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- Nov 13, 2009
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Readers beware, wall of text forthcoming!!!!
So here it is, my DAT experience--round 2. First up, my scores from my first attempt last year:
AA...20
TS...19
Bio...18
GC...22
OC...19
PAT..24
RC....20
QR...20
Annnnd this year's scores:
AA...23 (99.7)
TS...24 (99.7)
Bio...22 (97.6)
GC...29 (99.9)
OC...25 (98.4)
PAT..22 (93.8)
RC....23 (96.1)
QR...18 (86.6)
Many thanks to all of you who have offered up advice/breakdowns on here. No way I could have scored as well I as I did without learning from your experiences.
What I did differently this year:
#1) made myself bear down more (getting rejected tends to give you a bit more motivation)
#2) ANKI!!!! Not sure who suggested this on a breakdown a few months ago, but it was golden. I made an Anki card for every question that I missed in a practice test, or anything in Cliff's/Chad's notes I was unsure on. Last year I was way too quick to take a test, see the score, and be happy with what I got right and somewhat ignore what I got wrong. The key this year really was identifying my weak areas and pounding them until they were strong points.
#3) prayed more. This test is such a beast, both academically as well as emotionally. Make sure you're leaning on something or someone during these few months, it really makes a difference. I also have an amazing girlfriend and family who were behind me the whole way, many thanks to them!!!
#4) DatQvault. The more questions you're exposed to, the better, and this is a solid resource.
#5) Memorized the Destroyer roadmaps. Last year I pretended I had them memorized, but I didn't really. This year I printed off 4-5 copies of the roadmaps with the substituents blanked out, and wrote them all out the last few weeks of studying.
#6) Made sure I knew how to do each and every Chad's Quiz Chem problems.
Section breakdown:
BIO (22)
Resources used: Barrons Bio, Cliff's AP Bio, DATQvault, Anki, Destroyer Bio
I started with Barron's this time, because last year I did Cliff's and got an 18. I read Barrons twice and did all of the problems, but honestly probably forgot all of this by test date. I thought Barrons was a bit more simplistic in delivery and content, and I don't think it is as thorough as Cliff's. That being said, everyone has their own preferences and style of learning. Cliff's was definitely more dense and less interesting, so to each his (or her!) own. About halfway through, after reading many breakdowns that suggested Cliff's, I reverted back to Cliff's. I read through this probably 4-5 times, highlighted weak spots the 3rd time through, and created Anki cards for all of these weaknesses. I also added DATQvault this year. It doesn't hit the nail as squarely on the head as Chad's does for the chem's but it is still very solid. I'm convinced there's not a resource out there [currently] that can adequately prepare you 100% for the 'randomness' of Bio, because there's just so much material. But DATQvault does as good a job as any.
GC (29)
Resources used: Chad's Videos & Quizzes, DAT Destroyer, Anki
Leading up to the test, I felt like GC was my strongest subject and that I had a very outside chance of acing it. I guess I got a little lucky and it worked out! You guys know the drill by now: pound Chad's and Destroyer. Emphasis on Chad's quizzes!!! If you want to score well, don't go into the test without knowing how to do every single one of Chad's quiz questions for the chem's.
I started out by going through Chad's videos again (did them once last year) and retaking notes. About a month from test day I went through all the videos again, adding to my notes. These notes were my holy grail. I reviewed them at least once every 2-3 days. I went through Destroyer 4-5 times this year. Last year I did Destroyer twice. This year, first time through I got about 55% right, 2nd time was 80%, and the rest were 95% and up. After the second time through, I put all of my misses in Anki. I also created cards for concepts from my Chad's notes that I had trouble memorizing. I reviewed these probably once every week or 2.
OC (25)
See above. The only difference being the addition of the Destroyer Roadmaps.
PAT (22)
Resources: CDP
Last year I did 4-5 CDP tests and got a 24 on the actual DAT. This year when I did my first CDP I felt very comfortable and scored well, so I didn't invest much time at all studying PAT. It did take quite a bit of practice though last year to develop my strategies and begin to 'see' the problems--I was lucky that this carried over to this year. I thought the TFE on the real thing was harder if you rely mostly on line counting, but easier than CDP if you picture the image. Going in, I was apt to count lines, but once I got going on the real thing I felt like it was a touch easier than CDP to picture the image so I switched to that. Angles and cubes are easier. Hole punches are a touch 'out of line' but not too bad and not that different from the level of difficulty in CDP. Everything else was comparable to CDP. One major difference I noticed this year: I felt like the last or next to last question of each section had a noticeably much more difficult question they threw at you to throw you off. If you see these, don't sweat it. Mark something and move on...come back in your extra time and work through it. No use wasting time on these 1-2 really tough ones when you could be solving 6-7 easier ones with the same time.
RC (23)
Resources used: Topscore Test 1
Not a lot to say on this. I've always been a strong reader, and my major was actually in the humanities rather than in the sciences, so I did a lot of reading/writing. Just do some practice tests and develop your strategy. For me that was a mix of S&D and just reading. I would read the first 3-4 questions and pick up on a few key words, then read the passage until I could answer one. After I answered a couple I'd read the next 2-3 questions and keep reading. Eventually you've read through the whole thing and gotten it mapped out in your head, and you can work through the rest of the questions S&D from there. For the 'tone' or 'what is the most likely ending sentence' questions, I would mark and skip and do them last. By the time you've worked your way through the article answering all the rest of the questions, you should have a good handle on what the author is trying to say and should be able to answer these pretty easily. I thought Topscore was spot on with regard to difficulty, maaaybe a touch harder. However, I don't think they have enough of the 'tone' type questions compared to the real thing.
QR (18)
Resources used: Destroyer Math (not the Math Destroyer), Chad's QR videos
Last year I did 5-6 tests in the Math Destroyer and did better (20). This year I really focused on the sciences and to be honest kind of ignored math. I sold all my Destroyer stuff from last year and had to buy a different copy this year, and didn't get the Math Destroyer. I knew going in that it would probably show in my score, but was okay with that. Chad's QR was great for permutations and probability, and trig too. I felt like the rest of the video's were a bit of a waste, though this will depend on how comfortable you are with math. I survived...not much more to say.
My situation: As I said, I'm a re-applicant. My EC's, leadership, shadowing, rec letters are all good or above average. My GPA is really my problem. 3.25ish overall, with a 2.92ish sci-GPA. Last year I applied to 8-10 schools and only had 1 interview. After meeting with a few admisisons folks following the cycle, I was unanimously told to improve my academic side of things by a) doing the long route by doing a masters, or b) retaking the DAT. I'm impatient to get going, so i ultimately chose to do option b. I graduated undergrad last December and have been working for a professor nearly full-time at my local dental school since the spring. I currently have two interviews, one at each of my in-state schools (the only places I applied this year thus far), and would be ecstatic to be lucky enough to gain acceptance to either of them.
For those of you who are non-traditional applicants or worried about working and studying: it's doable. Be efficient, and work your way into a routine. For me, the first month and a half I worked 9-4 or 5 each day, and then studied until 8 or 9 at night. The latter half of my preparation I would stay at it until 10, 11, or midnight. At first this sounded impossible to me, but work your way into it and it's not that bad.
Overall reactions: humbled. What a crazy ride. For those of you still studying, hang in there. Keep the faith, keep working your royal @$$ off, and stay positive.
I never ever thought I would get as high of a score as I did. I literally dreamed of getting a 23 or 24, but never in a million years thought I'd actually do it. Study hard and study smart. Don't let yourself quit 1-2 hours earlier than you'd planned (I did this last year). Make sure to identify your weak area's and pound them over and over until they're strong area's. Stay confident and positive throughout. If you start feeling down/overwhelmed, take a break, but in general just try to stay positive and keep the faith. A friend of mine who is currently a D1 told me "study like your life depends on it......[pause]....because it does!" Obviously, you won't fall over dead if you do poorly, and it's not the worst thing if you don't make it in the first time or have to retake. But try to take it as seriously as you can while staying positive. Any and all questions are more than welcome either on here or by PM. Most of all: GOOD LUCK!!!!
------------
edit: I thought I'd add in my practice scores.
DATQvault: 18, 18, 20, 20, 21, 17, 20, 20, 20, 19 (started these ~3 weeks before test day)
CDP: #1-21, #2-23, #8-20
I mostly only did the natural science sections in each of the following:
TS/BIO/GC/OC
Topscore#1 18/20/17/17 <--6 weeks before test day
Topscore#2 18/17/19/18 <--4 weeks before test day
Topscore#3 20/20/19/21 <--1.5 weeks before test day
2009 ADA ??/21/20/18 <--5 days before test day
2007 ADA 24/26/23/23 <--2 days before test day
------------
another edit: I made it in! Acceptances to both of the schools I applied to this time around. Keep the faith, persevere, and keep working hard and it WILL pay off!
So here it is, my DAT experience--round 2. First up, my scores from my first attempt last year:
AA...20
TS...19
Bio...18
GC...22
OC...19
PAT..24
RC....20
QR...20
Annnnd this year's scores:
AA...23 (99.7)
TS...24 (99.7)
Bio...22 (97.6)
GC...29 (99.9)
OC...25 (98.4)
PAT..22 (93.8)
RC....23 (96.1)
QR...18 (86.6)
Many thanks to all of you who have offered up advice/breakdowns on here. No way I could have scored as well I as I did without learning from your experiences.
What I did differently this year:
#1) made myself bear down more (getting rejected tends to give you a bit more motivation)
#2) ANKI!!!! Not sure who suggested this on a breakdown a few months ago, but it was golden. I made an Anki card for every question that I missed in a practice test, or anything in Cliff's/Chad's notes I was unsure on. Last year I was way too quick to take a test, see the score, and be happy with what I got right and somewhat ignore what I got wrong. The key this year really was identifying my weak areas and pounding them until they were strong points.
#3) prayed more. This test is such a beast, both academically as well as emotionally. Make sure you're leaning on something or someone during these few months, it really makes a difference. I also have an amazing girlfriend and family who were behind me the whole way, many thanks to them!!!
#4) DatQvault. The more questions you're exposed to, the better, and this is a solid resource.
#5) Memorized the Destroyer roadmaps. Last year I pretended I had them memorized, but I didn't really. This year I printed off 4-5 copies of the roadmaps with the substituents blanked out, and wrote them all out the last few weeks of studying.
#6) Made sure I knew how to do each and every Chad's Quiz Chem problems.
Section breakdown:
BIO (22)
Resources used: Barrons Bio, Cliff's AP Bio, DATQvault, Anki, Destroyer Bio
I started with Barron's this time, because last year I did Cliff's and got an 18. I read Barrons twice and did all of the problems, but honestly probably forgot all of this by test date. I thought Barrons was a bit more simplistic in delivery and content, and I don't think it is as thorough as Cliff's. That being said, everyone has their own preferences and style of learning. Cliff's was definitely more dense and less interesting, so to each his (or her!) own. About halfway through, after reading many breakdowns that suggested Cliff's, I reverted back to Cliff's. I read through this probably 4-5 times, highlighted weak spots the 3rd time through, and created Anki cards for all of these weaknesses. I also added DATQvault this year. It doesn't hit the nail as squarely on the head as Chad's does for the chem's but it is still very solid. I'm convinced there's not a resource out there [currently] that can adequately prepare you 100% for the 'randomness' of Bio, because there's just so much material. But DATQvault does as good a job as any.
GC (29)
Resources used: Chad's Videos & Quizzes, DAT Destroyer, Anki
Leading up to the test, I felt like GC was my strongest subject and that I had a very outside chance of acing it. I guess I got a little lucky and it worked out! You guys know the drill by now: pound Chad's and Destroyer. Emphasis on Chad's quizzes!!! If you want to score well, don't go into the test without knowing how to do every single one of Chad's quiz questions for the chem's.
I started out by going through Chad's videos again (did them once last year) and retaking notes. About a month from test day I went through all the videos again, adding to my notes. These notes were my holy grail. I reviewed them at least once every 2-3 days. I went through Destroyer 4-5 times this year. Last year I did Destroyer twice. This year, first time through I got about 55% right, 2nd time was 80%, and the rest were 95% and up. After the second time through, I put all of my misses in Anki. I also created cards for concepts from my Chad's notes that I had trouble memorizing. I reviewed these probably once every week or 2.
OC (25)
See above. The only difference being the addition of the Destroyer Roadmaps.
PAT (22)
Resources: CDP
Last year I did 4-5 CDP tests and got a 24 on the actual DAT. This year when I did my first CDP I felt very comfortable and scored well, so I didn't invest much time at all studying PAT. It did take quite a bit of practice though last year to develop my strategies and begin to 'see' the problems--I was lucky that this carried over to this year. I thought the TFE on the real thing was harder if you rely mostly on line counting, but easier than CDP if you picture the image. Going in, I was apt to count lines, but once I got going on the real thing I felt like it was a touch easier than CDP to picture the image so I switched to that. Angles and cubes are easier. Hole punches are a touch 'out of line' but not too bad and not that different from the level of difficulty in CDP. Everything else was comparable to CDP. One major difference I noticed this year: I felt like the last or next to last question of each section had a noticeably much more difficult question they threw at you to throw you off. If you see these, don't sweat it. Mark something and move on...come back in your extra time and work through it. No use wasting time on these 1-2 really tough ones when you could be solving 6-7 easier ones with the same time.
RC (23)
Resources used: Topscore Test 1
Not a lot to say on this. I've always been a strong reader, and my major was actually in the humanities rather than in the sciences, so I did a lot of reading/writing. Just do some practice tests and develop your strategy. For me that was a mix of S&D and just reading. I would read the first 3-4 questions and pick up on a few key words, then read the passage until I could answer one. After I answered a couple I'd read the next 2-3 questions and keep reading. Eventually you've read through the whole thing and gotten it mapped out in your head, and you can work through the rest of the questions S&D from there. For the 'tone' or 'what is the most likely ending sentence' questions, I would mark and skip and do them last. By the time you've worked your way through the article answering all the rest of the questions, you should have a good handle on what the author is trying to say and should be able to answer these pretty easily. I thought Topscore was spot on with regard to difficulty, maaaybe a touch harder. However, I don't think they have enough of the 'tone' type questions compared to the real thing.
QR (18)
Resources used: Destroyer Math (not the Math Destroyer), Chad's QR videos
Last year I did 5-6 tests in the Math Destroyer and did better (20). This year I really focused on the sciences and to be honest kind of ignored math. I sold all my Destroyer stuff from last year and had to buy a different copy this year, and didn't get the Math Destroyer. I knew going in that it would probably show in my score, but was okay with that. Chad's QR was great for permutations and probability, and trig too. I felt like the rest of the video's were a bit of a waste, though this will depend on how comfortable you are with math. I survived...not much more to say.
My situation: As I said, I'm a re-applicant. My EC's, leadership, shadowing, rec letters are all good or above average. My GPA is really my problem. 3.25ish overall, with a 2.92ish sci-GPA. Last year I applied to 8-10 schools and only had 1 interview. After meeting with a few admisisons folks following the cycle, I was unanimously told to improve my academic side of things by a) doing the long route by doing a masters, or b) retaking the DAT. I'm impatient to get going, so i ultimately chose to do option b. I graduated undergrad last December and have been working for a professor nearly full-time at my local dental school since the spring. I currently have two interviews, one at each of my in-state schools (the only places I applied this year thus far), and would be ecstatic to be lucky enough to gain acceptance to either of them.
For those of you who are non-traditional applicants or worried about working and studying: it's doable. Be efficient, and work your way into a routine. For me, the first month and a half I worked 9-4 or 5 each day, and then studied until 8 or 9 at night. The latter half of my preparation I would stay at it until 10, 11, or midnight. At first this sounded impossible to me, but work your way into it and it's not that bad.
Overall reactions: humbled. What a crazy ride. For those of you still studying, hang in there. Keep the faith, keep working your royal @$$ off, and stay positive.
I never ever thought I would get as high of a score as I did. I literally dreamed of getting a 23 or 24, but never in a million years thought I'd actually do it. Study hard and study smart. Don't let yourself quit 1-2 hours earlier than you'd planned (I did this last year). Make sure to identify your weak area's and pound them over and over until they're strong area's. Stay confident and positive throughout. If you start feeling down/overwhelmed, take a break, but in general just try to stay positive and keep the faith. A friend of mine who is currently a D1 told me "study like your life depends on it......[pause]....because it does!" Obviously, you won't fall over dead if you do poorly, and it's not the worst thing if you don't make it in the first time or have to retake. But try to take it as seriously as you can while staying positive. Any and all questions are more than welcome either on here or by PM. Most of all: GOOD LUCK!!!!
------------
edit: I thought I'd add in my practice scores.
DATQvault: 18, 18, 20, 20, 21, 17, 20, 20, 20, 19 (started these ~3 weeks before test day)
CDP: #1-21, #2-23, #8-20
I mostly only did the natural science sections in each of the following:
TS/BIO/GC/OC
Topscore#1 18/20/17/17 <--6 weeks before test day
Topscore#2 18/17/19/18 <--4 weeks before test day
Topscore#3 20/20/19/21 <--1.5 weeks before test day
2009 ADA ??/21/20/18 <--5 days before test day
2007 ADA 24/26/23/23 <--2 days before test day
------------
another edit: I made it in! Acceptances to both of the schools I applied to this time around. Keep the faith, persevere, and keep working hard and it WILL pay off!
Last edited:
Great job 
