Hi everyone! I took the DAT today and I never thought in a million years of posting a breakdown, but I want to give back to the community, so I'm going to post a very long and detailed breakdown and I hope it helps some of you! I wouldn't have survived this test had it not been for SDN because it gave me a sense of community even though I isolated myself from the outside world for this test. I want to throw it out there that I have a sub-par GPA so I knew I needed to do well on this test for a chance to get into a school, and I had hoped for a 22AA. I also want to preface by saying that I rarely post on SDN despite lurking a lot, so if the formatting is strange, I do apologize. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! I'll try and help out as much as I can 🙂
SCORE:
AA: 24 / Bio: 21 / GC: 23 / OC: 26 /RC: 25 / QR: 26 /PAT: 20
MATERIALS USED / USEFULNESS ON TEST:
Biology (21): Cliffs AP Biology 3rd Edition, Kaplan Blue Book 2015, Wikipedia, Feralis Notes, Destroyer
--- I relied on the AP Cliffs the most because I found it the easiest to read, but also knew that it wasn't going to be enough to cover all aspects of the bio portion. What I did was make flashcard sets on the website Quizlet (literally have 2,000 cards total), as I was reading Cliffs.
--- I feel the most useful way to use the flashcards is NOT actually as flashcards (i.e: showing a random term and pulling all of the details about it from your mind), but actually using Quizlet's "test" feature. It's something they just started, but basically you can generate tests in many styles (fill in the blank, multiple choice, true false), and I would went through these tests over and over. The great thing is if you miss a card, it'll tell you later by breaking down your cards into "never missed" "sometimes missed" "missed a lot". I also used Quizlet cause their mobile app is awesome (I tried out Anki, but had a hard time with the mobile web version).
----- Edit, here's the link: https://quizlet.com/illustratively/folders/biology
--- Everything you find in KBB can be found anywhere else, but surprisingly, I kind of liked their taxonomy section (though it may not be as detailed as you want). For instance, I felt the plants section and animals in Cliffs was SUPER detailed, so what I went through KBB first to see what topics they focused on, and then went and found more details about each of those topics in Feralis / Cliffs. But overall, I don't recommend KBB. Maybe borrow it from someone if you can for this one portion?
--- Destroyer has really random questions for biology, and if you can get through all of them and really try to understand them, I think you'll be pretty solid for the biology portion.
--- The last thing that I did was look up pictures of confusing concepts on Wikipedia and DREW them out. I really like to draw, and I felt like after I drew out things like mollusca, or where reabsorption is actively done in a kidney, etc., it really stuck a lot better than simply just reading off a page.
PAT (20): Crack DAT PAT, DAT Bootcamp Generators / Tests, Eyeballing Game
-- I only used Crack DAT PAT for 2 Tests. In retrospect, I wish I didn't buy it (though I didn't get the best PAT score so maybe I should've used it more...). I just found the explanations on Bootcamp to be much more useful and I didn't really like having to watch videos to understand the right answer on Crack. They also have pictures of the solutions, but sometimes I found them hard to follow. I do think that the real DAT falls somewhere in the difficulty of Crack and Bootcamp. I knew going in that I sucked at the PAT and kind of accepted my fate here. I wish I had put more effort in, but I was just too slow and got too confused at TFE. Also for TFE, DO NOT USE THE LINE COUNTING METHOD. DON'T DO IT!!!
-- The explanations on Bootcamp are AMAZING. I would recommend going through each and every single question (even if you got it right), to see the little tips and tricks to master the PAT.
-- The eyeballing game is a fun way to practice daily. A version of it can be found in Bootcamp, which incorporates more things such as cube counting (which the original eyeballing game didn't).
Organic Chemistry (26): DAT Destroyer, Chad's Videos, Bootcamp
--- Whoa, Chad is a godsend. When you watch his videos, write down everything he says. Sometimes even the funny jokes he makes will help you! I watched the Coursesaver versions twice, once while taking notes and again to just listen and really pay attention. I would recommend downloading the two "packets" that they have up: the first is the unannotated notes that you can take your own notes on. In this first packet, there's a table where he lists all of the alkene reactions, their intermediates, their stereoselectivity, etc. It wasn't until I looked at this table that it just clicked for me. I started noticing things like, wow there's only 3 alkene reactions that could undergo rearrangement? Oh, if something goes through a cyclic intermediate like bromonium ion, it would have an inversion? Stuff like that. Also, Chad is really responsive to questions so if you have any, you can contact him through his website and he usually gets back right away. I had a question about the reactivity of benzenes and he typed up a long paragraph to explain it to me!
--- I love Destroyer and it fills in the gaps for some stuff such as the Tollens Test, but man, I got destroyed by this section. Even 2 days ago, I was reviewing it and I felt like I didn't know anything. Despite that though, I recommend you go through it. The Destroyer doesn't predict how you'll do on the DAT but it's a fantastic learning tool that will cover all of your bases for the test. I wrote down every question (during my round 1 of going through it), and its corresponding solution. It took me hours to do, but I found it did help me do better when I went through round 2 (the timed version). I actually didn't look at the roadmaps and I was worried for my life this morning that I would regret doing so.
--- I made paper flashcards of every reaction and also some theory things (i.e.: what are some characteristics of an SN2 reaction). Not sure in retrospect if this helped at all, because I didn't really have time to look through them because there were so many.
General Chemistry (23): DAT Destroyer, Chad's Videos
--- Again, Chad is amazing. I actually watched all of his videos on Coursesaver (the paid version), and later I watched the newer versions for free on his website. I did think I would do better in GC than OC, but it didn't turn out that way. One highlight from Chad / his quizzes is that he talks a lot about exceptions to certain rules. I liked that he posed questions in a different way, kind of spinned them a little, and made me think of the reason why things happened. The OC section of his website (for the DAT) isn't up, but the GC (for the DAT) is. I watched both the Coursesaver and his new website and I actually liked the new one better. He has stuff like naming compounds that I don't remember seeing on the old version.
--- I loved loved loved the Destroyer's GC! In comparison to the OC portion that wrecked me, I thought the GC portion was doable once you got the basics down from Chad. I'm still surprised that I did better in OC than GC for this reason.
--- I made paper flashcards after watching the videos from Chad, totaling about 200 total. I would review them once every few weeks in full.
Reading Comprehension (25): DAT Bootcamp
--- All I did for this section was take the practice tests on Bootcamp. I usually try to read in my free time (even though it's stuff like young adult novels), but I've always been pretty fast at reading. I was however, pretty scared for this section after seeing my scores on BC (see below). The highest I got was a 25 which is what I got on the real thing but every other score was like a 19/20.
--- My method for this on the exam was the Vanilla Method aka read the passage in full, map it out, and answer the questions. I'm a pretty fast reader and it scares me when I do Search & Destroy because I feel like I didn't grasp what the author was saying. So that's why I stuck with the traditional method!
--- I did read some stuff on Scientific American at the beginning of my studying, but I started slacking after a while...
Quantitative Reasoning (26): Math Destroyer 2015, Bootcamp
--- Math Destroyer is my holy grail. I was getting so many wrong on it that I became very worried for this section, so that forced me to keep practicing until I became confident. The questions you find in Destroyer are pretty on point to what you'll find on the real DAT. I will say that I got destroyed by tests 11 and 12 and if you get there, you'll know what I'm talking about. I had to take those tests untimed because they were so difficult for me, and I ended up just going through the solutions very slowly for those. Without Math Destroyer, I wouldn't have gotten the score that I did. I also tried out the DAT Destroyer's Math but only got to question 100 or so. I just felt like those were a little too simplistic and I wanted to invest my time in harder problems.
--- Bootcamp is also pretty on point. I took these tests after I finished Math Destroyer. I think because I did Destroyer (and this goes for other sections as well), I didn't really have a hard time managing my time. My problem was that I would straight up not know how to do a problem, hahaha (but that's my own weakness).
PRACTICE TEST SCORES / THOUGHTS:
(AA / Bio / GC / OC / RC / QR)
DAT Bootcamp:
Test 1: (23 / 26 / 23 / 21 / 19 / 24)
Test 2: (20 / 16 / 22 / 22 / 20 / 21)
Test 3: (22 / 18 / 26 / 18 / 20 / 30)
Test 4: (23 / 23 / 25 / 24 / 25 / 19)
Test 5: (20 / 21 / 19 / 20 / 20 / 18)
ADA Official Exams:
2007: (20 / 19 / 19 / 20 / 17 / 23)
2009: (? / 25 / 20 / 17 / 20 / 17) [didn't calculate the AA]
For me, I didn't feel as though the official exams were representative of my score--these scores freaked me OUT when I saw them (I took them about a week before my DAT). As you can see, my OC score on the 2009 was a 17!!! Yikes, but luckily I managed a 26 on the real thing. I do agree that the tests are easy, but I can't really speak too much about it because either I choked or something when wrong in predicting my scores with those. I almost thought about rescheduling after those. The QR on the 2009 is insane by the way! I felt like Bootcamp scores were very representative, and at least for my version of the test, it was harder than my real exam so it prepares you well. The only other thing I want to say is don't let your scores dishearten you! Of course, please be honest with yourself on if you are really ready, but if you take a test and your scores suck, then use it as an opportunity to find out what you don't know and move forward. I had my fair share of bad scores--when I first started studying, I took a full length Bootcamp as a diagnostic and I got LOWER THAN 14 on almost all of the sections. Yes that's right. I did so badly that BC didn't even calculate my score! I was so discouraged, but I used it as motivation to do better.
THANK YOU ARI & NANCY:
I hope you two see this! Ari, I sent you some random as heck question from Destroyer and from the BC tests about something in the QR section and explained my thought process. You replied literally like a 3 paragraph response and told me to contact you again if I needed more help, and I thought that was really incredible. Your program is seriously top-notch and I'll be praising it to the skies for years to come to other pre-dental students. Nancy, thank you for calling me a few days before my exam and talking to me for 35 minutes! I felt a lot more calm and I am truly indebted to you and Dr. Romano for your invaluable resources.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
I want to emphasize again that I'm not a stellar student. I had to work a lot during college to pay for my tuition and because of that, I didn't do so hot in some of my classes. When I first started studying, I felt like the world was against me and that the odds weren't in my favor, and it wasn't until I changed my mindset that I started scoring well only my practice tests, which in turn gave me the confidence to take the DAT. I originally wanted to take it in September and then rescheduled. And then learned that my 6 months window was going to expire, so I ended up forfeiting the money and reapplying for this date. The past week or so I literally had dreams about the test and in one of them, I had won a subscription to Bootcamp. I went on SDN everyday reading breakdowns to see how practice tests compared to real scores, and last night I felt like I couldn't really breathe. I shed a lot of tears during this process, and often let my doubt get the best of me. My room is covered in DAT material and I'm really happy to finally take them down. Anyway, don't do that I did. Relax! If you're studying right now, please believe in yourself! Seriously, you can do it. Again, feel free to ask any questions if you have any. Good luck to those of you taking it this week! Seems like quite a few. You got this!
I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes as motivation: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" -- we are all going through this process, you are not alone, so keep your head up 🙂
Proof:
SCORE:
AA: 24 / Bio: 21 / GC: 23 / OC: 26 /RC: 25 / QR: 26 /PAT: 20
MATERIALS USED / USEFULNESS ON TEST:
Biology (21): Cliffs AP Biology 3rd Edition, Kaplan Blue Book 2015, Wikipedia, Feralis Notes, Destroyer
--- I relied on the AP Cliffs the most because I found it the easiest to read, but also knew that it wasn't going to be enough to cover all aspects of the bio portion. What I did was make flashcard sets on the website Quizlet (literally have 2,000 cards total), as I was reading Cliffs.
--- I feel the most useful way to use the flashcards is NOT actually as flashcards (i.e: showing a random term and pulling all of the details about it from your mind), but actually using Quizlet's "test" feature. It's something they just started, but basically you can generate tests in many styles (fill in the blank, multiple choice, true false), and I would went through these tests over and over. The great thing is if you miss a card, it'll tell you later by breaking down your cards into "never missed" "sometimes missed" "missed a lot". I also used Quizlet cause their mobile app is awesome (I tried out Anki, but had a hard time with the mobile web version).
----- Edit, here's the link: https://quizlet.com/illustratively/folders/biology
--- Everything you find in KBB can be found anywhere else, but surprisingly, I kind of liked their taxonomy section (though it may not be as detailed as you want). For instance, I felt the plants section and animals in Cliffs was SUPER detailed, so what I went through KBB first to see what topics they focused on, and then went and found more details about each of those topics in Feralis / Cliffs. But overall, I don't recommend KBB. Maybe borrow it from someone if you can for this one portion?
--- Destroyer has really random questions for biology, and if you can get through all of them and really try to understand them, I think you'll be pretty solid for the biology portion.
--- The last thing that I did was look up pictures of confusing concepts on Wikipedia and DREW them out. I really like to draw, and I felt like after I drew out things like mollusca, or where reabsorption is actively done in a kidney, etc., it really stuck a lot better than simply just reading off a page.
PAT (20): Crack DAT PAT, DAT Bootcamp Generators / Tests, Eyeballing Game
-- I only used Crack DAT PAT for 2 Tests. In retrospect, I wish I didn't buy it (though I didn't get the best PAT score so maybe I should've used it more...). I just found the explanations on Bootcamp to be much more useful and I didn't really like having to watch videos to understand the right answer on Crack. They also have pictures of the solutions, but sometimes I found them hard to follow. I do think that the real DAT falls somewhere in the difficulty of Crack and Bootcamp. I knew going in that I sucked at the PAT and kind of accepted my fate here. I wish I had put more effort in, but I was just too slow and got too confused at TFE. Also for TFE, DO NOT USE THE LINE COUNTING METHOD. DON'T DO IT!!!
-- The explanations on Bootcamp are AMAZING. I would recommend going through each and every single question (even if you got it right), to see the little tips and tricks to master the PAT.
-- The eyeballing game is a fun way to practice daily. A version of it can be found in Bootcamp, which incorporates more things such as cube counting (which the original eyeballing game didn't).
Organic Chemistry (26): DAT Destroyer, Chad's Videos, Bootcamp
--- Whoa, Chad is a godsend. When you watch his videos, write down everything he says. Sometimes even the funny jokes he makes will help you! I watched the Coursesaver versions twice, once while taking notes and again to just listen and really pay attention. I would recommend downloading the two "packets" that they have up: the first is the unannotated notes that you can take your own notes on. In this first packet, there's a table where he lists all of the alkene reactions, their intermediates, their stereoselectivity, etc. It wasn't until I looked at this table that it just clicked for me. I started noticing things like, wow there's only 3 alkene reactions that could undergo rearrangement? Oh, if something goes through a cyclic intermediate like bromonium ion, it would have an inversion? Stuff like that. Also, Chad is really responsive to questions so if you have any, you can contact him through his website and he usually gets back right away. I had a question about the reactivity of benzenes and he typed up a long paragraph to explain it to me!
--- I love Destroyer and it fills in the gaps for some stuff such as the Tollens Test, but man, I got destroyed by this section. Even 2 days ago, I was reviewing it and I felt like I didn't know anything. Despite that though, I recommend you go through it. The Destroyer doesn't predict how you'll do on the DAT but it's a fantastic learning tool that will cover all of your bases for the test. I wrote down every question (during my round 1 of going through it), and its corresponding solution. It took me hours to do, but I found it did help me do better when I went through round 2 (the timed version). I actually didn't look at the roadmaps and I was worried for my life this morning that I would regret doing so.
--- I made paper flashcards of every reaction and also some theory things (i.e.: what are some characteristics of an SN2 reaction). Not sure in retrospect if this helped at all, because I didn't really have time to look through them because there were so many.
General Chemistry (23): DAT Destroyer, Chad's Videos
--- Again, Chad is amazing. I actually watched all of his videos on Coursesaver (the paid version), and later I watched the newer versions for free on his website. I did think I would do better in GC than OC, but it didn't turn out that way. One highlight from Chad / his quizzes is that he talks a lot about exceptions to certain rules. I liked that he posed questions in a different way, kind of spinned them a little, and made me think of the reason why things happened. The OC section of his website (for the DAT) isn't up, but the GC (for the DAT) is. I watched both the Coursesaver and his new website and I actually liked the new one better. He has stuff like naming compounds that I don't remember seeing on the old version.
--- I loved loved loved the Destroyer's GC! In comparison to the OC portion that wrecked me, I thought the GC portion was doable once you got the basics down from Chad. I'm still surprised that I did better in OC than GC for this reason.
--- I made paper flashcards after watching the videos from Chad, totaling about 200 total. I would review them once every few weeks in full.
Reading Comprehension (25): DAT Bootcamp
--- All I did for this section was take the practice tests on Bootcamp. I usually try to read in my free time (even though it's stuff like young adult novels), but I've always been pretty fast at reading. I was however, pretty scared for this section after seeing my scores on BC (see below). The highest I got was a 25 which is what I got on the real thing but every other score was like a 19/20.
--- My method for this on the exam was the Vanilla Method aka read the passage in full, map it out, and answer the questions. I'm a pretty fast reader and it scares me when I do Search & Destroy because I feel like I didn't grasp what the author was saying. So that's why I stuck with the traditional method!
--- I did read some stuff on Scientific American at the beginning of my studying, but I started slacking after a while...
Quantitative Reasoning (26): Math Destroyer 2015, Bootcamp
--- Math Destroyer is my holy grail. I was getting so many wrong on it that I became very worried for this section, so that forced me to keep practicing until I became confident. The questions you find in Destroyer are pretty on point to what you'll find on the real DAT. I will say that I got destroyed by tests 11 and 12 and if you get there, you'll know what I'm talking about. I had to take those tests untimed because they were so difficult for me, and I ended up just going through the solutions very slowly for those. Without Math Destroyer, I wouldn't have gotten the score that I did. I also tried out the DAT Destroyer's Math but only got to question 100 or so. I just felt like those were a little too simplistic and I wanted to invest my time in harder problems.
--- Bootcamp is also pretty on point. I took these tests after I finished Math Destroyer. I think because I did Destroyer (and this goes for other sections as well), I didn't really have a hard time managing my time. My problem was that I would straight up not know how to do a problem, hahaha (but that's my own weakness).
PRACTICE TEST SCORES / THOUGHTS:
(AA / Bio / GC / OC / RC / QR)
DAT Bootcamp:
Test 1: (23 / 26 / 23 / 21 / 19 / 24)
Test 2: (20 / 16 / 22 / 22 / 20 / 21)
Test 3: (22 / 18 / 26 / 18 / 20 / 30)
Test 4: (23 / 23 / 25 / 24 / 25 / 19)
Test 5: (20 / 21 / 19 / 20 / 20 / 18)
ADA Official Exams:
2007: (20 / 19 / 19 / 20 / 17 / 23)
2009: (? / 25 / 20 / 17 / 20 / 17) [didn't calculate the AA]
For me, I didn't feel as though the official exams were representative of my score--these scores freaked me OUT when I saw them (I took them about a week before my DAT). As you can see, my OC score on the 2009 was a 17!!! Yikes, but luckily I managed a 26 on the real thing. I do agree that the tests are easy, but I can't really speak too much about it because either I choked or something when wrong in predicting my scores with those. I almost thought about rescheduling after those. The QR on the 2009 is insane by the way! I felt like Bootcamp scores were very representative, and at least for my version of the test, it was harder than my real exam so it prepares you well. The only other thing I want to say is don't let your scores dishearten you! Of course, please be honest with yourself on if you are really ready, but if you take a test and your scores suck, then use it as an opportunity to find out what you don't know and move forward. I had my fair share of bad scores--when I first started studying, I took a full length Bootcamp as a diagnostic and I got LOWER THAN 14 on almost all of the sections. Yes that's right. I did so badly that BC didn't even calculate my score! I was so discouraged, but I used it as motivation to do better.
THANK YOU ARI & NANCY:
I hope you two see this! Ari, I sent you some random as heck question from Destroyer and from the BC tests about something in the QR section and explained my thought process. You replied literally like a 3 paragraph response and told me to contact you again if I needed more help, and I thought that was really incredible. Your program is seriously top-notch and I'll be praising it to the skies for years to come to other pre-dental students. Nancy, thank you for calling me a few days before my exam and talking to me for 35 minutes! I felt a lot more calm and I am truly indebted to you and Dr. Romano for your invaluable resources.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
I want to emphasize again that I'm not a stellar student. I had to work a lot during college to pay for my tuition and because of that, I didn't do so hot in some of my classes. When I first started studying, I felt like the world was against me and that the odds weren't in my favor, and it wasn't until I changed my mindset that I started scoring well only my practice tests, which in turn gave me the confidence to take the DAT. I originally wanted to take it in September and then rescheduled. And then learned that my 6 months window was going to expire, so I ended up forfeiting the money and reapplying for this date. The past week or so I literally had dreams about the test and in one of them, I had won a subscription to Bootcamp. I went on SDN everyday reading breakdowns to see how practice tests compared to real scores, and last night I felt like I couldn't really breathe. I shed a lot of tears during this process, and often let my doubt get the best of me. My room is covered in DAT material and I'm really happy to finally take them down. Anyway, don't do that I did. Relax! If you're studying right now, please believe in yourself! Seriously, you can do it. Again, feel free to ask any questions if you have any. Good luck to those of you taking it this week! Seems like quite a few. You got this!
I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes as motivation: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" -- we are all going through this process, you are not alone, so keep your head up 🙂
Proof:
Last edited:
