DAT Done (1/20/2012)

[Mich17]

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Hey all,

I've never really used this site before, so I'm not really sure how to start this. I began studying for the DAT on December 23 and I took my DAT today. I am really torn about what to do. I scored way better than I could have hoped in the sciences but did very poorly in QR. I have no idea what happened there-- I got a 23 on a practice test the day before. Anyway, here are my scores. Should I retake?

PA: 22 (90.9%)
QR: 15 (34.0%) 😡
RC: 23 (90.4%)
Bio: 26 (99.7)
GC: 24 (96.1)
OC: 29 (99.3)
TS: 26 (99.6)
AA: 23 (98.1)

So other than QR I am very, very happy with my scores. I am afraid that if I retake the DAT, I won't do as well in all the other sections. QR is the least important section, so I was wondering if it is worth the risk. I called up several schools to ask their opinions and 2 flat out said they could care less about QR, others said they take a "holistic" approach and that it won't be the deciding factor, and another told me to retake it or else they won't consider me.
I have a about a 3.6 total GPA and about a 3.5 science GPA from a small, competitive liberal arts school, am a three season athlete, and hold a leadership position on campus. With my GPA, overall DAT score, and extracurriculars, is it worth risking a retake/putting myself through the stress again?

 

[Tunaman]

Apply really early next cycle, ur scores are solid, some schools have cutoffs in certain sections but they def make exceptions. I wouldnt retake, & you're right what if your numbers come down. Good job!

 

[DrRoyal Pains]

Sick scores! 👍 If I were you I wouldn't retake. Like you said, who cares about QR. You don't want to retake and risk scoring lower in the sciences.

 

[deleted397286]

QR is a grab-bag of awfulness IMHO

 

[rchunyin]

Hmm, I talked to an advisor before, and they say that the good school require a minimum of 17 on every section to qualify , but you might have a shot since you did awesome on everything else, you should definitely email an advisor first before doing anything else.

 

[BKelly734]

Great scores... what did you study to do so well in orgo?

 

[ushaseos]

You know what any dental school that values QR that highly is probably one of those lame schools that cares only about stats. Like you are doing talk to schools and apply only to the ones who are being realistic. Great scores overall though and well done!

I don't know but do you want to ADEA to see if you can have them recheck the scores. One of my friends got a 35 on MCAT then retook and got a 31 wit ha 9 on physical sciences. She asked the test people if they'd re-grade her test and it went up to 11. it might just be a grading error. I suggest this since I think it is unlikely your QR score is that low considering everything else is so extremely high.

 

[Mich17]

Thanks so much for your advice guys, I think I'm going to question the QR score. If it isn't any better than that I don't think I want to retake it.

Bkelly734- thanks! I watched Chad's videos for orgo once and took notes. I did some of the quizzes for the videos but only on the topics I felt weak in. I did the DAT destroyer about 2.5 times also. What really helped me the most was sitting down with my Chad's video notes and my laptop and making a color coded study guide on all the concepts and reagents I felt I needed to focus on and looking up any supplemental information I thought would help. I looked at it so much that I could almost picture each page and the colors I used. I did that for gen Chem and I did it for certain parts of bio. It really helped.

 

[invictusx]

I wouldn't sweat it. QR is the least looked at subsection of the DATs

 

[Tunaman]

True invictus, though anything below 16 is generally frowned upon. There are always exceptions

 

[ushaseos]

I really think you're other scores are phenomenal so its most like an error on their part. I hope everything resolves for the best.Otherwise this is the standardized test equivalent of kicking you in the balls.

 

[thejamespark]

great scores. i dont think u need to retake because of ur other scores...
btw, how was your RC passages? level of hardness similar to CDR?
also gc chads videos/quizzes vs real dat?

 

[dentalexcel]

Great job! Nice scores. With your gpa, I don't think you'll have a problem.

I'm guessing you didn't prepare for the QR section at all?
What did you find challenging about the QR section on the test?

 

[Mich17]

great scores. i dont think u need to retake because of ur other scores...
btw, how was your RC passages? level of hardness similar to CDR?
also gc chads videos/quizzes vs real dat?

Thanks. Um my first two passages were fine the last one was just plain AWFUL! It was about physics and it was boring and confusing. I didn't study for the RC at all so I can't really compare that for you. Sorry!

Gen chem was without a doubt my worst section going into it but i really think chad helped a lot. I honestly only did a few of his quizzes towards the beginning of my studying so I didn't do so well. Mostly I just did the destroyer. The destroyer was a lot harder but if you can understand like 70-80% of that I think you'll get a 20. The DAt was just way easier in comparison. Hope that helps!

Great job! Nice scores. With your gpa, I don't think you'll have a problem.

I'm guessing you didn't prepare for the QR section at all?
What did you find challenging about the QR section on the test?

Thanks 🙂 I actually did prepare for the QR. I did the destroyer and the math destroyer (only 3 tests) and I was doing very well. On top score I got in the 20s and on the 2009 I got in the 20s as well. The day before the test I got a 23 in practice. I'm really hoping it was a mistake on their part. My test had a lot of conversions and strangely worded questions. But nothing I hadn't seen before. I don't know what happened.

 

[DAT12]

What did you use to study? And if you don't mind explaining what your study schedule was like that would be great thanks 🙂

 

[Mich17]

What did you use to study? And if you don't mind explaining what your study schedule was like that would be great thanks 🙂

Haha I really didn't have much structure to my study schedule, but I'll do my best to break it down:

Bio: I read the Kaplan Blue Book once over the summer and took a Human Physiology course in my fall semester. During Thanksgiving Break, I did the Bio portion of the destroyer. When I got home for winter break, I read Cliff's AP Biology twice through and I did some of the destroyer problems again after my first read through. I then used DATQVault for practice. I took the topscore tests spread out over the last week and a half/two weeks before the test and made sure to review my mistakes. I'm a visual learner, so I also found it helpful to draw out what happens in photosynthesis and cellular respiration so you can remember what and how much of everything is produced at each step and memorized that in the days before the test (it proved to be very helpful). Also, Cliff's does not really cover pregnancy, hormones/the endocrine system, and the immune system as well as Kaplan does so for topics such as those I referred back to Kaplan.

Gen Chem: Chad's videos. Enough said. I spent the first 3 days I was home watching all his videos through and taking notes and doing some of his quizzes. Gen Chem was by far my weakest section going in. After watching his videos I studied my notes over and over like a crazy person then did the destroyer problems like 2.5 times. About a week before the test, I made a color coded study guide based off my notes, again I am a visual learner, and it helped me memorize everything. Making the study guide puts it into your memory to begin with, but I can't tell you how many times I remembered certain information because of the way I used the colors I used to make pneumonic devices. For example, I had trouble distinguishing arrehnious, bronsted-lowery and Lewis definitions for acid/bases from each other. So I used color to help: ArrHenious (Acids increase H+ concentration. BRonsted/Lowery Bases Recieve a hydrogen. Then to remember LEWis acids Want Electrons. So I kept acids red and bases blue in all my notes and picked apart letters in words to make tricks to remember. I did topscore tests and the 2007/2009 DAT's as I did for Bio.

OChem: Pretty much the same as orgo. As soon as I finished Chad's videos for Gen Chem, I watched all the Orgo ones straight through the next few days and took careful notes. I studied those notes like crazy, did the destroyer 1.5 times then made a color coded study guide (grouping reagents into color groups by their functions (ie. reducing/oxidizing) and end groups by acidity and so on). After I finished that, I did select problems from the destroyer. I did the topscore and the 2007/2009 tests at random points through my studying.

PAT: I did Crack the DAT PAT. It was fun! (even though I never got good at angles)

RC: Just did the 3 topscore tests.

QR: I was doing well on the practice tests, I have no clue what happened. The destroyers are all you should need.

Best thing I can say is GO WITH YOUR GUT! I cannot even begin to tell you the dumb mistakes I made in practice because I did not listen to my gut and tried to find tricks in the question where there were none or tried to justify answers I didn't even think were correct. In practice, I got mostly 18's in orgo and 17's in Gen Chem. I swore to myself I would go with my gut and I got a 29 and 24, respectively. You always know more than you think.

I hope that helped!

 

[DAT12]

Wow thanks so much!!
I am currently using the destroyer. And plan to buy CDP. thanks again for your info

 

[Adamsswag]

Beastly score... Imagine if you scored a 19 in QR ... whoah scary thoughts. You can't beat yourself up for your QR score. You did extremely well! 🙂

 

[Mich17]

Wow thanks so much!!
I am currently using the destroyer. And plan to buy CDP. thanks again for your info

No problem! Good luck!

Beastly score... Imagine if you scored a 19 in QR ... whoah scary thoughts. You can't beat yourself up for your QR score. You did extremely well! 🙂

Thank you!! Haha yeah, I don't like imagining that...it is too painful!