- Joined
- Jun 9, 2017
- Messages
- 26
- Reaction score
- 25
Hi all,
I have finally taken my exam and I am relieved that I can apply to dental school with a competitive score. It was a long two months but every second of it was worth it. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do one of these but I truly benefited from what others have posted on here. I am very grateful for this community as it not only helped me hone in on my goals and tweak my study habits accordingly. Before I get into it I would like to thank Orgoman, Ari, Joel, and Chad for the immeasurable resources they provide to this community. I know everyone says it but they cannot be thanked enough.
Test take: June 25, 2017
BIO: 30
GC: 22
OC: 29
RC: 22
GC: 22
PAT: 21
TS: 25
AA: 25
Resources:
· Cliff’s Notes AP Biology
· Math Destroyer and DAT Destroyer 2017
· Chad’s videos
· DAT Bootcamp
· YouTube to connect the dots
· Qvault BIO
Schedule: I studied every day. I took a few intermittent breaks here and there. For the first month, I probably studied on average from 7 to 6. The second month I ramped it up a lot and studied from about 6:30 to 11. I would say don’t do this because it was probably unhealthy but it seemed to work for me. During the days, I was going through Destroyer I would do 50 questions from each section and a Math Destroyer test. I don’t consider myself smarter than the average pre-dental student, I just made the decision that I was going to get a 23 or higher. Every day I would let that sink in and motivate me. I wrote down, saw and thought about that damn 23 that it became a part of me. I truly think if you give yourself 20 minutes every day to just sit and reflect on your goals and aspirations you will be much more likely to achieve them.
Biology: Learn don’t memorize. I was very thorough with cliff’s notes. I would read a chapter through without notes then immediately go back through and take detailed notes just to put the information in my own words. Anything that wasn’t clear to me I would stop and find a youtube video that explained the topic well. Once I felt like I could teach it to someone I would move on. I had about 140 pages of handwritten notes after Cliffs. I never went back through those notes; they were just used for me to learn the first time. The first half of the 2nd month it got hectic for me and I eased off bio for other sections--I did about 200 DAT Destroyer questions during this time. Two weeks out I decided to go through Ferali’s and this was worth all the buzz. I would put anything I was uncomfortable with into notecards. Don’t go through Ferali’s until you have learned most of the biology content. Then Ferali’s will be mostly review and new content will be easier to retain. Anyways of course through all this time I was doing bootcamp and qvault tests. I took a bootcamp test and got a 17 when I first started. It was a long road but I ended up averaging 23-25 in the last week. I see a lot of people complain about biology and if you let these negative thoughts get to you you’ll find that you cut corners. Learn everything.
General Chemistry: This was the section I put the most time into. I was averaging around 22 on bootcamp so I thought I would do better. Anyways Chad’s videos are amazing. In fact he was my favorite professor I’ve ever had haha. So, around the start of the 2nd month I took a bootcamp test and got a 17. I guessed a couple right too...so probably more like a 15. I contemplated rescheduling but I decided to grit it out and I knew if I wanted that 23 I had to work harder than I ever have. So, I did. I re-watched chad’s videos in a day and a half. I made notecards for everything. If there was a question that was covered in Chad’s videos I wasn’t going to miss it. His quizzes are extremely useful and very similar to what is on the exam. Destroyer was awesome for GC. I only went through once but I marked down about 40 questions I needed to go back through. I went through them the day before my exam. Know every type of question and calculation that can be thrown at you and you will kill it.
Organic Chemistry: I was fresh off organic chemistry in the spring so that really helped. Chad’s was great at filling in any of the information that was left out. Destroyer yet again is amazing if you use it correctly. I whited out the roadmaps and equations and made several copies. I went through those a few times. Also know your mechanisms. I have seen a little bit of a split on whether you should know the mechanisms. IT IS WORTH IT. At least for important reactions like markovnikov and anti-markovnikov additions of -OH to alkene/alkyne. Knowing more is never going to hurt you on the DAT. I made note cards from my chad’s notes and destroyer. I went through them a few times and really helped remind me little details.
Reading Comprehension: I couldn’t believe they allowed us to use a highlight tool. Still blows my mind. I decided to read each passage in full and highlight only the most important information. 10 minutes for the passage 10 minutes for the questions. My test is way easier than bootcamp’s and it also helped that two of the passages covered topics I was familiar with. When I was done, I thought I did better than a 22 but all in all I’m happy with a 22 here. Practice practice practice!
Quantitative Reasoning: I watched chad’s QR videos and found that helpful. Math Destroyer is good except it sucks that they were able to have QC questions in it. I’m sure next years Math Destroyer will be amazing. Anyways Orgoman was awesome and released that free set of problems. I went through that twice. I also did every bootcamp test and the days leading up to my exam I did the subject specific tests for everything I was weak on. I think I improved my score by 2 points in the last 5 days. QR was my weakest subject by far just because its not something I have done in a while. I was always good at math and got sucked into think I would be fine. I would suggest getting through whatever videos you are doing early and start cranking out math destroyer and other resources if you want to get in the high 20s. I watched some youtube videos on different topics too because I learn math best from someone teaching it. The exam was slightly easier than bootcamp.
Perceptual Ability: I didn’t put in a whole lot of time for perceptual ability. I started off learning how to do keyholes and got proficient at those. I think working on keyholes helps with learning the rest of the question types. Joel’s videos were awesome on the PAT Academy on bootcamp.
I’m glad to be done studying and I feel like I have really made myself better in these last 9 weeks. I would be happy to answer any questions.
Trust the process and out work everyone. You will get the score you dream of. Good luck to everyone on your test day!!
I have finally taken my exam and I am relieved that I can apply to dental school with a competitive score. It was a long two months but every second of it was worth it. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do one of these but I truly benefited from what others have posted on here. I am very grateful for this community as it not only helped me hone in on my goals and tweak my study habits accordingly. Before I get into it I would like to thank Orgoman, Ari, Joel, and Chad for the immeasurable resources they provide to this community. I know everyone says it but they cannot be thanked enough.
Test take: June 25, 2017
BIO: 30
GC: 22
OC: 29
RC: 22
GC: 22
PAT: 21
TS: 25
AA: 25
Resources:
· Cliff’s Notes AP Biology
· Math Destroyer and DAT Destroyer 2017
· Chad’s videos
· DAT Bootcamp
· YouTube to connect the dots
· Qvault BIO
Schedule: I studied every day. I took a few intermittent breaks here and there. For the first month, I probably studied on average from 7 to 6. The second month I ramped it up a lot and studied from about 6:30 to 11. I would say don’t do this because it was probably unhealthy but it seemed to work for me. During the days, I was going through Destroyer I would do 50 questions from each section and a Math Destroyer test. I don’t consider myself smarter than the average pre-dental student, I just made the decision that I was going to get a 23 or higher. Every day I would let that sink in and motivate me. I wrote down, saw and thought about that damn 23 that it became a part of me. I truly think if you give yourself 20 minutes every day to just sit and reflect on your goals and aspirations you will be much more likely to achieve them.
Biology: Learn don’t memorize. I was very thorough with cliff’s notes. I would read a chapter through without notes then immediately go back through and take detailed notes just to put the information in my own words. Anything that wasn’t clear to me I would stop and find a youtube video that explained the topic well. Once I felt like I could teach it to someone I would move on. I had about 140 pages of handwritten notes after Cliffs. I never went back through those notes; they were just used for me to learn the first time. The first half of the 2nd month it got hectic for me and I eased off bio for other sections--I did about 200 DAT Destroyer questions during this time. Two weeks out I decided to go through Ferali’s and this was worth all the buzz. I would put anything I was uncomfortable with into notecards. Don’t go through Ferali’s until you have learned most of the biology content. Then Ferali’s will be mostly review and new content will be easier to retain. Anyways of course through all this time I was doing bootcamp and qvault tests. I took a bootcamp test and got a 17 when I first started. It was a long road but I ended up averaging 23-25 in the last week. I see a lot of people complain about biology and if you let these negative thoughts get to you you’ll find that you cut corners. Learn everything.
General Chemistry: This was the section I put the most time into. I was averaging around 22 on bootcamp so I thought I would do better. Anyways Chad’s videos are amazing. In fact he was my favorite professor I’ve ever had haha. So, around the start of the 2nd month I took a bootcamp test and got a 17. I guessed a couple right too...so probably more like a 15. I contemplated rescheduling but I decided to grit it out and I knew if I wanted that 23 I had to work harder than I ever have. So, I did. I re-watched chad’s videos in a day and a half. I made notecards for everything. If there was a question that was covered in Chad’s videos I wasn’t going to miss it. His quizzes are extremely useful and very similar to what is on the exam. Destroyer was awesome for GC. I only went through once but I marked down about 40 questions I needed to go back through. I went through them the day before my exam. Know every type of question and calculation that can be thrown at you and you will kill it.
Organic Chemistry: I was fresh off organic chemistry in the spring so that really helped. Chad’s was great at filling in any of the information that was left out. Destroyer yet again is amazing if you use it correctly. I whited out the roadmaps and equations and made several copies. I went through those a few times. Also know your mechanisms. I have seen a little bit of a split on whether you should know the mechanisms. IT IS WORTH IT. At least for important reactions like markovnikov and anti-markovnikov additions of -OH to alkene/alkyne. Knowing more is never going to hurt you on the DAT. I made note cards from my chad’s notes and destroyer. I went through them a few times and really helped remind me little details.
Reading Comprehension: I couldn’t believe they allowed us to use a highlight tool. Still blows my mind. I decided to read each passage in full and highlight only the most important information. 10 minutes for the passage 10 minutes for the questions. My test is way easier than bootcamp’s and it also helped that two of the passages covered topics I was familiar with. When I was done, I thought I did better than a 22 but all in all I’m happy with a 22 here. Practice practice practice!
Quantitative Reasoning: I watched chad’s QR videos and found that helpful. Math Destroyer is good except it sucks that they were able to have QC questions in it. I’m sure next years Math Destroyer will be amazing. Anyways Orgoman was awesome and released that free set of problems. I went through that twice. I also did every bootcamp test and the days leading up to my exam I did the subject specific tests for everything I was weak on. I think I improved my score by 2 points in the last 5 days. QR was my weakest subject by far just because its not something I have done in a while. I was always good at math and got sucked into think I would be fine. I would suggest getting through whatever videos you are doing early and start cranking out math destroyer and other resources if you want to get in the high 20s. I watched some youtube videos on different topics too because I learn math best from someone teaching it. The exam was slightly easier than bootcamp.
Perceptual Ability: I didn’t put in a whole lot of time for perceptual ability. I started off learning how to do keyholes and got proficient at those. I think working on keyholes helps with learning the rest of the question types. Joel’s videos were awesome on the PAT Academy on bootcamp.
I’m glad to be done studying and I feel like I have really made myself better in these last 9 weeks. I would be happy to answer any questions.
Trust the process and out work everyone. You will get the score you dream of. Good luck to everyone on your test day!!
