- Joined
- Apr 1, 2017
- Messages
- 705
- Reaction score
- 805
Hey guys,
So I wrote my DAT today, but before I get to the scores and all that, I just want to thank @orgoman22, @Ari Rezaei, @joelm, and @FeralisExtremum. Y'all have put together some amazing products, and I just wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate all the hard work that went into making them!
Also, I want to thank all the other sdners who helped out with random questions. This is truly a very nice community, and I plan on being much more active in the forums to help in any way that I can.
PA:
Lastly, I just want to say this has been the most brutal 10 weeks of my life... coming off a rigorous spring finals week, then rolling directly into DAT prep alongside a 6-week metabolism course did a number on me. There were definitely times where I just wanted to give up, and I really had to ask myself what all this work was for. I know I am not the only one who has felt beat down by this process, so please remember that we're all trying to be dentists because we love dentistry! This WILL pay off for each and every one of you! So, for anyone who is feeling down, please feel free to reach out to me. I was there, and I can assure you there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
So I wrote my DAT today, but before I get to the scores and all that, I just want to thank @orgoman22, @Ari Rezaei, @joelm, and @FeralisExtremum. Y'all have put together some amazing products, and I just wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate all the hard work that went into making them!
Also, I want to thank all the other sdners who helped out with random questions. This is truly a very nice community, and I plan on being much more active in the forums to help in any way that I can.
- PA - 22
- QR - 18
- RC - 21
- Bio - 28
- GC - 21
- OC - 23
- TS - 24
- AA - 22
PA:
- This section was pretty similar to what you see on DAT Bootcamp. I will say the counting was much easier on my DAT than BC. But otherwise, I thought everything was pretty spot on in terms of difficulty. My highest score on any Bootcamp practice test was a 22, but otherwise, I hovered right around 21. There were definitely some rocks, so get some practice with that on DAT genius if you haven't already!
Boy-oh-boy did the clock beat me down... I managed my time terribly on this section... let it be known: If you do not know how to approach a problem within the first 15-20 seconds, put an answer down, mark, then MOVE ON. Also, I didn't have the greatest confidence in myself going into this section, and I definitely let my nerves get the better of me. So, have some confidence in yourself guys!- There was definitely a fair amount of trig on my exam, but nothing involving trig identities. There were a few geometry questions, I can't remember the relative percentage, but a couple. Also, there was probably 8-10 Quantitative Comparison questions, so make sure to get practice with those question types!
- As far as prep. materials go, math destroyer and Bootcamp are all you really need. I wish I would have started practicing the problems much earlier though, as opposed to watching all the Kahn Academy videos at the beginning of my schedule. I am the type of person that learns best by making mistakes, so I think more practice time would have helped.
- Very very similar to Bootcamp in terms of passage length, one was even longer than I was used to on bootcamp (20 paragraphs!!!!!). Otherwise, the questions were asked in sequential order, which I didn't really notice until the end of my first passage... so I ended up changing my technique from mapping to search and destroy on the fly. Also, there were not very many of the inference type questions on my exam.
- The questions seemed pretty difficult, but nothing I hadn't seen before. One thing that helped me a ton with bio was making a flashcard on anki for every question that I got wrong. Also, I took genetics in the spring, and finished my A&P sequence then as well, so that definitely helped. Otherwise, Feralis notes are a godsend. Definitely read them after reading through Cliffs, so that you can add on to your own notes. Bio is a broad topic, so definitely breadth over depth here.
- This section only had one question that required an actual calculation, otherwise, all I had to do was set up the equation skeleton. I am kinda curious as to which questions I got wrong because this section seemed pretty straight forward
... Anyway, just like everyone else says: Chad's, DAT destroyer, and Bootcamp are the way to go. I felt that Destroyer was more useful as a quantitative tool, while Bootcamp was more useful as a qualitative tool - focusing more on the broader concepts.
- The questions on this section were all pretty simple, but there were 2 or 3 that seemed way out of left field. Also, there were ~ 2 questions on HNMR and IR, so know your key signals.
- Mike's videos followed by DAT destroyer is a great combo. Also, Dr. Romano's road maps were very useful in terms of seeing the broader scope of how each reaction was related.
Lastly, I just want to say this has been the most brutal 10 weeks of my life... coming off a rigorous spring finals week, then rolling directly into DAT prep alongside a 6-week metabolism course did a number on me. There were definitely times where I just wanted to give up, and I really had to ask myself what all this work was for. I know I am not the only one who has felt beat down by this process, so please remember that we're all trying to be dentists because we love dentistry! This WILL pay off for each and every one of you! So, for anyone who is feeling down, please feel free to reach out to me. I was there, and I can assure you there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
