Just took my DAT 8/12/2013.
Shoutout to Glimmer1991(DAT Breakdown Collection), feralisextremum(Feralis Notes), and countless other people who have contributed to the immense resources available on SDN.
I hope I can also make an impact on another fellow pre-dental's DAT journey.
Scores:
Materials Used:
Background
I'm entering my Junior year majoring in Bio. I have a pretty subpar GPA. So I decided to take my DAT a summer early just in case. With that said, I severely lacked the motivation to do well, but I knew that the DAT was extremely important going into the final 2 years of undergrad. So I disabled Facebook, stuck it out in the Library etc. Here is my breakdown.
Breakdown
Total prep time: ~7weeks
Kaplan Class
I wouldn't have shelled out this much money if I knew about SDN before, but needless to say I don't think Kaplan is that big of a waste. I really enjoyed the online material, it has an ample amount of subject tests and practice tests. The math section has tons of permutations/probabilities/combinations(maybe too much), but the QR sub tests kicked my butt and forced me to step up my QR game. There are some outlier questions in the GC section that almost definitely won't be tested in the actual DAT but anything goes! In the beginning I was really worried that I seemed to be the only one in SDN taking the Kaplan class but I decided to stick with it and utilize all the resources I had. Also Kaplan was pretty accurate to my scores. The RC section on Kaplan is definitely easier than the actual DAT. The PAT section on Kaplan was actually pretty good except for angles. They actually upgraded the KH and TFE section so you can spin the models in 3D. So I did all the online material for all the subjects. In addition to below.
Biology
For Biology, I started off with Cliff's AP Bio. I read through all the chapters, highlighting, annotating as I went. Did the questions at the end of each chapter to see if I understood everything. To me, Cliff's was super dry and boring to read. So it was a pain to get through it. From there I did a super quick read of KBB Bio, took me about 2 days. KBB covers most of the simple basics. Then I went on to Princeton AP Bio, Barron's AP Bio, and Feralis in that order. Princeton was very basic and easy to get through. Barron's was easy to understand. And Feralis is just the beast it needs to be and I thoroughly recommend anyone to use it.
Chemistry
CHAD's Videos!!! I watched all his videos and did all his quizzes. He does cover everything you need on the DAT. Just trust it, do his quizzes multiple times, review your notes. Kaplan Class for GC, harder than the DAT, but good preparation. The questions were not representative, but it tested key conceptual things you needed to know.
Organic Chemistry
I never took this section seriously because I was pretty beast at OC during my undergrad classes. But those pesky stereochem and conceptual stuff always got me and Chad cleared up many of my questions!
PAT
CDP, Kaplan, DAT BC. Kaplan PAT was pretty good except that angles were way easier than the DAT and TFE was easier. PF was actually pretty difficult. CDP, angles were in between Kaplan and DATBC, but actually I found it very representative of the DAT. DAT BC has the hardest Keyholes I've come across. I was averaging like 7/15 on my tests. I purchased the 10 test version of CDP and did all of it.
TFE, etc: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=528643
Angle Methods: Hill method: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=545778
Imagine that you're riding down the hill, acute angles, smaller angle=safer ride downhill. Obtuse angles, bigger angles=safer ride.
Tether Ball: Anyone played tetherball before? No? Yea me neither. haha, but my point is that the day before my test, I was doing ARG on DAT BC and suddenly it struck me to use this method. ARG loves to use unequal lengths for angles and this works wonderfully. Imagine that the longer side of the angle is upright, perpendicular to the ground, now look at the other line, you can clearly see how high/low it is compared to its 90 degree equivalent and use it to compare with other angles. If you still don't get it, post below, I'll post pics
Pizza slice: Shoutout to ChrisM07, he posted it on my thread the day before my DAT. You just imagine the angles as pizza slices ahha. I didn't use this method exclusively but it actually helped me on one problem during the actual DAT! DAT bootcamp also had very good techniques for PF.
Reading Comp
So what do I do instead of studying? I go on Reddit, read lots of blogs and generally just waste a bunch of time. Hence my subpar GPA. But it actually paid off? I didn't really prep for this section. I used Kaplan's mapping method where you take a few keywords and the topic per paragraph and create a list(usually 15 paragraphs per passage). I found that reading time quickly increased if I read the paragraph first then wrote it down on my map instead of actively jotting things down as I read. Kaplan was easier than the actual DAT, DATBC was annoyingly harder, but essential. I also read a science article a day, but this was also just for fun.
QR
Holy crap was I bad at QR in the beginning, but it was a matter of rustiness that anything else. Once I master Chad's method for permutations/combinations/probabilities, I could solve most of the easy-medium questions with ease. With this section, it's just important to get as many correct as possible, I knew I wouldn't be able to get a 100% in this section so I just focused on answering all the ones I knew, usually the arithmetic, algebra, word applications. Stuff like that. Attack in 3 waves, just like Ari says, first wave answer all the ones you know how to do within 10secs, if you don't know it, mark it, put an answer down, move on. 2nd wave, try to do the marked ones, if you can't figure it out in 20secs, move on to another one. 3rd wave, try to tackle the remaining ones. Also I created a cheat sheet of stuff I don't usually remember that I would look at every night. I recommend writing down the sin/cos/tan values on your board during the DAT. Saved me a ton of time during the QR section.
Practice Test Scores
Taken in order.
KapDiagnostic: PAT16/Bio14/GC12/OC17/RC18/QR15/TS14/AA15
KapMidterm: PAT21/Bio16/GC17/OC18/RC21/QR16/TS17/AA18
KapFinal: PAT19/Bio19/GC18/OC20/RC24/QR19/TS19/AA20
Kap3: PAT21/Bio22/GC15/OC15/RC22/QR18/TS18/AA18
Kap2: PAT22/Bio17/GC19/OC18/RC24/QR22/TS18/AA20
Kap1: PAT21/Bio17/GC16/OC23/RC20/QR22/TS19/AA20
DATbootcamp
BC1: PAT21/Bio22/GC25/OC19/RC22/QR22/TS22/AA22
BC2: PAT20/Bio22/GC25/OC19/RC21/QR20/TS22/AA21
BC3: PAT19/Bio22/GC30/OC25/RC--/QR20/TS25 BC RC too boring/hard for me/I got lazy
BC4: PAT19/Bio22/GC22/OC20/RC--/QR21/TS20
BC5: PAT19/Bio19/GC25/OC23/RC--/QR19/TS22
CDP: 10 test package, only did 9. Did not do test #9. In order 1-10.
17/20/19/20/22/25/22/22/25
Test Day Experience
I was super nervous the day before and day of the test. Thinking that these 7 weeks might go to waste if I bombed the test. I reviewed mostly GC/OC/QR. Mostly because doing calculations kept my mind at ease whereas when I reviewed Bio, it reminded me of how much I forgot or I didn't know. So this was a double edged sword. All the adrenaline might have made me forget or stumble on a few things on all science sections, but I did not feel fatigued at all during the whole test. Even when the QR was done, it felt like the test went by in a instant! So rest up, eat well, and trust your hard work!
Bio: Some easy giveaway questions, but some tricky ones that required more thought. I would say not to study plants too extensively.
GC: Most of the calculation questions were already done for you, so you just had to pick the right equation.
OC: Extremely simple, I thought I would get way higher on this section, be sure to check your work on stereochem, E2(antiperiplanar).
PAT: Would say a little bit harder than CDP but around the same, my score was right around CDP avg. CC was super easy.
RC: RC difficulty in between Kaplan and Bootcamp, I did not have any of those 1st/2nd statement T/F Q's. I did have some tone questions that I probably answered incorrectly, they used some vocab to describe the tone that made it a tad difficult and not as straightforward.
QR: BC "overprepared" me for this section, do did the Kaplan subject tests. Very little calculations required. Just pick the right equation. Answer using the "waves" method.
What to Expect on Test Day
1. Bring Earplugs, I got seated at the nearest seat to the door, and every time someone walked past, the whole floor would shake :\
2. Do the tutorial! My GC/RC questions and topic was actually in the tutorial. This will also help you warm up your brain
3. The screen is very clear, maybe a bit bright. Ask if you can lower the brightness it if needed. I use a 13' inch MBP at home and the testing center's screen made it really easy to see all the equations, PAT diagrams etc.
4. Expect some variations in the HP section of PAT. Some holes are small, larger, in between. Don't get thrown off, answer and mark if needed.
5. [Breaktime, I decided to try this during the Break because someone told me they noticed something. So I sat down till the break was over, the screen said, "Break over, Start? Y/N", I waited 10 secs before clicking Yes to start, and behold, the RC section still had the full time remaining. So if you're a little bit late to your seat during break, DON't FRET, there seems to be a little bit of leeway.
5. If you're using Kaplan, you know that they give you a whiteboard/marker combo. But the marker they give you is this fat tip marker. My testing site gave me a fine tip marker that was easy to write with and actually increased my test taking speed.
Schedule and Tips
I studied around 6 hours a day. I recommend everyone get the application called RescueTime. It keeps track of EVERYTHING you do on your comp, so you can see how productive you are in the am/pm, what days, weekends etc. I found out I was most productive on Mon, Wed, Thu and in the afternoons. So I scheduled my test on a Mon afternoon. I also recommend you taking a notebook or folders and keeping track of ALL the errors you make in your tests or quizzes etc, write down the reasoning why you missed it etc. If you're using Destroyer, there's a template that keeps track of it for you. If you're like me, no Destroyer, handwrite everything except maybe Bio you can save time and type it up.
Typical Day
9:30am-11am: Bio Review
11-12:30pm: GC Review
Lunch
1:15-2:00pm: OC Review(Didn't review much, I knew the material, just a matter of executing)
-Drive home, sit in LA traffic...I HATE IT. 1:30hours
4pm-5pm: CDP
5-7pm: Workout and Eat
7:30pm-12:30am: Practice Tests!
Rinse & Repeat.
Practice Tests: Don't get hung up by the scores, whether it's good/bad, it can get you overconfident or severely demotivated. Make SURE to track which topics you're missing questions on and review it ASAP after the practice tests. You need to know the material, not know the answer to that specific question. Kaplan and Bootcamp were representative of the scores, but Bootcamp was representative of the actual questions on the DAT.
Conclusion
The most important part of the DAT on test day is CONFIDENCE. I was nervous all the way till I got into the testing center. From then on, it was showtime. Game face on. Keep pushing through your study schedule, keep a diary, write down what keeps you going, disable FACEBOOK, you don't need to see what other people are enjoying haha. Hangout with friends sparingly to keep sane. Overall, keep working hard and ROCK THAT DAT!
Feel free to pm me any questions, comment, ask me more about PAT stuff.
We're all gonna make it.
Shoutout to Glimmer1991(DAT Breakdown Collection), feralisextremum(Feralis Notes), and countless other people who have contributed to the immense resources available on SDN.
I hope I can also make an impact on another fellow pre-dental's DAT journey.
Scores:
- PAT: 22 (93.8%)
- QR: 21 (97.6%)
- RC: 22 (93.2%)
- BIO: 19 (83.5%)
- GC: 21 (91.6%) eh
- OC: 21 (89.7%) eh
- TS: 20 (91.3%)
- AA: 21 (97.2%)
Materials Used:
- Kaplan Class (Online/On-Site) (7.5/10)
- KBB (Bio Only) (7/10)
- Cliff's 3rd Edition (8/10)
- Princeton AP BIO (7/10)
- Barron's AP Bio 2008 (9/10)
- Feralis Notes (9.5/10)
- Chad's Videos (10/10)
- CDP (9/10)
- DAT Bootcamp (9/10)
- DAT question of the day (9/10) who doesn't love waking up to DAT Q's...ha. ha. ha
Background
I'm entering my Junior year majoring in Bio. I have a pretty subpar GPA. So I decided to take my DAT a summer early just in case. With that said, I severely lacked the motivation to do well, but I knew that the DAT was extremely important going into the final 2 years of undergrad. So I disabled Facebook, stuck it out in the Library etc. Here is my breakdown.
Breakdown
Total prep time: ~7weeks
Kaplan Class
I wouldn't have shelled out this much money if I knew about SDN before, but needless to say I don't think Kaplan is that big of a waste. I really enjoyed the online material, it has an ample amount of subject tests and practice tests. The math section has tons of permutations/probabilities/combinations(maybe too much), but the QR sub tests kicked my butt and forced me to step up my QR game. There are some outlier questions in the GC section that almost definitely won't be tested in the actual DAT but anything goes! In the beginning I was really worried that I seemed to be the only one in SDN taking the Kaplan class but I decided to stick with it and utilize all the resources I had. Also Kaplan was pretty accurate to my scores. The RC section on Kaplan is definitely easier than the actual DAT. The PAT section on Kaplan was actually pretty good except for angles. They actually upgraded the KH and TFE section so you can spin the models in 3D. So I did all the online material for all the subjects. In addition to below.
Biology
For Biology, I started off with Cliff's AP Bio. I read through all the chapters, highlighting, annotating as I went. Did the questions at the end of each chapter to see if I understood everything. To me, Cliff's was super dry and boring to read. So it was a pain to get through it. From there I did a super quick read of KBB Bio, took me about 2 days. KBB covers most of the simple basics. Then I went on to Princeton AP Bio, Barron's AP Bio, and Feralis in that order. Princeton was very basic and easy to get through. Barron's was easy to understand. And Feralis is just the beast it needs to be and I thoroughly recommend anyone to use it.
Chemistry
CHAD's Videos!!! I watched all his videos and did all his quizzes. He does cover everything you need on the DAT. Just trust it, do his quizzes multiple times, review your notes. Kaplan Class for GC, harder than the DAT, but good preparation. The questions were not representative, but it tested key conceptual things you needed to know.
Organic Chemistry
I never took this section seriously because I was pretty beast at OC during my undergrad classes. But those pesky stereochem and conceptual stuff always got me and Chad cleared up many of my questions!
PAT
CDP, Kaplan, DAT BC. Kaplan PAT was pretty good except that angles were way easier than the DAT and TFE was easier. PF was actually pretty difficult. CDP, angles were in between Kaplan and DATBC, but actually I found it very representative of the DAT. DAT BC has the hardest Keyholes I've come across. I was averaging like 7/15 on my tests. I purchased the 10 test version of CDP and did all of it.
TFE, etc: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=528643
Angle Methods: Hill method: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=545778
Imagine that you're riding down the hill, acute angles, smaller angle=safer ride downhill. Obtuse angles, bigger angles=safer ride.
Tether Ball: Anyone played tetherball before? No? Yea me neither. haha, but my point is that the day before my test, I was doing ARG on DAT BC and suddenly it struck me to use this method. ARG loves to use unequal lengths for angles and this works wonderfully. Imagine that the longer side of the angle is upright, perpendicular to the ground, now look at the other line, you can clearly see how high/low it is compared to its 90 degree equivalent and use it to compare with other angles. If you still don't get it, post below, I'll post pics
Pizza slice: Shoutout to ChrisM07, he posted it on my thread the day before my DAT. You just imagine the angles as pizza slices ahha. I didn't use this method exclusively but it actually helped me on one problem during the actual DAT! DAT bootcamp also had very good techniques for PF.
Reading Comp
So what do I do instead of studying? I go on Reddit, read lots of blogs and generally just waste a bunch of time. Hence my subpar GPA. But it actually paid off? I didn't really prep for this section. I used Kaplan's mapping method where you take a few keywords and the topic per paragraph and create a list(usually 15 paragraphs per passage). I found that reading time quickly increased if I read the paragraph first then wrote it down on my map instead of actively jotting things down as I read. Kaplan was easier than the actual DAT, DATBC was annoyingly harder, but essential. I also read a science article a day, but this was also just for fun.
QR
Holy crap was I bad at QR in the beginning, but it was a matter of rustiness that anything else. Once I master Chad's method for permutations/combinations/probabilities, I could solve most of the easy-medium questions with ease. With this section, it's just important to get as many correct as possible, I knew I wouldn't be able to get a 100% in this section so I just focused on answering all the ones I knew, usually the arithmetic, algebra, word applications. Stuff like that. Attack in 3 waves, just like Ari says, first wave answer all the ones you know how to do within 10secs, if you don't know it, mark it, put an answer down, move on. 2nd wave, try to do the marked ones, if you can't figure it out in 20secs, move on to another one. 3rd wave, try to tackle the remaining ones. Also I created a cheat sheet of stuff I don't usually remember that I would look at every night. I recommend writing down the sin/cos/tan values on your board during the DAT. Saved me a ton of time during the QR section.
Practice Test Scores
Taken in order.
KapDiagnostic: PAT16/Bio14/GC12/OC17/RC18/QR15/TS14/AA15
KapMidterm: PAT21/Bio16/GC17/OC18/RC21/QR16/TS17/AA18
KapFinal: PAT19/Bio19/GC18/OC20/RC24/QR19/TS19/AA20
Kap3: PAT21/Bio22/GC15/OC15/RC22/QR18/TS18/AA18
Kap2: PAT22/Bio17/GC19/OC18/RC24/QR22/TS18/AA20
Kap1: PAT21/Bio17/GC16/OC23/RC20/QR22/TS19/AA20
DATbootcamp
BC1: PAT21/Bio22/GC25/OC19/RC22/QR22/TS22/AA22
BC2: PAT20/Bio22/GC25/OC19/RC21/QR20/TS22/AA21
BC3: PAT19/Bio22/GC30/OC25/RC--/QR20/TS25 BC RC too boring/hard for me/I got lazy
BC4: PAT19/Bio22/GC22/OC20/RC--/QR21/TS20
BC5: PAT19/Bio19/GC25/OC23/RC--/QR19/TS22
CDP: 10 test package, only did 9. Did not do test #9. In order 1-10.
17/20/19/20/22/25/22/22/25
Test Day Experience
I was super nervous the day before and day of the test. Thinking that these 7 weeks might go to waste if I bombed the test. I reviewed mostly GC/OC/QR. Mostly because doing calculations kept my mind at ease whereas when I reviewed Bio, it reminded me of how much I forgot or I didn't know. So this was a double edged sword. All the adrenaline might have made me forget or stumble on a few things on all science sections, but I did not feel fatigued at all during the whole test. Even when the QR was done, it felt like the test went by in a instant! So rest up, eat well, and trust your hard work!
Bio: Some easy giveaway questions, but some tricky ones that required more thought. I would say not to study plants too extensively.
GC: Most of the calculation questions were already done for you, so you just had to pick the right equation.
OC: Extremely simple, I thought I would get way higher on this section, be sure to check your work on stereochem, E2(antiperiplanar).
PAT: Would say a little bit harder than CDP but around the same, my score was right around CDP avg. CC was super easy.
RC: RC difficulty in between Kaplan and Bootcamp, I did not have any of those 1st/2nd statement T/F Q's. I did have some tone questions that I probably answered incorrectly, they used some vocab to describe the tone that made it a tad difficult and not as straightforward.
QR: BC "overprepared" me for this section, do did the Kaplan subject tests. Very little calculations required. Just pick the right equation. Answer using the "waves" method.
What to Expect on Test Day
1. Bring Earplugs, I got seated at the nearest seat to the door, and every time someone walked past, the whole floor would shake :\
2. Do the tutorial! My GC/RC questions and topic was actually in the tutorial. This will also help you warm up your brain
3. The screen is very clear, maybe a bit bright. Ask if you can lower the brightness it if needed. I use a 13' inch MBP at home and the testing center's screen made it really easy to see all the equations, PAT diagrams etc.
4. Expect some variations in the HP section of PAT. Some holes are small, larger, in between. Don't get thrown off, answer and mark if needed.
5. [Breaktime, I decided to try this during the Break because someone told me they noticed something. So I sat down till the break was over, the screen said, "Break over, Start? Y/N", I waited 10 secs before clicking Yes to start, and behold, the RC section still had the full time remaining. So if you're a little bit late to your seat during break, DON't FRET, there seems to be a little bit of leeway.
5. If you're using Kaplan, you know that they give you a whiteboard/marker combo. But the marker they give you is this fat tip marker. My testing site gave me a fine tip marker that was easy to write with and actually increased my test taking speed.
Schedule and Tips
I studied around 6 hours a day. I recommend everyone get the application called RescueTime. It keeps track of EVERYTHING you do on your comp, so you can see how productive you are in the am/pm, what days, weekends etc. I found out I was most productive on Mon, Wed, Thu and in the afternoons. So I scheduled my test on a Mon afternoon. I also recommend you taking a notebook or folders and keeping track of ALL the errors you make in your tests or quizzes etc, write down the reasoning why you missed it etc. If you're using Destroyer, there's a template that keeps track of it for you. If you're like me, no Destroyer, handwrite everything except maybe Bio you can save time and type it up.
Typical Day
9:30am-11am: Bio Review
11-12:30pm: GC Review
Lunch
1:15-2:00pm: OC Review(Didn't review much, I knew the material, just a matter of executing)
-Drive home, sit in LA traffic...I HATE IT. 1:30hours
4pm-5pm: CDP
5-7pm: Workout and Eat
7:30pm-12:30am: Practice Tests!
Rinse & Repeat.
Practice Tests: Don't get hung up by the scores, whether it's good/bad, it can get you overconfident or severely demotivated. Make SURE to track which topics you're missing questions on and review it ASAP after the practice tests. You need to know the material, not know the answer to that specific question. Kaplan and Bootcamp were representative of the scores, but Bootcamp was representative of the actual questions on the DAT.
Conclusion
The most important part of the DAT on test day is CONFIDENCE. I was nervous all the way till I got into the testing center. From then on, it was showtime. Game face on. Keep pushing through your study schedule, keep a diary, write down what keeps you going, disable FACEBOOK, you don't need to see what other people are enjoying haha. Hangout with friends sparingly to keep sane. Overall, keep working hard and ROCK THAT DAT!
Feel free to pm me any questions, comment, ask me more about PAT stuff.
We're all gonna make it.
Last edited:
