In Need of a MAJOR self-esteem boost...

[AUTigers]

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I know how encouraging ya'll are to most, so I decided to come here and vent after finishing the DAT. I cannot manage to get good grades as much as I try or a good DAT score. I took the DAT yesterday and did much worse than all of the practice tests I took. Why was I the exception to the norm of going up 2-3 points?

If anyone had this same situation happen to them (very far and few between) please let me know how you picked yourself up off the floor and tried again. I just can't see putting myself through the studying and all again.

Ok, this post is sad enough, I'll go now...

 

[ddsnp]

Don't give up now man. Taking it a second time will be fine. I understand your anger, but if you keep working hard you'll do great. Did you take a lot of practice questions? What was your study sched like?

 

[jhui]

did you go over the practice tests well? making sure you understand what you got wrong and going over the areas you were weak at. Thats the purpose of the practice tests, to see where you are and what you need to review. you seem to be stressed out a lot about your grades which puts big pressure on youre DAT. a second time around wont be bad at all since you know waht to expect now. dont stress out so much when you study, make sure you give yourself time to relax. relaxing is important too before you take ur DAT. good luck

 

[AUTigers]

Thanks for the encouragement. As far as the practice tests go, I read over the explanations briefly to the ones I got wrong, so the next time I'll make sure to read every one, right or wrong.

My schedule was very consistent. I took the kaplan class March-May this year, didn't really focus much then because of other classes. Once school was over, I started reading the kaplan book front to back cover, different subjects at a time, hoping to be ready by June 13th. June 10th came around, I chickened out because I knew there was no way I was ready. After that I continued studying every minute I had, taking flashcards to the gym, etc. And the last two weeks, I took practice test after practice test.

My problem is that I have extreme test anxiety, I try everything I can to calm down. So maybe next time, I'll be a little better after knowing what type of environment to expect and little things like that.

Thanks once again, I'll start to feel better soon and then I can eventually start back to having my head in a book 12 hours a day.

 

[Richnator]

How did you performed on the practice test? Moreover, if you were scoring 18s and 19s, what did you in on the test day is probably anxiety. I have that every now and then, especially under pressure and my brain just totally goes blank. Just relax next time and study at a steady pace. The test day is all about being relaxed anyway.

Good luck,
Rich

 

[xxJuiceDxx]

Key is to stay focused and calm. You are your worst enemy. I'm probably in a far worse situation than you because I had this uncanny ability to be the laziest bastard in the world during my undergrad years. Thus, only luck will get me into d-school. Stay positive.

~ You go to Auburn? I'm sure you follow football there, so when you feel depressed, think about Auburn football. Oh wait, they lost practically the entire team to the draft...maybe you can take up knitting?

 

[Flipper405]

Key is to stay focused and calm. You are your worst enemy. I'm probably in a far worse situation than you because I had this uncanny ability to be the laziest bastard in the world during my undergrad years. Thus, only luck will get me into d-school. Stay positive.

~ You go to Auburn? I'm sure you follow football there, so when you feel depressed, think about Auburn football. Oh wait, they lost practically the entire team to the draft...maybe you can take up knitting?

Plus not even getting a chance to play for the national championship... but that's a discussion for another day.

I have to agree; it was probably just getting nervous. That's something you can control, especially if you're aware of it. It's OK to be nervous, but you have to push it out of your mind when you're taking the test.

Good luck!

 

[xxJuiceDxx]

Plus not even getting a chance to play for the national championship... but that's a discussion for another day.

I was going to mention that, but I didn't want to offend him/her. HAHAHA.

 

[AUTigers]

LoL, well I'm a girl, so I don't know much about football but we did go to the national championship game. We came in 2nd, but we brought ourselves up a lot in the rankings, like 18th or something.

As we say down here though, WAR EAGLE!

 

[xxJuiceDxx]

LoL, well I'm a girl, so I don't know much about football but we did go to the national championship game. We came in 2nd, but we brought ourselves up a lot in the rankings, like 18th or something.

As we say down here though, WAR EAGLE!

SC and Oklahoma played in the Nat. Championship game. Auburn just missed the game (which they should not have, but thats a BCS discussion for another day), but looks like they finished 2nd in the final ranking polls for the 04 season.


Back to the subject of this thread...best of luck to you on the DAT. I too am taking it in a week and a half and I haven't really done a whole lot of studying, so we'll see how it goes. Stay focused, calm, relaxed and you'll do fine. Maybe have a drink before the exam to calm the nerves?


~And what does 'War Eagle' refer to? Aren't you guys the Tigers?

 

[duh?]

AUTigers, the fact that you are willing to talk about ur experience and figure out ways to improve ur scores is a gr8 thing. Some people who are not as strong as u are would just give up. I respect ur attitude. You've tried the test once and u know what to expect, you have more ammo now than the first time you went in. Go over you prep materials again and study to understand, If you know the process you can figure out how things should work most of the time. You have a very positive attitude and i feel like u are a strong person. I wish you success, (and becos I belive in God) I wish you God's peace and guidance. You have it in u Gurl and i'm quite convinced YOU can bring out the best in you and show the DAT who's boss. Good luck!

 

[Comet208]

Another reason why DAT is no good!

 

[RaiderNation]

It wouldn't have mattered who played against SC in the national championship b/c SC would have utterly destroyed whoever they played.

 

[Lostinbul]

I think it will be much easier to be relaxed the second time through! There are a lot of expectations going in the first time. You feel like your future/life depends on this test which is totally untrue! Your future/life depends on your attitude and it sounds to me like you're doing just fine! Hang in there, study hard, and next time you're taking the DAT make yourself consider the idea that you just want to better than the first try and I'm sure you'll do great! Keep us informed on how you do! Best of luck to you!

 

[xxJuiceDxx]

It wouldn't have mattered who played against SC in the national championship b/c SC would have utterly destroyed whoever they played.

True, considering they passed and ran all over the Ok. defense, which wasn't the best in the nation, but one of the best. But I think Auburn would not have allowed as many points, as they have more speed on their defense, particularly in their LB's. But its hard to contain a defense when you have a freak like Reggie Bush catching and running and Leinart doing what he does. But they lost Norm Chow to the pro's, so we'll see if they can 3-peat.

 

[Fermata]

True, considering they passed and ran all over the Ok. defense, which wasn't the best in the nation, but one of the best. But I think Auburn would not have allowed as many points, as they have more speed on their defense, particularly in their LB's. But its hard to contain a defense when you have a freak like Reggie Bush catching and running and Leinart doing what he does. But they lost Norm Chow to the pro's, so we'll see if they can 3-peat.

The BCS system is broken anyways.

 

[AUTigers]

AUTigers, the fact that you are willing to talk about ur experience and figure out ways to improve ur scores is a gr8 thing. Some people who are not as strong as u are would just give up. I respect ur attitude. You've tried the test once and u know what to expect, you have more ammo now than the first time you went in. Go over you prep materials again and study to understand, If you know the process you can figure out how things should work most of the time. You have a very positive attitude and i feel like u are a strong person. I wish you success, (and becos I belive in God) I wish you God's peace and guidance. You have it in u Gurl and i'm quite convinced YOU can bring out the best in you and show the DAT who's boss. Good luck!

WoW, thanks for the insight. It takes everything I have to stay determined at this point, and it's people like you that help me through it. Nothing has come easy to me in life and this career choice is no exception. I give it my all and hope to one day reap the benefits and rewards in the field of dentistry. I'm feeling better about my experience with the DAT especially after talking to my dentist about it. She actually admitted to taking the DAT more than twice and repeating chemistry classes. She's a successful practicing dentist today, and I know that if she took the long road (and detour) to be where she is today, so can I. Once again, I really appreciate your kind words. Thanks and God bless.

 

[AUTigers]

I think it will be much easier to be relaxed the second time through! There are a lot of expectations going in the first time. You feel like your future/life depends on this test which is totally untrue! Your future/life depends on your attitude and it sounds to me like you're doing just fine! Hang in there, study hard, and next time you're taking the DAT make yourself consider the idea that you just want to better than the first try and I'm sure you'll do great! Keep us informed on how you do! Best of luck to you!

You are right on with how I view the DAT at this point. However, I'm still bewildered by the fact that I did worse than the practice tests. One thing that I did differently was actually read through each question slowly and thoroughly and took the entire alotted time. I think this might have left room for second guesses. On Topscore and all, I was zipping through section after section way before time was up. I have a lot of test-taking evaluations to do.

 

[AUTigers]

~And what does 'War Eagle' refer to? Aren't you guys the Tigers?

Yes, we are the tigers and eagles. I was actually at a local restaurant this past weekend and noticed they had a tiger-eagle hybrid statue. LoL, it was quite weird looking. But war eagle is one of our sayings that you just grow up with. And at the football games, we have an eagle that flies over the stadium, it gives you goose bumps, LoL! Anyways, enough about our traditions, that's what the phrase means.