I just finished my DAT. I'm glad its finally over I have been really stressed out about it. Here are my scores:
PAT: 21
QR: 15
RC: 21
Bio: 29
GC: 24
Org: 23
Total Science: 26
Academic Average: 22
All in all I did much better than I expected. I am disapointed to see the 15 in QR. Heres my information:
Florida resident. GPA ~3.7. Science GPA ~3.6. At USF. EC's: ~60 hours of shadowing at a UF dental clinic, ~250 hours of undergraduate research and counting, dental club, intermurral soccor/football, and I have participated in a handful of group service projects at USF. I am worried that with the 15 in QR and being short in volunteering might hold me back. I have 4 letters of recommendation 2 from science proffessors, 1 from a former president of the Florida Dental Association, and 1 from a UF dental professor. I am getting ready to finish my application I just have to write my personal statement (any advise would be great). I am planning on sending my application to UF, (first choice), NOVA, Alabama, Indiana, and possibly some others. Any opinions on my chances at UF or elsewhere would be appreciated.
THE BREAKDOWN:
I started studying 5/4/2009. I boutght the kaplan book and read it in a week. The following week i started the kaplan class. The in class time was a waste but the online resources + the book were well worth it. I turned both books inside out, made note cards, drew diagrams, did all the online work, every thing i could get my hands on. All of my pratice test info is below, i thought it was interesting that i scored much higher on the real dat than the pratice. Everything i have always heard told me it would be the other way around. anyway i studied about ~25 hours a week untill a month before then it moved to ~8 hours a day, and finally 2 weeks before it was close to 10 hours a day. The studying was gruling but i guess im happy with my scores.
So thats about it. I just used kaplan's program and studied allot. occasionaly i would use my science texts as a refrence but that was pretty few and far between.
Diagnostic---(scores were low but it was the first time w/e )
PAT: 16
QR: 13
RC: 17
Bio: 16
GC: 14
Org: 20
Total Science: 17
Academic Average: 16
Midterm--(some improvements)
PAT: 20
QR: 16
RC: 18
Bio: 17
GC: 16
Org: 20
Total Science: 18
Academic Average: 17
Final-- (not where i want to be yet)
PAT: 21
QR: 17
RC: 17
Bio: 19
GC: 15
Org: 19
Total Science: 18
Academic Average: 17
Test 1--(3 weeks before)
PAT: 22
QR: 18
RC: 19
Bio: 17
GC: 18
Org: 18
Total Science: 18
Academic Average: 18
Test 2--(2 weeks before)
PAT: 23
QR: 18
RC: 17
Bio: 20
GC: 19
Org: 18
Total Science: 19
Academic Average: 18
Test 3--(2 days before. i freaked when i saw my chem score)
PAT: 21
QR: 18
RC: 18
Bio: 21
GC: 14
Org: 20
Total Science: 19
Academic Average: 18
REAL DAT
PAT: 21
QR: 15
RC: 21
Bio: 29
GC: 24
Org: 23
Total Science: 26
Academic Average: 22
PAT: This was definately much harder than the pratice kaplan tests. the angle ranking was rediculous. when i was taking it i was figuring i was gonna get about an 18. It worked out well though, i just stayed positive and used the kaplan methods for each problem.
QR: OMG i got murdered on this section. i usualy get about an 18, and i wasnt even worried about this section going into the test. I usualy cruse through the test and anwser all of the easy questions then come back for any hard ones i skipped. Well when i took the real test i finished all of the easy ones in about 8 min ~8 problems. /sigh. i went back and worked my way through the rest of them but eventually ran out of time and had to guess on ~7. I have never seen any pratice test with a QR section this difficult. i definatley felt under prepared.
RC: The reading section was pretty straightfoward, i used the kaplan mapping method for the first article, but abandoned it on the second which was all keywords. by the time i finished the second article i was down to 13 min for the last section. Luckilly it was on experimental genetics, (i work in a genetics lab) so i had no problem with the questions.
Bio: Everyone complains that the questions are so random, but biology is a huge field so they have to cover alot of info. All in all the questions were much easier than the kaplan tests i took, and all of the questions save one were things i had seen before. Honestly notecards are the best way to study for this. Just turn the whole bio section of the kaplan book into notecards and you will soar through the test. BTW 2 of the questions were identical to the pratice tests... lol. (~20 min on this section but i came back to it after finishing the whole test)
GC: This was also much easier than the kaplan tests. most of it was simple theory, and there were only ~10 or so questions that required any calculations. On top of that most of the calculation questions were the format where you just pick the formula with the numbers filled in meaning no actual math had to be done. saved me soo much time. (20 min for whole section)
Org: First let me say that this is my strongest subject. I just finished Ochem in the spring and loved every second of it. If there was orgo 3 i would take it. Anyway i sudied the least for this section, i looked over my book 2 days before the test and brushed up on the names of the reactions i already knew by heart incase they asked me some weard reaction stuff. Nothing too tricky here, most of it was very simple and ~5 of the questions were about lab techniques e.g. "these compounds could be seperated by which of the following techniques?" needless to say they are freebees. All in all i wouldnt reccommend the kaplan stuff for this unless you already have a solid foundation in organic, and even then it didnt cover some of the other things like wittig or aldol condensation stuff.
Thats about all I can think of for the moment my brains pretty fried so I'm gonna take a nap. If you have any questions or have any imput on my chances I would really appreciate it! Good luck to anyone who is about to take the test!
PAT: 21
QR: 15
RC: 21
Bio: 29
GC: 24
Org: 23
Total Science: 26
Academic Average: 22
All in all I did much better than I expected. I am disapointed to see the 15 in QR. Heres my information:
Florida resident. GPA ~3.7. Science GPA ~3.6. At USF. EC's: ~60 hours of shadowing at a UF dental clinic, ~250 hours of undergraduate research and counting, dental club, intermurral soccor/football, and I have participated in a handful of group service projects at USF. I am worried that with the 15 in QR and being short in volunteering might hold me back. I have 4 letters of recommendation 2 from science proffessors, 1 from a former president of the Florida Dental Association, and 1 from a UF dental professor. I am getting ready to finish my application I just have to write my personal statement (any advise would be great). I am planning on sending my application to UF, (first choice), NOVA, Alabama, Indiana, and possibly some others. Any opinions on my chances at UF or elsewhere would be appreciated.
THE BREAKDOWN:
I started studying 5/4/2009. I boutght the kaplan book and read it in a week. The following week i started the kaplan class. The in class time was a waste but the online resources + the book were well worth it. I turned both books inside out, made note cards, drew diagrams, did all the online work, every thing i could get my hands on. All of my pratice test info is below, i thought it was interesting that i scored much higher on the real dat than the pratice. Everything i have always heard told me it would be the other way around. anyway i studied about ~25 hours a week untill a month before then it moved to ~8 hours a day, and finally 2 weeks before it was close to 10 hours a day. The studying was gruling but i guess im happy with my scores.
So thats about it. I just used kaplan's program and studied allot. occasionaly i would use my science texts as a refrence but that was pretty few and far between.
Diagnostic---(scores were low but it was the first time w/e )
PAT: 16
QR: 13
RC: 17
Bio: 16
GC: 14
Org: 20
Total Science: 17
Academic Average: 16
Midterm--(some improvements)
PAT: 20
QR: 16
RC: 18
Bio: 17
GC: 16
Org: 20
Total Science: 18
Academic Average: 17
Final-- (not where i want to be yet)
PAT: 21
QR: 17
RC: 17
Bio: 19
GC: 15
Org: 19
Total Science: 18
Academic Average: 17
Test 1--(3 weeks before)
PAT: 22
QR: 18
RC: 19
Bio: 17
GC: 18
Org: 18
Total Science: 18
Academic Average: 18
Test 2--(2 weeks before)
PAT: 23
QR: 18
RC: 17
Bio: 20
GC: 19
Org: 18
Total Science: 19
Academic Average: 18
Test 3--(2 days before. i freaked when i saw my chem score)
PAT: 21
QR: 18
RC: 18
Bio: 21
GC: 14
Org: 20
Total Science: 19
Academic Average: 18
REAL DAT
PAT: 21
QR: 15
RC: 21
Bio: 29
GC: 24
Org: 23
Total Science: 26
Academic Average: 22
PAT: This was definately much harder than the pratice kaplan tests. the angle ranking was rediculous. when i was taking it i was figuring i was gonna get about an 18. It worked out well though, i just stayed positive and used the kaplan methods for each problem.
QR: OMG i got murdered on this section. i usualy get about an 18, and i wasnt even worried about this section going into the test. I usualy cruse through the test and anwser all of the easy questions then come back for any hard ones i skipped. Well when i took the real test i finished all of the easy ones in about 8 min ~8 problems. /sigh. i went back and worked my way through the rest of them but eventually ran out of time and had to guess on ~7. I have never seen any pratice test with a QR section this difficult. i definatley felt under prepared.
RC: The reading section was pretty straightfoward, i used the kaplan mapping method for the first article, but abandoned it on the second which was all keywords. by the time i finished the second article i was down to 13 min for the last section. Luckilly it was on experimental genetics, (i work in a genetics lab) so i had no problem with the questions.
Bio: Everyone complains that the questions are so random, but biology is a huge field so they have to cover alot of info. All in all the questions were much easier than the kaplan tests i took, and all of the questions save one were things i had seen before. Honestly notecards are the best way to study for this. Just turn the whole bio section of the kaplan book into notecards and you will soar through the test. BTW 2 of the questions were identical to the pratice tests... lol. (~20 min on this section but i came back to it after finishing the whole test)
GC: This was also much easier than the kaplan tests. most of it was simple theory, and there were only ~10 or so questions that required any calculations. On top of that most of the calculation questions were the format where you just pick the formula with the numbers filled in meaning no actual math had to be done. saved me soo much time. (20 min for whole section)
Org: First let me say that this is my strongest subject. I just finished Ochem in the spring and loved every second of it. If there was orgo 3 i would take it. Anyway i sudied the least for this section, i looked over my book 2 days before the test and brushed up on the names of the reactions i already knew by heart incase they asked me some weard reaction stuff. Nothing too tricky here, most of it was very simple and ~5 of the questions were about lab techniques e.g. "these compounds could be seperated by which of the following techniques?" needless to say they are freebees. All in all i wouldnt reccommend the kaplan stuff for this unless you already have a solid foundation in organic, and even then it didnt cover some of the other things like wittig or aldol condensation stuff.
Thats about all I can think of for the moment my brains pretty fried so I'm gonna take a nap. If you have any questions or have any imput on my chances I would really appreciate it! Good luck to anyone who is about to take the test!
