- Joined
- Jan 5, 2009
- Messages
- 8
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Pre-Dental
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
First of all, I would like thank everyone here in this forum; I've been shadowing(read:lurking/peeping) here for the last 2 years. Now I proudly present my score and share some thoughts/breakdown and etc.
PA-23(96.4)
QR-23(98.8)
RC-21(76.7)
BS-21(92.3)
GC-26(98.8)
OC-24(95.7)
TS-23(97.8)
AA-23(98.7)
Generally speaking, I outdid all of my previous practice exams. I don't recall the score for each, but I used 2009 ADA, 2007 ADA, KBB practice test, and Kaplan Diagnostic. As for me, KBB Practice Test was the most accurate indicator on my real DAT performance.
2009 ADA had too many errors (I took the online one and some bio questions were still not corrected; search this forum if you are considering ADA2009 version for errors/corrections). 2007 ADA was way too easy. I've heard from others in this forum how Topscore is super hard and de-moralizing, so I ended up not buying it.
As far as the study plan, I followed DentalWorks' study schedule from A to Z, except what is for the PAT and Math part. (THANKS DENTALWORKS@!!!)
RC: Some might say 76th percentile isn't that impressive but coming from a first generation immigrant background, I am very content with it. I've been here in America for 6 yrs; in fact, the only English word I knew at that time was "Starcraft"; (lol now you know I'm Korean). I used Search and Destroy throughout, and guessed on Inference questions. My reading speed is around 250wpm (paper) and 200wpm(on computer screen) which is below average for most college students, so I gave up on getting those inference questions right and it worked for me at least. Do the speed-reading test and see where you stand at. If your wpm is 500+ you needn't use S&D since it will rather hurt your score.
PA: I didn't study much for this section. For some reason, Perceptual Ability came natural to me. It's probably due to the fact that I played lego a lot when I was young (still have one of those Castle series at my parents'). Angle ranking was about the same difficulty as Kaplan but Pattern-folding was the beast; I usually got around 26+ on practice tests but ended up getting 23. But who cares!! 23 is good enough for me. Moreover, I think time allocation for your strongest/weakest part is crucial for PAT in my opinion. I spend the most time on Pattern folding and the least on cube counting. For Projections, focus on details; For TFE and Hole punch, I looked at the answer choices first and think it somewhat helped me with picturing the object in my head.
QR: Also, I did not prepare much for this section. I used to get 30 on practice no matter what. But on the real, I just got bored and tired towards the end that I just "ended" the section with a couple questions marked for review. 23 and 30 doesn't make much of a difference, I believe. Again, I am a mediocre Asian student but here in America people regard me as a math genius. It is perhaps better if you could follow others' study guide. Personally, I don't believe that doing lots of problems would raise score. Rather, I recommend developing sort of mathematical sense. Refer to the solution and try to mimic its approach.
BS: Used Schaums, KBB, Destroyer. KBB is a good "Primer" but don't rely on that solely. Schaum's was a bit overkill. Destroyer provided a good practice with genetics, classification, and endocrine part. There were some rare concepts not seen anywhere on either Schaums/KBB/Destroyer (maybe was mentioned in Campbell but I did not use it). I used to get 18~19 on practice tests. I honestly don't know how I pulled that through! I had heard from others that reading Campbell over and over would guarantee you a 23+. But I simply did not have enough time to do so and the idea of reading 1000+pg was too much for me so I only used the three references mentioned above.
GC/OC: Destroyer!!Destroyer!!Destroyer!! It has all the variations you can possibly have on the real exam. Do the problems over and over. If you haven't got one yet, get it. For the first 4 weeks for review (going by DentalWorks' study plan) I read ochem textbook in addition to KBB. I basically re-drew the six road maps provided on Destroyer every other day so at the end of the review period, I didn't have any problem with Reactions. On Kaplan Diagnostic I took about 2 months ago, I got 19 on both. Two days before the exam, I did 2009 ADA and got 21. On the real I got GC26 and OC24.
Hope this helps anyone who needs a little direction as to where to start and I also expect that you would make your share and do the same by contributing to this wonderful community.
PA-23(96.4)
QR-23(98.8)
RC-21(76.7)
BS-21(92.3)
GC-26(98.8)
OC-24(95.7)
TS-23(97.8)
AA-23(98.7)
Generally speaking, I outdid all of my previous practice exams. I don't recall the score for each, but I used 2009 ADA, 2007 ADA, KBB practice test, and Kaplan Diagnostic. As for me, KBB Practice Test was the most accurate indicator on my real DAT performance.
2009 ADA had too many errors (I took the online one and some bio questions were still not corrected; search this forum if you are considering ADA2009 version for errors/corrections). 2007 ADA was way too easy. I've heard from others in this forum how Topscore is super hard and de-moralizing, so I ended up not buying it.
As far as the study plan, I followed DentalWorks' study schedule from A to Z, except what is for the PAT and Math part. (THANKS DENTALWORKS@!!!)
RC: Some might say 76th percentile isn't that impressive but coming from a first generation immigrant background, I am very content with it. I've been here in America for 6 yrs; in fact, the only English word I knew at that time was "Starcraft"; (lol now you know I'm Korean). I used Search and Destroy throughout, and guessed on Inference questions. My reading speed is around 250wpm (paper) and 200wpm(on computer screen) which is below average for most college students, so I gave up on getting those inference questions right and it worked for me at least. Do the speed-reading test and see where you stand at. If your wpm is 500+ you needn't use S&D since it will rather hurt your score.
PA: I didn't study much for this section. For some reason, Perceptual Ability came natural to me. It's probably due to the fact that I played lego a lot when I was young (still have one of those Castle series at my parents'). Angle ranking was about the same difficulty as Kaplan but Pattern-folding was the beast; I usually got around 26+ on practice tests but ended up getting 23. But who cares!! 23 is good enough for me. Moreover, I think time allocation for your strongest/weakest part is crucial for PAT in my opinion. I spend the most time on Pattern folding and the least on cube counting. For Projections, focus on details; For TFE and Hole punch, I looked at the answer choices first and think it somewhat helped me with picturing the object in my head.
QR: Also, I did not prepare much for this section. I used to get 30 on practice no matter what. But on the real, I just got bored and tired towards the end that I just "ended" the section with a couple questions marked for review. 23 and 30 doesn't make much of a difference, I believe. Again, I am a mediocre Asian student but here in America people regard me as a math genius. It is perhaps better if you could follow others' study guide. Personally, I don't believe that doing lots of problems would raise score. Rather, I recommend developing sort of mathematical sense. Refer to the solution and try to mimic its approach.
BS: Used Schaums, KBB, Destroyer. KBB is a good "Primer" but don't rely on that solely. Schaum's was a bit overkill. Destroyer provided a good practice with genetics, classification, and endocrine part. There were some rare concepts not seen anywhere on either Schaums/KBB/Destroyer (maybe was mentioned in Campbell but I did not use it). I used to get 18~19 on practice tests. I honestly don't know how I pulled that through! I had heard from others that reading Campbell over and over would guarantee you a 23+. But I simply did not have enough time to do so and the idea of reading 1000+pg was too much for me so I only used the three references mentioned above.
GC/OC: Destroyer!!Destroyer!!Destroyer!! It has all the variations you can possibly have on the real exam. Do the problems over and over. If you haven't got one yet, get it. For the first 4 weeks for review (going by DentalWorks' study plan) I read ochem textbook in addition to KBB. I basically re-drew the six road maps provided on Destroyer every other day so at the end of the review period, I didn't have any problem with Reactions. On Kaplan Diagnostic I took about 2 months ago, I got 19 on both. Two days before the exam, I did 2009 ADA and got 21. On the real I got GC26 and OC24.
Hope this helps anyone who needs a little direction as to where to start and I also expect that you would make your share and do the same by contributing to this wonderful community.
Last edited:
