I am a Canadian applicant applying to U.S. dental schools. I have already submitted my AADSAS application, but am just waiting for them to receive my DAT scores. I wrote the DAT last week and my scores are:
PAT 19
RC 19
GC 24
OC 20
Bio 20
QR 24
TS 21
AA 21
My science GPA is 3.65 and my non-science GPA is 3.75.
I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me on if these are good scores for a Canadian applicant? I am applying to a few schools (including the one's that accepted a majority of Canadian students last year).
I also thought I would share my study materials with you all. I know there are a 100 pages like these, but going through all of them is what really helped me and kept me confident through the whole process.
I started off studying by watching Chad's video's. Following his video's gave me a really good study schedule because I honestly had no idea where to start. I would watch a couple of his videos and then read the pages from KBB that corresponded to those videos so that I was going in order. At the same time I was doing that I was reading one chapter in Cliff's AP Bio and one chapter in KBB Biology. I tried to switch up the subjects that I was studying so that i wasn't just studying biology for hours. I found that I was able to study longer and more efficiently if I spent a few hours on one subject and then moved on to another instead of spending a day or two on just one subject.
Once I had gone through Chad's videos (OC I went through twice), KBB, and Cliff's AP bio I started to take practice tests from QVault (for biology) and started the DAT destroyer (for OC, GC, and bio) and MATH destroyer. I quickly found my weak areas and was able to then spend a day or two brushing up on topics that I still didn't know. Once I felt confident with them then I would continue with practice tests.
Overview of all of the materials that I used:
DAT Destroyer
I found this really helpful for OC and especially GC. I did this twice for GC actually and I think it really paid off. I only did it once for OC, but I definitely recommend this. The DAT destroyer is frustrating, but totally worth it. I learnt a lot more information from using this as a study tool (I wouldn't use it as practice tests because your scores would not be representative of the real thing). The bio I just found frustrating and after writing the DAT I realize that this section didn't really help me at all.
ROADMAPS- key. These helped me a lot. If I didn't know a reaction, I could at least guess the answer based on my knowledge from these roadmaps.
QVault
I did 7 bio tests from this page and my scores were 18, 19, 17, 22, 22, 18, 20. The biology was definitely helpful. I like the way the questions were worded since there were some applications on QVault. I would recommend this for QVault, but not for GC or OC. I feel I didn't really learn anything from the GC or OC section and that the QVault sections for OC and GC were easier than what was seen on the real DAT. My OC scores were 19, 22, 20, 19 and my GC scores were 21, 21, 18, 19. I know my scores on these sections don't reflect my comments since I'm saying QVault was easier, but did better on the real DAT. However, QVault really was easier and if you want better practice for science I recommend Destroyer questions and DAT Bootcamp.
DAT Bootcamp
These tests are amazing. I would recommend buying the entire package. I actually only bought them about 4 days before my exam and it was the best thing that I did! I learnt so much from these tests especially the GC tests. I really think that these tests are the reason I got a 24 on GC. They were the most representative questions of the real exam. The OC section was good too and also the most representative of the real exam from all of the practice material that I did. The bio section is great! I learnt a lot from my mistakes. The solutions in this program are good too because they offer you other links to see to view videos on topics you did incorrectly or they provide charts in the answers for further information. I highly recommend getting this program and not only going over the questions you did incorrectly, but also going over the questions you got correct because the solutions and explanations on this program are awesome! You always learn new information from them even if you had got the question correct. The QR section for this program I found really difficult though and only actually did 1 tests. I completed all 5 bio, GC, and OC tests though. I didn't write down my scores so I cannot remember them.
Achiever
I found this also really hard. I didn't finish all of them (I bought the 7 tests version). I did about 3 of them, which I would recommend. It definitely over prepares you. I found the RC to be the hardest part though. It was helpful for sciences and QR the most. I actually used this program as my main QR resource (besides Math Destroyer).
Math Destroyer
amazing resource. I would highly recommend. My scores on them just kept improving as i went through the book. The questions seem similar throughout the different tests, but they are awesome questions and help you think really quickly on how to solve a question when it comes to the real test. I did so well on QR solely because of this book! It is amazing! I only did tests 1-11 because I ran out of time, but it was definitely enough practice.
Kaplan
I didn't find any of these tests helpful and found they weren't really representative of the real exam. My scores on them were around 15-16, which terrified me when I did them! Kaplan Blue Book I really liked for biology because it gave me a good over view, but GC and OC was just okay. If you already have a good science background with GC and OC you may find KBB to be just okay too. But if you really need a refresher on these topics then KBB is a great place to start
Cliff's AP Bio
It's been said before, but if you memorize this book you will ace the bio. I'm actually not too happy with my bio score because I feel if I had studied this book a little harder I would have done better. Some of the questions I didn't know the answer to, I remember reading them in this book and I just couldn't remember the information. I got a 20 on the bio section, but it definitely would have improved with closer study of this book.
Chad
Amazing. Watch his videos. Take notes. If you still are struggling with something then re-watch his videos. Take his quizzes, and then do them again before the DAT.
Crack the DAT
I used this program for PAT and RC. I was scoring anywhere between 19-24 for the PAT and 17-24 for RC. I would highly recommend this program for both. It was the most representative of the real exam. I did some PAT and RC on achiever, QVault, and kaplan tests and I found that they just did not compare. Crack the DAT is excellent for these two things. The science section on this program is way too hard, and so I figured the math tests would be the same and didn't try them.
I hope this overview helps! Remember DAT Destroyer, Math Destroyer, and Bootcamp are key!!!!
I studied for about a month and a half every day. It was worth it!!!
Once again....I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me on if these are good scores for a Canadian applicant? I am applying to a few schools (including the one's that accepted a majority of Canadian students last year).
Hope this all helped and let me know if you guys have any questions!
PAT 19
RC 19
GC 24
OC 20
Bio 20
QR 24
TS 21
AA 21
My science GPA is 3.65 and my non-science GPA is 3.75.
I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me on if these are good scores for a Canadian applicant? I am applying to a few schools (including the one's that accepted a majority of Canadian students last year).
I also thought I would share my study materials with you all. I know there are a 100 pages like these, but going through all of them is what really helped me and kept me confident through the whole process.
I started off studying by watching Chad's video's. Following his video's gave me a really good study schedule because I honestly had no idea where to start. I would watch a couple of his videos and then read the pages from KBB that corresponded to those videos so that I was going in order. At the same time I was doing that I was reading one chapter in Cliff's AP Bio and one chapter in KBB Biology. I tried to switch up the subjects that I was studying so that i wasn't just studying biology for hours. I found that I was able to study longer and more efficiently if I spent a few hours on one subject and then moved on to another instead of spending a day or two on just one subject.
Once I had gone through Chad's videos (OC I went through twice), KBB, and Cliff's AP bio I started to take practice tests from QVault (for biology) and started the DAT destroyer (for OC, GC, and bio) and MATH destroyer. I quickly found my weak areas and was able to then spend a day or two brushing up on topics that I still didn't know. Once I felt confident with them then I would continue with practice tests.
Overview of all of the materials that I used:
DAT Destroyer
I found this really helpful for OC and especially GC. I did this twice for GC actually and I think it really paid off. I only did it once for OC, but I definitely recommend this. The DAT destroyer is frustrating, but totally worth it. I learnt a lot more information from using this as a study tool (I wouldn't use it as practice tests because your scores would not be representative of the real thing). The bio I just found frustrating and after writing the DAT I realize that this section didn't really help me at all.
ROADMAPS- key. These helped me a lot. If I didn't know a reaction, I could at least guess the answer based on my knowledge from these roadmaps.
QVault
I did 7 bio tests from this page and my scores were 18, 19, 17, 22, 22, 18, 20. The biology was definitely helpful. I like the way the questions were worded since there were some applications on QVault. I would recommend this for QVault, but not for GC or OC. I feel I didn't really learn anything from the GC or OC section and that the QVault sections for OC and GC were easier than what was seen on the real DAT. My OC scores were 19, 22, 20, 19 and my GC scores were 21, 21, 18, 19. I know my scores on these sections don't reflect my comments since I'm saying QVault was easier, but did better on the real DAT. However, QVault really was easier and if you want better practice for science I recommend Destroyer questions and DAT Bootcamp.
DAT Bootcamp
These tests are amazing. I would recommend buying the entire package. I actually only bought them about 4 days before my exam and it was the best thing that I did! I learnt so much from these tests especially the GC tests. I really think that these tests are the reason I got a 24 on GC. They were the most representative questions of the real exam. The OC section was good too and also the most representative of the real exam from all of the practice material that I did. The bio section is great! I learnt a lot from my mistakes. The solutions in this program are good too because they offer you other links to see to view videos on topics you did incorrectly or they provide charts in the answers for further information. I highly recommend getting this program and not only going over the questions you did incorrectly, but also going over the questions you got correct because the solutions and explanations on this program are awesome! You always learn new information from them even if you had got the question correct. The QR section for this program I found really difficult though and only actually did 1 tests. I completed all 5 bio, GC, and OC tests though. I didn't write down my scores so I cannot remember them.
Achiever
I found this also really hard. I didn't finish all of them (I bought the 7 tests version). I did about 3 of them, which I would recommend. It definitely over prepares you. I found the RC to be the hardest part though. It was helpful for sciences and QR the most. I actually used this program as my main QR resource (besides Math Destroyer).
Math Destroyer
amazing resource. I would highly recommend. My scores on them just kept improving as i went through the book. The questions seem similar throughout the different tests, but they are awesome questions and help you think really quickly on how to solve a question when it comes to the real test. I did so well on QR solely because of this book! It is amazing! I only did tests 1-11 because I ran out of time, but it was definitely enough practice.
Kaplan
I didn't find any of these tests helpful and found they weren't really representative of the real exam. My scores on them were around 15-16, which terrified me when I did them! Kaplan Blue Book I really liked for biology because it gave me a good over view, but GC and OC was just okay. If you already have a good science background with GC and OC you may find KBB to be just okay too. But if you really need a refresher on these topics then KBB is a great place to start
Cliff's AP Bio
It's been said before, but if you memorize this book you will ace the bio. I'm actually not too happy with my bio score because I feel if I had studied this book a little harder I would have done better. Some of the questions I didn't know the answer to, I remember reading them in this book and I just couldn't remember the information. I got a 20 on the bio section, but it definitely would have improved with closer study of this book.
Chad
Amazing. Watch his videos. Take notes. If you still are struggling with something then re-watch his videos. Take his quizzes, and then do them again before the DAT.
Crack the DAT
I used this program for PAT and RC. I was scoring anywhere between 19-24 for the PAT and 17-24 for RC. I would highly recommend this program for both. It was the most representative of the real exam. I did some PAT and RC on achiever, QVault, and kaplan tests and I found that they just did not compare. Crack the DAT is excellent for these two things. The science section on this program is way too hard, and so I figured the math tests would be the same and didn't try them.
I hope this overview helps! Remember DAT Destroyer, Math Destroyer, and Bootcamp are key!!!!
I studied for about a month and a half every day. It was worth it!!!
Once again....I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me on if these are good scores for a Canadian applicant? I am applying to a few schools (including the one's that accepted a majority of Canadian students last year).
Hope this all helped and let me know if you guys have any questions!
