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My second time taking this thing, the first attempt in 2013 being rather rushed. Just wanted to ask anyone's opinion on the scores and lend some advice to anyone who might need it for an upcoming test based on my strengths/weaknesses/background.
Attempt 1: June 2013
PAT: 20
QR: 16
RC: 18
Bio: 17
GC: 21
OC: 20
TS: 19
AA: 18
Attempt 2: 4/23/15
PAT: 22
QR: 18
RC: 21
Bio: 23
GC: 25
OC: 25
TS: 24
AA: 22
Bio Major
GPA: 3.61
sGPA: 3.57
A brief background regarding the retest (as brief as brief is, lol). Been dating a girl in aus since 2011, as there is no reciprocity between aus/us dental programs I had to choose. End of 2012 studied half-heartedly for 2 weeks during Christmas break, had a crazy 20 hour semester, graduated in May, studied pretty vigorously for 3 weeks, went in and let the DAT have it's way with me. Moved to aus and then basically piddled around on foreign soil till recently - returned home and gave the DAT another shot.
Are my recent scores competitive in America? Where do they match up? Although I hear 17 is 'average', I feel like I see a lot of people coming away with 22+. Am I deceived? Also, how putrid will that 18 in QR look on an application?
I guess I'm just mad because 1 more point on QR would have put me at 23AA...so now I'm playing 'what if' lol
Lastly, will my first DAT scores hurt any chances I have of admission?? Woh my lingering past.
Anxiety aside, let me know if anyone wants a breakdown or has any questions. Still sitting in my car in the testing center's parking lot lol I should probably drive home for now.
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As for resources, I used the exact same stuff as the first time I took it, just had more time to actually use them to their potential.
* = imperative
- Bio: *cliff's, *dat destroyer (2012), chads, feralis notes
If you're already very bio savvy, you might be able to get away with only using the cliffs and destroyer. I read through cliffs once, jotting down quick notes (mostly vocab and short descriptions of things I didn't already know or knew I wouldn't remember) and drawing diagrams/pictures (which I love)). Read over these "quick notes" weekly. Then I went through bio destroyer, understanding every question and solution thoroughly, marking the problems I stumbled on. Then did a second pass re-working the problems I missed the first time. I always referred back to cliffs/my notes on topics I wasn't strong on. After I finished cliffs I got feralis notes on my phone and read them in bed every night until I got tired - really reiterates what you already learned from cliffs and adds extra stuff. Chads vids and quizzes also help fortify what you already know.
- GC/OC: *chads, *destroyer (2012)
Very simple to study. Watch chads vids, write great notes, take the quizzes until you master them. Read over notes every week. Once I was familiar with the 60 pages of chem notes I took, I rewrote them into a 10-page, condensed "study guide" (mostly formulas, ochem rxns (1 reactant and product on one side , 2nd reactant on other side) etc) that I reviewed twice-weekly. Work destroyer just like you did with bio, referring to notes as necessary. Go over Romano's road maps at least once per 2 weeks (I added any foreign reactions to my cheat sheet).
- PAT: crack dat pat
Did 5/10 of the tests cuz I'm a slacker. Really focused on timing and technique. Analyzed tests carefully afterwards.
- RC: no prep other than practice tests.
Was terrified of this section initially, as I'm a terribly slow reader. Tried all the strategies, nothing seemed to help. Finally developed a hybrid of the vanilla method and vicviper's method that seemed to work well.
- QR: *chads, *DAT destroyer, *math destroyer (2012)
Watched chads vids, did the quizzes, did all the dat destroyer problems, did 8/12 math destroyer tests. Took relevant notes, even inserted a condensed note sheet into my chem condensed note packet. Studied the formulas, identities, and functions twice weekly along with my chem notes. My mistake was that I didn't put any time constraints on my problem solving. I understood everything and was able solve almost any problem but never practiced doing them quickly - hence the 18. I would recommend timing your Math destroyer tests so you learn to speed things up/ shortcut things appropriately and SKIP what needs to be skipped.
6 days before the test I took 3 practice tests every other day:
2007 DAT (23AA)
1st bootcamp test (22AA)
2009 DAT (21AA)
I'm terribly slow when it comes to test taking (throughout undergrad, you could always count on me to be the absolute last one done with almost every test), so I'm pretty happy I was able to make it through each section (apart from QR...).
Attempt 1: June 2013
PAT: 20
QR: 16
RC: 18
Bio: 17
GC: 21
OC: 20
TS: 19
AA: 18
Attempt 2: 4/23/15
PAT: 22
QR: 18
RC: 21
Bio: 23
GC: 25
OC: 25
TS: 24
AA: 22
Bio Major
GPA: 3.61
sGPA: 3.57
A brief background regarding the retest (as brief as brief is, lol). Been dating a girl in aus since 2011, as there is no reciprocity between aus/us dental programs I had to choose. End of 2012 studied half-heartedly for 2 weeks during Christmas break, had a crazy 20 hour semester, graduated in May, studied pretty vigorously for 3 weeks, went in and let the DAT have it's way with me. Moved to aus and then basically piddled around on foreign soil till recently - returned home and gave the DAT another shot.
Are my recent scores competitive in America? Where do they match up? Although I hear 17 is 'average', I feel like I see a lot of people coming away with 22+. Am I deceived? Also, how putrid will that 18 in QR look on an application?
I guess I'm just mad because 1 more point on QR would have put me at 23AA...so now I'm playing 'what if' lol
Lastly, will my first DAT scores hurt any chances I have of admission?? Woh my lingering past.
Anxiety aside, let me know if anyone wants a breakdown or has any questions. Still sitting in my car in the testing center's parking lot lol I should probably drive home for now.
------
As for resources, I used the exact same stuff as the first time I took it, just had more time to actually use them to their potential.
* = imperative
- Bio: *cliff's, *dat destroyer (2012), chads, feralis notes
If you're already very bio savvy, you might be able to get away with only using the cliffs and destroyer. I read through cliffs once, jotting down quick notes (mostly vocab and short descriptions of things I didn't already know or knew I wouldn't remember) and drawing diagrams/pictures (which I love)). Read over these "quick notes" weekly. Then I went through bio destroyer, understanding every question and solution thoroughly, marking the problems I stumbled on. Then did a second pass re-working the problems I missed the first time. I always referred back to cliffs/my notes on topics I wasn't strong on. After I finished cliffs I got feralis notes on my phone and read them in bed every night until I got tired - really reiterates what you already learned from cliffs and adds extra stuff. Chads vids and quizzes also help fortify what you already know.
- GC/OC: *chads, *destroyer (2012)
Very simple to study. Watch chads vids, write great notes, take the quizzes until you master them. Read over notes every week. Once I was familiar with the 60 pages of chem notes I took, I rewrote them into a 10-page, condensed "study guide" (mostly formulas, ochem rxns (1 reactant and product on one side , 2nd reactant on other side) etc) that I reviewed twice-weekly. Work destroyer just like you did with bio, referring to notes as necessary. Go over Romano's road maps at least once per 2 weeks (I added any foreign reactions to my cheat sheet).
- PAT: crack dat pat
Did 5/10 of the tests cuz I'm a slacker. Really focused on timing and technique. Analyzed tests carefully afterwards.
- RC: no prep other than practice tests.
Was terrified of this section initially, as I'm a terribly slow reader. Tried all the strategies, nothing seemed to help. Finally developed a hybrid of the vanilla method and vicviper's method that seemed to work well.
- QR: *chads, *DAT destroyer, *math destroyer (2012)
Watched chads vids, did the quizzes, did all the dat destroyer problems, did 8/12 math destroyer tests. Took relevant notes, even inserted a condensed note sheet into my chem condensed note packet. Studied the formulas, identities, and functions twice weekly along with my chem notes. My mistake was that I didn't put any time constraints on my problem solving. I understood everything and was able solve almost any problem but never practiced doing them quickly - hence the 18. I would recommend timing your Math destroyer tests so you learn to speed things up/ shortcut things appropriately and SKIP what needs to be skipped.
6 days before the test I took 3 practice tests every other day:
2007 DAT (23AA)
1st bootcamp test (22AA)
2009 DAT (21AA)
I'm terribly slow when it comes to test taking (throughout undergrad, you could always count on me to be the absolute last one done with almost every test), so I'm pretty happy I was able to make it through each section (apart from QR...).
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