DAT Breakdown from 17AA to 19AA, 8pt Bio increase

[chhabneh97]

DAT Breakdown:


Background/overall thoughts:
I graduated with a biology degree in 2019, and have worked in various positions (all dental related since then). I felt reluctant to write this, because my score isn’t anything spectacular, but I hope you may take something from this. My GPA wasn't anything exceptional either, but I felt the pressure to start studying during my undergrad. My first attempt in Spring 2019 didn't go as planned. I tried using Kaplan, but with working and full-time school commitments, it was overwhelming. I used DATBootcamp and created my own (poor) study schedule, leaving sections like QR untouched like two days before my exam.
I completed my undergrad at UW and moved to SF right after my first attempt for an AmeriCorps position, here I was directly involved in the SF community and subsequently was offered interviews from UW and UCSF. I ultimately was rejected from both schools due to my low AA. During the pandemic in 2020, I decided to take the DAT again, but my studying was all over the place. I tried DAT Booster this time, but without a disciplined study routine. I was also distracted; I got a puppy and didn’t have strict deadlines, which hampered my progress. I think the pandemic was a weird time for everyone. Some adults still need deadlines, and that’s perfectly ok! I think I am one of those people. I was not studying diligently, or having moments of intentional study time.

After working as a dental assistant at UW and getting some hands-on experience, I decided to give the DAT one more shot. I decided this has to be my last time!! I went all-in with DATBooster and followed their 10-week study guide diligently. I’m grateful to have lived at home during undergrad and set my future-self up for success, because I truly needed to reduce my working hours in order to prioritize this exam. My focus was on relearning the extensive biology material, which I found particularly challenging. I saw many breakdowns that emphasized “breadth over depth,” but I went into depth. This test requires a lot of discipline and I made myself memorize even the randomest of details (specifically in bio). I will say, I faced a handful of personal issues during this attempt; a death in my family, a breakup two weeks before my test. It’s so hard not to get caught up in life, and I commend you for trying your absolute best.

Individual Section Breakdown:

• AA: 17 → 17 → 19
• TS: 17 → 18 → 19

To help with memorization, I used the "Method of Loci" technique. I made handwritten flashcards and put sticky notes all over my apartment, which helped me to associate concepts with specific locations. For example, “capacitation” or “what is a nucleophile” . I was able to answer these because I associated them with a specific part of my apartment. I also used the 90-20 study method, which is committing 90 minutes of focused study followed by a 20-minute break to combat distractions and improve productivity. I set a large timer on YouTube on my TV that had a 90 minute countdown. During this time, I’m not allowed to touch my phone and I follow the study guide for that day, for 90 minutes. After a diligent study session, I’m allowed to go on my phone, use the restroom, and take a snack break for 20 minutes. I get distracted so easily, so this really helped me to be able to finish all my agenda items. I went to school, but I don’t really feel like I learned how to study. It was not only relearning all this material, but also how to study.

I also did not know that noise-canceling earphones existed (I know, where was I?!) I recently also discovered foam ear plugs. Please utilize either of those. I would be in Starbucks where it felt like I was studying at the club.

• Bio: 16 → 15 → 24

I spent the most amount of my study time on this section. My biggest takeaway here was actually making the intentional time to study and memorize definitions. I often had the mindset that if I read the material, I can tackle the question when I see it. FALSE! I did read the material– but then I’d forget it the next day. So my challenge was, how do I keep this in my brain? I would teach it to my friends, my family, and when they’d ask me questions, I would have to further understand it myself, in order to explain it. I took a holistic approach. For example, in nephrology, I took a step back to understand what even is a kidney, why does it do what it does? Then I would further dive into specific anatomy, what does the bowman’s capsule do?

I will attribute my score to the Booster crash courses. And I will also mention that I took the bio crash course twice. It’s really important no matter which crash course you take (if you chose to) to come in with an overall understanding. It’s not meant to reteach you material, it’s there to focus on high-yield information. After all, although we are (re)learning material, we are all still taking a standardized test. It may be an anomaly for some to have the opportunity to take a crash course twice, but I’m so grateful I did. I took it a month before my exam, and the second time, 2 days before my exam. Here, I was able to reaffirm what I learned from the bio videos. The instructor was interactive, and on-top of being accessible to students.

I also took the time to come up with mnemonics to help myself understand the role of certain hormones. For example, calcitonin and PTH have opposite roles. I saw that calcitonin has an L, for lowering calcium levels. It’s random and weird, but trust it will help you to remember it. As I would read questions, I would ask myself, “What are the creators of this exam truly asking me?” Go with your gut feeling! While taking practice tests, I would mark answers and change them with 30 seconds left- I usually always ended up getting them wrong, and my first choice was correct. You’ll be surprised at how straightforward and “easy” the questions are day of.

• GC: 17 → 18 → 17

I kind of neglected this section in my memorization. Booster’s practice tests were often on the more complex math side. I also took 2 crash courses through Booster, I would recommend taking them depending on what you need the most help with. I needed the most help with thermodynamics and chemical equilibrium and they didn’t offer the third one by the time I took my test. Truthfully, I did not feel the crash courses helped me, they were also pretty calculation heavy. I also really struggled to watch Professor Dave’s videos. I think when I previously used Bootcamp, I liked Professor Mike, he helped come up with some memorization techniques. For example, he said “diamagnetic and (un)paramagnetic.” I did watch Professor Dave, but heavily supplemented it with Chad’s videos, who does an amazing job at teaching conceptual information. This is entirely my own fault, but there were certain concepts I chose not to spend time studying, which showed up on my exam. For example, I got the balance this equation in an acidic solution kind of question. How many electrons will be produced? If I could go back, I would spend the time understanding what is happening to the equation under an acidic or basic medium, just as an example. I took a free 30-min crash course through Bootcamp and it was a bit chaotic. The instructor opened up the crash course to a Q&A, which I felt defeats the purpose of calling it a crash course. Both courses I took through Booster and Bootcamp heavily emphasized quantum numbers, which never showed up on my exam. Even if it did, I did not think it was worth spending as much time on as we did on either platform.

• OC: 18 → 15 → 18

I also kind of neglected this section, but I will say my exam was more conceptual than reactions. I didn’t start memorizing the reactions until the week of my exam. Don’t be like me!! I mostly watched Leah4Sci when relearning OC, she taught me quite a few tricks in memorizing certain mechanisms. In my undergrad when I was learning OC, my instructor would teach us one mechanism at a time, but many of them share similar roles and it’s then about memorizing what they turn into. Leah was very helpful with teaching the overarching concept. For example, we know that LiAlH4 vs NaBH4 are both reducing agents, and KMnO4 and PCC are oxidizing agents. Leah would explain shortcuts on how to see a reagent, and understand what it does, what properties the reagents have for you to tackle the question. This really helped me because I felt I forgot everything from undergrad. I truly started over, learning the basics of what even is a functional group. I also had a few CNMR questions which I taught myself shortcuts for tackling.

• QR: 15 → 16 → 17

Although my GC score was the same, this is one of the sections I was immensely disappointed in. I neglected QR my first two times, and was scoring significantly higher on my practice tests during the 3rd attempt. Do the easy stuff first! You know the questions that are like how far apart do these two things meet if one leaves a half hour later, or something like that? If I could go back, I would learn how to set up these equations so you’re not wasting time figuring out how to do it. I would also do like 20 of the same type of question so you’re confident in setting it up. Take the time to memorize certain formulas. I guess I was selective in the information I wrote on the sticky notes in my apartment.

I also took the QR crash courses. If you have the funds available, this is the one I would recommend the most. The instructor was amazing, so interactive, and he would teach shortcuts to answering the questions. I did feel like my QR was a lot harder on my exam than practice tests, I felt I put an appropriate amount of time studying towards this section, and wished I had received better results, because I know the work I put into it. If you’re using the calculator for each question, you’re going to be screwed. Try to do as much mental math as you can, I had a lot of algebra questions and you can easily get messed up if you miscalculate. The creators of the DAT want you to give up by this section, it’s an easy way to bring down your score because you’re either exhausted or stressed about the Natural Sciences section. Don’t fall into the trap!! I remember the first time I took the DAT, I couldn’t stop thinking about how I’m going to get my results in 45 minutes, and what will my parents think, and I put 3 months towards this? Get rid of your Tito, the Anxiety Mosquito and just focus completely on the questions. All the answers you need are right in front of you!

• PAT: 17 → 19 → 20

On the Booster site, it was helpful to see individual subsection breakdowns. Learn what it is you’re good at, and try to get 15/15 on those questions. My best to worst is the following: Hole punching, cube counting, angle ranking, pattern folding, TFE, keyhole. I jumped straight to #31 and tried not to spend more than 5 minutes on the entire angle ranking section. They’re present to eat at your time and if you have a good technique, answer the question and move on. I used the rapid eye method for this and was scoring anywhere from 11-15. For cube counting I created a chart and only bothered to count the lowest section, which usually is 10 cubes. I did have a few weird hidden cubes. I will say the PAT section on the exam was hard, I was thrown a ton of curveballs. I even had marked 1-2 hole punching which I had never done during my practice tests. For keyhole, I took the L. I watched a ton of videos but still felt I did not know how to tackle these. What would trip me up were the sizes of the answer choices, they could be the same figure just different sizes, I guess it’s an easy mistake but I would make a lot of them. For TFE, I got progressively better. There are giveaways. FIrst I would look at the answer choices and eliminate what I know is absolutely wrong. I did this for the majority of PAT, process of elimination.

• RC: 21 → 20 → 21

Another section I was a bit disappointed in. On practice tests I was scoring anywhere from 22-30. I think I may have been overconfident in this section. I used search and destroy. If it was a longer passage, then I used the traditional method in reading through everything. While studying, I would always, always do the optional readings, and the next day tell my family about them, what I learned, what I remember from them. They’re all really fascinating articles, I’m not a big leisure reader but I enjoyed learning from them. As I studied and read a ton of articles, I saw a pattern in the answer choices. When I’d read the passage the first time around, I’d highlight the phrases that would give me a series of information followed by commas. For example, “...avoiding touching their face—especially their eyes, nose, and mouth” I would highlight that section because sometimes the questions would ask you about it, but change one of the features “eyes, nose, and ears,” this is a really easy way to get questions wrong.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you’re able to take away some from it!! Best of luck to you!

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[Na7428]

Hey, well done. You worked hard through this process. Have you applied anywhere to dental schools yet?