DATs in August harder?

[PreDental88]

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This sincerely is not meant to offend anyone, but I've noticed a trend of August DAT-takers scoring between 18-20, do you guys think the DATs in August is harder?

I just feel that many of us who are taking it in August have probably studied throughout summer and have allotted more time to master the concepts, thus, are better equipped. But I feel the scores aren't as high as those in May, June, July (many 21+ers).

Has anyone else noticed this trend? Or am I being ridiculous and paranoid?

 

[DrRoyal Pains]

It better not be harder, I'm taking mine the 25th.

 

[dentallover]

I don't know but my friend took the test today and got AA 17 TS 18 and she was scoring more than 20 in all 5 Kaplan tests and 3 Topscore tests. She said that Bio was horrible.

 

[nyr201]

it really seems that way but who knows i hope to turn that trend around this week lol

 

[kkim85]

I did really well...

 

[namiie]

I'm with kkim85. I took mine last week (Aug 9) and I got 23 TS and 22 AA.

I think people should just study and try to do their best instead of contemplating about trends and such. The test is standardized, after all.

 

[dentallover]

What is the best book recommended to study for Genetics in Bio? I have heard Campbell Biology? What edition?

 

[beatsdre]

I don't think there are "harder" months per say, but perhaps luck isn't in those people's favors. Just focus hard on the dat and try to ace a section or two. If you ace one section with a 27-30 and get 19-21's on the rest, its makes your overall AA/TS jump tremendously.

I.E. 21/20/21/20/21/21= 21 aa with ~20 ts

I.E. 20/29/25/20/19/19= 23 aa with variable 25+ ts

Best odds of getting those high values are in gchem and ochem. So focus mostly on those! Gl studying! 👍

 

[newmexomfs]

I agree with previous post. I took mine on Aug 6 and scored 24AA/26TS/18 PAt (with 30 GC and 30 OC), this raised my AA by a lot!🙂

 

[txlonghorn]

My fiancé took her DAT in Aug and got a 23AA and 24TS. I think it depends on your luck - she got pianoed last time and got a 19 AA and 21TS. She said this test was def easier - a lot easier than the last one.

 

[hoylematt]

Look at it this way: The people that took it earlier are generally on the ball and overall would score higher because they are so prepared. A lot of the posts you saw were from people that were applying on June 3rd so there is always going to be a higher skew of better scores at the beginning than later.

In addition I bet a lot of people don't post their good scores cause they feel nobody cares as much later in the cycle and are on to the application step. Just my 2 cents.