How Specific is Bio

[marymatthews]

How specific is the bio portion of the DAT?
for example, do we need to know the specific names/characteristics of organisms in the protista kingdom? such as, dinoflagellates, rhizopoda, oomycata, etc... Or for the fungi and plant kingdom?

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[321931]

How specific is the bio portion of the DAT?
for example, do we need to know the specific names/characteristics of organisms in the protista kingdom? such as, dinoflagellates, rhizopoda, oomycata, etc... Or for the fungi and plant kingdom?

Everything is fair game. Bio is a crap shoot. Just pray you get lucky.

 

[gorrillaunit18]

How specific is the bio portion of the DAT?
for example, do we need to know the specific names/characteristics of organisms in the protista kingdom? such as, dinoflagellates, rhizopoda, oomycata, etc... Or for the fungi and plant kingdom?

Mine really wasn't that specific. It was fairly broad and asked lots of questions about how things fit into a "larger" picture...if that makes any sense.

 

[marymatthews]

could you please elaborate

 

[dentalWorks]

Im gonna guess that 95% of questions are NOT specific. They are questions that test your ability to APPLY biological concepts....

I'll give you an example (NO THIS IS NOT FROM MY DAT)
"In photosynthesis, water is used up by plants to provide building power for the organism: the water is important because...."
a) its the main provider of electrons
b) helps hydrate the plant
c) main provider for oxygen for the plant
d) directly used in photosynthesis
e) I can't think of another crappy answer lol

This is not a question I read somewhere, I just came up with it on the fly (btw, answer = A)


I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY doubt you'll get a question like "so which type of organism is a cephalopod".... this is just too specific and has nothing to do with applying biological science concepts

Usually with the biology, and this is a conclusion I am drawing from my test version,
- 25 of the 40 questions are free giveaways, meaning if you had high school biology you should be able to answer them right
- 10 of the 40 questions are brain busters, they'll need you to elevate your thinking to get the answer right, most of them should be answerable if you have good reasoning skills
- 5 of the 40 are what I like to call WTF's, as in, where the heck did this question come from

 

[marymatthews]

thanks for your help, this makes sense
could you please explain by: - 5 of the 40 are what I like to call WTF's, as in, where the heck did this question come from
an example?

 

[dentalWorks]

thanks for your help, this makes sense
could you please explain by: - 5 of the 40 are what I like to call WTF's, as in, where the heck did this question come from
an example?

I can't really give you an example... cause that would mean its coming directly from my DAT version

But basically, its questions that, unless you spend a great deal of time learning everything in campbells biology text (yes the whole thing), then its most likely you won't be 100% sure of the answer, its going to be an educated guess.

These 5 I speak of, are the reason why most people don't land a perfect 30 or close to 30 on the biology, all you need to do is miss 5 questions or so and your score is down to 20.

 

[herkulease]

I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY doubt you'll get a question like "so which type of organism is a cephalopod".... this is just too specific and has nothing to do with applying biological science concepts

A yummy and delicious type of organism. Squids at least.

 

[marymatthews]

u dont have to give me a specific question from your DAT
but tell me the topic they asked... or something like that

 

[dentalWorks]

u dont have to give me a specific question from your DAT
but tell me the topic they asked... or something like that

its random, thats what I am trying to tell you. Crack open any page from the 1200+ pages of campbells and hopfully you'll land on a topic that you are unfamilur with..... thats similar to the odds of you getting a question that you didn't exactly prepare for.

I still remember from my DAT, there were like 3 or 4 questions, I read them, and I was like "wow, this was in none of my DAT prep materials".... lucky for me I had a good background in upper level sciences that helped me "guesstimate" my answer....... I ended up with a 21 in biology, around SDN thats not too impressive, but it means I only missed about 4 questions

 

[marymatthews]

so is it necessary that i memorize these specific details about plants from the AP Cliffs Bio book? Or specifics on phylums for that matter?
insights?

 

[Avery07]

so is it necessary that i memorize these specific details about plants from the AP Cliffs Bio book? Or specifics on phylums for that matter?
insights?

You don't get it.. It's necessary that you know everything for biology to get those ~5 questions.

You CAN NOT prepare for them aside from just knowing everything about anything related to biology. Your welcome to venture down that road.

 

[321931]

You don't get it.. It's necessary that you know everything for biology to get those ~5 questions.

You CAN NOT prepare for them aside from just knowing everything about anything related to biology. Your welcome to venture down that road.

Like I said, everything is fair game. EVERYTHING. PERIOD. Just pray you get lucky with your test version.

 

[dentalWorks]

so is it necessary that i memorize these specific details about plants from the AP Cliffs Bio book? Or specifics on phylums for that matter?
insights?

well, I know some people have done it, but I think its counter-productive to try to LEARN EVERY THING ABOUT BIOLOGY (by reading all of campbells).... your time can MUCH better be spent learning general and organic chemistry and rocking a 30 on those sections.

IMO, its easier to get a 30 on GC AND OC than a 25 in biology

 

[321931]

well, I know some people have done it, but I think its counter-productive to try to LEARN EVERY THING ABOUT BIOLOGY (by reading all of campbells).... your time can MUCH better be spent learning general and organic chemistry and rocking a 30 on those sections.

IMO, its easier to get a 30 on GC AND OC than a 25 in biology

^
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Speaks the truth

 

[AznZeno]

don't study for bio, waste your time

 

[gorrillaunit18]

don't study for bio, waste of your time

Fixed.

 

[ah1989]

Yeah I had quite a few general questions... but there were some very specific ones, which I found Bio Destroyer questions and Achiever practice tests to be very useful for those random facts...

for me, i knew the general concept of all the subjects, but tried to cram as much little detail in my head as i could before the test day.

Good luck!

 

[smiledoc1]

its random, thats what I am trying to tell you. Crack open any page from the 1200+ pages of campbells and hopfully you'll land on a topic that you are unfamilur with..... thats similar to the odds of you getting a question that you didn't exactly prepare for.

I still remember from my DAT, there were like 3 or 4 questions, I read them, and I was like "wow, this was in none of my DAT prep materials".... lucky for me I had a good background in upper level sciences that helped me "guesstimate" my answer....... I ended up with a 21 in biology, around SDN thats not too impressive, but it means I only missed about 4 questions

Sheesh, why are some people so stingy about sharing helpful specifics of their DAT? SDN is full of vague advice. News flash: Test writers create new exams every year, old questions are not recycled verbatim. They may ask a similar question on the topic, but you can bet it will not be the same one.

 

[BatedPenguin]

Breadth over depth is key for doing well in the Bio section.

On my DAT I had a large amount of evolution and genetics questions. The most specific it ever got were questions on genetic recombination technology.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Even if the questions aren't exactly the same, they are still the ADA's copyrighted material. Sharing any parts of the test would violate SDN's Terms of Service and also put one's scores in jeopardy. For a relatable scenario, this is similar to having old exams from a classmate who took a class before you. This is why people are "so stingy". Study hard and you will do well.

Great advice artist2022 , BTW the original post was from 2010, 8 years ago. IMO the DAT has become much more challenging since 2010.

 

[chrisF]

Just finished my DAT last Friday, Overall, I did ok, and got 24AA, 25TS, PAT 25.
I got 30 on the Bio section (No guess was involved because I honestly know every question they asked on that day). I was not happy and screwed up Gen Chem (22 on the real DAT, but I usually get 26 or above on practices). I am writing all secondaries to dental schools now, and will write some feedback on study guides after I finalize my application.

In brief, datQvault is absolutely required. Do all bio questions on datQvault. Read bio notes offered on Bootcamp, but their questions are not as broad as ones on datQvault. Dat destroyer is great for learning and expanding your knowledge. Finally, please use bootcamp bio tests as the indication of your score on the real DAT.

How specific is the bio section? No specific at all, but they want to know if you understand the material.

 

[smiledoc1]

I was replying back to the person that bumped this thread.

I figured why start a new thread when I could bring this one back to life? Anyway, thanks for the feedback all.