I benefitted a lot from reading threads about how to prepare for the DAT so here's my two cents. These were my scores:
PA 27
QR 22
RC 24
Bio 20
GC 23
OC 23
TS 22
AA 22
I used the Kaplan Blue book, Kaplan online package, the DAT destroyer, crack the PAT, chads videos and the math destroyer.
I can't stress how much the DAT destroyer will help you improve for the sciences. Yes, it is overkill but you want to be over-prepared because a)you'll be stressed out during the test and want to be on autopilot for the Chem questions and b) you don't know what they'll throw at you in bio and it's important to see everything out of left field beforehand. I would break up each section into 40 questions for bio and 30 for the Chems and track how your score improves over time. Highlight the questions that you miss and make notecards for the concepts that you don't know, especially for bio. After you finish the entire book go back and redo the questions that you missed.
The Kaplan blue book should be the mainstay of your bio study. I looked at a cliffs book and thought that it was redundant if you know Kaplan. I would suggest reading and outlining each section, especially the organ systems and the really studying the main point for each chapter ( loop of henle for urinary, embryological processes, metabolism pathways) because you WILL see a question for each of these on the actual DAT and they're the gimme putts.
The Kaplan online material is really only beneficial for the practice exams and the quizzes but all of these proved invaluable on test day. I tried bootcamp and thought that the questions were not very similar to those on the actual test.
The math destroyer and the dat destroyer are all that you need for math. Time yourself on the math destroyer for each test, and do them all. The dat destroyer is much easier but is representative of the actual test, so start with that and make outlines for what you do not know.
PAT was the hardest for me out of the gate. Kaplan videos show you the tricks for each section, but you need to work on crack the pat if you want to improve. Take all ten of the tests that they offer and you will be prepared.
Chads videos are the most important resource for learning what you have forgotten since you took the pre reqs. Watch all of the Orgo and Chem videos. The bio videos that cover metabolism are also very good. I liked the math ones too because they are short and give you shortcuts for the tricky questions I.e. Age, rate and probability.
Reading comp is really all about focus so don't worry about preparing for it. The Kaplan full lengths are plenty of prep. It's right after your break too. I went straight to the questions after reading the first and last paragraph of each passage. The questions are detail-oriented so you just need to skim and find the answer.
Good luck!
PA 27
QR 22
RC 24
Bio 20
GC 23
OC 23
TS 22
AA 22
I used the Kaplan Blue book, Kaplan online package, the DAT destroyer, crack the PAT, chads videos and the math destroyer.
I can't stress how much the DAT destroyer will help you improve for the sciences. Yes, it is overkill but you want to be over-prepared because a)you'll be stressed out during the test and want to be on autopilot for the Chem questions and b) you don't know what they'll throw at you in bio and it's important to see everything out of left field beforehand. I would break up each section into 40 questions for bio and 30 for the Chems and track how your score improves over time. Highlight the questions that you miss and make notecards for the concepts that you don't know, especially for bio. After you finish the entire book go back and redo the questions that you missed.
The Kaplan blue book should be the mainstay of your bio study. I looked at a cliffs book and thought that it was redundant if you know Kaplan. I would suggest reading and outlining each section, especially the organ systems and the really studying the main point for each chapter ( loop of henle for urinary, embryological processes, metabolism pathways) because you WILL see a question for each of these on the actual DAT and they're the gimme putts.
The Kaplan online material is really only beneficial for the practice exams and the quizzes but all of these proved invaluable on test day. I tried bootcamp and thought that the questions were not very similar to those on the actual test.
The math destroyer and the dat destroyer are all that you need for math. Time yourself on the math destroyer for each test, and do them all. The dat destroyer is much easier but is representative of the actual test, so start with that and make outlines for what you do not know.
PAT was the hardest for me out of the gate. Kaplan videos show you the tricks for each section, but you need to work on crack the pat if you want to improve. Take all ten of the tests that they offer and you will be prepared.
Chads videos are the most important resource for learning what you have forgotten since you took the pre reqs. Watch all of the Orgo and Chem videos. The bio videos that cover metabolism are also very good. I liked the math ones too because they are short and give you shortcuts for the tricky questions I.e. Age, rate and probability.
Reading comp is really all about focus so don't worry about preparing for it. The Kaplan full lengths are plenty of prep. It's right after your break too. I went straight to the questions after reading the first and last paragraph of each passage. The questions are detail-oriented so you just need to skim and find the answer.
Good luck!
and so will the dental schools. I always stress to students exactly what you said, OVER PREPARE and test day will be a breeze, take shortcuts and it can end in disaster.
