- Joined
- Dec 2, 2014
- Messages
- 280
- Reaction score
- 373
Hey everyone,
Before I begin my breakdown, I definitely have a few people to thank. First and foremost, this breakdown is dedicated to Nancy and Dr. Romano-- two people who helped me along the way and put their hearts and souls into a wonderful product, DAT Destroyer. Without them and the Destroyer series, I would never have gotten the scores I did. You two are so incredibly kind and just overall wonderful people who deserve nothing but rave reviews. So, thank you for everything. Can't wait to meet you both one day.
Next, I wanted to thank Feralis. Your notes helped me immensely. Not only that, but you're also such a nice person (and very humble, might I add) which is very refreshing. Without your bio notes, I wouldn't have had a solid foundation to build upon once I started the Destroyer. So thank you VERY much!
Finally, I have all of you to thank. You are all such a great support system and many of you are so kind and helpful. Thank you for sharing your breakdowns and answering questions--it is so greatly appreciated.
My breakdown might be a little different from the rest because Bootcamp wasn't very helpful for me, never mind the fact that I noticed some of the questions in the tests that were literally the same questions from Destroyer, just reworded. Rubbed me the wrong way. Nevertheless, the only helpful section was PAT, so I will give credit where credit is due. But I'm still going to focus on the products that I believe will help the most. Not saying Bootcamp won't help at all--it was definitely a great representation of timed testing conditions. However, it deviated a lot in terms of how the real test "feels", so to speak, which stressed me out much more than necessary. It was much more intense (not necessarily harder, but just more pressurized) than the real deal, so that extra stress wasn't necessary in my opinion. DAT Destroyer was much more interactive, and while it's much harder than the real DAT, it was more calming to me because I took it question by question and as more of a learning tool than anything. When I noticed my scores on Bootcamp increasing and my knowledge of certain things heightening because I went through each question of the Destroyer thoroughly, I was insanely happy and reassured. My biggest advice going into this is staying as calm and confident as possible, and I can guarantee that this won't happen if you don't feel prepared. I postponed my DAT twice because I didn't feel ready. My whole family and all of my friends were constantly telling me that I made a mistake and that they think I'm ready and I always freak out but then do well, but in my heart of hearts I knew I wasn't prepared. You need to do what you think is best for yourself, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Trust yourself. That's the biggest lesson I learned from my 6 grueling months of studying. By trust yourself, I mean: know how you work. Know what it takes for you to comprehend a vast amount of information and what it takes for it to stick. Know how long it will take you to learn a lot of new information and how much repetition you personally need. You know yourself best, so trust your gut. It won't lead you astray. Sorry for such a long prelude. Here's my breakdown
Biology (25):
I started studying for Biology in January since I knew this was by FAR my weakest subject and that if I studied little by little every day, it would stick. I'm personally happy I started this early (since some people say to study this last because a lot of the information will leave you if you start too early). It allowed for more of it to settle in my brain and enabled me to build upon each topic that I was weak on. Repetition with this was key. I started reading Princeton Review's "Cracking the DAT" which is insanely thorough and truly has a great biology section. It was taking me too long to read it and take notes, so I finished about half of the book while taking copious amounts of notes on my laptop, which definitely taught me a lot. After this, I started on DAT Destroyer Biology and it was incredibly challenging. I realized that I needed to learn all of the information before beginning. So I read Feralis' notes two times through and took notes on the sections that were particularly difficult for me. This took a solid 3 weeks. Finally, I picked up Destroyer, and it was much easier this time around. I did all of the problems and with each problem, I would copy every SINGLE piece of information in the back of the book into the margin by each question. Then, if any of the words in that question or in the answer choices (even if it wasn't the right answer) were unfamiliar, I would Google the word and write another note in the margin. My Destroyer Bio section looked like a hot mess after I wrote everything down in it. Like I'm pretty sure if you turned to any page, you wouldn't find any amount of white paper. It's just all notes haha. I went through the Destroyer twice for this and I made sure to be thorough each time. After going through this section of the book, I could've sworn there was nothing that I didn't know. Destroyer Biology will prepare you 100% for anything you can encounter on the DAT. It's insane. I am so incredibly grateful that I pushed myself to go through it. It was insanely challenging, but rewarding at the same time. Again, thank you Dr. Romano and Nancy You guys rock.
Side note: I took a practice biology test before I began studying, and I scored a 16. And I guessed on many of the questions. Before I started studying for biology in January, I'm not kidding when I say that my biology knowledge was less than 10% of what we need to know for the DAT. That 10% accounted for Biochemistry that I had just taken and that I really enjoyed. That's about it. I couldn't stand intro to Bio--it bored me to death. I took Anatomy this spring, which was such an interesting class, so that also immensely helped for this exam.
Actual exam: SO much easier than anything I encountered. I swear when I was going through the questions, I mouthed to myself, "This must be a joke". But truly I think it's because I over prepared. But if you want this badly enough, you gotta do it. It was torture for me to study Biology. Pure torture. But I did it and I have faith that all of you can, too. TRUST YOURSELF! Anyways, my exam was heavy on Anatomy and Physiology and had many simple questions that had to do with the first 20 ish pages of Feralis. I had a few genetics problems (pretty straightforward). I actually had a few math problems in the section, but nothing too bad. No microscopes No immune system. No plants. Some taxonomy. Just do the Destroyer, haha. I promise that EVERY question on my exam could be answered in some way or another by going through the Destroyer. Best resource ever.
Bootcamp average: 22
General Chemistry (21):
Again, the Destroyer (and Chad's) saved my score. I was anticipating a bit higher on this one, but I unfortunately skipped 2 questions because I knew they'd require a little bit of time, and I was already running a little behind, so I just answered B and moved on. Didn't have time to come back (I'm a really slow test taker because I pay too much attention to detail, don't judge). But most of the questions were insanely straight forward. I had many more conceptual questions than calculations. Pretty sure I had like 3 calculation problems. There was Hess's law and just your basic "which way will the reaction shift if...". Know the ideal gas concepts and boiling point stuff. Nothing that came out of left field. Also, know your lab techniques. Also, I know I'm more or less obsessed with Destroyer and some of you are probably thinking like, "Why don't you marry the Destroyer?", haha, but I'm serious, DO THE WHOLE BOOK. I can think of at least 5 questions in the Gen Chem section that I wouldn't have been able to do without having had gone through Destroyer. Oh, and I built my foundation on Chad's notes, which were such an incredible investment. I kind of didn't really mention them much yet because I think it goes without saying how amazing Chad is, since every breakdown here has it. But yeah, do Chad's first of course. It'll give you the best foundation possible and Destroyer will just go in for the kill.
Bootcamp average: 24
Organic Chemistry (25):
I don't have too much to say about this section because I'm obsessed with O-Chem and love it a lot. It's my favorite subject in all of life, lol. I feel like I had a good preparation from my university, so I just went through the Destroyer once after going through Chad's videos and quizzes. Chad solidified everything I had learned in school (get the videos, trust me), and Destroyer pieced together a lot of the things that are important to know cold. Without the Destroyer, I definitely wouldn't have gotten 2-3 of the questions right that I think I did. I specifically recall a couple that were challenging for me in the Destroyer that I'm super happy I worked through, because if it hadn't been for that, I wouldn't have gotten those questions right on the real exam. Know the 25 most asked reactions in the Destroyer and work through each problem, SERIOUSLY! I had 2 NMR questions (straightforward), and a lot of synthesis reactions with very few conceptual ones. There were 2 very weirdly worded questions, so make sure you take a deep breath and read it slowly to understand exactly what they're asking for.
Bootcamp average: 27
Perceptual Ability (20):
Man oh man, I remember sitting on the couch with my mom a year ago looking at some of the example keyholes on the 2007 exam and not knowing how to do a single one. I knew I'd have to work on this section or I wouldn't be able to do a filling as a dentist at all (sarcasm intended, lol). So I did a little bit of PAT everyday and I seemed to improve a lot. Crack DAT PAT was very easy--I was scoring about a 23 on my last few exams. I was super proud. Step in: Bootcamp. Nope, just nope. I got two 18's and freaked out a bit. Super challenging. The keyholes got me every time and I just could never finish an exam on time. Finally, I got my score up to a 21 and that eased my worries after a lot of practice with Bootcamp. The real exam's keyholes were identical to Crack DAT (surprisingly--I was expecting a lot of "rocks" just like others' breakdowns have mentioned). But what (also surprisingly) actually got me on the test was TFE. I literally got 15/15 on each Bootcamp exam and on the real test, I think I was confident with only two of my answers. The TFE was INSANE. The shading and the figures themselves were just crazy looking and I could barely imagine it in 3D. I was scared (cue sympathetic nervous system). Angles were super straightforward and so was pattern folding and cube counting. No weird figures or anything. Pattern folding was a little more difficult than expected. I had many more shaded figures than just the ones where you can identify the largest, most prominent piece. Still doable though. With lots of practice, you can do it
Side note: I thought I would have to retake the exam after this section was over. I'm not exaggerating. I was so defeated and sad. But you have to keep going and not think about the previous section. There's nothing that can be done, so just move forward and forget about it. That's all you really can do. I promise it'll always end up better than you think. No clue how I pulled a 20.
Bootcamp average/Crack DAT PAT average: 20/23
Reading Comprehension (24):
To say I'm shocked would be an understatement. Going into the exam, I was sure that if anything would take away my dream of becoming a dentist, it would be my score on the reading section. I'm just a super slow reader and no matter how much I read every day, nothing helps. It's just how I'm structured-- I like being thorough and detailed with everything I do, so reading isn't an exception. So I had to somehow figure out a way to skim through the articles without focusing on the details too heavily, which thankfully I was able to do with this exam. Bootcamp was barely reminiscent of the exam. I scored straight 17's (and one 20). The reading material was much more dense on Bootcamp and I constantly felt pressured for time. The real exam was SO much more straightforward. Not because you could search or destroy or anything. I had a ton of tone and reasons for this and that questions. The material was just so much more engaging and more easily understandable. Just super straight forward. Word of advice: don't freak out. Take your time in reading the questions and the article, and make sure you spend 20 minutes per passage. Be calm.
Bootcamp average: 17
Quantitative Reasoning (24):
Math Destroyer was excellent in preparing me for this section. It's very thorough and touches upon EVERYTHING you can encounter. Learn ALL of the formulas in the front of the book (yet another thing DAT Bootcamp has almost word for word on their page with a DATBOOTCAMP stamp on the page...LOL). They'll help you a lot. Understand when to use them. I didn't feel like timing was actually that much of an issue. It was super low pressure. I was mortified that I'd run out of time since I could only get through half of the questions on Bootcamp and through 30 ish questions in the Math Destroyer. But the real exam was much more straight forward and simple. Just know your formulas and when to apply them and you're set. Go through each Math Destroyer test--you won't regret it. Do whatever it takes to get into dental school. Even if that entails killing yourself with yet another permutation/combination problem, haha. Just do it.
Bootcamp average: 19 (ran out of time on every exam half way through and guessed on 7 ish with a minute remaining).
That's my breakdown. To sum it up, the exam was much easier than what I was expecting. But that's not because it's easier material--it's just that I was prepared. You need to feel this way, or I recommend not taking it yet and postponing it. There's no shame in doing that. Do what feels right. Don't give up on your dreams and trust in yourself, and you won't go wrong. Surround yourself with nice and loving people and it'll make things that much easier for you. Also, realize that your life won't end if you don't get the score you want. Have a back up plan (aka volunteering/shadowing/working for a year and reapply/retake the test). Also nothing wrong with that. No shame! When I was freaking out, my best friend said, "Why are you so scared? This should be exciting for you. You should be happy that you have the opportunity to showcase your skills and show the schools what you're made of. Show them how much you've learned and be excited about putting your best foot forward." That comment really put my mind to ease. We should be grateful we have the opportunity to even take the exam, let alone the fact that we have the right tools and we're equipped to take this test from what we've learned in school. It'll be worth it in the end. Just believe in yourself and don't give up. TRUST YOURSELF (can't say this enough).
Please feel free to ask me anything you want. I'm always here to help in any way since you all helped me so much. Thank you again and I hope this breakdown eases some nerves/helps even one person.
Also, I love Breaking Bad so I chose the wonderful Heisenberg to cover my name. I promise no meth was involved in the process of studying for and taking this test, hehe.
Much love!
Before I begin my breakdown, I definitely have a few people to thank. First and foremost, this breakdown is dedicated to Nancy and Dr. Romano-- two people who helped me along the way and put their hearts and souls into a wonderful product, DAT Destroyer. Without them and the Destroyer series, I would never have gotten the scores I did. You two are so incredibly kind and just overall wonderful people who deserve nothing but rave reviews. So, thank you for everything. Can't wait to meet you both one day.
Next, I wanted to thank Feralis. Your notes helped me immensely. Not only that, but you're also such a nice person (and very humble, might I add) which is very refreshing. Without your bio notes, I wouldn't have had a solid foundation to build upon once I started the Destroyer. So thank you VERY much!
Finally, I have all of you to thank. You are all such a great support system and many of you are so kind and helpful. Thank you for sharing your breakdowns and answering questions--it is so greatly appreciated.
My breakdown might be a little different from the rest because Bootcamp wasn't very helpful for me, never mind the fact that I noticed some of the questions in the tests that were literally the same questions from Destroyer, just reworded. Rubbed me the wrong way. Nevertheless, the only helpful section was PAT, so I will give credit where credit is due. But I'm still going to focus on the products that I believe will help the most. Not saying Bootcamp won't help at all--it was definitely a great representation of timed testing conditions. However, it deviated a lot in terms of how the real test "feels", so to speak, which stressed me out much more than necessary. It was much more intense (not necessarily harder, but just more pressurized) than the real deal, so that extra stress wasn't necessary in my opinion. DAT Destroyer was much more interactive, and while it's much harder than the real DAT, it was more calming to me because I took it question by question and as more of a learning tool than anything. When I noticed my scores on Bootcamp increasing and my knowledge of certain things heightening because I went through each question of the Destroyer thoroughly, I was insanely happy and reassured. My biggest advice going into this is staying as calm and confident as possible, and I can guarantee that this won't happen if you don't feel prepared. I postponed my DAT twice because I didn't feel ready. My whole family and all of my friends were constantly telling me that I made a mistake and that they think I'm ready and I always freak out but then do well, but in my heart of hearts I knew I wasn't prepared. You need to do what you think is best for yourself, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Trust yourself. That's the biggest lesson I learned from my 6 grueling months of studying. By trust yourself, I mean: know how you work. Know what it takes for you to comprehend a vast amount of information and what it takes for it to stick. Know how long it will take you to learn a lot of new information and how much repetition you personally need. You know yourself best, so trust your gut. It won't lead you astray. Sorry for such a long prelude. Here's my breakdown
Biology (25):
I started studying for Biology in January since I knew this was by FAR my weakest subject and that if I studied little by little every day, it would stick. I'm personally happy I started this early (since some people say to study this last because a lot of the information will leave you if you start too early). It allowed for more of it to settle in my brain and enabled me to build upon each topic that I was weak on. Repetition with this was key. I started reading Princeton Review's "Cracking the DAT" which is insanely thorough and truly has a great biology section. It was taking me too long to read it and take notes, so I finished about half of the book while taking copious amounts of notes on my laptop, which definitely taught me a lot. After this, I started on DAT Destroyer Biology and it was incredibly challenging. I realized that I needed to learn all of the information before beginning. So I read Feralis' notes two times through and took notes on the sections that were particularly difficult for me. This took a solid 3 weeks. Finally, I picked up Destroyer, and it was much easier this time around. I did all of the problems and with each problem, I would copy every SINGLE piece of information in the back of the book into the margin by each question. Then, if any of the words in that question or in the answer choices (even if it wasn't the right answer) were unfamiliar, I would Google the word and write another note in the margin. My Destroyer Bio section looked like a hot mess after I wrote everything down in it. Like I'm pretty sure if you turned to any page, you wouldn't find any amount of white paper. It's just all notes haha. I went through the Destroyer twice for this and I made sure to be thorough each time. After going through this section of the book, I could've sworn there was nothing that I didn't know. Destroyer Biology will prepare you 100% for anything you can encounter on the DAT. It's insane. I am so incredibly grateful that I pushed myself to go through it. It was insanely challenging, but rewarding at the same time. Again, thank you Dr. Romano and Nancy
You guys rock.Side note: I took a practice biology test before I began studying, and I scored a 16. And I guessed on many of the questions. Before I started studying for biology in January, I'm not kidding when I say that my biology knowledge was less than 10% of what we need to know for the DAT. That 10% accounted for Biochemistry that I had just taken and that I really enjoyed. That's about it. I couldn't stand intro to Bio--it bored me to death. I took Anatomy this spring, which was such an interesting class, so that also immensely helped for this exam.
Actual exam: SO much easier than anything I encountered. I swear when I was going through the questions, I mouthed to myself, "This must be a joke". But truly I think it's because I over prepared. But if you want this badly enough, you gotta do it. It was torture for me to study Biology. Pure torture. But I did it and I have faith that all of you can, too. TRUST YOURSELF! Anyways, my exam was heavy on Anatomy and Physiology and had many simple questions that had to do with the first 20 ish pages of Feralis. I had a few genetics problems (pretty straightforward). I actually had a few math problems in the section, but nothing too bad. No microscopes
No immune system. No plants. Some taxonomy. Just do the Destroyer, haha. I promise that EVERY question on my exam could be answered in some way or another by going through the Destroyer. Best resource ever. Bootcamp average: 22
General Chemistry (21):
Again, the Destroyer (and Chad's) saved my score. I was anticipating a bit higher on this one, but I unfortunately skipped 2 questions because I knew they'd require a little bit of time, and I was already running a little behind, so I just answered B and moved on. Didn't have time to come back (I'm a really slow test taker because I pay too much attention to detail, don't judge
). But most of the questions were insanely straight forward. I had many more conceptual questions than calculations. Pretty sure I had like 3 calculation problems. There was Hess's law and just your basic "which way will the reaction shift if...". Know the ideal gas concepts and boiling point stuff. Nothing that came out of left field. Also, know your lab techniques. Also, I know I'm more or less obsessed with Destroyer and some of you are probably thinking like, "Why don't you marry the Destroyer?", haha, but I'm serious, DO THE WHOLE BOOK. I can think of at least 5 questions in the Gen Chem section that I wouldn't have been able to do without having had gone through Destroyer. Oh, and I built my foundation on Chad's notes, which were such an incredible investment. I kind of didn't really mention them much yet because I think it goes without saying how amazing Chad is, since every breakdown here has it. But yeah, do Chad's first of course. It'll give you the best foundation possible and Destroyer will just go in for the kill. Bootcamp average: 24
Organic Chemistry (25):
I don't have too much to say about this section because I'm obsessed with O-Chem and love it a lot. It's my favorite subject in all of life, lol. I feel like I had a good preparation from my university, so I just went through the Destroyer once after going through Chad's videos and quizzes. Chad solidified everything I had learned in school (get the videos, trust me), and Destroyer pieced together a lot of the things that are important to know cold. Without the Destroyer, I definitely wouldn't have gotten 2-3 of the questions right that I think I did. I specifically recall a couple that were challenging for me in the Destroyer that I'm super happy I worked through, because if it hadn't been for that, I wouldn't have gotten those questions right on the real exam. Know the 25 most asked reactions in the Destroyer and work through each problem, SERIOUSLY! I had 2 NMR questions (straightforward), and a lot of synthesis reactions with very few conceptual ones. There were 2 very weirdly worded questions, so make sure you take a deep breath and read it slowly to understand exactly what they're asking for.
Bootcamp average: 27
Perceptual Ability (20):
Man oh man, I remember sitting on the couch with my mom a year ago looking at some of the example keyholes on the 2007 exam and not knowing how to do a single one. I knew I'd have to work on this section or I wouldn't be able to do a filling as a dentist at all (sarcasm intended, lol
). So I did a little bit of PAT everyday and I seemed to improve a lot. Crack DAT PAT was very easy--I was scoring about a 23 on my last few exams. I was super proud. Step in: Bootcamp. Nope, just nope. I got two 18's and freaked out a bit. Super challenging. The keyholes got me every time and I just could never finish an exam on time. Finally, I got my score up to a 21 and that eased my worries after a lot of practice with Bootcamp. The real exam's keyholes were identical to Crack DAT (surprisingly--I was expecting a lot of "rocks" just like others' breakdowns have mentioned). But what (also surprisingly) actually got me on the test was TFE. I literally got 15/15 on each Bootcamp exam and on the real test, I think I was confident with only two of my answers. The TFE was INSANE. The shading and the figures themselves were just crazy looking and I could barely imagine it in 3D. I was scared (cue sympathetic nervous system). Angles were super straightforward and so was pattern folding and cube counting. No weird figures or anything. Pattern folding was a little more difficult than expected. I had many more shaded figures than just the ones where you can identify the largest, most prominent piece. Still doable though. With lots of practice, you can do it Side note: I thought I would have to retake the exam after this section was over. I'm not exaggerating. I was so defeated and sad. But you have to keep going and not think about the previous section. There's nothing that can be done, so just move forward and forget about it. That's all you really can do. I promise it'll always end up better than you think. No clue how I pulled a 20.
Bootcamp average/Crack DAT PAT average: 20/23
Reading Comprehension (24):
To say I'm shocked would be an understatement. Going into the exam, I was sure that if anything would take away my dream of becoming a dentist, it would be my score on the reading section. I'm just a super slow reader and no matter how much I read every day, nothing helps. It's just how I'm structured-- I like being thorough and detailed with everything I do, so reading isn't an exception. So I had to somehow figure out a way to skim through the articles without focusing on the details too heavily, which thankfully I was able to do with this exam. Bootcamp was barely reminiscent of the exam. I scored straight 17's (and one 20). The reading material was much more dense on Bootcamp and I constantly felt pressured for time. The real exam was SO much more straightforward. Not because you could search or destroy or anything. I had a ton of tone and reasons for this and that questions. The material was just so much more engaging and more easily understandable. Just super straight forward. Word of advice: don't freak out. Take your time in reading the questions and the article, and make sure you spend 20 minutes per passage. Be calm.
Bootcamp average: 17
Quantitative Reasoning (24):
Math Destroyer was excellent in preparing me for this section. It's very thorough and touches upon EVERYTHING you can encounter. Learn ALL of the formulas in the front of the book (yet another thing DAT Bootcamp has almost word for word on their page with a DATBOOTCAMP stamp on the page...LOL). They'll help you a lot. Understand when to use them. I didn't feel like timing was actually that much of an issue. It was super low pressure. I was mortified that I'd run out of time since I could only get through half of the questions on Bootcamp and through 30 ish questions in the Math Destroyer. But the real exam was much more straight forward and simple. Just know your formulas and when to apply them and you're set. Go through each Math Destroyer test--you won't regret it. Do whatever it takes to get into dental school. Even if that entails killing yourself with yet another permutation/combination problem, haha. Just do it.
Bootcamp average: 19 (ran out of time on every exam half way through and guessed on 7 ish with a minute remaining).
That's my breakdown. To sum it up, the exam was much easier than what I was expecting. But that's not because it's easier material--it's just that I was prepared. You need to feel this way, or I recommend not taking it yet and postponing it. There's no shame in doing that. Do what feels right. Don't give up on your dreams and trust in yourself, and you won't go wrong. Surround yourself with nice and loving people and it'll make things that much easier for you. Also, realize that your life won't end if you don't get the score you want. Have a back up plan (aka volunteering/shadowing/working for a year and reapply/retake the test). Also nothing wrong with that. No shame! When I was freaking out, my best friend said, "Why are you so scared? This should be exciting for you. You should be happy that you have the opportunity to showcase your skills and show the schools what you're made of. Show them how much you've learned and be excited about putting your best foot forward." That comment really put my mind to ease. We should be grateful we have the opportunity to even take the exam, let alone the fact that we have the right tools and we're equipped to take this test from what we've learned in school. It'll be worth it in the end. Just believe in yourself and don't give up. TRUST YOURSELF (can't say this enough).
Please feel free to ask me anything you want. I'm always here to help in any way since you all helped me so much. Thank you again and I hope this breakdown eases some nerves/helps even one person.
Also, I love Breaking Bad so I chose the wonderful Heisenberg to cover my name. I promise no meth was involved in the process of studying for and taking this test, hehe.
Much love!
Congratulations times 1000! You did it!!! You are an amazing student and testament to "hard work pays off". I am go glad you enjoyed the Destroyer and it helped you achieve those scores. Your advice will really help other students who are nervous about taking the exam. I will quote you because it is so true.
