DAT BREAKDOWN 7/11/15

[The Dentanator]

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Hey guys, a little bit about myself real quick; I am a Bio major with a 3.58 overall GPA(not rounded), and a 3.46 science GPA. I recently took my DAT and received:
BIO/GC/OC/RC/QR/PAT/TS/AA
19/ 18/ 23/ 25/ 19/ 24/ 20/ 21

I have already applied this cycle to a couple of state schools and 3 out of state schools. How do these scores look, coming from people who have taken it before and have experience applying? I know my GC score is weak, but my core scores of TS and AA average I still believe are high enough that it should not be too much of a problem. I have done a lot of community service as well. and have shadowed several different dentists.

Thanks!

 

[The Dentanator]

If anyone has any questions or anything feel free to ask too, sorry I didn't write that in there before. My brain is still melting from just taking the exam.

 

[ncdental33]

What resources did you use to study? Which ones were most effective?

 

[The Dentanator]

I used DAT DESTROYER a little bit, but really didn't get around to using it as much as I wanted. Other than that I used the Kaplan Blue Book, which is solid for most subjects. For Bio I would use Alan's Notes. Someone on SDN posted up their version of it, and it helped tremendously and covers much more than Kaplan. I also used DAT Bootcamp, which I think should be a staple in everybody's study materials. It really is that good. Other than that I used a 3 test version of TopScore, which was alright. It was too easy on everything except for sciences, were it was pretty comparable to the real DAT. I also used DAT Achiever (7 TEST version), and man that will make you pissed after taking it. I almost snapped my laptop in half because I didn't realize the exams were supposed to be that hard until I read about it on here. It really does help though if you take notes on everything and study them 3 or 4 times, especially for Bio and GC concepts. The PAT and RC I did not use too much on Achiever because it was too out there and was no help to me; BC was much better for those sections. I didn't use anything else, but a key for me was reviewing all the notes that I took from the tests for certain concepts I was still not confortable with or concepts I just got wrong.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Hey guys, a little bit about myself real quick; I am a Bio major with a 3.58 overall GPA(not rounded), and a 3.46 science GPA. I recently took my DAT and received:
BIO/GC/OC/RC/QR/PAT/TS/AA
19/ 18/ 23/ 25/ 19/ 24/ 20/ 21

I have already applied this cycle to a couple of state schools and 3 out of state schools. How do these scores look, coming from people who have taken it before and have experience applying? I know my GC score is weak, but my core scores of TS and AA average I still believe are high enough that it should not be too much of a problem. I have done a lot of community service as well. and have shadowed several different dentists.

Thanks!

Hi The Dentanator

Congratulations! TS 20 and AA 21 are great scores. Your 25 in reading is impressive and something dental schools take into consideration. You have also done a lot of community service and shadowing. I see no reason you would not receive interviews.

Wishing you the best!

Dr. Jim Romano and Nancy

 

[The Dentanator]

Thank you Dr. Romano and Nancy, I appreciate the your reassuring words. You guys have done so much for us with your DAT and Math Destroyer series. We all appreciate it!

 

[510586]

What was your strategy for RC, and how did it compare to your practice scores/bootcamp?

 

[The Dentanator]

For reading strategy, I used this one where I came across somewhere I think on SDN, and then I tweaked it a bit. First I would read the question, just in case I came across it reading. I would read between the first 3-6 paragraphs. After this I would do search and destroy for the rest of it, UNLESS I didn't come across the answer in that first 3-6 paragraphs. In that case I would just keep reading/skimming quickly until I came across the some key word in the reading. Then I would do search and destroy. I know this sound a bit funky, but I didn't mind, I have always been pretty good at RC anyways. And my BC scores were 19/19/26/22/20. The first two of those were not using this method, they were using the Vanilla method, which is just spending 8-10 minutes reading and then 10-12 answering questions. In the final three tests I used the method I used for the actual exam. The RC is not as bad as most practice tests, but it also depends on the version you get.

 

[MolarDentist]

Congrats on finishing the DAT.
How many math tests you did from the math destroyer?
As far as your scores are concerned, They are solid. Contact the schools you're interested in.
Best of luck

 

[RuffDay]

So the reading? Most of your questions were search and destroy?

 

[The Dentanator]

MolarDentist, I didn't use Math Destroyer, but I used the QR in DAT Destroyer which was pretty solid. I also used DAT BC QR. Using both of these seemed to help. Other than that I did not use much else. There was a cheat sheet on DAT BC for the QR section which I also skimmed over a lot the days leading up to my exam. And thanks man, best of luck to you as well.

RuffDay, I would say that most were S&D. But there were also some inference and tone questions, but to me they were much easier than any of the ones in BC. Just remember each test differs though, so you may get one that is structurally different than mine.