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- Mar 12, 2013
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Hey guys,
So, after having completed the DAT, I feel that I need to give back to the community which helped me throughout my studying a lot!! I have read so many breakdowns, and it feels surreal to be on the other side.
First thing first, I have a sci GPA of 3.76 and an overall GPA of 3.88. I am applying to 8 schools this year. I'll start off with my DAT scores and then what I thought of each section (including what I studied for it).
DAT: AA: 20 TS: 19 PAT: 21 RC: 24 QR: 17
Bio: (22)...this section wasn't too random. I definitely understand what people mean by how unusual some of the questions were worded. I had very little taxonomy, physiology, and maybe one plant question. First and foremost, I used Cliff's AP Bio along with DAT Qvault Bio and Destroyer. All of them were great resources, and I recommend everyone that instead of memorizing facts, apply those facts to certain hypothetical situations (DAT Qvault was awesome for this!!). This was the majority of my bio test: very little fact/recall and a lot of application. Like I said, nothing was random...I had seen everything before; it was just WEIRDLY worded sometimes.
GC/OC: (18/18)
I want to cry!! I went through destroyer 2x for both organic and general chemistry. I also watched all of Chad's vids and did his quizzes on separate occasions. During general chemistry, a lot of my questions required math...and they did not even set it up!! I had one question where all the math answers were very similar (like 1.3, 1.29, 1.299)...I was mad!! Other than that, I really wish that I could have done better in these sections...I really felt confident with the material. Organic was not too bad, but you probably shouldn't listen to me because I failed epically on it!! Also, I had maybe 2 lab questions at the most on Organic Chem, and they weren't that bad either.
PAT: (21) I am pretty content with this section. I used the CDP Test 10 version and my scores varied from a 20-23. After CDP, I used the 3 Test-Achiever, (most helpful in terms of what the DAT looked like!!).
Keyholes: I think they were somewhat easier than Achiever but slightly harder than CDP. It was a toss up honestly. I marked like 4 keyholes that really gave me some trouble.
TFE: This section was a mix of really easy, medium, and hard. I think it nicely correlates with what you would see on Achiever or CDP.
Angles: MUCH MUCH EASIER THAN CDP!! The angles were long, and you could really tell which ones were the largest and smallest very quickly.
Hole Punch: this was my best section during practice, and I lucked out because the holes I got were pretty easy and straightforward. Achiever is nice to help with the 1/3 holes, but I had only one question that had a 1/3 hole on it!!
Cubes: like everyone says, really easy. You should maximize your score with this section. My cubes were not complicated, and there were no illusion problems.
Pattern Folding: this was the bane of my studying....I hated it!! Thankfully, I felt that the PF on my exam was pretty straightforward and to the point besides one question that I had to completely guess on.
Reading: (24) I practiced with Achiever and 18 was my highest score. My passages were fairly interesting. Many of the questions were perfect for search and destroy. My strategy was to read the passage and keep track of where the different sections were...then I just read the question, and if it talked about a specific keyword from a section, then I would go to that section and find the answer. I think I had 8 mins left on the reading.
QR: (17) Math hates me, and I hate math. Looking back, nothing was new. I had seen everything in Math Destroyer. I took 8 Math Destroyer test untimed, and 4 timed. I think that if I were to go back, I would definitely practice more math! Practice makes perfect!! I just wish I had not spent so much time on a couple of problems...I am stubborn and I wanted to get the answer! I finished in just enough time. I couldn't go back and review everything that I had marked.
Hopefully I can get in to some dental schools! I know my QR and GC/OC are bad...but hopefully the rest of my scores can make up for that! As frustrated as I am with myself, I am happy to just be done. As many have said it before, it feels soooo good to be done!!! Work hard, study smart, and the outcome will be tremendous!! Good luck to everyone who will be taking the exam soon!
So, after having completed the DAT, I feel that I need to give back to the community which helped me throughout my studying a lot!! I have read so many breakdowns, and it feels surreal to be on the other side.
First thing first, I have a sci GPA of 3.76 and an overall GPA of 3.88. I am applying to 8 schools this year. I'll start off with my DAT scores and then what I thought of each section (including what I studied for it).
DAT: AA: 20 TS: 19 PAT: 21 RC: 24 QR: 17
Bio: (22)...this section wasn't too random. I definitely understand what people mean by how unusual some of the questions were worded. I had very little taxonomy, physiology, and maybe one plant question. First and foremost, I used Cliff's AP Bio along with DAT Qvault Bio and Destroyer. All of them were great resources, and I recommend everyone that instead of memorizing facts, apply those facts to certain hypothetical situations (DAT Qvault was awesome for this!!). This was the majority of my bio test: very little fact/recall and a lot of application. Like I said, nothing was random...I had seen everything before; it was just WEIRDLY worded sometimes.
GC/OC: (18/18)
I want to cry!! I went through destroyer 2x for both organic and general chemistry. I also watched all of Chad's vids and did his quizzes on separate occasions. During general chemistry, a lot of my questions required math...and they did not even set it up!! I had one question where all the math answers were very similar (like 1.3, 1.29, 1.299)...I was mad!! Other than that, I really wish that I could have done better in these sections...I really felt confident with the material. Organic was not too bad, but you probably shouldn't listen to me because I failed epically on it!! Also, I had maybe 2 lab questions at the most on Organic Chem, and they weren't that bad either.PAT: (21
) I am pretty content with this section. I used the CDP Test 10 version and my scores varied from a 20-23. After CDP, I used the 3 Test-Achiever, (most helpful in terms of what the DAT looked like!!). Keyholes: I think they were somewhat easier than Achiever but slightly harder than CDP. It was a toss up honestly. I marked like 4 keyholes that really gave me some trouble.
TFE: This section was a mix of really easy, medium, and hard. I think it nicely correlates with what you would see on Achiever or CDP.
Angles: MUCH MUCH EASIER THAN CDP!! The angles were long, and you could really tell which ones were the largest and smallest very quickly.
Hole Punch: this was my best section during practice, and I lucked out because the holes I got were pretty easy and straightforward. Achiever is nice to help with the 1/3 holes, but I had only one question that had a 1/3 hole on it!!
Cubes: like everyone says, really easy. You should maximize your score with this section. My cubes were not complicated, and there were no illusion problems.
Pattern Folding: this was the bane of my studying....I hated it!! Thankfully, I felt that the PF on my exam was pretty straightforward and to the point besides one question that I had to completely guess on.
Reading: (24
) I practiced with Achiever and 18 was my highest score. My passages were fairly interesting. Many of the questions were perfect for search and destroy. My strategy was to read the passage and keep track of where the different sections were...then I just read the question, and if it talked about a specific keyword from a section, then I would go to that section and find the answer. I think I had 8 mins left on the reading.QR: (17
) Math hates me, and I hate math. Looking back, nothing was new. I had seen everything in Math Destroyer. I took 8 Math Destroyer test untimed, and 4 timed. I think that if I were to go back, I would definitely practice more math! Practice makes perfect!! I just wish I had not spent so much time on a couple of problems...I am stubborn and I wanted to get the answer! I finished in just enough time. I couldn't go back and review everything that I had marked.Hopefully I can get in to some dental schools! I know my QR and GC/OC are bad...but hopefully the rest of my scores can make up for that! As frustrated as I am with myself, I am happy to just be done. As many have said it before, it feels soooo good to be done!!! Work hard, study smart, and the outcome will be tremendous!! Good luck to everyone who will be taking the exam soon!
