Dat Done 6/26/08

[HoustonDAT]

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PAT- 17
QR- 19👍
RC - 17👎
BIO-20
GC-19
OC-18
TS-19
AA-19

Bio- It was tough. I used Kaplan and Top Score. Both of them were useless. Wiki did it for me. Content difficulty was beyond the scope of Top Score and made Kaplan's Bio section worthy to be an advance placement test for third graders.

GC- I don't know what tests other people got, but I had quite of few calculations. Everyone recently on SDN has said it's mostly concepts, I feel as if i was duped. But it was my fault. Content difficulty comparable to Kaplan. 🙁

OC- I usually score 24s on OC on top score. I think I spent way too much time in Bio and had to rush Ochem. Content difficulty comparable to Kaplan.

RC- 2 science passages and 1 passage that earned the author of it a kick in the seminferous tubules.

PAT- I don't know what happened. I used CRACK and I thought it was helpful. I was doing well on CRACK, but I don't know what happened today. Nonetheless, CRACK is much harder than actual DAT.

QR- Knew most of them, and made lucky/well educated guesses on the final 5 with 2 minutes left.

My Prometric site gave me crappy markers. If I were you guys, I would take the markers you are using now, uncap them , and put them in the sun for a day, and then take your practice tests with them so you can really get accustomed to "testing environment".

And some stupid prometric lady interrupted me in the middle of the science section because she wanted to know WHAT LOCKER NUMBER I WAS!?!? I WANTED to smack her upside her occipital lobe.

I started studying the DAT after I walked, and finished ~45 days later today. I put in about 8hrs a day. That's why I'm a little peeved as to why my scores suck.😡

This was the second time I took my DAT. The first time I made an AA of 17. I graduated in May, and got a B.S. in bio and minor in chem. My GPA is a measely 3.2 . I messed around my first 2 years of school and earned around a 1.9 , but my last two years I got averaged around a 3.7. I know the math doesn't add up on the GPA, but I'm tired and I don't feel like doing all the research.

I've volunteered for 2 years (500+ hours) at a non-profit dental clinic as an assistant and worked for a year (700+ hours) at a private clinic as an assistant. I know I'm not as boring/lame as the guy on the ochem lab safety videos, so I think I'd be able to impress during the interviews. My question for SDN is : Will I get an interview?

Constructive criticism is welcomed, but please save the internet bullying.

By the way, I'm more than willing to answer any questions on this thread. I'm new to SDN, but this site has really helped me.

 

[Neuro178]

Your scores seem solid, you have a lot of dentistry experience, so I think things are in your favor. Apply to as many schools as you can, probably 15-20. I think your scores are the average for students that get accepted into dental school - which is good! 🙂

I can't believe that the Prometric lady bothered you during your test. Eek! That must've thrown off your concentration! 🙁

Overall, good scores & good luck!

 

[wkawk2416]

good scores, can i ask you your scores on topscores and

what material you used for science? Thanks and good luck with applying!

 

[Simiam]

Personally I don't think your scores are that bad. AA of 19 with no real outliers. You're GPA might be slightly subpar, BUT your dental experience will be a huge plus. When you get interviews you will get bonus points for the experience, so I wouldn't stress.

One question: Kaplan Bio was really no preparation? Did you do the Kaplan purple book or the blue/online information...

 

[STACM]

Did the QR require alot of memorized info? Or just word problems that required brainpower?

 

[HoustonDAT]

good scores, can i ask you your scores on topscores and

what material you used for science? Thanks and good luck with applying!

I don't have the EXACT scores because I downloaded topscore on a laptop which is not currently in the same house as I am now. However, I'll tell you what I remember.

Test 1
Bio - 18
GC- 20
OC - 20

Test 2
Bio- 18
GC- 23
OC-23

Test 3
Bio- 20
GC- 23
OC -23

I rocked the reading sections because they were so easy to find the answers in the passage, but when it counted the most, I couldn't find anything.

Kaplan was a good foundation for bio. But I expanded each bio topic that Kaplan had by about 5 pages. I used a LOT of wiki.

GC- Kaplan was sufficient.

OC- Kaplan was sufficient.

I mainly had topscore to take more tests, I didn't really "learn" anything from topscore, other than I looked up answers to the questions I got wrong.

I had a lot of bio questions that I've never seen worded like that. But I guess the point was to use critical thinking.

Chem questions and OC questions were very similair to ones I've done in practice tests. What really irritated me about that was that I couldn't move the periodic table when I clicked the button. It would pop up and block the entire question. So when I had to use it, I had to write down all the elements on my crappy laminated, smudge filled paper with my crappy dried up markers.

When that lady came and bothered me during my test, I just dumped everything out of my pockets (passport, ID, prometric locker key, and prometric admission recepit) on the floor and didn't answer her question. Stupid lady!!😡

 

[HoustonDAT]

Did the QR require alot of memorized info? Or just word problems that required brainpower?

The test gave us the conversions to use. I would just worry about doing all the various types of word problems as opposed to memorizing *conversions.

 

[HoustonDAT]

Personally I don't think your scores are that bad. AA of 19 with no real outliers. You're GPA might be slightly subpar, BUT your dental experience will be a huge plus. When you get interviews you will get bonus points for the experience, so I wouldn't stress.

One question: Kaplan Bio was really no preparation? Did you do the Kaplan purple book or the blue/online information...

Kaplan was good for organizing the right content that needed to be known for the bio portion. They basically took the outline of what ADA provides for the test, and elaborated it a bit. But you need to elaborate Kaplan's much more to be successful. I paid $1200 for their useless class. I have a purple book, and white class book. I also have the blue book (which is the exact same as the purple book, but with a different cover) that I bought of amazon last year.

 

[STACM]

So you didnt use any other stuff for bio, like schaums or cliffs?

 

[HoustonDAT]

So you didnt use any other stuff for bio, like schaums or cliffs?

I actually have Schaum's bio at my house, but I never cracked it once. Never messed with Cliff's either.

 

[Bruinlove]

Good job! As long as you apply to the right ones, you should get several interview invites. Now go drink a corona. 😀

 

[HoustonDAT]

Good job! As long as you apply to the right ones, you should get several interview invites. Now go drink a corona. 😀

Beat you to it, I've got a glass of hennessey right by me. 👍

What are the "right" schools for me? [Other than everyone's favorite, Howard]

 

[Danny289]

Beat you to it, I've got a glass of hennessey right by me. 👍

What are the "right" schools for me? [Other than everyone's favorite, Howard]

if you are Texas resident. Your score is good for Texas schools

 

[HoustonDAT]

if you are Texas resident. Your score is good for Texas schools

Thanks Danny. SDNers are really nice considering all the cutthroat competition we go through. I was expecting scathing posts. I am also treating my scores as if they are the worst scores possible only so I won't fall as hard with higher expectations.😎

 

[Simiam]

Don't stress man my GPA is mediocre EC mediocre and I am taking the DAT next week with only 2weeks of real preparation. maybe 4weeks previously of 1-2hours/day I'm sure I'll be sitting on a 18 or 19 :/

 

[xhamburgersamx]

DO they only let you use markers these days? What about paper and pen?

 

[HoustonDAT]

DO they only let you use markers these days? What about paper and pen?

Unfortunately it's only markers and 2 dry erase laminated sheets of paper.

 

[americanpierg]

Am I really seeing what I'm seeing? Are people in the DAT section of this site just much nicer than those in the Pre-Dental section???

I saw like 20 "you'll get in with these scores, don't worry" and not one "you're on the below-average end of the applicant pool, although the shadowing is a slight plus, you can't overlook the good possibility that you won't get in, and therefore must start planning on finding a masters or post-bac program if that situation does occur." Honestly...its better to be truthful and give constructive critism even if it comes off as being "mean" than to be totally clueless and as nice as can be becuase you don't want to hurt someones feelings, becuase in reality the later just a straight up ******* thing to do.

The 3.2 is not the real hurting point of your application. The GPA, though, is still low, but the recent increase is a slight plus which should inflate that 3.2 a little. The ECs are excellent. The problem lies within your DAT scores. This would be decent for people with 3.5s and up, but with a 3.2, you needed 20+ to be considered a decent chance of getting into at least one school.