I sat for my DAT last Thursday, and I was very pleased with my scores!!
I studied for 6-7 weeks while working 30-37 hours per week as a dental assistant. Sometimes challenging, but the rewards of destroying this test are tremendous!!
AA 22
TS 22
Biology 21
GChem 22
OChem 23
RC 21
QR 21
PAT 20
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to Ari, Chad, and Dr. Romano! There are countless breakdowns on this sight that dedicate their success to you, and I am thrilled to be able to do the same!! Your resources are an incredible asset to the predental community and have led to hundreds of dental school acceptances! Again, Thank you!
Before I begin my breakdown, I was to emphasize something I learned along this journey. Truly, studying for this exam is a marathon, not a sprint. When I started, I had read so many breakdowns of people studying for 6-8 hours a day, so I jumped right into a schedule like that. At the end of the first two weeks, I was worn out and struggled to keep on keeping on. I was determined to take this test only once and apply this cycle, so i adjusted my schedule to what fit best for me, and I am so glad I did. Breakdowns are great, and find strategies and materials that work best for you, but do not try to mimic someone's exact schedule and methods word for word, because it can wear you down physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Now to the breakdown! The four resources I used were: Bootcamp, Chad's Cliff's and DAT Destroyer. All of these were extremely helpful!!
QR (21): I only don't have much advice about this section. Sorry :/ I've always enjoyed math, especially algebra and trig! I took one math practice test on Bootcamp, got a 19, and just went with it. Chad's videos were helpful for this section as well!
RC (21): Bootcamp is great for practice! Also, the 2 or 3 practice exams I took had a lot of questions involving tone or "first statement is correct, reason is incorrect" HATED those questions! My actual DAT was majority (and vast majority) search and destroy which was awesome!!
PAT (20): I was happy with my score for this section! I usually scored around 18,19 and 20 on Bootcamp, and was satisfied. I think I could have done better with some more practice (I only did 3 tests), but I had an issue of getting frustrated with some of the shapes and questions. Be patient when practicing and during this section! Also, practice timing! I ran out of time on Bootcamp tests as well as my DAT (just 2 or 3 questions left!)
Biology (21): Cliff's is awesome!! Like the best! A lot of this section was application so you have to be able to understand the concepts and put them to use. Go through Cliff's: read it, take notes, study those notes! Then Bootcamp came along! The tests on Bootcamp were tough, got me thinking, but reinforced this material! I think like 80% of the material on my actual exam was addressed on Bootcamp so I am glad that I studied each practice exam thoroughly!! I personally didn't do Destroyer for Biology. I wish I would have, but I ran out of time studying.
General Chem (22)& Organic Chem (23): Chad's, Bootcamp and Destroyer. In that order. Chad does an impeccable job at presenting the material. He teaches a lot of it like it's new information, so he doesn't just glaze over easy concepts and jump right into hard, conceptual material. One of the must-haves of DAT prep material if you are nervous for the chemistries! Bootcamp provided excellent practice exams that reinforced (and sometimes introduced) concepts and how they could be applied/utilized on the DAT. I went through Bootcamp for each of these sciences like 5x each. I made sure that I knew the concepts behind every question and that I was confident with each problem. Destroyer (not really an overkill for me, just tough) was awesome to keep everything fresh! I didn't go through the entire thing, but the questions were beneficial. Dr. Romano's explanations at the end of the book were also detailed and well written so I was able to learn from my mistakes and understand why certain answers were right and others wrong!
I hope that this was able to help! I am truly an average student that set a goal for doing well! Don't give up! If you are feeling discouraged, step away, listen to some good music, and get back in the groove. Studying takes patience, determination, and a lot of self-motivation. Just keep telling yourself, YOU CAN DO THIS!
About me:
I have a 3.6 GPA (3.45 science), worked as an assistant manager at a Chick-fil-A throughout the first three years of undergrad and will work as a dental assistant throughout my senior year. I have 250+ hours of shadowing, 80 hours of volunteering with MoM projects and free dental clinics, and decent extracurriculars (tutoring, volunteering with church, etc...). My dream dental school is VCU (in state and an absolutely wonderful program!)!
I studied for 6-7 weeks while working 30-37 hours per week as a dental assistant. Sometimes challenging, but the rewards of destroying this test are tremendous!!
AA 22
TS 22
Biology 21
GChem 22
OChem 23
RC 21
QR 21
PAT 20
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to Ari, Chad, and Dr. Romano! There are countless breakdowns on this sight that dedicate their success to you, and I am thrilled to be able to do the same!! Your resources are an incredible asset to the predental community and have led to hundreds of dental school acceptances! Again, Thank you!
Before I begin my breakdown, I was to emphasize something I learned along this journey. Truly, studying for this exam is a marathon, not a sprint. When I started, I had read so many breakdowns of people studying for 6-8 hours a day, so I jumped right into a schedule like that. At the end of the first two weeks, I was worn out and struggled to keep on keeping on. I was determined to take this test only once and apply this cycle, so i adjusted my schedule to what fit best for me, and I am so glad I did. Breakdowns are great, and find strategies and materials that work best for you, but do not try to mimic someone's exact schedule and methods word for word, because it can wear you down physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Now to the breakdown! The four resources I used were: Bootcamp, Chad's Cliff's and DAT Destroyer. All of these were extremely helpful!!
QR (21): I only don't have much advice about this section. Sorry :/ I've always enjoyed math, especially algebra and trig! I took one math practice test on Bootcamp, got a 19, and just went with it. Chad's videos were helpful for this section as well!
RC (21): Bootcamp is great for practice! Also, the 2 or 3 practice exams I took had a lot of questions involving tone or "first statement is correct, reason is incorrect" HATED those questions! My actual DAT was majority (and vast majority) search and destroy which was awesome!!
PAT (20): I was happy with my score for this section! I usually scored around 18,19 and 20 on Bootcamp, and was satisfied. I think I could have done better with some more practice (I only did 3 tests), but I had an issue of getting frustrated with some of the shapes and questions. Be patient when practicing and during this section! Also, practice timing! I ran out of time on Bootcamp tests as well as my DAT (just 2 or 3 questions left!)
Biology (21): Cliff's is awesome!! Like the best! A lot of this section was application so you have to be able to understand the concepts and put them to use. Go through Cliff's: read it, take notes, study those notes! Then Bootcamp came along! The tests on Bootcamp were tough, got me thinking, but reinforced this material! I think like 80% of the material on my actual exam was addressed on Bootcamp so I am glad that I studied each practice exam thoroughly!! I personally didn't do Destroyer for Biology. I wish I would have, but I ran out of time studying.
General Chem (22)& Organic Chem (23): Chad's, Bootcamp and Destroyer. In that order. Chad does an impeccable job at presenting the material. He teaches a lot of it like it's new information, so he doesn't just glaze over easy concepts and jump right into hard, conceptual material. One of the must-haves of DAT prep material if you are nervous for the chemistries! Bootcamp provided excellent practice exams that reinforced (and sometimes introduced) concepts and how they could be applied/utilized on the DAT. I went through Bootcamp for each of these sciences like 5x each. I made sure that I knew the concepts behind every question and that I was confident with each problem. Destroyer (not really an overkill for me, just tough) was awesome to keep everything fresh! I didn't go through the entire thing, but the questions were beneficial. Dr. Romano's explanations at the end of the book were also detailed and well written so I was able to learn from my mistakes and understand why certain answers were right and others wrong!
I hope that this was able to help! I am truly an average student that set a goal for doing well! Don't give up! If you are feeling discouraged, step away, listen to some good music, and get back in the groove. Studying takes patience, determination, and a lot of self-motivation. Just keep telling yourself, YOU CAN DO THIS!
About me:
I have a 3.6 GPA (3.45 science), worked as an assistant manager at a Chick-fil-A throughout the first three years of undergrad and will work as a dental assistant throughout my senior year. I have 250+ hours of shadowing, 80 hours of volunteering with MoM projects and free dental clinics, and decent extracurriculars (tutoring, volunteering with church, etc...). My dream dental school is VCU (in state and an absolutely wonderful program!)!
