If DAT exams are getting harder..... then... (click on me)

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Nasem

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Would the study material (the newer stuff) accomodate the difficulty level ?

For example, would they revise the DAT destroyer ? Kaplan blue book ? etc etc
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I will be the first to respond to MY OWN POST lol :)

I sent an email to Nancy and asked her this very question, and in less than 30 minutes, we had a nice talk over the phone that lasted a little more than half an hour, basically she told me alot of the students who have recently taken the DAT are saying the biology section is getting ridiculously harder, they had (I believe) updated the destroyer to now carry 250 biology questions (I believe she said 40 new questions were added)

I swear I have never in my life spoken to a person who ACTUALLY cares for student's success. She soooo had me sold on Destroyer & possibly organic odyssey, Im sorry I sound like im advertising, but I would feel terribly bad not telling folks about their customer service.
 
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If you have time....by the Organic Chemistry Odyssey. The book is worth its weight in gold!!! The book is like having Dr. Romano by your side. I spent about a month and half on the odyssey only and all I can say is that the book is priceless. I was a very strong organic chemistry student....but after going through that odyssey for one hour, I was ready to put my fist through a wall. Anyways...if your hell bent on doing very well in the organic section...and truly like organic chemistry...buy the book. You won't regret it.

PS: The chapters on substitution, elimination, stereochemistry are priceless
 
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Hey poc91nc ~

How is the Odyssey structured?
Is it kinda like the destroyer? where you have just problems and thier solutions are very detailed? Or the Odyssey is more like actual chapter by chapter explanations?
 
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The book is structured like the destroyer, but as you know concentrates only on organic chemistry. For chapter outlines see the website. Not only are the questions good, but the solutions are also awesome....every solution is extra detailed and jammed with extra pieces of knowledge that come in very handy.

Whereas most books just teach you organic chemistry, the odyssey surpasses every organic chemistry learning tool on the market in that it develops your organic chemistry IQ for standardized tests. This book gives you great insight into HOW organic chemistry questions are developed. Stereochemistry, Elimination/Substitution reactions, and synthesis problems are key areas where textbooks fall short in teaching you what to know....because what you need to know can't be read but must be honed and cultivated through problem solving. This is why Odyssey is a must have for anyone serious about organic chemistry.

This book is very comprehensive, but don't think for a second that by studying this book you will ONLY be studying chemistry....by mastering this book your knowledge of Chemistry as a whole will be more complete....the acid/base chapter is great by the way. Anyways...hope that answers any questions you might have. Good luck
 
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poc91nc~
thank you for your advice, I'll go ahead and order the book sometime in the following week

xdianaax~
she told me march 29th they were done with the new addition of questions.... Even if you visit thier website right now, its updated to date... it will show you "250 biology questions"
 
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Nasem said:
basically she told me alot of the students who have recently taken the DAT are saying the biology section is getting ridiculously harder
Click to expand...


...and a lot of these students that have recently taken it have taken it before???

Otherwise what do they have to compare it to?

Did you ask Nancy that question?
 
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yep... some of the students were folks who took it last summer she says... and took it again this past january & februrary.... She is saying the students who took it this year (2nd timers) are saying the biology is just getting ridiculous
 
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Wow, this is nuts...did she say how often they update the books? So the new versions of all the books are out or just he destroyer? I mean did the ochem book get re-done as well? I'm really worried looking at these DAT scores this year everyone is doing well, but I have yet to see outstanding scores...and they were pretty common last year...
 
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xdianaax said:
Wow, this is nuts...did she say how often they update the books? So the new versions of all the books are out or just he destroyer? I mean did the ochem book get re-done as well? I'm really worried looking at these DAT scores this year everyone is doing well, but I have yet to see outstanding scores...and they were pretty common last year...
Click to expand...

I hear ya....
They aren't really touching the Orgo book or the Destroyer parts of the chemistry, I belive those sections are solid, no matter how hard they made the DAT (regarding the orgo and general chems), its still managable so long as you have a strong foundation in the subjects.....

but Biology on the other hand, is one of those subjects that no matter how much you learn and study, there is still more information to learn, its just unlimited how much biology you can learn.... and those DAT creaters are seeing how the dental profession is getting really competitive, so they are finding new ways to drop the averages.
 
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Nasem said:
..but Biology on the other hand, is one of those subjects that no matter how much you learn and study, there is still more information to learn, its just unlimited how much biology you can learn......
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you.

As far as the difficulty of the test goes, if it indeed has gotten harder for this cycle, then it sorta sucks for those who are retaking the test from last year, because they will probably not improve as much. This will be reflected in their application.

Also this can work better for those applicant who had decent DAT score in the past which can be now competitive due to the drop in the AVG score, IF the schools fail to recognize the increased level of the difficulty.
 
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xdianaax said:
I"m sure they will, I mean they have to, it would be silly if they didn't....:scared:
Click to expand...


Yeah, ive heard they made it harder.. I guess thats because people were coming up with some outrageous scores.. Keep your heads up guys, you can all pull in some good scores if you study hard.. As a destroyer user, I will say that with all the material I used (Kaplan, topscore, textbooks, and destroyer) the destroyer was the only one who kept on top of things.. I would get periodic emails from Doc and Nancy with new material they had recently added.. So as they updated their goods, they kept me in the loop.. I didnt even have to ask for it, I would check my email and bang there was 20+ new questions waiting for me with solutions.. Yes they really do care about their students and they work hard at their product.. I took the DAT like 8 months ago and I still keep in touch with them, just because they are good people.. Thats why I give destroyer a :thumbup:
For all you future DAT takers, I took the DAT the first time and got a 16 AA, no further explanation needed, I bombed it... the second time the only thing I really changed was using the destroyer and my scores really improved (just to give you a little taste, I went from a 16 in bio to a 25, because I know all of you were concerned with the bio section).. Not to say its a miracle pill, I studied a lot and I studied it hard for months and I called Doc for help all the time.. But at least your studying the right things.. My sugguestion for the bio, and I know its a lot of work, but it helped me tremendously so I'll share the love.. Go clean out a dollar store of every index card they have in stock, and rewrite every single bio question (yes all 250+ questions) AND their solutions on the back.. It really helped me learn and memorize the material.. Yes it was a lot of work, but it was worth it.. Hope that helps guys..
 
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i wonder when the DAT got "harder"...i took it early January, and I saw somethings that I've never seen in practice questions or prep stuff, even in ochem. either i overlooked it when i was studying, or it was new stuff. hrrmmm...im curious to know if i took the new harder DAT or the usual one.

Also, destroyer helped me out a lot too!
 
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so i took teh exam.. and i honestly believe that the exam got harder... butonly on certain parts.... oCHem and GChem both were easy... the only hard parts were biology and QR... i felt that the problem with bio was they gave random questiosn that i have no clue where to get the answer... i even had a histology questions which showed me an image of somethign adn asked what type of cel that was... I MEAN IF ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND PICS OF CELLS PLEASE TELL ME.... jesus....
 
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Pics of cells?!?!? Are you serious cjouc? I am already killing myself to remember all of what I thought the biology section encompassed... :(
 
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cjouc, i guess me and you got the same test cause i just took the test today and i feel exactly the same way
 
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The DAT seems to be making up for lost time. Seems over the past year or so...oddball topics seem to revolve around areas that are easily overlooked on the syllabus. Most likely...these areas are also overlooked in intro bio courses. We really can't expect the prototypical exam that has more emphasis on cell biology/physiology with ecology classification thrown in for good measure.
 
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don't sweat it guys...just keep studyin hard...the sky is the limit NOW...we can doooo it.....for those of you who took it and weren't quite pleased...now u have a better outlook on wat to expect...and those of us who have yet to take it...we just gotta work even harder....god willingly our hardwork will pay off....everything happens for a reason guys....but don't feel discouraged..this should motivate us even more....we gotta DOMINATE this ISH muhahahah:D:oops::hardy::idea::thumbup:
 
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I really do not think that the test has gotten any harder this year. I took the DAT last August and also this January. I scored higher when I took it in january, and prepared much less. As for the bio section, I scored exactly the same. I think that the hardest thing about the Bio section is the broadness of the subject and the unfortunate circumstance of test makers capitalizing on this. Every test is different, so you could get a test that covers material that you are very strong on, or you could get a test that covers material you are weak on.
 
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Your DAT had Physics on it??? When did this happen? How many questions were there covering physics?
 
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*looks to the right* (sees no one)
*looks to the left* (sees no one)
 
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