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- Jul 31, 2016
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Hey everyone,
I just finished taking my DAT and want to do a breakdown for you. I'm a non-traditional student with a background in mechanical engineering. I worked for a couple years before deciding to go back to pursue dental school.
Scores:
PAT 22
QR 26
RC 22
BIO 22
GC 22
OC 22
TS 22
AA 23
Materials Used
Chad's videos
DAT destroyer
DAT Bootcamp
Crack DAT PAT
AP Biology Cliffs
Study Schedule
I started studying about 2 months ago. First, I watched Chad's videos on chemistry and organic, answering the quiz questions after every section. This was a good refresher especially for chemstry, which I haven't taken in 4+ years. This took me about 2 weeks to finish. I would also sporadically read Cliffs AP bio and watch youtube videos on biology concepts (this being my weak point).
After reviewing, I jumped into DAT destroyer. This was definitely a rough time for my self confidence about the exam. I suggest going through this book early in your studies as it really helps you nail down your understanding of the subjects, but man is it hard! I went through it at least two times and started out getting less than 50% of the problems correct. The second time through, I was getting 75-90% correct.
I began doing Crack DAT PAT exams and Bootcamp PAT generators everyday. 30 problems of angle ranking, pattern folding, hole punch, and cube counting. This definitely helped me with speed. It took me a long time to notice that I was getting consistently better at angle ranking. I started out at about 40% and towards the end was able to get about 70%.
Between DAT destroyer problems, I would also do Bootcamp exams. Since I am an engineer, math was my strong suit and I didn't spend too much time reviewing that. Though I must say I thought Bootcamp's QR sections were significantly harder than the real DAT.
For bio, I mainly just did problems from destroyer and bootcamp. This was enough for me to learn what the important topics were and focus on those. I think there is a lot of information that can be overkill for this exam, so for me just doing the problems was what helped the most.
With a week and a half to go before my test date, I began full practice exams. This left me with two days before the exam to do a light review and I made time to go to the beach the day before my exam to relax a little.
Test day
I was pretty nervous going into the exam, but once I got into a rhythm it wasn't too bad. Bring a lunch and try not to drink too much liquid, especially before the first portion of the exam which is longer.
Essentials
I feel Chad's videos, DAT Destroyer, and DAT Bootcamp are essential to scoring well. Though my scores aren't as great as many of yours on here, I am happy with mine. Bio was what worried me the most and I think I did better than I expected.
If you have any questions, please let me know. I would be more than happy to answer for you. Thanks and good luck studying!
I just finished taking my DAT and want to do a breakdown for you. I'm a non-traditional student with a background in mechanical engineering. I worked for a couple years before deciding to go back to pursue dental school.
Scores:
PAT 22
QR 26
RC 22
BIO 22
GC 22
OC 22
TS 22
AA 23
Materials Used
Chad's videos
DAT destroyer
DAT Bootcamp
Crack DAT PAT
AP Biology Cliffs
Study Schedule
I started studying about 2 months ago. First, I watched Chad's videos on chemistry and organic, answering the quiz questions after every section. This was a good refresher especially for chemstry, which I haven't taken in 4+ years. This took me about 2 weeks to finish. I would also sporadically read Cliffs AP bio and watch youtube videos on biology concepts (this being my weak point).
After reviewing, I jumped into DAT destroyer. This was definitely a rough time for my self confidence about the exam. I suggest going through this book early in your studies as it really helps you nail down your understanding of the subjects, but man is it hard! I went through it at least two times and started out getting less than 50% of the problems correct. The second time through, I was getting 75-90% correct.
I began doing Crack DAT PAT exams and Bootcamp PAT generators everyday. 30 problems of angle ranking, pattern folding, hole punch, and cube counting. This definitely helped me with speed. It took me a long time to notice that I was getting consistently better at angle ranking. I started out at about 40% and towards the end was able to get about 70%.
Between DAT destroyer problems, I would also do Bootcamp exams. Since I am an engineer, math was my strong suit and I didn't spend too much time reviewing that. Though I must say I thought Bootcamp's QR sections were significantly harder than the real DAT.
For bio, I mainly just did problems from destroyer and bootcamp. This was enough for me to learn what the important topics were and focus on those. I think there is a lot of information that can be overkill for this exam, so for me just doing the problems was what helped the most.
With a week and a half to go before my test date, I began full practice exams. This left me with two days before the exam to do a light review and I made time to go to the beach the day before my exam to relax a little.
Test day
I was pretty nervous going into the exam, but once I got into a rhythm it wasn't too bad. Bring a lunch and try not to drink too much liquid, especially before the first portion of the exam which is longer.
Essentials
I feel Chad's videos, DAT Destroyer, and DAT Bootcamp are essential to scoring well. Though my scores aren't as great as many of yours on here, I am happy with mine. Bio was what worried me the most and I think I did better than I expected.
If you have any questions, please let me know. I would be more than happy to answer for you. Thanks and good luck studying!
