DAT done!!

[paul510psu]

I just recently took the DATs and I was pretty happy with my scores:

Bio 24
Gen Chem 22
O Chem 29
PAT 25 (Practice, practice, practice... that's all that you can do for the PAT)
RC 22
QR 22
TS 24
AA 24

But I was wondering if dental schools will look down upon my application because of my low number of extra-curricular activities (I only have four that I have spent time on).

My GPA is between a 3.6 and a 3.7 for both overall and science so I'm hoping that my DAT and GPA will help schools overlook my less than overwhelming number of extra-curriculars to get me into a couple good schools.

I'll be submitting my AADSAS in a couple days. Any advice from anybody?

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[War Eagle]

Can't speak from experience, but my guess is that as long as you've done a little shadowing, you're good to go. Nice job. What did you use for your study materials? Did you use achiever at all? What prepared you most for the science section?

 

[OMFS08]

I just recently took the DATs and I was pretty happy with my scores:

Bio 24
Gen Chem 22
O Chem 29
PAT 25 (Practice, practice, practice... that's all that you can do for the PAT)
RC 22
QR 22
TS 24
AA 24

But I was wondering if dental schools will look down upon my application because of my low number of extra-curricular activities (I only have four that I have spent time on).

My GPA is between a 3.6 and a 3.7 for both overall and science so I'm hoping that my DAT and GPA will help schools overlook my less than overwhelming number of extra-curriculars to get me into a couple good schools.

I'll be submitting my AADSAS in a couple days. Any advice from anybody?

You have about the best scores I have seen on here and the highest AA (24) wow!! Good Job. You will get into all the schools you apply to, providing you nail the interviews!! Good luck! How did you study? How many hrs/day, months? What materials and how did you use them?? Please I need to know!!!

 

[Neuro178]

A Case Western rep told me that extracurriculars weren't that important, but just that you should have 2 or 3 that you're really involved in. I don't think they want to see a looong list of ECs with no real commitment to any one.

P.S. Awesome scores!! Congrats

 

[PSU SHC 414]

<B>You

 

[doc3232]

Schools don't care about your ECs when you have a high DAT/gpa.
Just get 50 hours shadowing

 

[PSU SHC 414]

You have about the best scores I have seen on here and the highest AA (24) wow!! Good Job. You will get into all the schools you apply to, providing you nail the interviews!! Good luck! How did you study? How many hrs/day, months? What materials and how did you use them?? Please I need to know!!!

Indeed... great job! With your DAT scores (and GPA), I don't think your lack of ECs will be a significant issue.

To the OP - Based on your name, I'm guessing that you're also a Penn Stater? Way to represent! GOOOOO STATE

 

[murff05]

jeez people are smart on here!!! lol congrats on your scores. thats great. i dont think ill be that lucky when i take mine next month

 

[jigabodo]

Your score is almost idental to my score!

 

[paul510psu]

For my DAT prep I took a Kaplan course and it was completely useless. The online stuff that they provided was excellent but the in class material was just a waste of my time and money (like a thousand bucks). I would suggest taking a practice test offered by Kaplan first (they offered several of them at Penn State this past semester) to see what your strengths and weaknesses are.

As far as the amount of time that I studied, I really couldn't say because I studied whenever I had the opportunity to. Whenever I had a break from studying for my spring semester classes I put some DAT time in. I did study for the test more frequently when my finals were over for the spring semester. For the last three weeks before my test I did nothing but practice questions and tried to pound the material into my head through repetition and practice. It worked for me... just some thoughts for you guys... it seems to be the way that I learn most easily.

The biggest piece of advice that I can give to anybody studying is to find as many practice problems as you can get your hands on and just do them. I did thousands of Kaplan's practice problems and when I took the actual test I felt like I had already seen most of the questions.

and yes... I will be a senior at Penn State in the fall... WE ARE! PENN STATE!!

Thanks for the advice everybody... I was kinda worried about the EC stuff, but I'm not really anymore.

 

[paul510psu]

Can't speak from experience, but my guess is that as long as you've done a little shadowing, you're good to go. Nice job. What did you use for your study materials? Did you use achiever at all? What prepared you most for the science section?

I've never used Achiever or DAT crack or anything other than Kaplan really. Kaplan's blue book really helped me condense the amount of information that I needed to know for the Natural Sciences section down into a manageable amount of knowledge.

I am also a Biology major so I expected that to be my highest sub-section, but I don't know what got into me on the Organic chemistry section. I mean I expected to do pretty well because I knew the things that Kaplan said were important but I never expected to get all the questions right... that really surprised me.

Another thing about the o-chem section is that if you're strapped for time I would NOT suggest memorizing random reactions. You should know the basic reactions (hydrogenation reactions, oxidation reactions of alcohols and aldehydes and elimination and substitution reactions, i.e. SN1, SN2, E1, and E2) because they are the reactions that are most heavily stressed and if you know the basic reactions you can almost always eliminate wrong answers on the more challenging synthesis questions using only the knowledge of these basic reactions.

Hope this helps.

 

[allstardentist]

awesome job. same as my AA

 

[hoss19]

those scores are insane! congrats

 

[hl11]

I just recently took the DATs and I was pretty happy with my scores:

Bio 24
Gen Chem 22
O Chem 29
PAT 25 (Practice, practice, practice... that's all that you can do for the PAT)
RC 22
QR 22
TS 24
AA 24

But I was wondering if dental schools will look down upon my application because of my low number of extra-curricular activities (I only have four that I have spent time on).

My GPA is between a 3.6 and a 3.7 for both overall and science so I'm hoping that my DAT and GPA will help schools overlook my less than overwhelming number of extra-curriculars to get me into a couple good schools.

I'll be submitting my AADSAS in a couple days. Any advice from anybody?

Great Job! how did you study for RC? I have hard time w/ it.

 

[dentaldream88]

Great scores! Can you share what you got on the kaplan exams?....would you say they were harder/easier/same?? thanks!

 

[paul510psu]

Yeah, I took four Kaplan practice tests.... the first two weren't full length and were paper versions of the now-computerized test. I scored an 18 AA on the first two tests that I took before my Kaplan Prep course had started. I took these tests to first get a feel for the test and to secondly diagnose my weaknesses and focus a little bit more of my study on those problem sections.

Kaplan also gave us quite a few full length practice tests to take online under real test conditions. I scored a 20 AA on the first one and a 22 AA on the second one that I took. After I reviewed this final practice test I decided that if I wasn't ready by that point then I wouldn't be ready by the time the test rolled around so I decided to take it easy for a couple days and let my mind relax.

It all worked out in the end. Hope this helps!

 

[paul510psu]

Overall, I would say that the Kaplan practice tests were pretty close to the real thing. This is, of course, with exception to the angle ranking section (Kaplan really doesn't prepare you very well for this). I felt that Kaplan's practice exams were a little harder with respect to the Sciences and the math section but a little easier for the PAT and about the same for the reading section.

Kaplan's practice science sections were much harder than the real exam, at least I thought so. I felt the same way about the math section. On the practice exams I was getting 18s on the QR, but on test day I managed to get a 22 while still taking a few guesses at questions that I couldn't reason my way through.

Any other questions just shoot 'em my way.

 

[DentalDeac]

Those are great scores dude. I'm glad to know that all you basically used was Kaplan, because thats what I'm doing but I hear everyone else on this forum talking about destroyer and topscore and achiever and schaum's and wonder if I'm using the right stuff. My biggest problem is making myself focus and actually sit down and study. I need to find a place where I can go and get away from all the distractions at home.

 

[La Dentista]

My biggest problem is making myself focus and actually sit down and study. I need to find a place where I can go and get away from all the distractions at home.

I know how you feel. I have a hard time studying at home when there's computers, a fridge with lots of food and t.v.'s... I usually study @ school/library.. anywhere but home.


Grats Paul on your sexy.. sexy scores

 

[CannabisWERD]

what do you mean when you say kaplan practice science section do you mean practice tests, or the subject tests? same goes for when you say math is harder do you mean the practice tests or subject tests are much harder. Because you say at first the sciences and math for kaplan are a little harder then the next paragraph you say they're much harder, but could you clarify as to what you mean. Thanks.

 

[paul510psu]

what do you mean when you say kaplan practice science section do you mean practice tests, or the subject tests? same goes for when you say math is harder do you mean the practice tests or subject tests are much harder. Because you say at first the sciences and math for kaplan are a little harder then the next paragraph you say they're much harder, but could you clarify as to what you mean. Thanks.

I'll put it this way. All of the practice material that Kaplan provided me for the sciences and QR sections was harder for me than the actual test that I took. This could just be because I became well prepared using the material that Kaplan provided or it could mean that the real test's questions were worded in ways that were more advantageous for me. I feel as though the real test's questions were less ambiguous and more succinct than the Kaplan prep materials.

Having said this, I must say that these observations that I am noting are exactly that, my observations. I know that every test is different and that different test takers respond differently to the way questions are worded. I don't want anybody to feel like, if they score an 18 AA on a Kaplan practice test then they too will see a notable increase in their actual score after taking the real test. I am merely noting my observations in an attempt to guide future DAT takers.

I hope this clears up any ambiguity that stemmed from my previous post.

 

[Simiam]

I hope Kaplan is sufficient because that is mostly what I have done. If you are doing JUST kaplan though I reccommend picking up a Barrons book from the bookstore. Use it's practice tests for the PAT section because it is much harder than Kaplan's. I haven't taken the DAT yet (JUNE 30) but I have a feeling it will be more like the Barrons PAT than Kaplans...

 

[DCRedskinsRule]

I hope Kaplan is sufficient because that is mostly what I have done. If you are doing JUST kaplan though I reccommend picking up a Barrons book from the bookstore. Use it's practice tests for the PAT section because it is much harder than Kaplan's. I haven't taken the DAT yet (JUNE 30) but I have a feeling it will be more like the Barrons PAT than Kaplans...

First of all, HUGE CONGRATS TO OP. Those scores are out of this world (and they completely humbled my 22 AA and 21 PAT )

Second of all, honestly, I bought the Barron's book, and actually thought it was the most useless DAT resource that I looked at. Not only did the material seem vague and incohesive, but the practice tests were unrealistic and had many mistakes. Just my opinion though.

 

[PSU SHC 414]

First of all, HUGE CONGRATS TO OP. Those scores are out of this world (and they completely humbled my 22 AA and 21 PAT )

Second of all, honestly, I bought the Barron's book, and actually thought it was the most useless DAT resource that I looked at. Not only did the material seem vague and incohesive, but the practice tests were unrealistic and had many mistakes. Just my opinion though.

I actually found the Barron's book to be a little useful for PAT (it had some good tips for strategy) and QR (I didn't study for QR much at all, so take this opinion for what it is)... but I agre with DCRed... other than that, Barron's was pretty useless. The science material was flat out piss poor.

But... I got a copy for $10 on half.com, so it was worth it.

 

[DCRedskinsRule]

I actually found the Barron's book to be a little useful for PAT (it had some good tips for strategy) and QR (I didn't study for QR much at all, so take this opinion for what it is)... but I agre with DCRed... other than that, Barron's was pretty useless. The science material was flat out piss poor.

But... I got a copy for $10 on half.com, so it was worth it.

Good point...I think i was stupid and paid full price...which was a whopping $18 at BN. So I suppose you get what you pay for...but it's not a lifetime investment and it is extra practice.