- Joined
- Sep 29, 2005
- Messages
- 409
- Reaction score
- 0
First off, I want to thank Dr. Romano and Nancy for giving me the encouragement and support I needed in my time of stress. The destroyer is an essential tool for any predent studying for his/her DAT. Although I didn't score the best, I know I wouldn't have improved as much as I did without the support of Dr. Romano and Nancy.
Here's my scores:
Bio 18
Gchem 18
Ochem 20
PAT 17 🙁
RC 17
QR 19
AA-18
TS-19
ouch...yeah i know. Personally, I was expecting much higher scores on the real deal. I was averaging 20+ on all sections in Topscore and understood all of Achiever before taking the test. I studied for 6 weeks at about 5-6 hrs a day. I wasn't going to post my scores up because I'm quite ashamed of them but I feel like I probably would have scored even worse if it weren't for the great input I've gotten from others. Here's the breakdown:
Bio - The bio section straight up owned me. I am usually strong in bio but I guess the test found my weakness and there happened to be more questions on it. I would recommend memorizing the DAT Destroyer inside and out....Dr. Romano has done a great job at putting the bio questions together that cover important concepts. Since I didn't study for the test very long, I tried spreading my time out with the Kaplan Blue book and Destroyer which I think was my biggest mistake. Know the Destroyer and if you don't have it...get it
GChem - Never been strong in gchem and am happy with an 18. I had several applications type questions on my test but I would say a good half was conceptual. Surprised me though because I was only expecting a couple questions to have to work out.
Ochem - I know I could have done better on this section but I ran out of time. I had about 15 mins left when I reached the ochem section. The Destroyer had everything I needed to know but when it came down to it...time was my enemy. Know your basics, understand your mechs, know the road maps and you should be fine.
RC - good god this was a hard section for me. Talk about the real test being different from Achiever and Topscore...it's totally different!! I had so many inference questions and tone questions or very specific questions that just straight up takes time to look through the passage. Just to gauge, I've been scoring an average of a 21 on RC on Achiever. It is no lie, don't overlook this section!!
QR - it was easy but wow, talk about pressed for time. I marked a couple questions to go back to because I knew they'd take too long and never got back to it. I had to guess the last 3 questions in order to make the time limit. Achiever and Topscore = nothing like the QR section. I think the reason why so many people are doing so bad this section is because the QR section (at least my test) had a lot of material I did not expect to be on the test. A good 3/4 of my test were word problems which is why it frustrated me so much!! I averaged 22-23 on Achiever and Topscore.
PAT - don't know what happened here...seemed easier than practice tests but whatever, I usually scored a 19 🙁
I feel compared to how others have been doing on SDN forums this is a disgrace but I am content with these scores. I know it's just the elite that are on these forums anyways 😉 so hopefully I'll still have a chance at getting a couple interviews. I've decided since I didn't do as well as I wanted to, I am going to apply to 20+ schools and hope to get a couple interviews. I have really good letters of recommendations, internships, shadowing, and awards and scholarships. On the down side I do have a low GPA (above a 3.0) that isn't very competitive but do attend UC Berkeley (which probably doesn't help much).
I'm not going to retake the test because my application would be held for too long by the time I retake. My application is already at the dental schools and I plan on faxing them my unofficial score report tomorrow. What do you guys think? Any suggestions? I know the general answer is...retake the DAT and get a 20+ but what do you think my chances are with my stats especially since I have my application in early?
All of you have been so helpful and supportive through the application process and just wanted to thank you all! I really appreciate any of your opinions you give out. Thanks again, and good luck to those who are still studying! 👍
Here's my scores:
Bio 18
Gchem 18
Ochem 20
PAT 17 🙁
RC 17
QR 19
AA-18
TS-19
ouch...yeah i know. Personally, I was expecting much higher scores on the real deal. I was averaging 20+ on all sections in Topscore and understood all of Achiever before taking the test. I studied for 6 weeks at about 5-6 hrs a day. I wasn't going to post my scores up because I'm quite ashamed of them but I feel like I probably would have scored even worse if it weren't for the great input I've gotten from others. Here's the breakdown:
Bio - The bio section straight up owned me. I am usually strong in bio but I guess the test found my weakness and there happened to be more questions on it. I would recommend memorizing the DAT Destroyer inside and out....Dr. Romano has done a great job at putting the bio questions together that cover important concepts. Since I didn't study for the test very long, I tried spreading my time out with the Kaplan Blue book and Destroyer which I think was my biggest mistake. Know the Destroyer and if you don't have it...get it
GChem - Never been strong in gchem and am happy with an 18. I had several applications type questions on my test but I would say a good half was conceptual. Surprised me though because I was only expecting a couple questions to have to work out.
Ochem - I know I could have done better on this section but I ran out of time. I had about 15 mins left when I reached the ochem section. The Destroyer had everything I needed to know but when it came down to it...time was my enemy. Know your basics, understand your mechs, know the road maps and you should be fine.
RC - good god this was a hard section for me. Talk about the real test being different from Achiever and Topscore...it's totally different!! I had so many inference questions and tone questions or very specific questions that just straight up takes time to look through the passage. Just to gauge, I've been scoring an average of a 21 on RC on Achiever. It is no lie, don't overlook this section!!
QR - it was easy but wow, talk about pressed for time. I marked a couple questions to go back to because I knew they'd take too long and never got back to it. I had to guess the last 3 questions in order to make the time limit. Achiever and Topscore = nothing like the QR section. I think the reason why so many people are doing so bad this section is because the QR section (at least my test) had a lot of material I did not expect to be on the test. A good 3/4 of my test were word problems which is why it frustrated me so much!! I averaged 22-23 on Achiever and Topscore.
PAT - don't know what happened here...seemed easier than practice tests but whatever, I usually scored a 19 🙁
I feel compared to how others have been doing on SDN forums this is a disgrace but I am content with these scores. I know it's just the elite that are on these forums anyways 😉 so hopefully I'll still have a chance at getting a couple interviews. I've decided since I didn't do as well as I wanted to, I am going to apply to 20+ schools and hope to get a couple interviews. I have really good letters of recommendations, internships, shadowing, and awards and scholarships. On the down side I do have a low GPA (above a 3.0) that isn't very competitive but do attend UC Berkeley (which probably doesn't help much).
I'm not going to retake the test because my application would be held for too long by the time I retake. My application is already at the dental schools and I plan on faxing them my unofficial score report tomorrow. What do you guys think? Any suggestions? I know the general answer is...retake the DAT and get a 20+ but what do you think my chances are with my stats especially since I have my application in early?
All of you have been so helpful and supportive through the application process and just wanted to thank you all! I really appreciate any of your opinions you give out. Thanks again, and good luck to those who are still studying! 👍
