Freshman looking to study PAT of the DAT

[sb1003]

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Im a freshman in college, looking to start studying for the DAT. I looked at the test and saw that I could possibly study several problems every weekend and get better at my perceptual ability. Currently, I have a 4.0 in my science classes and doing research on gene expression with my professor.


I wanted to see what you guys thought of me starting early on the PAT or doing anything like origami to help my skills in perception. What do you guys think? Thanks

 

[FutureDent020]

Unless you have poor perceptual ability you do not need to start practicing yet. You could take a practice test to test your aptitude. Enjoy college and start studying for the DAT by paying attention in class and storing things to memory.

 

[barty]

if you buy crack dat pat and start practicing that from now, you'll be way ahead of the game, you could especially tackle things like hole punching and the pattern folding. gluck

 

[Cleric7x9]

not to start trouble, but your first semester of college isnt over yet, so how do you know you have a 4.0? worry about getting good grades, then start studying a couple months before the DAT like everybody else...

 

[mityaz]

i say study, study, study! it cant hurt.

 

[PaulieGualtieri]

Wow! That's great that you know what you want to do at your age. As for studying for the PAT, let's just say if you start now you are going to destroy that section and pretty much embarrass everyone else. PAT is one of those things that if you practice you'll do well. Like futuredent20 said, just study for your classes now and try to commit the information to long term memory that way it's that much easier to master the material when DAT time comes around. The only thing that I would recommend practicing from now on- pretty much because you'll need it in most classes for college- is the speed reading and reading comprehension. Good luck! What classes are you taking now?

 

[sb1003]

im saying i have a 4.0 because i have high a's in all my classes, and my last few exams will be finals. Unless I screw them up, I should be fine. I think. lol

Currently, I'm taking molec. cell bio and lab, gen chem and lab, history, psych, honors and first year sem. (17 credits)

Next semester, I'll take animal form/function and lab, gen chem 2 and lab, philosophy, sacred scriptures, and critical analysis and comp. (17 credits)

I am thinking about doing that sample DAT test and just doing those PAT problems and fully understanding them.

Apart from that, I want to master my basic sciences so in time for the DAT, I will be ready for the natural sciences section.

Have any of you got one of those origami books and played some type of video games to enhance your perception?

 

[FutureDent020]

Man, you are intense. But I guess that's not a bad thing. People may disagree, but I think you are worrying too much about the PAT. Most people take about 5-10 practice tests, Topscore, DAT Achiever, Crack PAT, and do just fine. Some are better than others, but I really don't think reading books and playing video games will do that much for you. Just study actually PAT questions if you are worried. Learn methods and tricks that allow you to do the best you can.

 

[GoetzItDone]

I've always messed around with origami and when I took my first practice DAT, I found the PAT relatively easy. I think Origami is a great way to study for the DAT, and if you make one of those fortune teller things, make sure you make each leaf into a flash card for the science section.

 

[CanadianDental]

Good to see that you're planning ahead.

Doing stuff like origami and playing video games will enhance your perceptual ability and manual dexterity, both important skills for Dentistry. A lot of us have played a lot of video games growing up, and I think just our generation has good perceptual ability because of the constant stimulation we got growing up. You'd be surprised at how good your PA currently is, without any practice.

I don't think its necessary doing these things for the PAT though, like other members suggested, right now you should focus on your basic sciences and try to get a really high GPA.

As for practicing for the PAT, Crack DAT PAT software is the single best prep material you can buy for that. I bought it when studying for my DAT, did about 2-4 tests/week 3-2 months out and 1 test/day 1 month out and absolutely destroyed the PAT section on the real DAT. Would I suggest starting to practice it now? Doing a few tests a week until the date of your DAT would not hurt your chances, but keep it very low priority and don't do it if you need more study time for your courses. If you start doing that now, and then do 1 test/day everyday 1 month before your DAT, you'll be so good at PAT that a 26+ score on that section would not be out of reach for you.

GL

 

[skiphotsauce]

dude, enjoy college while you're there. don't even think about this yet. i mean, you are in your first semester! don't treat college as some sort of vehicle to get into dental school, because it's not, it's way way more than that.

you should work hard, but posting something like this means you're overthinking your future a bit.

 

[CanadianDental]

dude, enjoy college while you're there. don't even think about this yet. i mean, you are in your first semester! don't treat college as some sort of vehicle to get into dental school, because it's not, it's way way more than that.

you should work hard, but posting something like this means you're overthinking your future a bit.

I agree with the fact that you should enjoy college and its more than just a way of getting into DS, I disagree when you say he is over thinking his future. In a super competitive field like this, the sooner you start to mentally prepare and plan for your DS application, the better you will do and the whole thing will be less stressful for the applicant. I read many books on the DS application process, and they all suggest thinking way ahead, even in your freshman year.

A good book I suggest for this would be Barron's How to prepare for the DAT. It not only teaches you how to prepare for the DAT but also suggests when to do what in college. Planning ahead will also get you better references since if you start to talk/network with profs right now and asking questions to current DS students, its small stuff like that that will accumulate over the years and make you a strong applicant.

 

[uclaDDS101]

im saying i have a 4.0 because i have high a's in all my classes, and my last few exams will be finals. Unless I screw them up, I should be fine. I think. lol

Currently, I'm taking molec. cell bio and lab, gen chem and lab, history, psych, honors and first year sem. (17 credits)

Next semester, I'll take animal form/function and lab, gen chem 2 and lab, philosophy, sacred scriptures, and critical analysis and comp. (17 credits)

I am thinking about doing that sample DAT test and just doing those PAT problems and fully understanding them.

Apart from that, I want to master my basic sciences so in time for the DAT, I will be ready for the natural sciences section.

Have any of you got one of those origami books and played some type of video games to enhance your perception?

If you do well in your science classes, you will have no trouble on the science sections of the DAT. The sciences are very basic on the DAT. For the PAT, practice does make perfect, but I would say it's a little too early for you to start. I only say this because there is only so much practice material available, and I wouldn't want you to blaze through them before your sophomore year. Nonetheless, if you're feeling ambitious, and you wanted get started on some kind of DAT preparation now, I suggest working on reading comprehension (even if you think you're already a good reader; you can always improve). Start reading the newspaper (e.g., the science times) or magazines (e.g., scientific american, time, etc.). When people start studying for the DAT, they always wish they had more time to improve their reading (I wish I did). You have time, so start improving. Subsequently, you can start preparing for the PAT and math section during the middle of your second year because both of these sections reward practice (I wish I had more time to practice). By that time, you'll have been around SDN long enough to know what materials you'll need to prepare. Finally, you can include reviewing the sciences along with everything else during the summer after your second year. By this time you'll also be taking a load of practice exams, which is what consumed the bulk of my study time.

With this strategy, you'll more than prepared to take the test toward the end of that summer before your junior year (which is when I took it). And if you roughly follow this timeline, I have no doubt that you well score exceptionally. You'll basically be taking material that some people study in a month or two (I took 1.5 months) and dissecting it over a span of 2 years. Good luck, and stay focused.

 

[g23armani]

dude, enjoy college while you're there. don't even think about this yet. i mean, you are in your first semester! don't treat college as some sort of vehicle to get into dental school, because it's not, it's way way more than that.

you should work hard, but posting something like this means you're overthinking your future a bit.

I'm going to have to agree with this. You're too young to be worrying about dental school at this point. Enjoy college. Meet new people. Go to some parties. You'll never have this again.

The only thing I'd worry about at this point is keeping your grades decent so you have options in your future. Almost half of college students switch majors in college, I know you think Dentistry is your future but you may very well find another thing you're more passionate about.

You'll have more than enough time to study and do well on the DAT, to be honest you'll probably forget most of what you study this early.

Life's a journey. Too many times people get so caught up in that distant idea of "when I have a big house and a sweet car after establishing my dental practice" and they lose sight of all the amazing things they had when they were younger. Freedom, relatively little responsibility, their youth etc.

 

[CanadianDental]

I'm going to have to agree with this. You're too young to be worrying about dental school at this point. Enjoy college. Meet new people. Go to some parties. You'll never have this again.

The only thing I'd worry about at this point is keeping your grades decent so you have options in your future. Almost half of college students switch majors in college, I know you think Dentistry is your future but you may very well find another thing you're more passionate about.

You'll have more than enough time to study and do well on the DAT, to be honest you'll probably forget most of what you study this early.

Life's a journey. Too many times people get so caught up in that distant idea of "when I have a big house and a sweet car after establishing my dental practice" and they lose sight of all the amazing things they had when they were younger. Freedom, relatively little responsibility, their youth etc.

I definitely agree with this. For me, DS application throughout college has been a journey that has let me to meeting new people, make new friends, learn new things, establish connections, etc, and just made my college life so much more enjoyable. It is a long and tough process, so you might as well enjoy it and enjoy college as much as possible as well. Establish your goals, work hard but also play hard, do all your work during the week so you can go out with your friends on the weekends, stuff like that. I think that you can enjoy college while still being ambitious and thinking and planning ahead.

 

[wantVCUdental]

I also agree with those who recommend you to hold off the DAT.
You are a smart student, there's no need for you to stress, if you can pull off 4.0, even if you wing the DAT in your 3rd year summer, you will most likely score above 23AA with ease. College is a time to have fun, it's 4 years that you will never have back.

 

[CanadianDental]

I also agree with those who recommend you to hold off the DAT.
You are a smart student, there's no need for you to stress, if you can pull off 4.0, even if you wing the DAT in your 3rd year summer, you will most likely score above 23AA with ease. College is a time to have fun, it's 4 years that you will never have back.

This is true, It is too early to start studying for the DAT, that I agree. However, he is right to be planning ahead, it won't hurt him in the end.

 

[PaulieGualtieri]

@ original post

Yes, definitely pick up CoD:MW2

xbl tag: Riffft (see you on later)