to become a dentist! Now it's only a matter of time.
P.S., for those interested, top choices are my in-state schools (UNC & ECU).
P.P.S. I've also attached a grid sheet PDF that I made that resembles the sheet your receive on the actual DAT; I printed and used this for practice for hole-punching.
EDIT: removed some details to avoid any issues with confidentiality.
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