How about these scores?

[javan287]

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Took the DAT on Sept. 1st and I decided I wanted more opinions on my scores... Personally I think they're alright -- Not bad, above average, but not exactly wonderful, either. What do you guys think?

PAT - 25 (F***ing rocked this section)
Bio - 19
GC - 23
OC - 18
RC - 23
QR - 16 (had a mental train wreck on this section & basically ran out of time 🙁)
TS - 20
AA - 20

What do you guys think?

For the curious, I used the 2009 Kaplan DAT book to study... it was ok, and good for the practice tests, but I actually got much more use out of my Kaplan MCAT study books from last year/early this year when I was leaning more towards med school than dental school. You'd be surprised how much material they re-use between their DAT and MCAT study books, like, word-for-word

 

[zellyen]

very decent scores, i would say your set if your GPA permits it

 

[Chrono]

how did u study for o-chem, the reactions?

 

[javan287]

See that's one of the things I'm worried about, because my GPA isn't exactly stellar -- it's down in the 3.3 - 3.5 range. My science GPA isn't exactly something to brag about either, though it is a bit higher than my cumulative.

I'm not applying to Harvard dental or anything though and I've got some OK extracurriculars...

 

[javan287]

how did u study for o-chem, the reactions?

I just ran through them over and over again, making sure I really understood *why* the answers were what they were, you know, really digging into the solutions given to me. By reactions do you mean the detailed mechanisms, or the overall reactions?

 

[Chrono]

I just ran through them over and over again, making sure I really understood *why* the answers were what they were, you know, really digging into the solutions given to me. By reactions do you mean the detailed mechanisms, or the overall reactions?

the overall reactions - you're given reactant+ reagent, = what product.

I have all the reactions per functional group written down but am having a hard time remembering them all. I'm trying to memorize the effects of all the reagents . I am not sure what to do...

 

[javan287]

the overall reactions - you're given reactant+ reagent, = what product.

I have all the reactions per functional group written down but am having a hard time remembering them all. I'm trying to memorize the effects of all the reagents . I am not sure what to do...

I see what you mean -- yeah, I basically tried to learn not so much which reagent does what to which type of functional group, etc., but more tried to learn why each reagent does what it does to each functional group. As a hint, be very familiar with electronegativity and activating/deactivating groups on molecules, as well as electron withdrawing/donating groups. I also tried to specifically learn how to form different functional groups from other ones. For example, how to turn a carboxylic acid into an alkene, etc.

To be honest though, the organic chemistry questions I ran into mainly dealt with reducing and oxidizing things like carboxylic acids, halogenation, condensation etc... didn't seem too in-depth. Of course, your test could end up being much different than mine was.

 

[bhind]

Congrats on your scores. High RC and PAT NICE!!!! I know what you mean about QR you just wanna get that dang thing done already. What passages did you get for RC?

Solid scores overall. Are you applying this cycle?

 

[javan287]

Congrats on your scores. High RC and PAT NICE!!!! I know what you mean about QR you just wanna get that dang thing done already. What passages did you get for RC?

Solid scores overall. Are you applying this cycle?

Thanks! 🙂 Needless to say I was pretty stoked about my PAT, RC and GC scores... dunno how I did so well on GC to be honest, must've been some lucky guessing. For RC, I got a passage involving DNA translation/transcription (something I studied hardcore in college), one about differences in hemispheral function in the brain, and I honestly can't much remember the third one... had to do with genetics, I think.

I'm applying for the 2010 school year. It's late, I know, especially for UMKC which is where I'd like to go. However, if I didn't get in for next year based solely on how late I'm applying, it wouldn't be a big deal for me. I'm getting married next May and things might actually go smoother for me and my future wife if we had another year before I went to school.

 

[americanpierg]

the overall reactions - you're given reactant+ reagent, = what product.

I have all the reactions per functional group written down but am having a hard time remembering them all. I'm trying to memorize the effects of all the reagents . I am not sure what to do...

whats why multiple choice tests are a godsend. even if you don't remember exactly what the answer is, you can look at the answers and it will usually come back to you. even if you have ZERO idea, you can take a very educated guess by looking at the answers and picking out the most logical answer. This is what makes Orgo the easiest section on the DAT imo, and i did horrible in orgo.

 

[allstardentist]

nice score

 

[javan287]

whats why multiple choice tests are a godsend. even if you don't remember exactly what the answer is, you can look at the answers and it will usually come back to you. even if you have ZERO idea, you can take a very educated guess by looking at the answers and picking out the most logical answer. This is what makes Orgo the easiest section on the DAT imo, and i did horrible in orgo.

I agree, and usually you can eliminate definitely one, probably two answers out of the 5 options they give you, if only on the basis that the answer in question "just doesn't look right." I didn't think orgo was necessarily the easiest section on the DAT (PAT ftw), but just having answers to choose from was indeed a big help.

 

[javan287]

nice score

Thanks 😀