Destroyer v. 2009 Test

[Tovbhk]

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Would you consider the current DAT test style and content to be more similar to the Destroyer books or the 2009 DAT released exam? I actually feel like the questions in the Destroyer are more straight forward. Just wondering!

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Definitely closer to the 2009 official test, just more difficult. Destroyer is good for practice but in my experience the question style is not representative of the real test.

 

[Tovbhk]

Thank you for responding.

 

[Dochopeful13]

Definitely closer to the 2009 official test, just more difficult. Destroyer is good for practice but in my experience the question style is not representative of the real test.

Can you please elaborate why?

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Can you please elaborate why?

1. Answer choices are formatted in a less complex way on the real exam. The DAT will generally not give you answer choices like "A and B" or "all the above" or "none of the above". You rarely have to consider a case where multiple answer choices are correct.

2. The real test tends to be a lot easier than Destroyer. Simpler and more straightforward questions, and easier to eliminate answer choices.

There's still a lot you can do to practice and learn from it, but that was my experience.

 

[ChemistryDentist]

Would you consider the current DAT test style and content to be more similar to the Destroyer books or the 2009 DAT released exam? I actually feel like the questions in the Destroyer are more straight forward. Just wondering!

I'd agree that the format of the test is similar to that of the 2009 test. I didn't have many "all of the above" sort of questions on the actual DAT, but there were definitely a few.

But I certainly would NOT use the 2009 as your standard for how to study. It could be a good benchmark, but there are multiple documented mistakes in the 2009/2007 versions, and the test has definitely gotten more difficult since those tests were released. It's been 11 years, so that's what you would expect! I took a look at them when I was preparing last year, and they didn't help me much for my exam. But hey, if you need some more certainty that you are ready or need more preparation, give it a go! They're free after all.

I'd say take them only to make sure you are comfortable in the testing situation, if you need it. But know the questions will be more difficult on the exam for sure. Maybe not Destroyer level difficulty, but it will often utilize a similar level of critical thinking or reasoning that those questions have you use.

 

[S_Diamond_DDS]

Yes, even though Destroyer is not in the style of the actual exam, it’s still one of the best resources out there in my opinion.

 

[0Mik3cho]

Treat Destroyer as extended content review. It will tell you what you don't know and need to know. Work through a question then when you think you've got the right answer, think through every single answer choice and try to prove that they are in fact wrong.

Only after you get a good content foundation should you start doing full lengths. These will help you work on timing and understand the style of questions you should expect to see on the real DAT.