Dat Done! 7-19-08

[mfdope]

SO, long-time lurker, first-time poster (haha, that sounds so lame...). Anyway, here was my deal: last year, as a junior, I was accepted into the early assurance program at Buffalo. But it was kind of a downer, because I still had to take the DAT and get a 20 AA / 18 PAT (so, I was "in" the program, but not really). I took the DAT for a third time today. My first DAT scores were 18 AA / 18 PAT. My second DAT scores were 19 AA / 20 PAT. And today..........drum roll please............

21 AA / 20 PAT

19 BIO
18 GC
26 OC
15 QR
25 RC
20 PAT
20 TS
21 AA

So I did it! I'm officially the newest (first?) member of UB School of Dental Medicine '13. Yeah, I know, the scores are hella scattered and RC and OC saved me, but hey, that's how the cookie crumbled. I actually did worse in BIO, GC, and QR than my second test. I'd be concerned if applying normally, but I just needed a 20 AA for the early assurance program, so I'll take the points wherever I can get 'em.

The breakdown follows below, but just know that persistence pays off! It may take three tries, but if you put the time in, you WILL do well on this test. Just keep studying! They give you three shots for a reason!

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[Bruinlove]

Congratulations! You are already a dental student. How nice!

 

[HoangDDS]

SO, long-time lurker, first-time poster (haha, that sounds so lame...). Anyway, here was my deal: last year, as a junior, I was accepted into the early assurance program at Buffalo. But it was kind of a downer, because I still had to take the DAT and get a 20 AA / 18 PAT (so, I was "in" the program, but not really). I took the DAT for a third time today. My first DAT scores were 18 AA / 18 PAT. My second DAT scores were 19 AA / 20 PAT. And today..........drum roll please............

21 AA / 20 PAT

19 BIO
18 GC
26 OC
15 QR
25 RC
20 PAT
20 TS
21 AA

So I did it! I'm officially the newest (first?) member of UB School of Dental Medicine '13. Yeah, I know, the scores are hella scattered and RC and OC saved me, but hey, that's how the cookie crumbled. I actually did worse in BIO, GC, and QR than my second test. I'd be concerned if applying normally, but I just needed a 21 AA for the early assurance program, so I'll take the points wherever I can get 'em.

The breakdown follows below, but just know that persistence pays off! It may take three tries, but if you put the time in, you WILL do well on this test. Just keep studying! They give you three shots for a reason!

cool. Congrats! what's the early assurance program at buffalo? Nice to see you were persistance and it paid off. Good luck!

 

[mfdope]

BIO: I actually thought I did a lot better on this section. There were a few oddball questions, but even those weren't too crazy - mostly application questions. I've always liked biology and done well in it, so I probably didn't study this as much as I should have. But still, I thought I nailed it. Just know the basics and you'll do relatively well.

GC: Ah, this has always been my second weakest subject (next to QR). I don't know why, I'm just not a fan of gen chem! I'd say my version was about 75% conceptual, 25% calculations. But the calculations were actually some of the easier questions. Again, know the basic formulas and trends.

OC: Wow, totally not expecting this score. My first two tests, I got 19 and 20, so this was a surprise. I really stressed orgo while studying this time, so that helps, but there were 3 or 4 that I made educated guesses on that I must have gotten right. Just know the BASICS, I'm talking substitution, elimination, simple mechanisms, IUPAC, directors, etc. and you'll do great. But know them cold! No obscure reactions or questions, but if you don't know the basics real well, you'll narrow it down and end up guessing between 2 or 3 answers each question, which isn't the best strategy.

QR: Blah...I got 16s the first two times, so I was expecting this. I thought I got in the 16-18 range, but I'll take a 15. Again, I ran out of time like everyone else and had to guess on 7-10 questions. I detest this section and math in general, so whatever. I had less word problems than I expected, but the short answer questions were pretty long to work out. Not much else to say that you haven't already heard.

RC: Again, wow. I did good my first DAT (21) but bad the second one (18), so I didn't know what to expect here. I thought I did TERRIBLE on this section, like a 17, because there were a handful of questions I narrowed down to two and pretty much guessed. One of my passages (I was NOT frapped) was only 9 paragraphs long, but the questions were INSANE, and I'd say 11 or 12 of them (of the 17 for that passage) were "application" and interpretation questions. But I guess that's the tradeoff for a short passage. Having taken the DAT three times, I'd say that RC is kind of hit-or-miss, depending on the passages you get. It doesn't really have to do with your skill, per se, but more with the passages you get. I got lucky here.

So there you have it, the long, unadulterated saga of mfdope. I've been studying for the DAT during my freetime for the past 2 years, and this is such a tremendous burden off of my shoulders. No interviews, no more AADSAS (I did send one to Buffalo, but can now withdraw it), and ------ dental school, here I come!! (next fall, of course).

 

[mfdope]

Thanks guys! Hoang - you usually apply to the Early Assurance program after your sophomore year, and it requires the following:

Minimum 3.3 GPA (with half of the science prereqs done)
100 hours clinical experience
Application and letters of recommendation
Prehealth committee interview
Interview at the dental school
And of course, those DAT scores (20 AA, 18 PAT)

It was kind of wierd explaining my situation to people, because I was in the Early Assurance program, but a lot of people get "kicked out" because of the DAT requisite scores. I would have been "kicked out" and would have had to apply normally if I didn't get the scores this time. So now they pretty much save a seat for me, and as long as I don't do anything stupid, I will start dental school in Fall '09. It's a great opportunity, and I am soooo thankful that UB offers it. I think a few other schools offer similar programs as well.

 

[doc3232]

Congrats on getting into D-school

 

[Andrew324]

Great work!

 

[polarmolar]

how about a materials breakdown!

 

[mfdope]

Well, over the course of the three tests, I used:

KBB: Barely used it. I recommend going through it the first time you sit down to study for the DAT. It's the basic stuff that you absolutely HAVE to know, but you really need to supplement it with other materials.

Destroyer: Absolutely AMAZING. I don't know what I would have done without it! The bio section is actually real accurate - you'll see questions along these same lines (but no "all of the above" answers - you gotta know why each one is right, and why each one is wrong. Use with wikipedia at hand!). GC is kinda overkill, you won't see any of the harder calculations, ie calculate pH of this ridiculous rxn. But the conceptual questions are covered pretty well. OC is absolutely siiiiickkkk, but everyone already knew that. I'm tempted to say that Destroyer is all you need for orgo. Math is ok but unless you're naturally good at math, it's gonna be tough to break 17 or 18 without studying like crazy for this. Put your time into the sciences, and as long as you're OK at math, you should expect a 15-17 in this section.

Topscore: Used it for my second test, expired for this test. I remember it being pretty on point for PAT, and ok for the rest of the sections. Not great, but hey, the more the better.

Achiever: I'd recommend this over Topscore. It's a lot harder, and the PAT is ridiculous, but it will make most questions on the actual exam seem like a joke. I was getting 17-18 on the practice tests, so expect a 2 or 3 point increase on the exam. I actually really liked the science sections, you'll see some questions like those in BIO and ORGO especially.

Schaums bio: Read like half of it once. I think a better approach is to go through each option of every bio question in destroyer with wiki right there. Look up ANYTHING you're not sure of and learn it. Much for interactive and "exciting" this way, Schaums is so mind-numbing.

Barrons: Terrible. The practice tests are OK, but just because its more practice. The review sections suck. Not worth buying.

1001 MCAT Orgo Questions: Kind of overkill, but a good "rapid-fire" question bank I recommend going through once. A lot of easy questions, but things you have to know.

AP Chem, AP Bio review books: Good for the basics, but again, Destroyer is better. But go through a few of these books anyway, you should think they are a joke by the time your test comes.

Any other questions?

 

[futuredentist21]

Thanks a lot for the breakdown mf!!!... Got some ques....how far apart did you take your exams?...and how long did you study for each of them? Did you learn more about the exam each time you took it? Your orgo score is amazing!!! Congrats on dental school!

 

[Tina324]

im so happy for u mfdope! congrats =)

i would really appreciate ur advice on gchem.
i am taking the DAT in about a month..ahhh...and and im def not a big fan of gchem either...i am almost done reading kaplan and i am working on destroyer while reading. these are my ONLY materials (besides the achiever and topscore which i will start doing in a week). do you think this will do it? any study suggestions?

thank you!

 

[mfdope]

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[mfdope]

im so happy for u mfdope! congrats =)

i would really appreciate ur advice on gchem.
i am taking the DAT in about a month..ahhh...and and im def not a big fan of gchem either...i am almost done reading kaplan and i am working on destroyer while reading. these are my ONLY materials (besides the achiever and topscore which i will start doing in a week). do you think this will do it? any study suggestions?

thank you!

Thanks! For gchem, Kaplan is a good review of the essentials. Destroyer will get you in the right mindset with the questions. Trends, simple calculations, its all there. Destroyer has a lot of ridiculous questions that you will never see on the DAT, but having taken the test three times, you never really know what to expect. You have a month left, so topscore and achiever should be good materials to start reviewing. Achiever is crazy - I don't even recommend taking an entire test, just do each section individually and review the answers. You're confidence will be destroyed if you take a whole test IMO. Just to let you know, I was getting 14-16 on bio, gchem, and orgo on achiever! Don't let the scores scare you! Just understand what you got wrong, review it, know it, and that's all you can do with achiever. Also, if you can do the PAT in achiever, you're golden for the DAT. Good luck!