DAT Done! 1/29/09

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zuma35

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Phew! After 5 months of studying, here they are:

Bio 23
Gen Chem 22
Organic Chem 29
RC 22
PAT 19
QR 19
TS 23
AA 23

Breakdown:
Biology: Relatively straight forward. I read through most of Cliffs AP Bio once, writing down everything that was important. I did the same with Destroyer. Destroyer was on the money. I cannot recommend it enough.
Supplement with Campbell's to check up what you're not sure of.

Gen Chem: Destroyer. Know how to do all the problems in Destroyer - even the hard ones. It's worth it. It'll give you a strong foundation to be able to do the easier DAT problems. I also like Kaplan for this section. I skimmed through it and thought it was good.

Orgo: Destroyer was key for this section. If you master the organic question in Destroyer you will kill this section. Make sure you know the roadmaps cold. If you don't have a strong background in Orgo, I would recommend the Kaplan BB. It's pretty comprehensive for this section. There are a few mistakes, but we catch them here on SDN.

Reading: Search & Destroyed. Got lucky.

PAT: Hole punching was a joke compared to CDP. However, there was one mistake on my test, and on one question they made a ******ed fold - like 7/8th of a fold. The fold almost reached the end of the box, but not quite. (I know that wasn't too clear - don't worry about it).
Keyholes - not too bad - less clear and a little harder than Crack.
Angles - Definitely easier than CDP. The angles actually looked different from each other on a lot of the questions.
Cube Counting - easier than crack. No illusions. Straight-forward.
TFE- CDP and the actual thing were both hard. Can't say which was worse. Never really got the hang of it.
Pattern Folding - Annoying. Just convince yourself that there's nothing wrong with one of the choices, and move on, and go to your break.

In summary, Destroyer is a must. So is CDP. Kaplan is good for the chemistries, and Cliffs AP Bio is great for Bio. I didn't know any Bio when I started studying for the DAT. My score is all thanks to Destroyer and Cliffs. I used Campbell's if I wasn't sure of something.

I guess Topscore is good too. I would probably suggest taking some practice tests. I didn't take any full tests. Just 2 NS sections, 1 reading, and 1 math. Guess I wasted 50 bucks. Could be worse.

Anyway, just trying to catch my breath here. Feel free to ask any questions.

Good luck everyone!😉
 
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Man, those scores are mind blowing, they really are. Congratulations, you just won yourself a golden ticket into DS. Good luck with applications.
 
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Excellent scores! SDNers are seriously having their way with this test lately. Now I don't feel as relieved :laugh:.
 
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wow good job. Good thing I'm not applying this cycle. Pheww from what I've seen, its gonna be a tough year
 
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congrats and nice scores


so how long did you study each day for 5 months?

did you start studying hard the last couple weeks or what?
 
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awesomeeee job dude! you killed it!! what schools are you looking for?
 
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During those blackout dates from the beginning of Febuary until the end of Febuary, I would be very surprised if they didnt add more dificult questions to the DAT. Every day ther scores keep getting more and more obscene. Pretty soon we will be hardpressed to get in with like a 21/21/21. Its getting pretty nuts.

Oh and Great scores BTW.
 
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Was the trend of high DAT scores on SDN evident in 2007? Because doc toothache's data suggest that scores actually dropped that year. Hopefully we're just witnessing severe over-representation of high scorers here.
 
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I've seen two 24's posted and like 3 23's and a few 22's so far this year......



SDN is getting to be a pretty sick place when a 21 seems sub avg lol
 
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Great scores and well done, OP...

Good luck with the application process, and don't slack off! Even with those awesome scores, apply EARLY.
 
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Another domination success story ... congrats and best of luck with the remainder of the application process.
 
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Awesome scores man. I'm basically studying the same exact way as you! I'd be thrilled to get those scores.

Congrats and thanks for the tips
 
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zuma35, your OC score is terrific! What kinds of books or methods did you use?
I mean, did you memorize all of the destroyer's road map stuff?
 
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Oh. Also for the hole punching I found the making the grid method to be the best. You don't have to remember anything or do anything in your head. Practice it a lot, and you'll be able to do it quickly.

Make a box and make three horizontal and three vertical lines. (On the dat you get paper with little boxes already. You just need make a box around sixteen boxes. I made 15 of them during the tutorial. It's just easier than erasing them.) You'll have sixteen boxes. Put a dot where the hole is punched. Then, look at the last fold and draw a line on your box where the fold is made. Then, using your line as a mirror, make dots symmetrically on the other side of your line. Do it again for the previous fold. If at any time, you have dots where there is no paper, erase those dots. (I don't know if that was clear, if it's not I'll try to explain it better, or maybe someone else could). It really helped me.
 
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Cosmicnova said:
zuma35, your OC score is terrific! What kinds of books or methods did you use?
In other words, did you memorize all of the destroyer's road map stuff?
Click to expand...

I definitely knew all the roadmaps, except like 1 or 2 reactions that I saw the day before the DAT and didn't bother to memorize (like P2O5 or something).

I used Mcmurry textbook once in a while to look up reactions that looked new from Destroyer.

Also knew the Destroyer questions.
 
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Oh yeah, one more thing.

I used a book from the library called Secrets of Mental Math. It's really good to help you do calculations fast.
 
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Great Job man, these are awesome scores. You totally demolished the orgo section. You are really in the top percentile. Outstanding work.
 
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Hey Zuma, have you heard of anything useful to use for the reading comprehension, and after the "blackout period," do you know of any changes that were made?
 
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Jewish Wisdom said:
Hey Zuma, have you heard of anything useful to use for the reading comprehension, and after the "blackout period," do you know of any changes that were made?
Click to expand...

I think you just have to do a lot of practice and develop an effective strategy. If I remember correctly the Barrons book lists a few rc strategies that people use.
 
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i dont think there is any real reading comp strategy, i feel like youre either good at it or youre not. if you read a lot, which you probably do if you're a bio major or anything with the sciences, it shouldnt be too hard. the questions to the reading arent too tricky, and there arent any questions that you have to infer on, all of the answer are in the reading.

some people search and destroy, but i feel like youre wasting too much time doing that. i feel skimming through the reading, and then maybe search and destroy is more effective because once you read the questions, you'll know where to look in the reading.
 
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Do we need to study both DAT destroyers? I mean the organic chem and the the other one together? or only the science one is enough?
 
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i think you might be a little confused about the destroyers. there is an organic destroyer which is more for those who are planning on taking the american chemical society exam or GRE, but the DAT destroyer is the 3 science sections and the qr section. i recommend only the DAT destroyer, the Organic destroyer (which is odyssey something) is overkill for the dat.

hope this helps. i would check out the kaplan stuff too if you can get your hands on it. the kaplan bb is a nice resource to start out with and clean up with destroyer. also the kaplan subject tests are nice to use too. good luck studying.
 
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what were your percentages for all your scores. that will give everyone a better idea of what range you were in. Im pretty sure you would be in the 95+% range. SDN still really is for overachievers. There are a few average joes around here, myself included but for the most part, the people on this forum really are over the top with scores. Im sure newbies who just begin looking at these forums are initially very frightened by some peoples scores just because they are so freakin amazing. To those people I say, don't worry. The people on the forums are a small portion of all the people that take DATs. Don't get discouraged and use the forums as a learning tool. Nothing more.

p.s. Zuma, congrats on some killer stats. You should have no trouble getting into dental school. Good luck with the application process =)
 
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i agree most of the students on sdn may be overachievers or not your average joes, but everyone on this forum, and i think i speak for most people when i say this, want to see the others on this forum do well. when i first joined sdn i thought i would be ecstatic with an 18 on my dats, however, after i took them the first time and scored an 18 i knew i could do better because if everyone else on this forum could, then why couldn't i? i went from an 18 ts to a 22 and an 18 aa to a 21.

bottom line is, its definitely possible. given some versions may be harder than others, its just a test like any other and the only way to do good is to study, study, study. i think the reason most people dont do as well as they should is the stress of the situation itself. the one thing i think that helped me the most was actually taking the test for the first time. i definitely felt i knew the material as best as i could, its just the anxiety of the test that gets to you. studying is of course necessary, but getting yourself prepared mentally is just as important. practice tests are good for getting you used to the timing, but some places actually allow you to come in and take mock exams. call your testing center and find out.
 
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Zuma, which CDP version did you use? I'm thinking about getting it, but don't know what version.
 
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