Doneeee!! and worried DAT 4/16!!!!!

[asdfray]

WOW it feels great to be done (for now)!

Disclaimer: before I move on to the breakdown, I want to give you guys a overall idea of what I did (and probably what you shouldn't do), things I should've done and mistakes to avoid. Note: The way I studied, works for me and I indeed did everything I mention below (no lie!) - so hopefully people won't get mad if how my study method doesn't work. In addition, I'm a terrible standardized test taker (never been good - even when taking my SAT in highshool. couldn't take the pressure). The pressure really got to me during this exam as well, and ran out of time for ALL the sections - always does!

First the scores:
PAT - 21
TS - 20
AA - 19

Writing the DAT was definitely a humbling experience. It was really intense and the wording for the questions are.. beyond anything I expected (mb I just over thought some questions, who knows).. Overall I did my best, and I'm happy to share my experience with you guys.

Night before: Couldn't sleep all night. Heart was pounding like crazy and didn't get 1 bit of sleep and was rolling around in bed for 8-9 hours. horrible.

Bio,GC,OC: To tell you the truth, I thought I'd do better at the sciences, but it is what it is and I tried my best. It's funny b/c I used all the time and actually ran out and wasn't paying attention at some point at the end and missed question 90 and didn't get to answer it. (ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION TO TIME!) What people said about the science section is on the money. Bio is completely random and comes out of nowhere. You can only prepare for the worse in this case for this - either you know it, or you don't. GC wasn't too bad, calculations were shorter and much simpler than destroyer. OC... I actually had a question on there that had a mechanisms that wasn't even covered by chad nor destroyer. Overall, the section went by so fast after GC that I barely remember doing it. Make sure you manage your time well, and don't spend all your time on GC and rush the OC, like I did. Food for thought..

PAT: Pattern folding, keyhole was definitely difficult - much more difficult than CDP. Hole punching was.. different. Some of the folds, I've never seen before. Angle and cubes weren't too bad.

RC: OMG I had 3 passages that were crzy!! (1 non-sci. and 2 somewhat related). Alot of questions I couldn't even do S&D for b/c you had to use what you read and answer scenario type of questions. You actually have to read the passages, no doubt about it. It was really difficult and to tell you the truth, I thought I was going to get a 15. The passages were not too long, but each paragraph is short.

QR: I expected this score. I'm not good at math at all and with pressure on top of that, I knew I wasn't going to do good at all. I can deal with a 17. Much less difficult than Math destroyer.

HOW I PREPARED
Materials:
-Cliff AP Bio: Can't say that this is everything you need to know...but it sure cover the basics wells and has a wide range
-Barrons AP: It's a good read and clarifies things that Cliff doesn't explain well
-Chad's Videos (GC and OC) - He does makes the subjects easier to understand. Though it's a lot of material, Chad really provides you with the tools to do well for DAT. Highly recommended
-Math and DAT destroyer: This is also a necessity! The more questions you do, the better.
-CDP and CDR - Both are great practice for the real thing.
-Achiever: I only did 2 out of 3 tests (due to limited time), but overall, it really made me sweat and does simulate the actual DAT well.
-Topscore: Also a good practice and easier than Achiever. I thought it was pretty on par to the actual
-DATqvault (Bio) - Used this to see where I'm at with Bio. Avg 20 on here, and got a 19 on actual, so it pretty accurate
-OC as a 2nd language (I and II) - I definitely needed this. I'm currently taking ochem2 and didn't learn all the subjects in class yet. It's a great read and provides you with a good understanding of mechanism.

Studied a total of 3 1/2 months since January 2nd (seriously). Initially, I studied 4-6 hours and took 1-2 days a week to deal with research/work. Used dentalwork's 8 week plan, but took my time and took extremely extremely good notes from chads. Memorized Cliff's AP bio page by page. Doing this, took up alot of time and actually finished everything in 2.5 months. Towards February, I was studying 8-12 hours weekday, and 12+ on weekends. During midterm week (sometime during end of march), I studied some days 20+ hours, due to the fact that my library was open 24 hr and I stayed over night for multiple nights. The last 20-25 days, I called off research, and studied 12+ hour per weekday, and even more on weekends. Just b/c I know how important the DAT are, I took everything very seriously and spent as much times, as I can to prep for this.

Toward the last month, when I first started Destroyer, it was definitely difficult. I barely got any questions right on the sciences (excp. bio) and it was nerve racking. But was you go through it, it gets easier and eventually I was able to do alot of questions right. By the end, I was able to get through DAT destroyer 2 times fully, and for the 3rd time, I just went through the questions got wrong the 2nd time through. At this time, I also did 1 CDP and 1 CDR test a day, along with at least 1 math test in MATH destroyer, all in 1 day. Towards the last 10 days, I ran practice exams (2 achiever and 2 topscore) and the two days, I went back to review the sciences.

Practice test results:
OAT Practice Exam
Bio 21/GC 19/OC 19/PAT 20 (CDP Test #8)/ RC – 20 (CDR Test # 9)/QR 18
19AA/19TS/20PAT

Topscore Test #1
Bio 18/GC 17/OC 20/PAT 19/QR 17/RC – 19
18AA/19TS/19PAT

Achiever Test # 1
Bio 18/GC 17/OC 18/PAT 18/QR 16/RC 11
16AA/18TS/18PAT

Topscore Test #2
Bio 18/GC 18/OC 18/PAT 22/QR 18/RC 20
18AA/18TS/22PAT

Achiever Test #2
PAT 19/QR 15/RC 17/Bio 17/GC 15/ OC 17
16AA/17TS/19PAT

As you can see, I did worse on practice exams, so for those who are doing bad on achiever and topscore, expect a higher score =)

Things I think I did wrong: I definitely spent too much time studying! Not the amount per day, but the fact that I started back in January. Its too long and you start forgetting things towards the end. Studying hard and long is somewhat a double-edge sword at times...Also, I was really burnt out towards the end of it all, and that might of hindered me from doing well (besides the fact that I'm a ball of nerves). I prepped well I felt, but I let my worries and doubt get in the way. Like I said earlier, live and learn.

Don't take classes while studying for DAT! I got a B on my midterm, and I could've done better if I paid attention in class. Now I got to catch up and kill the rest of the exams coming up.

Do as much practice runs as possible. Utilize everything. I didn't have enough time toward the end. It's important to get use to the way the test works and to work under pressure.

Nothing too great and not like 20aa+ people on there - I did do my best and that's all I can do. Not going to lie, thought I'd do better overall and not entirely happy with it, but can't do anything at this point. These scores are probably the lowest I would deem acceptable, and hey, at least it's not horrible. Not sure If I need to retake at this point and thinking of it as of now, but any feedback is appreciated. Is it good? bad? what is it?! Do I need to rewrite? Am I competitive, if I make it in the first batch? I don't know what to do at this point... veterans help! Will likely post a proper "what are my chances" thread at the predental forum to see.

Sorry if you catch any grammar error, it's 4am here and I'm exhausted. If this breakdown helps even 1 person do better, I've accomplished my goal. Gl everyone.

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[Dgeorg6]

Your good to go!

 

[r4nb]

Great job!!! =]

 

[amona]

Good Job, you need to stop worrying, its over

1- My test is on Thursday! please comfort me by answering these question!
How were your practice exams scores ( Crack DAT only ) not top score or achiever cause i don't have those. are they similar to those scores. ? I am taking mine this Thursday and just want to know if practice exams are somewhat a reflective score of the real DAT score.

...
2- Do you remember seeing similar questions from destroyer and we like '" darn it! i wish if i had reviewed them? " I am doing practice exams now, and non of them seem to be coming from destroyer.

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3- Finaly, what is your advise about what to do the last two days before the exam. Oh and also, how did you approach the reading portion, did you the whole passage quickly and answered it, like what i always do and end up with 15- or max 17!

Thank youuuuuu,,

and you did goooood job, i hope i can get similar scores.

 

[amona]

Oh, one more question,Sorry
How does this laminated sheet looks like, is it like a little white board with a pen and you can not erase?! is it as big as a sheet of paper or smaller. I use about 2 pages double sided to answer math questions. I am afraid i will run out of scratch space.
thanks

 

[Muelitas]

I've been following up with your posts!! You did good!! You are a trooper to have pulled off sooo many hours of studying per day... Now it's just a matter of applying!!!. My DAT is on the end of May and I'm hoping to do well too!!!!!

Let us know how you felt in each section and please compare your actual scores to your practice tests!! Also, what did you find was the hardest part of the QR section? Thanks!

 

[ttpharm]

no reason to waste your energy worrying. use your energy to improve other aspects of application. start working on your personal statement. my goal is to have it ready by may 30th. completely revised by many people.

 

[JonLee]

Nice job Ray, you will be just fine
Feel's great to be done doesn't it?

 

[asdfray]

@amona:
1- They're similar to what I got on the actual. Pretty on par about this. Avg 21 on PAT and got a 21 lols. Reading, I started with 17 and it ranged anywhere from 16-20 throughout and got a 19 on actual.

2 - No, the topics destroyer covers are the things you need to know. No question was exact (prob 1-2). Just keep doing the questions and you'll do fine on actual and will be able to answer 80-90% (except bio). Don't memorize the questions, understand how to do them.

3 - I found that from my test results on achiever, that I was forgetting my fundamentals.. So I went back to do a whole science review (as best as I can). This really helped me on the actual and I'm glad I did this. For RC, read breakdown (had to read it)

4 - laminated paper were yellow, gridded, and sticky.. (they wipe it down with sanitizer or something. disgusting lols and its non-eraseable. is a regular 8x11 and the grid doesn't fill up the entire sheet. doublesided and they give you 2 at a time. If you need to exchange, just raise your hand and they'll give you new ones.

@muelitas: hardest part for me was always timing (everything on DAT). Question arent too bad, if given the time to think and no pressure.

@Jonlee: I would like to say I feel great, but since I'm still contemplating whether or not to retake to make myself more competitive, I'm not feeling too relax at this point. Worry kills me.

 

[amona]

@amona:
1- They're similar to what I got on the actual. Pretty on par about this. Avg 21 on PAT and got a 21 lols. Reading, I started with 17 and it ranged anywhere from 16-20 throughout and got a 19 on actual.

2 - No, the topics destroyer covers are the things you need to know. No question was exact (prob 1-2). Just keep doing the questions and you'll do fine on actual and will be able to answer 80-90% (except bio). Don't memorize the questions, understand how to do them.

3 - I found that from my test results on achiever, that I was forgetting my fundamentals.. So I went back to do a whole science review (as best as I can). This really helped me on the actual and I'm glad I did this. For RC, read breakdown (had to read it)

4 - laminated paper were yellow, gridded, and sticky.. (they wipe it down with sanitizer or something. disgusting lols and its non-eraseable. is a regular 8x11 and the grid doesn't fill up the entire sheet. doublesided and they give you 2 at a time. If you need to exchange, just raise your hand and they'll give you new ones.

@muelitas: hardest part for me was always timing (everything on DAT). Question arent too bad, if given the time to think and no pressure.

@Jonlee: I would like to say I feel great, but since I'm still contemplating whether or not to retake to make myself more competitive, I'm not feeling too relax at this point. Worry kills me.

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate it.
Believe me, no need to think about retake, think about your personal statement so you can have it ready. Also, think about the ADSAS questions and start answering them, so when time comes, you can just copy and past to their application.

 

[ushaseos]

Nice, you're done. The only score below 19 is QR and we all know how unimportant that section is. Everything meaningful is 19 and above so you'll be fine!

Definitely post the what are my chances threads. The folks in the pre-dental forums are pretty honest (almost brutally honest) so you'll get a very clear answer from them. I did the same and that is what made it clear to me as to what my options will be moving forward with the application.

 

[wcombs]

Congratulations! I've been following you a bit on here and it's great to see your progress because I've been having a lot of the same issues you had (RUNNING OUT OF TIMEEEE).

Be happy you're done! You have great scores and remember, SDN isn't representative of the average dental applicant, and people regularly get in with much lower stats I'm taking mine on May 8th and hopefully I do well enough to post a breakdown as well. Best of luck!

 

[biomolecmed]

You did not do bad. You have a shot of getting in. You need to stop worrying by focusinv on knowing the material only, not worrying about the grade. If you only focus on understanding the material, good grades will come. This is what you should practice before you become the class of 2017.

 

[Helms99]

Congrats!

 

[asdfray]

@ushaseos - Thanks man, also much appreciated help during my prep (This goes for R4nb as well!! )

@wcombs - yeah the timing is a b#tch.. for me, it was always an issue (for classes, standardize test, etc.) I just dwell on the small thing that keep me from moving on. Just practice and try your best, that's all you can do. With enough practice, you probably deal with the situation better than I did.. gl =)

@biomole - Yeah, I know I always keep grades as #1 priority, just b/c that's the only thing the adcom sees (along with my stats). Maybe just b/c I've been working so hard and long on this, idk.. thanks for the feedback though.

 

[asdfray]

Any other feedback is appreciated. If I am to retake, I need to decide now. bummppp =)

 

[biomolecmed]

Try doing a practice test first. If you see that you are getting higher scores, then it is worth retaking. If not, then study a bit more before retaking. There is no point in making a not great score official. Good luck.