Ok so here's a brief breakdown of my situation, scores and materials...
I applied to about 12-13 dental schools two years ago with the scores below, a 3.3uGPA etc etc...I knew it wasnt super competitive but I thought I would at least get an interview or two...nope. So I started a masters program in which I am half done with a 4.0GPA...
my scores...
~~~~~2009~~ 7/13/11
PAT ~~~19~~~ 22
QR ~~~19~~~ 23
RC ~~~17~~~ 22
BIOL ~19 ~~~ 20
GC ~~~ 20 ~~~19
OC ~~~ 20~~~ 21
TS ~~~ 20 ~~~ 20
AA 19 (75.2%) 21(93.4%)
I knew this was the only chance I had to help my application this time around because after getting rejections from each school I applied to last time, it was either now or never.
Semi - breakdown...(i just want a beer and sleep...don't expect much out of this.. lol)
Materials -
1. Topscore - 1,2,3 (all three were 19s, taken 3,5,and7 days before real test)
2. DAT Destroyer
3. Math Destroyer
4. Cliffs AP Biol
5. KBB
6. Crack DAT (PAT, reading, math, and Science) - DO NOT GET SCIENCE or reading for that...CD really sucked for those two, but PAT was invaluable!
PAT - This section was exactly like Crack DAT PAT. I did the first 6-7 tests and my scores ranged between 19-22, so i didn't think This would be that much of a problem. Angles on the real test were hard as hell, but TFE, hole punching..etc were just about on par with CDP.
QR - Math Destroyer all the way!! I would always have problems finishing in time so timing myself with destroyer definitely helped out. There were more word problems on the real DAT then I was used to. That sort of phased me as I finished with 23 seconds left...but I felt pretty well prepared using Math Destroyer.
RC - This was where I had the most difficulty last time and as you can tell, the scores drastically improved. I originally used kaplans method of reading each paragraph and writing down key words or phrases. and then going thru the questions to figure 'em out. Huge waste of time imo...my strategy this time was read the first question and search and destroy. I would mark the "tone/non-S&Dable" questions and come back to those at the end of the section, which by then, I had skimmed thru quite a few times. This method was definitely a lot better then any others I tried using...
BIOL - Very random indeed...There were about 4 questions where I narrowed down answer to like 2-3 possibles. but yeh, I was taken aback to see this many wierd questions. I used Cliffs BIO AP along with KBB from last time I took it to re-inforce. Then I went through DAT Destroyer BIO X2 so I could association certain topics and words together.
OC and GC...chad, chad, chad..What a beast. His videos went through about 98% of the material I came across on any practice materials so I would definitely take my time taking notes and taking the quizzes at the end of each video. Also, the .pdfs for each "DAY" were amazing, and I went over those the night before/day of DAT. I also went thru Destroyer one time, but was discouraged as I couldn't even get half the questions right and constantly checked answers..but good practice none the less!
Overall, I thought this test was a lot easier then my first DAT. I was fairly well prepared last time but succombed to pressure. I hope that this along with doing well in my Masters program, having done research and being co-authored, and continueing to volunteer/shadow help out my application.
Anyway sorry for grammatical in-correctness...I really just want to sleep, but thought i'd share scores and breakdown for those who care!
If you have any questions feel free to ask, and good luck to all of you studying!! it'll be well worth it
I applied to about 12-13 dental schools two years ago with the scores below, a 3.3uGPA etc etc...I knew it wasnt super competitive but I thought I would at least get an interview or two...nope. So I started a masters program in which I am half done with a 4.0GPA...
my scores...
~~~~~2009~~ 7/13/11
PAT ~~~19~~~ 22
QR ~~~19~~~ 23
RC ~~~17~~~ 22
BIOL ~19 ~~~ 20
GC ~~~ 20 ~~~19
OC ~~~ 20~~~ 21
TS ~~~ 20 ~~~ 20
AA 19 (75.2%) 21(93.4%)
I knew this was the only chance I had to help my application this time around because after getting rejections from each school I applied to last time, it was either now or never.
Semi - breakdown...(i just want a beer and sleep...don't expect much out of this.. lol)
Materials -
1. Topscore - 1,2,3 (all three were 19s, taken 3,5,and7 days before real test)
2. DAT Destroyer
3. Math Destroyer
4. Cliffs AP Biol
5. KBB
6. Crack DAT (PAT, reading, math, and Science) - DO NOT GET SCIENCE or reading for that...CD really sucked for those two, but PAT was invaluable!
PAT - This section was exactly like Crack DAT PAT. I did the first 6-7 tests and my scores ranged between 19-22, so i didn't think This would be that much of a problem. Angles on the real test were hard as hell, but TFE, hole punching..etc were just about on par with CDP.
QR - Math Destroyer all the way!! I would always have problems finishing in time so timing myself with destroyer definitely helped out. There were more word problems on the real DAT then I was used to. That sort of phased me as I finished with 23 seconds left...but I felt pretty well prepared using Math Destroyer.
RC - This was where I had the most difficulty last time and as you can tell, the scores drastically improved. I originally used kaplans method of reading each paragraph and writing down key words or phrases. and then going thru the questions to figure 'em out. Huge waste of time imo...my strategy this time was read the first question and search and destroy. I would mark the "tone/non-S&Dable" questions and come back to those at the end of the section, which by then, I had skimmed thru quite a few times. This method was definitely a lot better then any others I tried using...
BIOL - Very random indeed...There were about 4 questions where I narrowed down answer to like 2-3 possibles. but yeh, I was taken aback to see this many wierd questions. I used Cliffs BIO AP along with KBB from last time I took it to re-inforce. Then I went through DAT Destroyer BIO X2 so I could association certain topics and words together.
OC and GC...chad, chad, chad..What a beast. His videos went through about 98% of the material I came across on any practice materials so I would definitely take my time taking notes and taking the quizzes at the end of each video. Also, the .pdfs for each "DAY" were amazing, and I went over those the night before/day of DAT. I also went thru Destroyer one time, but was discouraged as I couldn't even get half the questions right and constantly checked answers..but good practice none the less!
Overall, I thought this test was a lot easier then my first DAT. I was fairly well prepared last time but succombed to pressure. I hope that this along with doing well in my Masters program, having done research and being co-authored, and continueing to volunteer/shadow help out my application.
Anyway sorry for grammatical in-correctness...I really just want to sleep, but thought i'd share scores and breakdown for those who care!
If you have any questions feel free to ask, and good luck to all of you studying!! it'll be well worth it
