- Joined
- Dec 30, 2015
- Messages
- 109
- Reaction score
- 108
Hey guys!
I have been reading the forums for the past five months now while I was studying for the DAT, and I definitely felt the need to give back now I am finally done with this beast of a test and did pretty well! 🙂
Here are my scores:
PAT: 17 (I was NEVER good at this; the highest I was getting on the practice tests on bootcamp were 15-16 and I started off getting around a 12-13)
QR: 21
Reading Comp: 20 (thought I got a 22 at least on this, oh well I knew I zoned out during the last passage)
Bio: 20
Gen Chem: 20 (I thought I killed this too...oh well still good)
OChem: 22
Total Science: 21
AA: 21 🙂
I know PAT is definitely a weak spot for me, but I don't plan on retaking or anything since I worked SOOO hard to get the rest of those scores. I studied during the fall semester while I was taking ALL upper level bio credits, including classes like A&P and biochem (and still managed to get all As except for one class in which I got my first grade below an A- ever) so these past few months were exhausting to say the least. Nonetheless, I was happy that I did score a 20+ across the board for all the other sections, and most importantly that AA. I told myself when I was studying that a 21 AA is the minimum for me to not retake. Any lower and I probably would've at least considered retaking but thank goodness man. I was just as emotional as Chris in the very last scene of Pursuit of Happyness!
Some other things about me since I'm new to SDN:
-My cumulative AADSAS GPA is 3.93 and my science GPA is 3.86 .
-My TMDSAS cumulative GPA (no +/-) is 3.93 and my TMDSAS science GPA is 3.89. I am applying to all of the Texas schools since I am a Texas resident.
-I have 300 hours of shadowing and volunteering with a general dentist and a orthodontist (both private clinics).
-I am RDA certified and will begin working full time as a dental assistant this summer. I have accumulated 70 hours thus far.
-I am participating in research as a research assistant at my university. My lab focuses on the role of heme signaling in cancer development.
-I am/have been a TA for two biology courses at my university: Intro Bio I (Fall 2015) and A&P II (Spring 2016-Spring 2017 tentatively)
-I was a freshman mentor at my university, helping students with scholarships acclimate to university life.
-I am a member of the pre-dental club and Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) and have obtained some more dental volunteering with the pre-dental club and non dental related volunteering with HOSA. I have attended pre-dental events held at dental schools such as Baylor College of Dentistry.
---I have 85 community service hours, including volunteering at free dental clinics, various non healthcare volunteering events through my organizations, and the freshman mentoring position which was unpaid and 0 credit hours (this is probably the weakest point on my application).
Resources I used:
-Kaplan prep course from July 2015-August 2015 (not that helpful and not worth the money)
note: the Kaplan blue book helped me with the chemistry sections though since I felt had a good background in both gen chem and ochem. I did well on my chem without using Chad's BUT if you feel that you ARE kind of weak in one or both of the chem sections, USE CHAD'S VIDEOS. Heard great things about them.
-DAT Destroyer (A MUST)-FINISH IT ALL IF YOU CAN (I wish I did if I wasn't so busy this semester-same for Bootcamp and Math Destroyer)
-DAT Bootcamp (A MUST)-FINISH IT ALL IF YOU CAN
-Math Destroyer (A MUST)-FINISH IT ALL IF YOU CAN
-Cliffnotes Biology 3rd edition-Read and take notes out of this while you can! Review your notes consistently too. NOTE: Some additional things that helped me study for the bio sections were my bio 1 TA experience and an A&P 2 course in the same semester I studied the DAT. The molecular/cell bio, genetics, and a&p questions on the real deal were super easy for me. However, my school's intro bio courses don't cover evolution, plants, taxonomy, or any of the other irrelevant crap. I kept forgetting things from those topics during the semester when I studied, and I mostly crammed all of those back in for good to the best of my abilities two weeks before my test. There were about 4-5 RANDOM questions on my real thing that I had never encountered while reading the Cliffs book and it was a bit scary. But I still ended up doing fine on this section, and you guys should know that no matter how much you prep for bio, there will ALWAYS be a few really random questions that are kind of way out there but don't panic. Try to kill the questions that you do know (for me, basically all that I've learned in my bio courses).
-TopScore Pro (I used this to simulate real test taking conditions; needless to say while I did decent on the tests, I was quite disappointed with their question style and SOFTWARE. Like their software is ratchet as heck.
-ADA 2007 and 2009 (2007 was way too easy lol. But 2009 was definitely spot on with how I did on the real deal.)
OVERALL, Bootcamp and both Destroyers were the BEST preparation material out there. period. The others on SDN are not kidding when they say that. The question style on Bootcamp was also EERILY similar to what was on my real exam, especially on the sciences.
IF YOU CAN: I would definitely follow Ari's study guide on DAT Bootcamp. This is something I wish I had done earlier in my studies, and it HAS worked for a lot of people I know!
So while my preparation wasn't perfect, I am just glad that it's all over and I can just focus more on solidifying my application this upcoming semester (I plan to apply during the Fall 2016 cycle).
I may continue to add to this thread for a further breakdown on how exactly I studied to the nitty gritty details since I feel like I talked a bit too much about myself haha. But if you guys have any questions related to how I did study, fire away!
I have been reading the forums for the past five months now while I was studying for the DAT, and I definitely felt the need to give back now I am finally done with this beast of a test and did pretty well! 🙂
Here are my scores:
PAT: 17 (I was NEVER good at this; the highest I was getting on the practice tests on bootcamp were 15-16 and I started off getting around a 12-13)
QR: 21
Reading Comp: 20 (thought I got a 22 at least on this, oh well I knew I zoned out during the last passage)
Bio: 20
Gen Chem: 20 (I thought I killed this too...oh well still good)
OChem: 22
Total Science: 21
AA: 21 🙂
I know PAT is definitely a weak spot for me, but I don't plan on retaking or anything since I worked SOOO hard to get the rest of those scores. I studied during the fall semester while I was taking ALL upper level bio credits, including classes like A&P and biochem (and still managed to get all As except for one class in which I got my first grade below an A- ever) so these past few months were exhausting to say the least. Nonetheless, I was happy that I did score a 20+ across the board for all the other sections, and most importantly that AA. I told myself when I was studying that a 21 AA is the minimum for me to not retake. Any lower and I probably would've at least considered retaking but thank goodness man. I was just as emotional as Chris in the very last scene of Pursuit of Happyness!
Some other things about me since I'm new to SDN:
-My cumulative AADSAS GPA is 3.93 and my science GPA is 3.86 .
-My TMDSAS cumulative GPA (no +/-) is 3.93 and my TMDSAS science GPA is 3.89. I am applying to all of the Texas schools since I am a Texas resident.
-I have 300 hours of shadowing and volunteering with a general dentist and a orthodontist (both private clinics).
-I am RDA certified and will begin working full time as a dental assistant this summer. I have accumulated 70 hours thus far.
-I am participating in research as a research assistant at my university. My lab focuses on the role of heme signaling in cancer development.
-I am/have been a TA for two biology courses at my university: Intro Bio I (Fall 2015) and A&P II (Spring 2016-Spring 2017 tentatively)
-I was a freshman mentor at my university, helping students with scholarships acclimate to university life.
-I am a member of the pre-dental club and Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) and have obtained some more dental volunteering with the pre-dental club and non dental related volunteering with HOSA. I have attended pre-dental events held at dental schools such as Baylor College of Dentistry.
---I have 85 community service hours, including volunteering at free dental clinics, various non healthcare volunteering events through my organizations, and the freshman mentoring position which was unpaid and 0 credit hours (this is probably the weakest point on my application).
Resources I used:
-Kaplan prep course from July 2015-August 2015 (not that helpful and not worth the money)
note: the Kaplan blue book helped me with the chemistry sections though since I felt had a good background in both gen chem and ochem. I did well on my chem without using Chad's BUT if you feel that you ARE kind of weak in one or both of the chem sections, USE CHAD'S VIDEOS. Heard great things about them.
-DAT Destroyer (A MUST)-FINISH IT ALL IF YOU CAN (I wish I did if I wasn't so busy this semester-same for Bootcamp and Math Destroyer)
-DAT Bootcamp (A MUST)-FINISH IT ALL IF YOU CAN
-Math Destroyer (A MUST)-FINISH IT ALL IF YOU CAN
-Cliffnotes Biology 3rd edition-Read and take notes out of this while you can! Review your notes consistently too. NOTE: Some additional things that helped me study for the bio sections were my bio 1 TA experience and an A&P 2 course in the same semester I studied the DAT. The molecular/cell bio, genetics, and a&p questions on the real deal were super easy for me. However, my school's intro bio courses don't cover evolution, plants, taxonomy, or any of the other irrelevant crap. I kept forgetting things from those topics during the semester when I studied, and I mostly crammed all of those back in for good to the best of my abilities two weeks before my test. There were about 4-5 RANDOM questions on my real thing that I had never encountered while reading the Cliffs book and it was a bit scary. But I still ended up doing fine on this section, and you guys should know that no matter how much you prep for bio, there will ALWAYS be a few really random questions that are kind of way out there but don't panic. Try to kill the questions that you do know (for me, basically all that I've learned in my bio courses).
-TopScore Pro (I used this to simulate real test taking conditions; needless to say while I did decent on the tests, I was quite disappointed with their question style and SOFTWARE. Like their software is ratchet as heck.
-ADA 2007 and 2009 (2007 was way too easy lol. But 2009 was definitely spot on with how I did on the real deal.)
OVERALL, Bootcamp and both Destroyers were the BEST preparation material out there. period. The others on SDN are not kidding when they say that. The question style on Bootcamp was also EERILY similar to what was on my real exam, especially on the sciences.
IF YOU CAN: I would definitely follow Ari's study guide on DAT Bootcamp. This is something I wish I had done earlier in my studies, and it HAS worked for a lot of people I know!
So while my preparation wasn't perfect, I am just glad that it's all over and I can just focus more on solidifying my application this upcoming semester (I plan to apply during the Fall 2016 cycle).
I may continue to add to this thread for a further breakdown on how exactly I studied to the nitty gritty details since I feel like I talked a bit too much about myself haha. But if you guys have any questions related to how I did study, fire away!
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