shadowmax02
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2022
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
Background:
I just finished college this past June 2022 and awarded magna cum laude. I actually just got interested in dentistry this past summer. I've tried many displcines in the medical field over the past 4 years, but thankfully I found something to stick too afterwards. I had no intention of going to dental school prior to these past 6 months, the furthest I would have thought of applying was medical school but I wasn't sure if it was the right fit for me. Currently, I also work part-time about 20+ hrs a week depending if I am tight on cash.
Scores:
PAT - 22
QR - 22
RC - 27
Bio - 30
GC - 26
OC - 24
TS - 26
AA - 26
Materials:
Schedule/Practice tests:
Let's go ahead and breakdown each subject. For Bio, Gen Chem, and Ochem, I'll be talking about how I studied for it and what worked for me. Then what I thought during the test. PAT, Math and Reading were in the background for me and I never really studied for those. Quick note: I haven't seriously studied for a class in over a year as I was taking the rest of my fun courses in my last year in college, like dance, and enjoying time with friends, so getting into the swing of studying was extremely difficult.
Biology :
I had a roller-coaster of emotions with this subject. At first I thought it was going to be my favorite, then I saw all the chapters pages on DATBooster and thought to myself "There is no way that there is 280 pages that I have to learn, only for there to be 40 questions picked". For the first 6 weeks, I mainly studied for this section. I eventually found my groove about 6 weeks into studying for bio. This is how I studied, and I would recommend if using Anki. The first thing I would do in the morning is read about 10 pages worth of the DATBooster bio notes and make my own anki flashcards. I would end up with about 40-60 anki flash cards. Next morning, I would review those anki flashcards I just made, then read about 5 pages of bio notes and make anki flashcards. Next morning, do those quick flashcards and read about 10 pages of bio and making those into flashcards. I had to do this because I work morning shifts at a boba shop, so I had to crunch time. I also liked it because I didn't want to read dense textbook pages daily, and alternating the amount of pages to read helped a lot. So given every 2 days you would read about 15 pages and do flashcards, if you do this with all 280 pages, it would take you 36-38 days total to go through all that material (19 days of reading 10 pages, and 19 days of reading 5 pages) on top of making flashcards to use daily. HIGHLY recommend this method. On top of that, watching bio videos from DATBooster and some from khan academy will help retain information. I had to use Khan academy videos for the women reproductive system (I am a male, so this was really hard for me to grasp) and the excretory system (I lost with the kidneys and the formation of urine).
During the test, I had made sure to mentally prepare myself. To me, it was really important to start the test strong, as I didn't want to overthink and bring my confidence down. I swear, DATBooster had like 6 questions on their practice exams that I saw on the actual DAT. It was great because some of the questions I had actually missed on the practice exams, so thankfully I went over what I got wrong, and got it right when it mattered. I would say, if you made your own flash cards, understood the material at a macro-level, the you should feel really confident going into it. My own problem that I had fixed over time was reading the questions. I noticed that I would read questions too fast and select an answer w/o looking at the other answer choices. DON'T DO THAT. Read each question thought fully and slowly.
General Chemistry:
I started studying for this 6 weeks in. Before that, I would watch the videos, but not to learn, but re-familiarize myself with the content. Remember, at this point I had not taken gen chem in 4 years, and ochem in 3 years so I needed a refresher. I got the hang of it maybe about the 8th week into studying. This is particularly because I really liked general chemistry and organic chemistry in college, so I knew I would get the hang of it, even if I needed to dust off 4 years worth of brain muscles. Out of the 3 science sections, this was the least amount I studied for. I would read each DATBooster general chemistry chapters, do the recommended examples and watch each video. There wasn't anything else out of the ordinary that I used to study for this part.
During the test, I thought it was kind of a cake-walk. Compared to the DATBooster practice tests, the calculations were beyond easy. Seriously, the practice test would make you calculate some hard stuff without a calculator so I was afraid that the actual test would do the same. I don't remember a question that was insanely hard to figure out, it was honestly a lot of conceptual questions.
Organic Chemistry:
I also started studying for ochem seriously 6 weeks in, for the same reason as seen in the general chemistry section. I put a lot of effort into ochem by making physical flashcards and putting the reaction mechanisms on there. I had around 120 physical flashcards for ochem. I would study these on rotation in between my practice tests. I would study 1/3 of the set each day before each practice tests. If I couldn't do that, I would just make sure to finish reviewing my flashcards before each practice test throughout the day. Overall, there were not that many mechanisms on the actual test, but a lot of conceptual questions. So if memorizing mechanisms are hard, then please make sure to understand the basics (acidity strength, conjugation, molecular names etc.). Actually, the hardest thing for me was learning Elimination and Substitution reactions, specifically because I didn't know what reagents were being used. It wasn't until the last week of the test that I understood the difference between strong nucleophiles, weak nucleophiles, strong bases, and weak bases.
During the test, I thought to myself "DATBooster definitely had harder questions, like a lot harder questions." That being said, I actually stumbled across like 2 conceptual questions I had not recognized or studied. So I just did my best to navigate through those. DATBooster might over prepare you on reactions. My test didn't have that many, so I can't say that with 100% certainty that yours will be the same as mine. But on my exam, I had a lot of very conceptual questions, like which acid is stronger, and resonance structures. I also recommend going over the name of specific structures. This will really help you out if you know the name of structures.
PAT:
If there is anything to take away from this section, it's how to save yourself one minute on the actual test. Before this section even starts, you are prompted a screen telling you that you had finish the survey of natural science, or whatever its called. STAY ON THIS SCREEN. DO NOT CLICK END (or whatever it says). As soon as you click out of it, you will immediately start the PAT and the timer will be going down. Fortunately, I thought to myself, I think I can draw lines for holepunch and the table for cube counting. I finished writing down what I needed for this section and then clicked out of the end screen. The PAT timer had started and I had already drawn all that I use for the PAT. I had saved myself a minute by doing this. I am not aware if this popular or if everyone knows to do this. Other than that, my tips for the puzzles are as good as the DATboosters videos. I just practiced when I could and review what I got wrong the night before each practice exam so it was fresh in my head.
Reading comprehension:
Okay, looking at the score may be confusing with how I felt during the test. This was actually the part of the test I had felt the worst on. My confidence was it its lowest because of the strategy I used. On the practice tests, I would use search and destroy. This meant I would not read the passage, rather look at the question and find the answers. If there is anything I recommend, it would be NOT to use search and destroy. On the actual test, half of the questions were impossible to find so I had to come up with a new strategy on the spot. A quick note: I do enjoy reading, I read a a lot of manga and comic books. I do not like to read articles for fun, thats why I actively used search and destroy because I didn't want to read long passages. The only reason why I did well, is because I was able to cross out answers before even reading the passage, this would leave me with about 2-3 choices left. Genuinely, if you read all 4 answers in each question and thought about them, you could probably pick the right answer. Some of the answer choices do not make sense, and I personally used my gut about how I felt about things and used it to navigate to the right answer. I don't know how to frame this technique I used, but I would describe it was having a lot of background knowledge. While I am not an expert in each of the passage, I could tell you which answer choices were wrong because it doesn't make sense in real life. Because the passages dealt with real-life examples, I happened to just choose the answers that would make sense in real life. I hope this makes sense, cause its what spared me my score because I had no time to read any of the passages left and search and destroy method was not panning out.
Quantitative reasoning:
I have a solid background in math. However, also like gen chem and ochem, I haven't taken a math class in 4 years. I would study this the day before each practice exam. I would go over what I got wrong and right, and just start studying from there. I usually just go with the flow of it. I have 0 tips for this section except to cram equations. Math is gonna be Math.
Final notes:
I just finished college this past June 2022 and awarded magna cum laude. I actually just got interested in dentistry this past summer. I've tried many displcines in the medical field over the past 4 years, but thankfully I found something to stick too afterwards. I had no intention of going to dental school prior to these past 6 months, the furthest I would have thought of applying was medical school but I wasn't sure if it was the right fit for me. Currently, I also work part-time about 20+ hrs a week depending if I am tight on cash.
Scores:
PAT - 22
QR - 22
RC - 27
Bio - 30
GC - 26
OC - 24
TS - 26
AA - 26
Materials:
- DATBooster and almost completed every extra questions that were given in it. I chose this because it was the cheapest and seemed to be really representative of the test. I would agree with those people, but I didn't use any other programs so I can't compare.
- I highly recommend ANKI for bio. It was my saving grace in bio because there is so much to learn.
- Besides ANKI, I did watch maybe 2 videos tops from khan academy. I used them for bio subjects that I was still incredibly confused about.
- I used physical flashcards for ochem, math and some chemistry.
Schedule/Practice tests:
- I had initially followed the DATBooster 12 week program as I worked and couldn't study every day. But I got super tired of keeping up with it, and I'm usually better at scheduling my own. I would suggest to follow this up until the practice tests (~ 7 weeks total).
- When it comes to practice tests, I would highly recommend to take each practice exam in-between 4 days of each other. The DATBooster has you taking practice exams with a week long break in-between in the beginning, and then within 2 days of each other closer to the test date. To me, it was incredibly important to space out each and treat every practice test the same in-order to really break down each of my results in depth.
Let's go ahead and breakdown each subject. For Bio, Gen Chem, and Ochem, I'll be talking about how I studied for it and what worked for me. Then what I thought during the test. PAT, Math and Reading were in the background for me and I never really studied for those. Quick note: I haven't seriously studied for a class in over a year as I was taking the rest of my fun courses in my last year in college, like dance, and enjoying time with friends, so getting into the swing of studying was extremely difficult.
Biology :
I had a roller-coaster of emotions with this subject. At first I thought it was going to be my favorite, then I saw all the chapters pages on DATBooster and thought to myself "There is no way that there is 280 pages that I have to learn, only for there to be 40 questions picked". For the first 6 weeks, I mainly studied for this section. I eventually found my groove about 6 weeks into studying for bio. This is how I studied, and I would recommend if using Anki. The first thing I would do in the morning is read about 10 pages worth of the DATBooster bio notes and make my own anki flashcards. I would end up with about 40-60 anki flash cards. Next morning, I would review those anki flashcards I just made, then read about 5 pages of bio notes and make anki flashcards. Next morning, do those quick flashcards and read about 10 pages of bio and making those into flashcards. I had to do this because I work morning shifts at a boba shop, so I had to crunch time. I also liked it because I didn't want to read dense textbook pages daily, and alternating the amount of pages to read helped a lot. So given every 2 days you would read about 15 pages and do flashcards, if you do this with all 280 pages, it would take you 36-38 days total to go through all that material (19 days of reading 10 pages, and 19 days of reading 5 pages) on top of making flashcards to use daily. HIGHLY recommend this method. On top of that, watching bio videos from DATBooster and some from khan academy will help retain information. I had to use Khan academy videos for the women reproductive system (I am a male, so this was really hard for me to grasp) and the excretory system (I lost with the kidneys and the formation of urine).
During the test, I had made sure to mentally prepare myself. To me, it was really important to start the test strong, as I didn't want to overthink and bring my confidence down. I swear, DATBooster had like 6 questions on their practice exams that I saw on the actual DAT. It was great because some of the questions I had actually missed on the practice exams, so thankfully I went over what I got wrong, and got it right when it mattered. I would say, if you made your own flash cards, understood the material at a macro-level, the you should feel really confident going into it. My own problem that I had fixed over time was reading the questions. I noticed that I would read questions too fast and select an answer w/o looking at the other answer choices. DON'T DO THAT. Read each question thought fully and slowly.
General Chemistry:
I started studying for this 6 weeks in. Before that, I would watch the videos, but not to learn, but re-familiarize myself with the content. Remember, at this point I had not taken gen chem in 4 years, and ochem in 3 years so I needed a refresher. I got the hang of it maybe about the 8th week into studying. This is particularly because I really liked general chemistry and organic chemistry in college, so I knew I would get the hang of it, even if I needed to dust off 4 years worth of brain muscles. Out of the 3 science sections, this was the least amount I studied for. I would read each DATBooster general chemistry chapters, do the recommended examples and watch each video. There wasn't anything else out of the ordinary that I used to study for this part.
During the test, I thought it was kind of a cake-walk. Compared to the DATBooster practice tests, the calculations were beyond easy. Seriously, the practice test would make you calculate some hard stuff without a calculator so I was afraid that the actual test would do the same. I don't remember a question that was insanely hard to figure out, it was honestly a lot of conceptual questions.
Organic Chemistry:
I also started studying for ochem seriously 6 weeks in, for the same reason as seen in the general chemistry section. I put a lot of effort into ochem by making physical flashcards and putting the reaction mechanisms on there. I had around 120 physical flashcards for ochem. I would study these on rotation in between my practice tests. I would study 1/3 of the set each day before each practice tests. If I couldn't do that, I would just make sure to finish reviewing my flashcards before each practice test throughout the day. Overall, there were not that many mechanisms on the actual test, but a lot of conceptual questions. So if memorizing mechanisms are hard, then please make sure to understand the basics (acidity strength, conjugation, molecular names etc.). Actually, the hardest thing for me was learning Elimination and Substitution reactions, specifically because I didn't know what reagents were being used. It wasn't until the last week of the test that I understood the difference between strong nucleophiles, weak nucleophiles, strong bases, and weak bases.
During the test, I thought to myself "DATBooster definitely had harder questions, like a lot harder questions." That being said, I actually stumbled across like 2 conceptual questions I had not recognized or studied. So I just did my best to navigate through those. DATBooster might over prepare you on reactions. My test didn't have that many, so I can't say that with 100% certainty that yours will be the same as mine. But on my exam, I had a lot of very conceptual questions, like which acid is stronger, and resonance structures. I also recommend going over the name of specific structures. This will really help you out if you know the name of structures.
PAT:
If there is anything to take away from this section, it's how to save yourself one minute on the actual test. Before this section even starts, you are prompted a screen telling you that you had finish the survey of natural science, or whatever its called. STAY ON THIS SCREEN. DO NOT CLICK END (or whatever it says). As soon as you click out of it, you will immediately start the PAT and the timer will be going down. Fortunately, I thought to myself, I think I can draw lines for holepunch and the table for cube counting. I finished writing down what I needed for this section and then clicked out of the end screen. The PAT timer had started and I had already drawn all that I use for the PAT. I had saved myself a minute by doing this. I am not aware if this popular or if everyone knows to do this. Other than that, my tips for the puzzles are as good as the DATboosters videos. I just practiced when I could and review what I got wrong the night before each practice exam so it was fresh in my head.
Reading comprehension:
Okay, looking at the score may be confusing with how I felt during the test. This was actually the part of the test I had felt the worst on. My confidence was it its lowest because of the strategy I used. On the practice tests, I would use search and destroy. This meant I would not read the passage, rather look at the question and find the answers. If there is anything I recommend, it would be NOT to use search and destroy. On the actual test, half of the questions were impossible to find so I had to come up with a new strategy on the spot. A quick note: I do enjoy reading, I read a a lot of manga and comic books. I do not like to read articles for fun, thats why I actively used search and destroy because I didn't want to read long passages. The only reason why I did well, is because I was able to cross out answers before even reading the passage, this would leave me with about 2-3 choices left. Genuinely, if you read all 4 answers in each question and thought about them, you could probably pick the right answer. Some of the answer choices do not make sense, and I personally used my gut about how I felt about things and used it to navigate to the right answer. I don't know how to frame this technique I used, but I would describe it was having a lot of background knowledge. While I am not an expert in each of the passage, I could tell you which answer choices were wrong because it doesn't make sense in real life. Because the passages dealt with real-life examples, I happened to just choose the answers that would make sense in real life. I hope this makes sense, cause its what spared me my score because I had no time to read any of the passages left and search and destroy method was not panning out.
Quantitative reasoning:
I have a solid background in math. However, also like gen chem and ochem, I haven't taken a math class in 4 years. I would study this the day before each practice exam. I would go over what I got wrong and right, and just start studying from there. I usually just go with the flow of it. I have 0 tips for this section except to cram equations. Math is gonna be Math.
Final notes:
- Take time to yourself! I actually went to Vegas for 3 days and went to a concert maybe a month before the exam. It's important to have fun with friends and family 🙂
- Be confident in yourself! I did this by planning the morning of the test, so I wasn't flustered or nervous. I woke up at 5:30am so I can listen to guitar covers of songs and do my morning routine. I felt good going into the exam by doing this! I also think it's incredibly important, as you do not want to give up immediately on the test, and start second guessing yourself on each question.
- Have something planned afterwards. I hung out with my friends and went to an all-you-can-eat Japanese bbq. I planned this regardless of what score I was going to get, I just spent about 12 weeks studying and I couldn't wait to finish the test.
- Good luck 😀 we'll all be dentists before we know it.
