DAT Breakdown 8/13/15 - 24AA

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Omg AMAZING scores!!! You killed it!!

Do you mind posting your practice scores from BC and any other resources you used?
 
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dentalgirl101 said:
Omg AMAZING scores!!! You killed it!!

Do you mind posting your practice scores from BC and any other resources you used?
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Thank you!

I didn't record all my exact scores but these are the general highs and lows of my practice tests

CDP and Bootcamp PAT - 22 (Usually scored anywhere from a 20-22)
Destroyer - First time through I probably got 2/3 of the questions right, some sections I would get like half of them wrong
Bootcamp Bio - 18 - 25 was my range (like I said, really random)
Bootcamp RC - 20 - 22
Bootcamp QR - 19 -21 (I was getting like 20/40 on some of them Idk how that scaled to a 19 or 20)
Bootcamp Gen chem - 17 - 21 (I was actually worried about gen chem before I took the DAT)
Bootcamp Orgo 22-28 (Orgo was usually my best)
 
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Good job! Dang I thought zp3 was the only protein in there guess there might be more.
 
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510586 said:
How many times did you do math destroyer?
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I only did math destroyer once because of timing issues (studied for 3 months, but had summer classes). However I did record the problems I was having trouble with and redid only those up to maybe test 11 I think. Test 11 and 12 on destroyer kicked my ass btw, don't get discouraged by them because they were super hard.
 
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Pocket Tee said:
I only did math destroyer once because of timing issues (studied for 3 months, but had summer classes). However I did record the problems I was having trouble with and redid only those up to maybe test 11 I think. Test 11 and 12 on destroyer kicked my ass btw, don't get discouraged by them because they were super hard.
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Yea they tore a hole through me. I think I am gonna do what you did I wrote my wrong ones down too. Thanks
 
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bodmon said:
Jokes aside, Great work. You truly deserve to enjoy the rest of your summer (hopefully you have one) and good luck with your application
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Thanks man, I appreciate it. I have like 2 weeks left of summer lol, but it'll be worth it knowing that I won't have to worry about it next year when I apply.

FeralisExtremum said:
I think we had the same test...great scores!
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Thank you!
 
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Akumar102 said:
KICK ASS!!!!!! Those are amazing scores!!!! Enjoy the rest of your summer!!!!!
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Thanks man, I appreciate it!

pursuingadream said:
What would your advice be to someone who only has about a week left? How did you utilize that time?
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My biggest advice is DO NOT OVERDO IT. I nearly had a mental breakdown a week before because I was trying to do a bootcamp test a day AND review Destroyer in the evening with like only an hour break. You need to give your brain time to rest. You do not need to do a full test every single day, but at the same time make sure to focus on your weak spots. I was weak on some bio topics, but felt decently confident in my PAT so I cut out that hour and focused on some bio topics I struggled with. The day before I relaxed all day and watched a movie before bed (Kingsman is a great movie btw if anyone needs something to watch). That day off helped me come into the test fresh and rejuvenated.
 
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predentgirl552 said:
Awesome scores!

What do you mean by the "weird crystalline structures" for the keyholes?
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Thank you!

And I'm not exactly sure how to describe it. They were just very irregular objects compared to the ones I was used to dealing with on bootcamp and CDP
 
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Are the question for GC and Orgo like the ones in Destroyer or Dat Bootcamp?
No idea what t expect on test day..
 
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byahnoob said:
Are the question for GC and Orgo like the ones in Destroyer or Dat Bootcamp?
No idea what t expect on test day..
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Bootcamp and Destroyer are by far the best resources for Orgo and Gen Chem, if you can do those questions then you will be able to destroy those sections. The wording is more similar to bootcamp I would say, but destroyer is better for understanding concepts in depth.
 
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Congrats on the scores! Would you say the difficulty was on par with Destroyer or Bootcamp for the sciences?
 
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Very well done! Now you get to sit back and watch the interviews flow in. Congrats 🙂

PS how is your gpa?
 
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SyracuseOrange92 said:
Very well done! Now you get to sit back and watch the interviews flow in. Congrats 🙂

PS how is your gpa?
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Thank you! I'm pumped to send in my app now. But my GPA is a 3.98, but I'm a rising Junior so I still have to do well this year before I apply.
 
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Nice scores man! I took the test today too and wish I got what you got 🙁 Do you know where we find the percentile for our scores? Didn't it usually come on the handout?
 
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youraverageasia said:
Nice scores man! I took the test today too and wish I got what you got 🙁 Do you know where we find the percentile for our scores? Didn't it usually come on the handout?
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Thanks man, I appreciate it. Also I'm not sure what the percentiles are, my buddy googled a picture and sent it to me that had like the general distribution of DAT scores, but I think the percentiles are specific to each test? Either way I'm not too sure.
 
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Wow, you rocked the test. I'm really scared for the Bio bc the last time I took it (2012), they started implementing the experimental questions which I wasn't ready for and recieved a 17 in the Bio section. I'm doing Feralis anki flashcards, Feralis notes, and cliffs, ohh and also went through the Bio destroyer once. Would you say that's plenty? Also for the RC, what were the styles for the passages? mostly SnD?I've been doing CDR and don't know how else I can practice.
 
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enamel88 said:
Wow, you rocked the test. I'm really scared for the Bio bc the last time I took it (2012), they started implementing the experimental questions which I wasn't ready for and recieved a 17 in the Bio section. I'm doing Feralis anki flashcards, Feralis notes, and cliffs, ohh and also went through the Bio destroyer once. Would you say that's plenty? Also for the RC, what were the styles for the passages? mostly SnD?I've been doing CDR and don't know how else I can practice.
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For bio I would recommend going through destroyer twice and same with bootcamp if you have time. Basically what I did was every word in the answer choices that I didn't recognize I looked up and made a flashcard for it. I also made a flashcard for every question I got wrong. I didn't necessarily use the flashcards that much but making them drilled the concepts I was having trouble with into my head. For RC, Bootcamp saved my butt, especially with the H. Pylori bacteria showing up on the real exam. I would say RC is very similar in style to bootcamp, but with less of the "Statement is true but the reason is not" types of questions. Mainly the questions were just facts from the passage that you had to find. I haven't used CDR so I can't really attest to whether or not it is enough, but for RC if you're doing well on practice tests I think you should be fine. My biggest advice for that section is just develop like a mental outline of the passage so that way when you get the questions you know exactly where to go to find the answer. I didn't necessarily read everything in detail, but skimming it in 5 minutes or so helped me figure out how the info was grouped.

Ari Rezaei said:
Wow, very well done! Solid scores, time to kick back and relax a bit. Congratulations!
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Thank you Ari!!

Dwight Beet Farm said:
I am so happy for you man! My test is super soon wish me luck!
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Thank you!! Good luck, I'm sure you'll do fantastic!
 
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Pocket Tee said:
What's up guys, long timer lurker, first time poster here on SDN. I've decided to post a DAT breakdown since this forum has given me so much advice from study materials to test day tips. I really would like to help out in any way because without SDN I wouldn't have gotten the Score I did.
View attachment 195045
Scores
PAT - 22
QR - 24
RC - 23
Bio - 21
Gen Chem - 28
Orgo - 25
TS - 24
AA - 24

Study Materials

DAT DESTROYER/Math Destroyer (11/10) - If you buy one thing, buy the destroyer. This book helped me so much with every section that I cannot thank Dr. Romano enough. It was definitely the KEY material out of this whole list because some questions I could've sworn were word for word right out of it. Math destroyer was great for figuring out the types of problems that would be on the DAT, however the difficulty is ramped up significantly in the destroyer so I wouldn't worry if you aren't getting many right.

Chad's Videos (10/10) - Chad is the man for re-explaining all of gen chem and organic in detail for the DAT. The best part about it is that he cuts out all the unnecessary crap that you don't need to know for both Organic and Gen chem and breaks it down in a way that is understandable. I am a chem major and it was extremely helpful even with me having a strong chemistry background.

DAT Bootcamp (9/10) - I used this two weeks prior to the exam and this was great for RC, Bio, GC, Organic, and especially PAT. Definitely a worthwhile investment. I wish I would have gotten it earlier to get through all the PAT tests and do some of the generators. My one gripe with Bootcamp is that the QR tests are straight up discouraging. Like the DAT was no where near as complicated as Bootcamp or even destroyer for that matter on QR. But then again, I could have had an easy section.

Cliffs Bio and Feralis (10/10) - I used both these sparingly as the Destroyer was my main source of studying. I like learning by doing practice problems instead of trying to memorize everything. Bio was my lowest score so there's not much advice I can give. Both these served as good references and definitely covered most of the Bio on the DAT.

Crack DAT PAT (8/10) - Definitely a good resource. It gets you settled in with the PAT section, however I would recommend bootcamps PAT over this after having taken the real DAT. Bootcamps keyholes and TFE prepare you better for the real DAT

Breakdown

Bio - This section was first and the most random of all the sections. My best advice to everyone is to know the destroyer bio and bootcamp bio inside and out because there were definitely a few questions that were just straight up stupid. I had one about different proteins of the Zona Pellucida and when I read the question I was like "Are you *****ing kidding me?!" It was my hardest section the day of the DAT, but knowing destroyer really helped me push through it.

Gen Chem - On the real DAT my Gen chem was VERY straightforward, maybe like 5-8 calculations that were extremely simple. Most of the questions were conceptual in nature and fairly easy. I don't have much else to say about this section, but if you have any specific questions leave them in a post and I'll try and answer them the best I can.

Orgo - Another section that was very straightforward. I was pretty strong in orgo and took it last semester so it was fresh. I was pleasantly surprised that I had no spectroscopy on my organic section. Definitely use destroyer and bootcamp because some questions came up verbatim. Focus on knowing the basics of organic and how it relates to the bigger picture (Acidity, + attracts -, rxns etc..)

PAT - Main thing I have to say about this section is that the keyholes were weird. I had the weird crystalline structures that people had reported on the forum. Other than that, very straightforward. Pattern folding was surprisingly easier than any of the practice tests I had taken.

RC - BOOTCAMP I LOVE YOU. I swear to God that the H. Pylori article on Bootcamp RC practice legit came up on my test. Not word for word but I knew all about the bacteria from reading the Bootcamp article a couple days prior. I used to read a lot as a kid so RC came pretty naturally to me. My strategy was to read the first two paragraphs closely and then skim the rest of the article. While skimming I would mainly pay attention to the first and last sentences of a paragraph as they will tell you the most about the paragraph. By doing this you can get a good idea of the layout of the article and this helps when answering the questions. After skimming I just used search and destroy to answer the questions. Bootcamp was the best practice I got for this section.

QR - Okay maybe it was just my section, but it was a legit joke. I never finished any bootcamp or destroyer tests on time and I finished the real DAT with 20 minutes to spare. Most problems were super straightforward. Math Destroyer prepares you the best for this. I would not bother with Bootcamps tests, as they are much much much more difficult than the DAT (like 200000x harder). Math destroyer is the best resource and even that might be a little overkill. Again, I could have had an easy section so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Romano, Ari, and Chad for providing such great resources that directly resulted in my success. Also I want to thank the entire SDN community for posting advice and helping everyone out. I used this forum to gather study resources and plans, and would not have done well without them.

If you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I will answer them to the best of my ability.
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:clap::clap::clap::bow: Pocket Tee
Congratulations!

Wow!! You DESTROYED IT!

Your hard work paid off and we thank you for the shout out to Dr. Romano and giving us such a superior rating. You will definitely get interviews with your DAT scores. Thank you for giving back to the SDN community by posting your scores and you DAT experience that included some excellent advice..

Wishing you the best on your journey to becoming a dentist..

Dr. Romano and Nancy
 
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DAT Destroyer said:
:clap::clap::clap::bow: Pocket Tee
Congratulations!

Wow!! You DESTROYED IT!

Your hard work paid off and we thank you for the shout out to Dr. Romano and giving us such a superior rating. You will definitely get interviews with your DAT scores. Thank you for giving back to the SDN community by posting your scores and you DAT experience that included some excellent advice..

Wishing you the best on your journey to becoming a dentist..

Dr. Romano and Nancy
Click to expand...

Thank you so much! I couldn't have done it without Destroyer. You guys have truly created an amazing study resource for all the students preparing for the DAT!
 
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