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I am glad to say I finally completed the DAT today.
My scores:
Academic Average: 25
Total Science: 23
Biology: 22
Chemistry: 26
Organic Chem: 22
Perceptual Ability: 24
Reading Comprehension: 29
Quantitative Reasoning: 25
Background:
I made the decision to take the DAT around February this year, which was a pretty dumb decision as I was in the middle of my hardest semester of CS classes (Data Structures, Computer Architecture, C++ in UNIX, Discrete Math 2, Technical Communication). Going into studying for the DAT I was pretty overconfident, it seemed easier than the MCAT with only Bio, chem, ochem and math. That was a huge mistake. I don't think I have ever studied for any exam this hard in my life. Spent probably 4-5 hours a day starting in February, upped it to 8 hours a day in May.
Bio (22)
Materials: Cliff's, Ferali's Notes, DAT Destroyer, Bootcamp
Bootcamp scores: 20 23 20 21 24 20 24 23 22 20 Avg: 21.7
Started studying for Bio in Feb, went through all of Ferali's notes, then dropped it completely until I finished Chem and OChem in April. Completely forgot everything lol. Had to go through it all again, but this time with Destroyer and Bootcamp. Best advice I got was from @russelldw to make a document full of all the stuff you are missing on Destroyer and Bootcamp. Bio section was pretty random, got a question on homodont dentition I'd never read anything about, everything else was straightforward. I am pretty happy with this score, for me Bio was a diminishing returns sort of thing so I didn't want to spend all the time in the world on it.
Chem (26):
Materials: Chad's, Destroyer, Bootcamp
Bootcamp: 24 23 30 21 21 24 24 24 21 30 Avg: 24.2
Chem was always a strong subject, but it had been a few years since I took Chem. Chad came through, Destroyer was kinda overkill, and Bootcamp was good. Not much more to say here.
Organic Chem (22):
Materials: Chad's, Destroyer, Bootcamp
Bootcamp: 23 20 18 20 20 22 20 21 22 20 Avg: 20.6
Also been a few years since I took Organic, and oh god I remembered nothing. Spent a solid week watch Chad's videos, and another week trying to figure out what it all means. Made sense in the end, but that was a stressful week for sure. Destroyer is a bit much but good for practice, but Bootcamp is where you learn if you actually know anything well.
PAT (24):
Materials: Bootcamp
Bootcamp: 23 20 23 22 23 22 23 Avg: 22.28571429
PAT is just one of this things I have always been good at. Maybe that's why I chose the engineering/CS route. Practice with Bootcamp was sufficient. For me the Keyhole and Angles were the hardest, and I had one Keyhole and one Angle on the exam that definitely did not have correct answers in my eyes. Ended up alright.
QR (25)
Materials: Bootcamp
Bootcamp: 24 22 23 24 30 24 23 30 avg: 25
Math is by far and away my best subject, didn't study much for this one. Pretty disappointed not to get a 30 to be honest, I ended up getting stuck on one weirdly written problem, but I'll take it. The only advice I can give is if you are really good at math (you know yourself), save your money and don't buy Math Destroyer. I didn't open it once because people on SDN said Bootcamp was harder and I found bootcamp pretty easy.
Reading Comprehension (29):
Materials: Bootcamp
Bootcamp: 20 21 22 24 20 23 Avg: 21.66666667
Surprise of the century here. I went into the DAT with this being my weakest subject, and somehow came out with the highest score. Real DAT was WAY WAY WAY easier than Bootcamp, but maybe I just got lucky on the passages and question I got.
2007 DAT: Bio: 22 Chem: 30 OChem: 25 QR: 26 PAT: 25 RC: 22 (BC Avg) AA: 25
2009 DAT: Bio: 24 Chem: 22 OChem: 21
Overview:
All in all, extremely happy with the score I got considering the amount of work I put in. Haven't studied this hard for an exam since the SAT. Went in looking for a 23 and this was an unexpected surprise. Thanks to @orgoman22 and @Ari Rezaei for the great materials. However, I wish I knew earlier that Bootcamp full lengths had the same questions as the practice sections, honestly it threw off my whole study schedule.
A comment about the DAT: I feel like this test gives a person like me an unfair advantage. I have an engineering mind and my Math and PAT scores were pretty much set by natural ability. I feel like this is unfair to most pre-dental students who are science majors, this test requires a lot more prep for you guys. I feel like my mom, an excellent dentist (who never took DAT), would do poorly on this exam relative to my dad, a software engineer (except on science). My score was pretty much propped up by the non sciences.
I am so so glad this process is over, and I hope my scores are good enough to get me into the Texas schools.
My scores:
Academic Average: 25
Total Science: 23
Biology: 22
Chemistry: 26
Organic Chem: 22
Perceptual Ability: 24
Reading Comprehension: 29
Quantitative Reasoning: 25
Background:
I made the decision to take the DAT around February this year, which was a pretty dumb decision as I was in the middle of my hardest semester of CS classes (Data Structures, Computer Architecture, C++ in UNIX, Discrete Math 2, Technical Communication). Going into studying for the DAT I was pretty overconfident, it seemed easier than the MCAT with only Bio, chem, ochem and math. That was a huge mistake. I don't think I have ever studied for any exam this hard in my life. Spent probably 4-5 hours a day starting in February, upped it to 8 hours a day in May.
Bio (22)
Materials: Cliff's, Ferali's Notes, DAT Destroyer, Bootcamp
Bootcamp scores: 20 23 20 21 24 20 24 23 22 20 Avg: 21.7
Started studying for Bio in Feb, went through all of Ferali's notes, then dropped it completely until I finished Chem and OChem in April. Completely forgot everything lol. Had to go through it all again, but this time with Destroyer and Bootcamp. Best advice I got was from @russelldw to make a document full of all the stuff you are missing on Destroyer and Bootcamp. Bio section was pretty random, got a question on homodont dentition I'd never read anything about, everything else was straightforward. I am pretty happy with this score, for me Bio was a diminishing returns sort of thing so I didn't want to spend all the time in the world on it.
Chem (26):
Materials: Chad's, Destroyer, Bootcamp
Bootcamp: 24 23 30 21 21 24 24 24 21 30 Avg: 24.2
Chem was always a strong subject, but it had been a few years since I took Chem. Chad came through, Destroyer was kinda overkill, and Bootcamp was good. Not much more to say here.
Organic Chem (22):
Materials: Chad's, Destroyer, Bootcamp
Bootcamp: 23 20 18 20 20 22 20 21 22 20 Avg: 20.6
Also been a few years since I took Organic, and oh god I remembered nothing. Spent a solid week watch Chad's videos, and another week trying to figure out what it all means. Made sense in the end, but that was a stressful week for sure. Destroyer is a bit much but good for practice, but Bootcamp is where you learn if you actually know anything well.
PAT (24):
Materials: Bootcamp
Bootcamp: 23 20 23 22 23 22 23 Avg: 22.28571429
PAT is just one of this things I have always been good at. Maybe that's why I chose the engineering/CS route. Practice with Bootcamp was sufficient. For me the Keyhole and Angles were the hardest, and I had one Keyhole and one Angle on the exam that definitely did not have correct answers in my eyes. Ended up alright.
QR (25)
Materials: Bootcamp
Bootcamp: 24 22 23 24 30 24 23 30 avg: 25
Math is by far and away my best subject, didn't study much for this one. Pretty disappointed not to get a 30 to be honest, I ended up getting stuck on one weirdly written problem, but I'll take it. The only advice I can give is if you are really good at math (you know yourself), save your money and don't buy Math Destroyer. I didn't open it once because people on SDN said Bootcamp was harder and I found bootcamp pretty easy.
Reading Comprehension (29):
Materials: Bootcamp
Bootcamp: 20 21 22 24 20 23 Avg: 21.66666667
Surprise of the century here. I went into the DAT with this being my weakest subject, and somehow came out with the highest score. Real DAT was WAY WAY WAY easier than Bootcamp, but maybe I just got lucky on the passages and question I got.
2007 DAT: Bio: 22 Chem: 30 OChem: 25 QR: 26 PAT: 25 RC: 22 (BC Avg) AA: 25
2009 DAT: Bio: 24 Chem: 22 OChem: 21
Overview:
All in all, extremely happy with the score I got considering the amount of work I put in. Haven't studied this hard for an exam since the SAT. Went in looking for a 23 and this was an unexpected surprise. Thanks to @orgoman22 and @Ari Rezaei for the great materials. However, I wish I knew earlier that Bootcamp full lengths had the same questions as the practice sections, honestly it threw off my whole study schedule.
A comment about the DAT: I feel like this test gives a person like me an unfair advantage. I have an engineering mind and my Math and PAT scores were pretty much set by natural ability. I feel like this is unfair to most pre-dental students who are science majors, this test requires a lot more prep for you guys. I feel like my mom, an excellent dentist (who never took DAT), would do poorly on this exam relative to my dad, a software engineer (except on science). My score was pretty much propped up by the non sciences.
I am so so glad this process is over, and I hope my scores are good enough to get me into the Texas schools.
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