So i just took my DAT couple days ago.
PAT 21
QR 21
RC 15
Bio 21
Che 25
Oche 24
TS 23
AA 21
MOCK TESTS (DAT BOOTCAMP TEST 1,2,3,4,5)
PAT 22 23 22 21 19
QR 20 19 20 19 17
RC 16 16 17 19 17
BIO 20 21 21 22 22
CHE 24 21 23 23 20
OCH 19 22 18 22 21
this is actually my second time taking it. my first time was a year ago (PAT 17, QR 15, RC 17, Bio 18, Chem 19, ochem 15, TS 17, AA 17.)
when i saw my score i was so excited because the improvement I had on everything.. EXCEPT RC! i did my best on RC and i thought i did fairly ok but... yea.... i don't know what happended.. do you guys think i need to retake DAT? i really don't want to because i studied my ass off for past 2 months...
before my final breakdown i want to talk about what happened to my first DAT scores (i don't want to see anyone make the same mistakes)
FIRST TIME taking the DAT i used Kaplan and Chad's video. I took the kaplan in class on my college campus. Overall i think kaplan is completely useless. If you are planning to go to dental school i'm assuming you took the basic science classes already. Kaplan is basically for those who are completely new to science and can only bring your scores to around 18ish. I used chad's video for chem and ochem. BUT, i did not take good notes.... which caused me to have such low scores. also i studied during school year which is big mistake because i had to balance everything
ok FOR SECOND TIME....
i studied like my life depended on it. First time taking the DAT, i knew i wasn't going to do well. But for this time, i wanted to do well because my GPA is now high at all.... unlike those who had 3.8-3.9.... so i think my method is basically for anyone who wants to do well.. because if i can do well on the science part.. so can you! I used Bootcamp, chad's video, destroyer, and math destroyer. I used Ari's 10 week schedule and concentrate it because i want to keep reviewing the materials while take the practice tests.
CHEM:
AGAIN.. i used Chad's videos and this time i took great notes and understood EVERYTHING.
i would suggest to watch Chad's video AT LEAST 3 times. For first time, try to take as much notes as possible, pause and look up on internet for those you don't really understand. For Second time, use your notes and just make sure you get everything down (you can use 1.5X speed to make things faster). you watch Chad's video for second time mainly for things you missed and make sure you understand everything. After second time, you can move on to the quizzes. (at this point you should be on your fifth week). make sure you understand all the questions on the quizzes because that's the most important part. THEN, you move on to Chem destroyer. Do the first round of chem destroyer. I say 50 questions a day (up to you but i recommend just finish it in a week for time restraining). At first you will feel like its killing you but thats normal! you want to get a feel of what kind of questions DAT is gonna give you. AFTER FIRST TIME of destroyer, move on to chad's video AGAIN. this time you can use 2x speed and go over stuff you don't get on destroyer. (what i did was reading all my notes again). THE KEY FOR DOING WELL IS TO KEEP REVIEWING YOUR NOTES!!!! as many times as possible.
OCHEM:
same as above. I also bought OCHEM odyssey but i did not have time to finish it. I only did like 10 questions for each sections. AGIAN, watch Chad's video for AT LEAST 3 times if you want 20+. write down all the reactions. For me, I screenshot the reactions that chad wrote while watching it because i hate drawing stuff out. I would just post it on google doc and just write notes on it.
PAT: i used bootcamp. I was good at art in the beginning so i guess i learned pretty fast. However, i recommend using the generators everyday to get your speed going. SPEED is everything in PAT. everything else is fairly ok if you follow bootcamp's instructions.
QR: i used math destroyer most of the time. Bootcamp is a good practice especially for the quantitative comparison they added recently. Overall bootcamp is harder than the real one but it prepares you for your timing.
RC: uh so i did all the bootcamp tests and ranging from 16-19. I was fine if i can get a 17 but i did not know what happened on the DAT. the passages were fairly easy and i answer the questions like how i was taught on bootcamp. i just don't know why and this section fustrates me the most
i read the scientific american article every day.
Bio:
i used Ferali's notes, AP Bio cliff notes and some bio destroyer. Ferali's notes are the best, i say i read it over 3,4 times. but first, read the AP bio cliff notes first and then move on to ferali's. Ferali's notes are harder to read because they are in bullet points form. But, if you finish AP bio cliff notes, you should be ok. make sure you understand everything on Feralis notes! because that's all you need to know for BIO on the REAL DAT. just search up the stuff you don't know and write it on Ferali's note. I used OneNote for ferali's notes so i can add more stuff on it. I say read it for 4 times MINIMUM if you want to get a 20+. after reading 3 times, you can move on to destroyer. For destroyer, i think it's not overkill because you always want to get over prepared. HOWEVER, it is HARD. just do them and write down all the stuff you don't know. FOR ME, i did finish BIO destroyer because i ran out of time.... but yea its a good pracitce. After Bio destroyer, you can move on to Bootcamp test 6,7,8,9,10
so when you're done with the destroyers for first time i recommend taking the tests bootcamp has offer. i think thats the best part. I did test 6,7,8,9,10 first SEPARATELY because i want to keep reviewing my notes. use this tests to get feel of what your score is at. if you followed my method for Chem and Ochem, i'm pretty sure you can get a 20-21 on your first try. if not, just go back to your notes and understand them. What i did for bootcamp tests, i used another google doc to copy and past all the questions i got wrong AND the extra info that they provided after you take your practice test! those are very important because you can fill in more gaps and improve even more. it'll take you awhile to write down all the wrong and right questions and answers. That's why you want to do the tests separately so you don't want to get burnt out. don't do all the subjects together, separate them ( Ex: bio, pat on thursday. Chem and ochem on friday). also i wanted to do the destroyer again. ok so by now, you should be at your 7-8th week (you should be doing destroyer for second time). during the second time of destroyer, write down all the things you don't know (even if you got it right) on a notebook. The first time was to get a feel of what questions are like and tell you what you need to focus on more so you can go back to your notes. second time is to bring all the things you learned together. after finishing bootcamp and destroyers, you should be ready for your mock test (bootcamp test 1,2,3,4,5). So i left 2 days free before i start my mock tests because i want to review all the questions again. What i did was i went back to all my notes, and watch chad's video on stuff i'm still iffy in 2 days. (should be really fast because you already read it so many times) At this point, you should be on your 9th week. I took mock tests everyday in the morning. In afternoon, i would go over my tests and write down all the things i dont know and still iffy on google doc. after you finish your mock tests, you should leave 2-3 days open before your tests because you want to REVIEW your questions. for me, it is not DOING the questions, it is LEARNING AND REVIEWING the info from bootcamp to be the most important. I would go over every bootcamp tests (not redoing them, but review them on a google doc that you wrote down all the questions and answers before) just read them over.
comments on Bootcamp:
it's the best tool you can have to prepare for DAT. Let me just say, JUST GET IT. don't question it or anything. I did not use the other program but bootcamp really gives you what the real dat was like. Personally DAT bootcamp was a little harder than the real one. you should be able to score 1-2 points above your mock tests (but don't let this fool you and slow you down because you got cocky) just keep reviewing the stuff you dont know. ALSO, for test 1-5, TIME YOURSELF. go to library or computer lab and just take the tests like the real test. I think it is good practice so you can build you stamina. don't just take them separately... you already did them for 6-10.
Comments on Destroyer:
here's the thing, a lot of people think destroyer is OVERKILL, but i think destroyer is a good practice for chem and ochem. it gives you the hardest questions DAT can give which is a plus because you want to challenge yourself. (you want to do well right?) At first, i felt like giving up, I always read SDN for insight on DAT destroyer and see if it's really worth my time. What i learned from my experience is that DAT destroyer is a SUPPLEMENT. you CANNOT use this source as your main source if you want to relearn everything. DAT destroyer is like protein powder that gives extra muscle but you still need to eat regular food right? that's what it is. you need to make sure you review Chad's video and ferali's notes FIRST before moving on to DAT destroyer. Or else like others said, it'll be overkill for you. Math destroyer is awesome. At first it may take awhile but it really gives you all the questions DAT can give you. except the comparison but you can go to bootcamp for that.
Overall:
DON't CUT CORNERS. JUST DO IT. you don't want to retake the DAT like i did.... just try to do you best and make sure you get a good score. i spent like 2-3 months? first 2 months i was taking summer school which gave me less time to work on everything. after finish summer school, i had 7 weeks break which i literaly studied EVERYDAY. but before the study grind, i went to vegas for 3 days right after summer school ended to give myself a break. After vegas, i literally studied from 9am to 12 everyday. I gave myself this much time because i know i would procrastinate. I say give yourself 10 hours everyday minimum to study. the other time you can go on FB or youtube etc...
also I always come to SDN to predict my score based on others' experience. let me tell you something, DAT is really random. you can get easy questions and you can get hard questions. Also some people may score well on certain tests on bootcamp and some wont. DON'T LET THIS DISCOURAGE YOU. everyone is different you don't know their background. some are good at ochem some are not. (like me i failed couple chem and ochem classes lol)
I used the scores for bootcamp to give me an idea where i'm at. the most important part is to check HOW MANY YOU GOT WRONG. at the end of bootcamp test, you can get something like 35/40 i think that's the most important because scores are there to fool you. it is weighted differently. because you can get 35/40 on one test and score 22 and 35/40 other and score 20. just pay attention on those you got wrong.
also i highly recommend to prepare DAT in summer. DONT do it in school year because you want your GPA to be as high as possible. just sacrifice 10 weeks of your summer and really devour your time in studying. trust me its worth it.
REAL DAT:
i hate their PAT. i mean i was a designer major and i felt like the shapes were really not accurate. However, i used my judgement to choose the best answer. Angle ranking was ok. As long as you did all 10 tests of PAT and scoring 19-21, you should be good!
For Bio, bio was around the same as bootcamp i think because they can give you so many random questions. There are some questions that were covered on bootcamp which was really helpful. Chem and ochem were pretty easy. Bootcamp, chad and destroyer prepared you well for this. as long as you review all your notes (they have to be good notes tho) you should be good. It is a lot easier than bootcamp. i reviewed the roadmat from destroyer and make sure i knew all the reactions and the reaction sheet from CHAD.
ALL IN ALL, i want to thank CHAD, Ferali, Ari, and Orgoman to help me to score i wanted. i know RC is low but i did my best on that part. it is what it is. but thank you guys for the other parts! ok for the real question tho..... will RC hurt my chancew? and do i need to retake DAT just for RC? im worried.....
PAT 21
QR 21
RC 15
Bio 21
Che 25
Oche 24
TS 23
AA 21
MOCK TESTS (DAT BOOTCAMP TEST 1,2,3,4,5)
PAT 22 23 22 21 19
QR 20 19 20 19 17
RC 16 16 17 19 17
BIO 20 21 21 22 22
CHE 24 21 23 23 20
OCH 19 22 18 22 21
this is actually my second time taking it. my first time was a year ago (PAT 17, QR 15, RC 17, Bio 18, Chem 19, ochem 15, TS 17, AA 17.)
when i saw my score i was so excited because the improvement I had on everything.. EXCEPT RC! i did my best on RC and i thought i did fairly ok but... yea.... i don't know what happended.. do you guys think i need to retake DAT? i really don't want to because i studied my ass off for past 2 months...
before my final breakdown i want to talk about what happened to my first DAT scores (i don't want to see anyone make the same mistakes)
FIRST TIME taking the DAT i used Kaplan and Chad's video. I took the kaplan in class on my college campus. Overall i think kaplan is completely useless. If you are planning to go to dental school i'm assuming you took the basic science classes already. Kaplan is basically for those who are completely new to science and can only bring your scores to around 18ish. I used chad's video for chem and ochem. BUT, i did not take good notes.... which caused me to have such low scores. also i studied during school year which is big mistake because i had to balance everything
ok FOR SECOND TIME....
i studied like my life depended on it. First time taking the DAT, i knew i wasn't going to do well. But for this time, i wanted to do well because my GPA is now high at all.... unlike those who had 3.8-3.9.... so i think my method is basically for anyone who wants to do well.. because if i can do well on the science part.. so can you! I used Bootcamp, chad's video, destroyer, and math destroyer. I used Ari's 10 week schedule and concentrate it because i want to keep reviewing the materials while take the practice tests.
CHEM:
AGAIN.. i used Chad's videos and this time i took great notes and understood EVERYTHING.
i would suggest to watch Chad's video AT LEAST 3 times. For first time, try to take as much notes as possible, pause and look up on internet for those you don't really understand. For Second time, use your notes and just make sure you get everything down (you can use 1.5X speed to make things faster). you watch Chad's video for second time mainly for things you missed and make sure you understand everything. After second time, you can move on to the quizzes. (at this point you should be on your fifth week). make sure you understand all the questions on the quizzes because that's the most important part. THEN, you move on to Chem destroyer. Do the first round of chem destroyer. I say 50 questions a day (up to you but i recommend just finish it in a week for time restraining). At first you will feel like its killing you but thats normal! you want to get a feel of what kind of questions DAT is gonna give you. AFTER FIRST TIME of destroyer, move on to chad's video AGAIN. this time you can use 2x speed and go over stuff you don't get on destroyer. (what i did was reading all my notes again). THE KEY FOR DOING WELL IS TO KEEP REVIEWING YOUR NOTES!!!! as many times as possible.
OCHEM:
same as above. I also bought OCHEM odyssey but i did not have time to finish it. I only did like 10 questions for each sections. AGIAN, watch Chad's video for AT LEAST 3 times if you want 20+. write down all the reactions. For me, I screenshot the reactions that chad wrote while watching it because i hate drawing stuff out. I would just post it on google doc and just write notes on it.
PAT: i used bootcamp. I was good at art in the beginning so i guess i learned pretty fast. However, i recommend using the generators everyday to get your speed going. SPEED is everything in PAT. everything else is fairly ok if you follow bootcamp's instructions.
QR: i used math destroyer most of the time. Bootcamp is a good practice especially for the quantitative comparison they added recently. Overall bootcamp is harder than the real one but it prepares you for your timing.
RC: uh so i did all the bootcamp tests and ranging from 16-19. I was fine if i can get a 17 but i did not know what happened on the DAT. the passages were fairly easy and i answer the questions like how i was taught on bootcamp. i just don't know why and this section fustrates me the most
i read the scientific american article every day. Bio:
i used Ferali's notes, AP Bio cliff notes and some bio destroyer. Ferali's notes are the best, i say i read it over 3,4 times. but first, read the AP bio cliff notes first and then move on to ferali's. Ferali's notes are harder to read because they are in bullet points form. But, if you finish AP bio cliff notes, you should be ok. make sure you understand everything on Feralis notes! because that's all you need to know for BIO on the REAL DAT. just search up the stuff you don't know and write it on Ferali's note. I used OneNote for ferali's notes so i can add more stuff on it. I say read it for 4 times MINIMUM if you want to get a 20+. after reading 3 times, you can move on to destroyer. For destroyer, i think it's not overkill because you always want to get over prepared. HOWEVER, it is HARD. just do them and write down all the stuff you don't know. FOR ME, i did finish BIO destroyer because i ran out of time.... but yea its a good pracitce. After Bio destroyer, you can move on to Bootcamp test 6,7,8,9,10
so when you're done with the destroyers for first time i recommend taking the tests bootcamp has offer. i think thats the best part. I did test 6,7,8,9,10 first SEPARATELY because i want to keep reviewing my notes. use this tests to get feel of what your score is at. if you followed my method for Chem and Ochem, i'm pretty sure you can get a 20-21 on your first try. if not, just go back to your notes and understand them. What i did for bootcamp tests, i used another google doc to copy and past all the questions i got wrong AND the extra info that they provided after you take your practice test! those are very important because you can fill in more gaps and improve even more. it'll take you awhile to write down all the wrong and right questions and answers. That's why you want to do the tests separately so you don't want to get burnt out. don't do all the subjects together, separate them ( Ex: bio, pat on thursday. Chem and ochem on friday). also i wanted to do the destroyer again. ok so by now, you should be at your 7-8th week (you should be doing destroyer for second time). during the second time of destroyer, write down all the things you don't know (even if you got it right) on a notebook. The first time was to get a feel of what questions are like and tell you what you need to focus on more so you can go back to your notes. second time is to bring all the things you learned together. after finishing bootcamp and destroyers, you should be ready for your mock test (bootcamp test 1,2,3,4,5). So i left 2 days free before i start my mock tests because i want to review all the questions again. What i did was i went back to all my notes, and watch chad's video on stuff i'm still iffy in 2 days. (should be really fast because you already read it so many times) At this point, you should be on your 9th week. I took mock tests everyday in the morning. In afternoon, i would go over my tests and write down all the things i dont know and still iffy on google doc. after you finish your mock tests, you should leave 2-3 days open before your tests because you want to REVIEW your questions. for me, it is not DOING the questions, it is LEARNING AND REVIEWING the info from bootcamp to be the most important. I would go over every bootcamp tests (not redoing them, but review them on a google doc that you wrote down all the questions and answers before) just read them over.
comments on Bootcamp:
it's the best tool you can have to prepare for DAT. Let me just say, JUST GET IT. don't question it or anything. I did not use the other program but bootcamp really gives you what the real dat was like. Personally DAT bootcamp was a little harder than the real one. you should be able to score 1-2 points above your mock tests (but don't let this fool you and slow you down because you got cocky) just keep reviewing the stuff you dont know. ALSO, for test 1-5, TIME YOURSELF. go to library or computer lab and just take the tests like the real test. I think it is good practice so you can build you stamina. don't just take them separately... you already did them for 6-10.
Comments on Destroyer:
here's the thing, a lot of people think destroyer is OVERKILL, but i think destroyer is a good practice for chem and ochem. it gives you the hardest questions DAT can give which is a plus because you want to challenge yourself. (you want to do well right?) At first, i felt like giving up, I always read SDN for insight on DAT destroyer and see if it's really worth my time. What i learned from my experience is that DAT destroyer is a SUPPLEMENT. you CANNOT use this source as your main source if you want to relearn everything. DAT destroyer is like protein powder that gives extra muscle but you still need to eat regular food right? that's what it is. you need to make sure you review Chad's video and ferali's notes FIRST before moving on to DAT destroyer. Or else like others said, it'll be overkill for you. Math destroyer is awesome. At first it may take awhile but it really gives you all the questions DAT can give you. except the comparison but you can go to bootcamp for that.
Overall:
DON't CUT CORNERS. JUST DO IT. you don't want to retake the DAT like i did.... just try to do you best and make sure you get a good score. i spent like 2-3 months? first 2 months i was taking summer school which gave me less time to work on everything. after finish summer school, i had 7 weeks break which i literaly studied EVERYDAY. but before the study grind, i went to vegas for 3 days right after summer school ended to give myself a break. After vegas, i literally studied from 9am to 12 everyday. I gave myself this much time because i know i would procrastinate. I say give yourself 10 hours everyday minimum to study. the other time you can go on FB or youtube etc...
also I always come to SDN to predict my score based on others' experience. let me tell you something, DAT is really random. you can get easy questions and you can get hard questions. Also some people may score well on certain tests on bootcamp and some wont. DON'T LET THIS DISCOURAGE YOU. everyone is different you don't know their background. some are good at ochem some are not. (like me i failed couple chem and ochem classes lol)
I used the scores for bootcamp to give me an idea where i'm at. the most important part is to check HOW MANY YOU GOT WRONG. at the end of bootcamp test, you can get something like 35/40 i think that's the most important because scores are there to fool you. it is weighted differently. because you can get 35/40 on one test and score 22 and 35/40 other and score 20. just pay attention on those you got wrong.
also i highly recommend to prepare DAT in summer. DONT do it in school year because you want your GPA to be as high as possible. just sacrifice 10 weeks of your summer and really devour your time in studying. trust me its worth it.
REAL DAT:
i hate their PAT. i mean i was a designer major and i felt like the shapes were really not accurate. However, i used my judgement to choose the best answer. Angle ranking was ok. As long as you did all 10 tests of PAT and scoring 19-21, you should be good!
For Bio, bio was around the same as bootcamp i think because they can give you so many random questions. There are some questions that were covered on bootcamp which was really helpful. Chem and ochem were pretty easy. Bootcamp, chad and destroyer prepared you well for this. as long as you review all your notes (they have to be good notes tho) you should be good. It is a lot easier than bootcamp. i reviewed the roadmat from destroyer and make sure i knew all the reactions and the reaction sheet from CHAD.
ALL IN ALL, i want to thank CHAD, Ferali, Ari, and Orgoman to help me to score i wanted. i know RC is low but i did my best on that part. it is what it is. but thank you guys for the other parts! ok for the real question tho..... will RC hurt my chancew? and do i need to retake DAT just for RC? im worried.....
