- Joined
- Jul 17, 2015
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DAT Breakdown: July 16, 2015
First, I would like to thank everyone who has posted breakdowns and information regarding their experience and prep materials for the DAT (I'm a long time reader and first time poster, and have found these posts to be extremely helpful, particularly when I was panicking and needed some reassurance along the way). I wanted to create an account and give a detailed breakdown of how my exam went and what I used in preparation for it. Hopefully this helps someone who is in the midst of their DAT prep, even if it's just to give them confidence to keep pushing to see that it can be done, regardless of how you're scoring on the practice tests -- remember, the fact that you are reading all of these breakdowns shows you are motivated and can succeed if you put the work in!
My scores are listed below (the score report is attached):
Academic Average: 22
Perceptual Ability Test: 22
Total Science: 21
Biology: 19
General Chemistry: 23
Organic Chemistry: 23
Reading Comprehension: 22
Quantitative Reasoning: 21
Materials Used:
Some Notes about the Test:
I am so thankful to have this test over with and want you to know that you CAN do it. The DAT is a long, and often tedious journey, so it's normal to question it along the way (it's human nature!). Just remember and realize, even at the low points, if you are putting the work in, you're going to be fine. Take breaks, deep breaths, have confidence, and you're going to do amazing on the test and eventually be a great dentist.
Best of luck in your studies and feel free to post or message me with any questions you may have!
First, I would like to thank everyone who has posted breakdowns and information regarding their experience and prep materials for the DAT (I'm a long time reader and first time poster, and have found these posts to be extremely helpful, particularly when I was panicking and needed some reassurance along the way). I wanted to create an account and give a detailed breakdown of how my exam went and what I used in preparation for it. Hopefully this helps someone who is in the midst of their DAT prep, even if it's just to give them confidence to keep pushing to see that it can be done, regardless of how you're scoring on the practice tests -- remember, the fact that you are reading all of these breakdowns shows you are motivated and can succeed if you put the work in!
My scores are listed below (the score report is attached):
Academic Average: 22
Perceptual Ability Test: 22
Total Science: 21
Biology: 19
General Chemistry: 23
Organic Chemistry: 23
Reading Comprehension: 22
Quantitative Reasoning: 21
Materials Used:
- AP Bio Cliff Notes 3rd Edition
- Feralis Bio Notes
- Chad's Videos and Quizzes for Gen Chem, Organic Chem, QR
- DAT Bootcamp
- DAT Destroyer
- Kaplan Live Online Course
- Kaplan Flashcards
Some Notes about the Test:
- Biology: I felt that, for my particular exam, the biology section was the most challenging, which is also indicated by the score. When I first started the exam, I had marked three of the first ten questions, which was making me a bit uneasy, and as I progressed to question 20, I had marked about seven questions, which made me start to sweat. I finished the overall science section in 58 minutes, so I was able to return and pick up on some earlier mistakes, but do not psyche yourself out, even if the questions are difficult! I had to change roughly three answers that weren’t so complicated in the first place due to panicking, so make sure to tell yourself to focus. Biology is always a bit of a crapshoot, as there is so much, detailed information that can be tested on and it really depends on how lucky you are with the questions that are given to you based on what you studied and can remember. I'm a biology major myself and unfortunately, even with the extra time to go back, it's hard to be sure for questions that are strictly fact based when you don't know the fact! Just try and stay calm if this happens, narrow it down, take your best guesses, and keep moving on.
- General Chemistry: This has been my strongest subject throughout practice tests, so I went into this section very confidently. Many of the questions, if not all, were basic in calculation, and was not nearly as difficult as General Chemistry as a class. However, some of the conceptual questions were very tricky, which is where I think I got a few questions wrong. Definitely go through Chad's videos, they are a GREAT refresher, and go through them again if you have to. I only went through once but I feel like a second time could have really solidified some of the conceptual topics that tripped me up on test day.
- Organic Chemistry: If you struggle in Orgo, do not panic! This section came as the biggest surprise to me – it was very simple! Honestly, I thought I did better than a 23, or at least much better in comparison to my Biology and General Chemistry performance. Perhaps it seemed so easy because I was so used to getting initially destroyed by DAT Destroyer and learning how to approach difficult questions that it made the questions on test day rather basic, but definitely was excited to fly through this section (all in all, this section took me between 15 and 20 minutes).
- Perceptual Ability: If you complete the DAT Bootcamp PAT tests, understand your mistakes, see yourself progress from the first test until the last, and you will do very well on this section. I found that this section was comparable, and in cases, easier than the prep Bootcamp had to offer. Keep practicing! It will make test day that much easier in comparison based on what you're used to and you will feel great about it after (especially considering some of the scores I had gotten on practice exams).
- Reading Comprehension: My least favorite of the sections…some days I could score high and others were much lower. I dislike how it depends so heavily on the passage and how focused you can be that there is such variability in scores (no guarantee how you’re going to do). Anyways, I had three passages that were rather fair, and the majority of the questions were detail based which just required finding them in the passage. Bootcamp is definitely great practice for this, but I found the actual DAT to be a bit easier than the practice tests. I may have just gotten lucky with the passages, but I have found that what worked best for me was to just try to stay focused. Take a 5 second deep breath or break if you have to and get back into it so you don't lose too much time from not actively focusing -- it can be hard, especially if you start to panic regarding timing or not finding something fast enough, but keep at it and it will work out.
- Quantitative Reasoning: Honestly, I found this section to be almost as difficult as I thought biology was. I read many posts about not overlooking the math section of the DAT and prepped with lots of Bootcamp practice, but I wish I did even more. I think had I invested in Math Destroyer, it would’ve been higher and I would’ve spent even more time on it. I finished the first run through with about 10 minutes left, and I went back and saw that I had 13 questions marked – definitely not ideal. A few of them I had just wanted to double check, which I did, and then there were still about 10 that I was unsure of. Out of those 10, I was able to use the last 10 minutes to my advantage and I figured out the solution to 3 of them. I think this is what separated my score from 19/20 to 21. Don't take this section lightly! Doing well on this section is a good way to boost your AA, so go through bootcamp, Math Destroyer, memorize the equations and conversions, and you're going to be fine.
I am so thankful to have this test over with and want you to know that you CAN do it. The DAT is a long, and often tedious journey, so it's normal to question it along the way (it's human nature!). Just remember and realize, even at the low points, if you are putting the work in, you're going to be fine. Take breaks, deep breaths, have confidence, and you're going to do amazing on the test and eventually be a great dentist.
Best of luck in your studies and feel free to post or message me with any questions you may have!
Congratulations!
double 23's in the Chem's. Your detailed breakdown will help a lot of students and help guide them in their studies. You proved the DAT is a very manageable test as long as you put in the study time.
and thank you for the breakdown.
