Particular-Drawer740
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Hello everyone! I did not ever think I would be in this situation where I can talk about my experience studying for the DAT, but here we are!
Background: I just graduated with my BS in Biology in May and began studying at the beginning of June. I decided to take the year off and not go right into dental school preparation as I was a bit behind on my shadowing hours and working hard to raise my GPA. I was also extremely fortunate that my boss was going on vacation during the few weeks before my test, so I was able to go full throttle when studying. I took the DAT on August 10th, so it was just about 2 months of studying. In retrospect, I wish I had started a week or so before, as I felt I could have reviewed more on the organic chemistry reactions and other miscellaneous topics I was struggling with.
As far as studying went, I pretty much only used DAT Bootcamp and I felt it was perfectly set up. I also had a Kaplan study book, but I felt that the questions available on DAT Bootcamp were much more beneficial than the material from the Kaplan book. Obviously, price was a big concern for me, but I felt that every dollar I put towards this program was worth it in the end. I began using Ari's 2.5 month study guide, but began to fall behind just a bit (which is why I wish I began earlier!). Also, when going through the questions on DAT Bootcamp, EVEN IF YOU GET THEM RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, mark them as "review." There were a lot of topics I would mark to review that I would get wrong the second time through because I did not just watch the videos for the topic the day before.
Now lets get into the breakdown of each section, how I did on the DAT, and my practice test average from DAT Bootcamp:
BIOLOGY
Bootcamp average: 22 (10 tests taken)
DAT: 22
I felt this section was much more accurate to the practice tests on DAT Bootcamp than I heard most people were saying. There were a few easier questions, but I felt the depth of the material was about the same, pulling questions from nearly every topic. To study for this section, I would go through the videos on Bootcamp, taking notes as I went through them even if I was more familiar with the material. I began my studying with this approach, and I recommend most people do the same when it comes to studying the sciences due to the INSANE amount of material that is covered. If you did not take anatomy and physiology in college or even high school, I would start with those sections before anything else to fully familiarize yourself with the topics you need to know. The sheer amount of material is daunting for sure, but it is achievable! Just do a chapter or so a day, review it the next day, then continue to do the practice questions (Bio Bites/Question Bank) to be able to recall the information you just learned. I never really used the Anki decks, but I heard many people preferred that method in memorizing the material. Another huge help was the high-yield bio notes, which I recommend looking at a week or so before. What I did is I went through the notes and would take notes about which topics I was not very familiar with (looking at you, plants). This was very helpful, as there was even one question on my test that I would not have gotten if I did not go through the high-yield notes one more time! It may feel like you are spreading yourself thin, but even just being familiar with some of the topics or mechanisms can carry you greatly even if you do not remember every single little aspect.
GENERAL CHEMISTRY
Bootcamp average: 22 (7 taken)
DAT: 27
This was a big shock to me, as I felt the weakest in general chemistry when starting my studies mainly because I took it so long ago! Dr. Mike's videos were EXTREMELY helpful when relearning all the material, and he broke it down fully along with his personal shortcuts in order to go through questions quickly. Ari's study guide recommended going through about half a chapter a day, but I ended up just doing one chapter every other day. For people in my situation where the last time you took a general chemistry class was nearly 4 years ago, I would begin this alongside the biology lessons to get yourself back into thinking about chemistry. Going over the question banks the day after you go over a chapter will help internalize that material. Also, and I cannot stress this enough, UNDERSTAND WHY YOU GOT THE QUESTION WRONG! I would get easily frustrated with questions and just skip past them, just to get them wrong on my second run through of the question banks. Once I slowed down, understood why I got it wrong, and practiced questions surrounding a certain topic (Acids/Bases were my weakest point), I was able to consistently get the questions right on the banks and on the practice tests! A lot of topics may be daunting, such as periodic trends and memorizing certain ion names, but most of the time, you will remember them alongside the practice questions, but still be sure to go through them! There was one question on my DAT that had a weirdly named ion that I was able to remember due to the question banks and making sure I knew the ions! I have no clue how I did so great in this section, but I did start this section the earliest alongside biology and I would go through practice questions very often.
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Bootcamp average: 21 (7 taken)
DAT: 21
I was out for vengeance when it came to this section, as I failed organic chemistry 2 in college the first time I took it. I also began this section quite early, once I was done with the general chemistry videos. The earlier chapters I found easy, but the later chapters involve more pure memorization and understanding mechanisms of reactions, so I wish I had looked into those topics earlier. In my college class, we did not need to memorize alkene/alkyne reactions, so this was a huge shock to me. I felt well-prepared for this section, but wish I had taken more practice tests and had looked into the reaction bites and their explanations a bit more. While my test only had about 4 reaction-type questions, the sheer amount of reactions they can pull from is scary, so I would recommend using Anki flashcards or going through more reaction bites/question banks, and, once again, UNDERSTAND why you got the question wrong. Even if you feel this is a weaker section for you, or maybe you get frustrated with the material, you can still pull off a great score if you take the time to understand where you got the questions you did wrong. Another strategy I used that helped was writing out every reaction I had trouble remembering, and their mechanisms if they were talked about. While this can take a very long time, spending time to write out the reactions will help you memorize them much more than just seeing them only on the questions in my opinion. This is a section you really want to do well on, as it is a tough section for many students.
PAT
Bootcamp average: 24 (4 taken)
DAT: 23
I was very happy with this score. While it was lower than my bootcamp average, I only took 4 practice tests. I began this section before I began my "actual" studying, as I heard from a friend how confusing it is starting out. The videos on Bootcamp were a great place to start, as they give you the strategies to understand the approach of these questions. I personally began with keyholes, TFE, and hole punch, as they seemed the most confusing. You've probably heard it from every other post from this section, but practice this every single day, even if just for 15-30 minutes. Keeping these questions in your mind up until you take the test will help you do great in this section. While this score is not factored into your academic average, it stands alone to show how important it is. Definitely the weirdest section of the whole test, but familiarizing yourself with every type of question will allow you to go into test day able to attack these questions with great confidence! Just going over every topic and understanding your weak points will also let you do great. I used to SUCK at TFE questions, but after going through plenty of questions and understanding how the dashed lines work in the figures, I was able to score consistently well on the practice tests. Another pitfall many students face are rock keyholes. I lucked out by only getting one relatively easy one on my test, but I've heard some students face up to three on test day. There's no need to go overkill on these questions, but just understand how to narrow down the questions, and you will be fine. The big stressor of this section for me was the time. 90 questions in 60 minutes is definitely very stressful, so make sure you're going through the practice tests with the prometric delay (it's real, sadly) in order to gauge how much time you spend per section, and go over more practice questions with a timer on to speed up your response time on these questions!
READING COMPREHENSION
Bootcamp average: 27 (3 taken)
DAT: 22
The main points of this section are to understand what works for you. There's a plethora of different approaches to this section, so I implore you to try them all out and see what makes you the most accurate in answering these questions. I personally would fully read the passage with a numbered piece of paper in front of me, and write a few keywords per each paragraph, allowing me to go directly to the paragraph of interest when answering the questions. If you're not familiar with reading scientific articles, start by reading one to two a day to understand how they are written, and go for a broad approach! One of my passages on the test was about technology stuff, so it can really be about anything somewhat science related. This is another section that can be a time crunch, so once again, find the strategy that both makes you accurate in answering the questions and quick enough to give yourself time to review if needed. Also, take more practice tests than I did please! I wish I had not paid attention to my practice scores because I just stopped really studying this section, but I should have gone over all of them to do even better.
QUANTATATIVE REASONING
Bootcamp average: 20 (6 taken)
DAT: 23
I never had much trouble with math in high school, so I did not have a lot of trouble with this section. Familiarize yourself with the weirder questions such as data sufficiency, as I had a lot of trouble with those questions when studying for this section. I felt the practice tests were much harder than the actual test, but that does not mean the test was a walk in the park. There were some questions that were there to eat up time, such as some of the word problems, so being able to navigate through these types of questions quickly will allow you to spend more time on the real tough questions. Remember that this is a multiple choice exam, so if you are really unsure, just plug in the middle value to determine which direction you need to go in to find your answer.
So in the end, I achieved an academic average of 23! This took so much more work than I was expecting in the beginning, but using something such as Ari's study guide definitely helped me a lot. I did end up deviating from it a decent amount, but it helped me start out this daunting task. The main thing I would change is that I would have done more practice tests, and I would start them earlier on. I would wait until the very end of the section to take it, but I felt that doing one halfway through would help me focus on the topics I had already gone through and see what I had to keep in mind on my second run through of the material.
I was running on about 3 hours of sleep from how stressed I was to take it. I was so concerned about my score that I was sure my lack of sleep would be detrimental to my performance on the test. Thankfully, I was fine, but I HIGHLY recommend getting 8 hours of consistent sleep weeks leading up until your exam. If you can't fall asleep from stress, I recommend taking some time to yourself during the day! There would be many days where I would only be studying and by the end of the day, my brain was rattling with so much information I found it tough to fall asleep. Go on a walk, read a book to wind down, have some tea, whatever will help you calm your mind and allow you to sleep fully!
I know this may seem like a lot to take on, but I promise you that every single one of you reading this is capable of achieving this! I am not some brainiac: again, I failed organic chemistry 2 the first time I took it, and was struggling for a while to find the motivation to learn such a tough topic. The biggest thing for me is to think about my end goal. I have talked to so many people at past jobs that would say "I wish I ended up being a lawyer/doctor/etc., but I didn't go for it." They would say this with some regret, and I realized I did not want to be someone who regrets not going for their dream due to something they are under control of. There was nothing causing me to fail the class except for my doubt and my lack of accountability. Once I stopped blaming my failures on external factors and only focused aspects that were under my control, I retook the class and got an A! Even if you are struggling with a topic, just reach out to a professor or someone on here to make sure you get the material down!
I wanted to end with this quote from my grandfather: "Shovel the coal to make the fire." If you really think dentistry is for you and you can see yourself doing this, just put in that work and you will be able to achieve your goals. It is so tough to start, but once you do, you'll be shoveling in no time. Good luck to everyone taking the DAT in the future and thank you for reading my experience, I hope my strategies and approach to the test were helpful! I will try to respond to any questions as soon as possible!
Background: I just graduated with my BS in Biology in May and began studying at the beginning of June. I decided to take the year off and not go right into dental school preparation as I was a bit behind on my shadowing hours and working hard to raise my GPA. I was also extremely fortunate that my boss was going on vacation during the few weeks before my test, so I was able to go full throttle when studying. I took the DAT on August 10th, so it was just about 2 months of studying. In retrospect, I wish I had started a week or so before, as I felt I could have reviewed more on the organic chemistry reactions and other miscellaneous topics I was struggling with.
As far as studying went, I pretty much only used DAT Bootcamp and I felt it was perfectly set up. I also had a Kaplan study book, but I felt that the questions available on DAT Bootcamp were much more beneficial than the material from the Kaplan book. Obviously, price was a big concern for me, but I felt that every dollar I put towards this program was worth it in the end. I began using Ari's 2.5 month study guide, but began to fall behind just a bit (which is why I wish I began earlier!). Also, when going through the questions on DAT Bootcamp, EVEN IF YOU GET THEM RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, mark them as "review." There were a lot of topics I would mark to review that I would get wrong the second time through because I did not just watch the videos for the topic the day before.
Now lets get into the breakdown of each section, how I did on the DAT, and my practice test average from DAT Bootcamp:
BIOLOGY
Bootcamp average: 22 (10 tests taken)
DAT: 22
I felt this section was much more accurate to the practice tests on DAT Bootcamp than I heard most people were saying. There were a few easier questions, but I felt the depth of the material was about the same, pulling questions from nearly every topic. To study for this section, I would go through the videos on Bootcamp, taking notes as I went through them even if I was more familiar with the material. I began my studying with this approach, and I recommend most people do the same when it comes to studying the sciences due to the INSANE amount of material that is covered. If you did not take anatomy and physiology in college or even high school, I would start with those sections before anything else to fully familiarize yourself with the topics you need to know. The sheer amount of material is daunting for sure, but it is achievable! Just do a chapter or so a day, review it the next day, then continue to do the practice questions (Bio Bites/Question Bank) to be able to recall the information you just learned. I never really used the Anki decks, but I heard many people preferred that method in memorizing the material. Another huge help was the high-yield bio notes, which I recommend looking at a week or so before. What I did is I went through the notes and would take notes about which topics I was not very familiar with (looking at you, plants). This was very helpful, as there was even one question on my test that I would not have gotten if I did not go through the high-yield notes one more time! It may feel like you are spreading yourself thin, but even just being familiar with some of the topics or mechanisms can carry you greatly even if you do not remember every single little aspect.
GENERAL CHEMISTRY
Bootcamp average: 22 (7 taken)
DAT: 27
This was a big shock to me, as I felt the weakest in general chemistry when starting my studies mainly because I took it so long ago! Dr. Mike's videos were EXTREMELY helpful when relearning all the material, and he broke it down fully along with his personal shortcuts in order to go through questions quickly. Ari's study guide recommended going through about half a chapter a day, but I ended up just doing one chapter every other day. For people in my situation where the last time you took a general chemistry class was nearly 4 years ago, I would begin this alongside the biology lessons to get yourself back into thinking about chemistry. Going over the question banks the day after you go over a chapter will help internalize that material. Also, and I cannot stress this enough, UNDERSTAND WHY YOU GOT THE QUESTION WRONG! I would get easily frustrated with questions and just skip past them, just to get them wrong on my second run through of the question banks. Once I slowed down, understood why I got it wrong, and practiced questions surrounding a certain topic (Acids/Bases were my weakest point), I was able to consistently get the questions right on the banks and on the practice tests! A lot of topics may be daunting, such as periodic trends and memorizing certain ion names, but most of the time, you will remember them alongside the practice questions, but still be sure to go through them! There was one question on my DAT that had a weirdly named ion that I was able to remember due to the question banks and making sure I knew the ions! I have no clue how I did so great in this section, but I did start this section the earliest alongside biology and I would go through practice questions very often.
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Bootcamp average: 21 (7 taken)
DAT: 21
I was out for vengeance when it came to this section, as I failed organic chemistry 2 in college the first time I took it. I also began this section quite early, once I was done with the general chemistry videos. The earlier chapters I found easy, but the later chapters involve more pure memorization and understanding mechanisms of reactions, so I wish I had looked into those topics earlier. In my college class, we did not need to memorize alkene/alkyne reactions, so this was a huge shock to me. I felt well-prepared for this section, but wish I had taken more practice tests and had looked into the reaction bites and their explanations a bit more. While my test only had about 4 reaction-type questions, the sheer amount of reactions they can pull from is scary, so I would recommend using Anki flashcards or going through more reaction bites/question banks, and, once again, UNDERSTAND why you got the question wrong. Even if you feel this is a weaker section for you, or maybe you get frustrated with the material, you can still pull off a great score if you take the time to understand where you got the questions you did wrong. Another strategy I used that helped was writing out every reaction I had trouble remembering, and their mechanisms if they were talked about. While this can take a very long time, spending time to write out the reactions will help you memorize them much more than just seeing them only on the questions in my opinion. This is a section you really want to do well on, as it is a tough section for many students.
PAT
Bootcamp average: 24 (4 taken)
DAT: 23
I was very happy with this score. While it was lower than my bootcamp average, I only took 4 practice tests. I began this section before I began my "actual" studying, as I heard from a friend how confusing it is starting out. The videos on Bootcamp were a great place to start, as they give you the strategies to understand the approach of these questions. I personally began with keyholes, TFE, and hole punch, as they seemed the most confusing. You've probably heard it from every other post from this section, but practice this every single day, even if just for 15-30 minutes. Keeping these questions in your mind up until you take the test will help you do great in this section. While this score is not factored into your academic average, it stands alone to show how important it is. Definitely the weirdest section of the whole test, but familiarizing yourself with every type of question will allow you to go into test day able to attack these questions with great confidence! Just going over every topic and understanding your weak points will also let you do great. I used to SUCK at TFE questions, but after going through plenty of questions and understanding how the dashed lines work in the figures, I was able to score consistently well on the practice tests. Another pitfall many students face are rock keyholes. I lucked out by only getting one relatively easy one on my test, but I've heard some students face up to three on test day. There's no need to go overkill on these questions, but just understand how to narrow down the questions, and you will be fine. The big stressor of this section for me was the time. 90 questions in 60 minutes is definitely very stressful, so make sure you're going through the practice tests with the prometric delay (it's real, sadly) in order to gauge how much time you spend per section, and go over more practice questions with a timer on to speed up your response time on these questions!
READING COMPREHENSION
Bootcamp average: 27 (3 taken)
DAT: 22
The main points of this section are to understand what works for you. There's a plethora of different approaches to this section, so I implore you to try them all out and see what makes you the most accurate in answering these questions. I personally would fully read the passage with a numbered piece of paper in front of me, and write a few keywords per each paragraph, allowing me to go directly to the paragraph of interest when answering the questions. If you're not familiar with reading scientific articles, start by reading one to two a day to understand how they are written, and go for a broad approach! One of my passages on the test was about technology stuff, so it can really be about anything somewhat science related. This is another section that can be a time crunch, so once again, find the strategy that both makes you accurate in answering the questions and quick enough to give yourself time to review if needed. Also, take more practice tests than I did please! I wish I had not paid attention to my practice scores because I just stopped really studying this section, but I should have gone over all of them to do even better.
QUANTATATIVE REASONING
Bootcamp average: 20 (6 taken)
DAT: 23
I never had much trouble with math in high school, so I did not have a lot of trouble with this section. Familiarize yourself with the weirder questions such as data sufficiency, as I had a lot of trouble with those questions when studying for this section. I felt the practice tests were much harder than the actual test, but that does not mean the test was a walk in the park. There were some questions that were there to eat up time, such as some of the word problems, so being able to navigate through these types of questions quickly will allow you to spend more time on the real tough questions. Remember that this is a multiple choice exam, so if you are really unsure, just plug in the middle value to determine which direction you need to go in to find your answer.
So in the end, I achieved an academic average of 23! This took so much more work than I was expecting in the beginning, but using something such as Ari's study guide definitely helped me a lot. I did end up deviating from it a decent amount, but it helped me start out this daunting task. The main thing I would change is that I would have done more practice tests, and I would start them earlier on. I would wait until the very end of the section to take it, but I felt that doing one halfway through would help me focus on the topics I had already gone through and see what I had to keep in mind on my second run through of the material.
I was running on about 3 hours of sleep from how stressed I was to take it. I was so concerned about my score that I was sure my lack of sleep would be detrimental to my performance on the test. Thankfully, I was fine, but I HIGHLY recommend getting 8 hours of consistent sleep weeks leading up until your exam. If you can't fall asleep from stress, I recommend taking some time to yourself during the day! There would be many days where I would only be studying and by the end of the day, my brain was rattling with so much information I found it tough to fall asleep. Go on a walk, read a book to wind down, have some tea, whatever will help you calm your mind and allow you to sleep fully!
I know this may seem like a lot to take on, but I promise you that every single one of you reading this is capable of achieving this! I am not some brainiac: again, I failed organic chemistry 2 the first time I took it, and was struggling for a while to find the motivation to learn such a tough topic. The biggest thing for me is to think about my end goal. I have talked to so many people at past jobs that would say "I wish I ended up being a lawyer/doctor/etc., but I didn't go for it." They would say this with some regret, and I realized I did not want to be someone who regrets not going for their dream due to something they are under control of. There was nothing causing me to fail the class except for my doubt and my lack of accountability. Once I stopped blaming my failures on external factors and only focused aspects that were under my control, I retook the class and got an A! Even if you are struggling with a topic, just reach out to a professor or someone on here to make sure you get the material down!
I wanted to end with this quote from my grandfather: "Shovel the coal to make the fire." If you really think dentistry is for you and you can see yourself doing this, just put in that work and you will be able to achieve your goals. It is so tough to start, but once you do, you'll be shoveling in no time. Good luck to everyone taking the DAT in the future and thank you for reading my experience, I hope my strategies and approach to the test were helpful! I will try to respond to any questions as soon as possible!
