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Hi, everyone! I just finished taking DAT on Thursday, April 8th.
Here's is my breakdown:
PAT 20
QR 22
RC 20
BIO 19
GC 20
OC 20
TS 20
AA 20
I am an engineering major and my overall GPA is 3.25 and science is about the same as well. Not the most stellar grades, but I can't change anything about my grades right now 🙁 But I have a pretty solid shadowing experience (with some volunteer works), EC/leadership, and internships. That being said, I'll briefly go over what I used for studying material.
PAT:
I used CDP (10 test package). I was doing pretty well in Kaplan and TopScore, but got bombed on Achiever PAT (17 on the test 1). So I freaked out and purchased CDP. I must say, I wouldn't have been able to get 20 on the real test if I hadn't used CDP. I was getting 18~20 on CDP. The real PAT wasn't as hard, I had a couple of minutes before time ran out so that I can go back to some of the marked questions. I kinda wish (now) I got the 5 test package for CDP since I only used 4-5 of the anyway. I really don't think royal flush package is necessary. Just get 5-10 test package to practice.
QR:
I used Destroyer's QR section to go over materials once and purchased CDM (10 test package) but only went through 5 tests. I was getting 19-25. I must say that QR questions on actual DAT are very straight forward, meaning wording wasn't hard and easy to figure out what the question was asking, unlike some word problems asked on CDM. My weak areas were complicated probability and trignometry sections- but on the real test, I only had very simple probability problems! 😀 Also, I had about 5 minutes left before time ran out to go over some marked questions.
RC:
Oh boy, I was very worried about this section as English isn't my native language and I am a pretty slow reader. I got 22 on TopScore's RC and 20 and 21 on Achiever. But I heard about horror stories where RC on actual DAT is much harder. In fact, it was harder because I was so tired and my body was literally aching everywhere by the time I got to RC section. I was able to use search and destroy on first 2 sections and partially use that tactic on the last section which was sorta like an ethics passage. I am still very surprised I was able to pull 20 although I had to guess on a couple of tone questions.
BIO:
Bio was always my worst and weakest section.. and it showed that on my actual DAT but I'm not complaining because I did better on the actual test than any of the practice tests. I was getting 16-18 on TopScore and 14-16 on Achiever. The questions were very random, I had to literally pick and guess on a couple of questions. I used KBB once to go over the material in the beginning of my studying period. But that still wasn't enough so I purchased Princeton Review Hyperlearning MCAT Biological Sciences Review book (2006 edition) to learn materials in detail. Then I did Destroyer. Even then, as you can see my practice test scores above, I had a hard time knowing and memorizing details.. so literally, like 5 days before my test, I purchased Cliffs AP Bio book then went through it about 2 times. I think I would have received a lower score if I hadn't used Cliffs. It was very well written for an outline. Please do purchase it ahead of time and don't do what I did.. by getting it less than a week before the test.
GC:
I had more conceptual questions than actual calculation questions. I used KBB and Destroyer to study. I got 16-19 on TopScore and Achiever. I also went through destroyer 2.5 times just to familiarize myself with tough calculation problems.. but the problems on the actual test were not as complicated.
OC:
This had been my strongest section overall and I wish I was able to get a higher score.. but IMO, OC was a little harder than I expected. I used KBB to go over the material once in the beginning of my studying period, then used the lecture slides from my OC1 and 2 class to go over in detail (as the slides provided by my professor was just so awesome). Then I went through destroyer once, did ACS study guide, then went through destroyer again for the second time. Destroyer's roadmap was very helpful- I would skim through it at some point everyday. Also, I had a really good professor for OC 2 class and all the materials I've received and learned from the professor helped a lot.
So after all that studying, I was able to pull 20 AA and 20 TS. I'm applying for Fall 2010 cycle and would really love to get in without doing Postbac or MS. Do you guys think I even stand a chance? Do you think I need to retake the DAT to bring the TS and AA up? Of course I will try to complete my applications before mid-June (as AADSAS becomes available on June 1st this cycle, right?) and the LoE are pretty much prepared as well. I think most of my letters will be very personalized as the professors and dentist really got to know me for the past 1-2 years through classes, research and shadowing. I think my GPA is what will hurt me the most- but please I am open to any advices! Other than my state school, where do you think I have most chances and should apply? I am thinking about applying to mostly schools in East coast and maybe a couple in California.
Thanks 🙂
Here's is my breakdown:
PAT 20
QR 22
RC 20
BIO 19
GC 20
OC 20
TS 20
AA 20
I am an engineering major and my overall GPA is 3.25 and science is about the same as well. Not the most stellar grades, but I can't change anything about my grades right now 🙁 But I have a pretty solid shadowing experience (with some volunteer works), EC/leadership, and internships. That being said, I'll briefly go over what I used for studying material.
PAT:
I used CDP (10 test package). I was doing pretty well in Kaplan and TopScore, but got bombed on Achiever PAT (17 on the test 1). So I freaked out and purchased CDP. I must say, I wouldn't have been able to get 20 on the real test if I hadn't used CDP. I was getting 18~20 on CDP. The real PAT wasn't as hard, I had a couple of minutes before time ran out so that I can go back to some of the marked questions. I kinda wish (now) I got the 5 test package for CDP since I only used 4-5 of the anyway. I really don't think royal flush package is necessary. Just get 5-10 test package to practice.
QR:
I used Destroyer's QR section to go over materials once and purchased CDM (10 test package) but only went through 5 tests. I was getting 19-25. I must say that QR questions on actual DAT are very straight forward, meaning wording wasn't hard and easy to figure out what the question was asking, unlike some word problems asked on CDM. My weak areas were complicated probability and trignometry sections- but on the real test, I only had very simple probability problems! 😀 Also, I had about 5 minutes left before time ran out to go over some marked questions.
RC:
Oh boy, I was very worried about this section as English isn't my native language and I am a pretty slow reader. I got 22 on TopScore's RC and 20 and 21 on Achiever. But I heard about horror stories where RC on actual DAT is much harder. In fact, it was harder because I was so tired and my body was literally aching everywhere by the time I got to RC section. I was able to use search and destroy on first 2 sections and partially use that tactic on the last section which was sorta like an ethics passage. I am still very surprised I was able to pull 20 although I had to guess on a couple of tone questions.
BIO:
Bio was always my worst and weakest section.. and it showed that on my actual DAT but I'm not complaining because I did better on the actual test than any of the practice tests. I was getting 16-18 on TopScore and 14-16 on Achiever. The questions were very random, I had to literally pick and guess on a couple of questions. I used KBB once to go over the material in the beginning of my studying period. But that still wasn't enough so I purchased Princeton Review Hyperlearning MCAT Biological Sciences Review book (2006 edition) to learn materials in detail. Then I did Destroyer. Even then, as you can see my practice test scores above, I had a hard time knowing and memorizing details.. so literally, like 5 days before my test, I purchased Cliffs AP Bio book then went through it about 2 times. I think I would have received a lower score if I hadn't used Cliffs. It was very well written for an outline. Please do purchase it ahead of time and don't do what I did.. by getting it less than a week before the test.
GC:
I had more conceptual questions than actual calculation questions. I used KBB and Destroyer to study. I got 16-19 on TopScore and Achiever. I also went through destroyer 2.5 times just to familiarize myself with tough calculation problems.. but the problems on the actual test were not as complicated.
OC:
This had been my strongest section overall and I wish I was able to get a higher score.. but IMO, OC was a little harder than I expected. I used KBB to go over the material once in the beginning of my studying period, then used the lecture slides from my OC1 and 2 class to go over in detail (as the slides provided by my professor was just so awesome). Then I went through destroyer once, did ACS study guide, then went through destroyer again for the second time. Destroyer's roadmap was very helpful- I would skim through it at some point everyday. Also, I had a really good professor for OC 2 class and all the materials I've received and learned from the professor helped a lot.
So after all that studying, I was able to pull 20 AA and 20 TS. I'm applying for Fall 2010 cycle and would really love to get in without doing Postbac or MS. Do you guys think I even stand a chance? Do you think I need to retake the DAT to bring the TS and AA up? Of course I will try to complete my applications before mid-June (as AADSAS becomes available on June 1st this cycle, right?) and the LoE are pretty much prepared as well. I think most of my letters will be very personalized as the professors and dentist really got to know me for the past 1-2 years through classes, research and shadowing. I think my GPA is what will hurt me the most- but please I am open to any advices! Other than my state school, where do you think I have most chances and should apply? I am thinking about applying to mostly schools in East coast and maybe a couple in California.
Thanks 🙂
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