This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

AbbyS08

New Member
5+ Year Member
2+ Year Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2016
Messages
8
Reaction score
5
So I just took the ADAT and here is my personal breakdown:

How I studied: I spent 2 months total studying for this exam. I spent the first month learning/reviewing the material using board busters for the biomedical sciences and mosby’s nbde part II for the clinical sciences. The second month I focused on review using adat knockout’s program and going over some notes i took from the first month.

Biomedical Sciences: Board busters and adat knockout were both really great for this section. I had a bunch of ridiculously random qs tho that i don't know how anyone is expected to know unless they happened to stumble into it at one point in their education. The sections were really disproportionate with very little anatomy on my test and a lot more pathology. Also a good amount of dental anatomy qs but as long as you know your stuff you’ll be fine, nothing crazy there. There was also a good handful of questions that I remembered from knockout that were on my test, not exact but very on point.

Clinical Sciences: Mosby’s was eh and adat knockout was very reflective! Had a few cases that were similar which helped alot. I answered most of these questions based on my own knowledge from clinic and the topics highlighted in knockout. There were alot of speciality questions that went really in detail and unless you had an interest in that field, you probably wouldn’t think to remember or know. For instance I had alot of peds on my test and I remember knockout covering the content but they only had a handful of qs on that topic so I didn’t put too much emphasis on it :/. KNOW the guidelines in the AAPD. Overall this was the hardest section for me in how comprehensive it was but easier to do well in because there wasn’t really anything super random.

Data and Research: I solely used adat knockout here and they pretty much covered everything. Only gripe was that I had no calculation qs on my test. I’m not sure whether it was just my version, since the official adat practice test has calculation based qs too, but I was really thrown off by not having any since I spent so much time going over them. Other than that, the conceptual questions were pretty straightforward and in line with the explanations i read on knockout.

Overall, I feel pretty good about it minus the random stuff which was really out of my control. Hope this helps!

Members don't see this ad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users
Thanks for your breakdown! Do you think ADAT knockout would be sufficient alone if that's all I used?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Sorry for my lack of knowledge and I guess I can just ask my advisor or other students, but when is ADAT needed? Would I need to take it if I were to go into Perio residency?

Any help is greatly appreciated! :)

-Fyz
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Thanks for your breakdown! Do you think ADAT knockout would be sufficient alone if that's all I used?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

I'd say it depends on your study methods, I personally like to review raw material before I do any kind of practice questions but thats just me. I think their program is a must have because of the quality of questions and the level of material, but i found coupling it with a boardbusters/notes was a really effective way to retain the info. Something about seeing the information in different writing really helped it all stick. So I would definitely recommend using adat knockout, but I would couple it with a secondary resource for better retention and more thorough coverage of material
 
Sorry for my lack of knowledge and I guess I can just ask my advisor or other students, but when is ADAT needed? Would I need to take it if I were to go into Perio residency?

Any help is greatly appreciated! :)

-Fyz
Depends on the program. It's a fairly new test so not too many require it right now although a good amount have it as optional. My guess is that more and more programs will require it as time goes on.
 
Depends on the program. It's a fairly new test so not too many require it right now although a good amount have it as optional. My guess is that more and more programs will require it as time goes on.

Thanks so much for the reply! :) When I go for externships, I will make sure I ask about ADAT.

I've heard that GRE is only needed of I were to pursue a Ph.D. Is this true or should I take it even though I'm not planning to get a Ph.D. in the near future.

-Fyz
 
Thanks so much for the reply! :) When I go for externships, I will make sure I ask about ADAT.

I've heard that GRE is only needed of I were to pursue a Ph.D. Is this true or should I take it even though I'm not planning to get a Ph.D. in the near future.

-Fyz
Again, depends on the program. I just did a quick search to see what I could find and the first few programs that popped up said that you needed to take either the ADAT or the GRE. Some others said ADAT for sure. And then some said GRE for sure. I didn't see anything mentioning a PhD so I don't know if that has much to do with it. I didn't go into perio so I'm just telling you what I've found. Someone else might know more and you could just as easily search the programs you are interested in. Here is a pretty comprehensive site that can answer most of your questions regarding application requirements:

ADEA PASS Program Search
 
Hey there,

Congrats on completing! I'm going to be a rising 3rd year dental student soon, I was wondering when I should take the ADAT? Is it possible to take the ADAT in my 2nd year summer? I have the NBDE Part 1 scheduled for August 25th. I'm def. not going for a specialty, and my GPA is around 3.0, but I'm just curious because I want to do really well on the ADAT to stand out for future GPRs. Please let me know when is the optimal time to take it. I'm in the class of 2019.

Thanks,
 
Again, depends on the program. I just did a quick search to see what I could find and the first few programs that popped up said that you needed to take either the ADAT or the GRE. Some others said ADAT for sure. And then some said GRE for sure. I didn't see anything mentioning a PhD so I don't know if that has much to do with it. I didn't go into perio so I'm just telling you what I've found. Someone else might know more and you could just as easily search the programs you are interested in. Here is a pretty comprehensive site that can answer most of your questions regarding application requirements:

ADEA PASS Program Search


Thank you!

-Fyz
 
I used similar materials but I also used the app ADAT hero for the research section. It was worth the money I thought. Good luck everyone.
 
So...Big Hoss is mildly chaffed at the moment. Who am I kidding? I'm full on chaffed! Of the 15 or so pedo programs I was looking at applying to next year, only 1 was going to require the ADAT. It is one of my top choices, so I took the test. They've now made it optional. Freaking. Awesome. There goes a few hundred bucks and 3 months of studying down the drain. I think this program realized, as many already likely did, the ADAT is a stupid test. As I've said before, there's no way I can see a 200 question test covering all of the material taught in 4 years of dental school as valid metric of one's knowledge. Seriously, 3-4 pharmacology questions is really going to tell you how well I grasp the subject? I'm going to predict the ADAT exam fails to gain widespread adoption and it just fizzles up and goes away.

Big Hoss

Edit: I should have pointed that it's really only 160 questions on the basic and clinical sciences, which makes the test just that much more ridiculous.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users
So...Big Hoss is mildly chaffed at the moment. Who am I kidding? I'm full on chaffed! Of the 15 or so pedo programs I was looking at applying to next year, only 1 was going to require the ADAT. It is one of my top choices, so I took the test. They've now made it optional. Freaking. Awesome. There goes a few hundred bucks and 3 months of studying down the drain. I think this program realized, as many already likely did, the ADAT is a stupid test. As I've said before, there's no way I can see a 200 question test covering all of the material taught in 4 years of dental school as valid metric of one's knowledge. Seriously, 3-4 pharmacology questions is really going to tell you how well I grasp the subject? I'm going to predict the ADAT exam fails to gain widespread adoption and it just fizzles up and goes away.

Big Hoss
Big Hoss what made you decide to apply to pedo programs?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
hi everyone.

So I received my finalized ADAT score 2 days ago and I ended up doing much better than I thought. I wanted to give you guys an idea of what I did in order to help everyone with this crazy exam. The reality is, however, you must know how much studying you need and everyone has an alternate strategy for success. Also, we all start at a difference in baseline knowledge and you must know where you are the weakest in order to allocate your studying wisely. I spent 1.5 months studying for this exam. I will break this down by ADAT section.

ADAT overall: 680 (99th percentile). Highest score achieved this round: 740 overall (3 students achieved over 700, 3 students achieved 680, Average was roughly 505~)

Biomedical (scored 710 or 99th percentile): ADAT Knockout supplemented with old notes/textbooks. ADAT knockout was great and they actually explain each answer very well. However, If I had no clue on a question, I would search the subject and read up a little on topic in order to cover my bases. But as a starting point, I believe this is 100 % worth getting.

Clinical (scored 640 or 96th percentile): I had just completed part II of boards so I was relatively fresh here (however, it was my weakest section). Again, I thought ADAT knockout was a great source for this section as well. I 100 % suggest taking NBDE part II prior to the ADAT in order to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Also, you should still supplement with notes and textbooks.

Evidence/Research (scored 680 or 98th percentile): Used ADAT knockout and ADAT hero as primary sources. Honestly, ADAT knockout really saved my buns here. ADAT hero was ok I guess, but knockout was my saving grace. I supplemented this with some of my old notes but we really didn't focus too much on this topic at my dental school.

So in summary:
Get ADAT knockout - useful for all sections
ADAT hero - optional (this is a phone app btw)
Take it close to NBDE part II for clinical section (preferably take NBDE II first and then give yourself time to strengthen other areas of ADAT)
Always supplement with notes and texts

Good luck everyone!
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: 2 users
hi everyone.

So I received my finalized ADAT score 2 days ago and I ended up doing much better than I thought. I wanted to give you guys an idea of what I did in order to help everyone with this crazy exam. The reality is, however, you must know how much studying you need and everyone has an alternate strategy for success. Also, we all start at a difference in baseline knowledge and you must know where you are the weakest in order to allocate your studying wisely. I spent 1.5 months studying for this exam. I will break this down by ADAT section.

ADAT overall: 680 (99th percentile). Highest score achieved this round: 740 overall (3 students achieved over 700, 3 students achieved 680, Average was roughly 505~)

Biomedical (scored 710 or 99th percentile): ADAT Knockout supplemented with old notes/textbooks. ADAT knockout was great and they actually explain each answer very well. However, If I had no clue on a question, I would search the subject and read up a little on topic in order to cover my bases. But as a starting point, I believe this is 100 % worth getting.

Clinical (scored 640 or 96th percentile): I had just completed part II of boards so I was relatively fresh here (however, it was my weakest section). Again, I thought ADAT knockout was a great source for this section as well. I 100 % suggest taking NBDE part II prior to the ADAT in order to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Also, you should still supplement with notes and textbooks.

Evidence/Research (scored 680 or 98th percentile): Used ADAT knockout and ADAT hero as primary sources. Honestly, ADAT knockout really saved my buns here. ADAT hero was ok I guess, but knockout was my saving grace. I supplemented this with some of my old notes but we really didn't focus too much on this topic at my dental school.

So in summary:
Get ADAT knockout - useful for all sections
ADAT hero - optional (this is a phone app btw)
Take it close to NBDE part II for clinical section (preferably take NBDE II first and then give yourself time to strengthen other areas of ADAT)
Always supplement with notes and texts

Good luck everyone!

Did you write this after third year?
 
Did you write this after third year?

I am currently a 4th year dental student. I took the exam a few months ago and was only able to show my preliminary ADAT results to the schools I applied to because I have already had my interviews so the final ADAT score is essentially useless for me this cycle. However, the preliminary results were accepted by all schools I sent them too and they never asked for the finalized scores.
 
I am currently a 4th year dental student. I took the exam a few months ago and was only able to show my preliminary ADAT results to the schools I applied to because I have already had my interviews so the final ADAT score is essentially useless for me this cycle. However, the preliminary results were accepted by all schools I sent them too and they never asked for the finalized scores.

How much of a difference were your preliminary scores compared to the finalized score?
 
How much of a difference were your preliminary scores compared to the finalized score?
Not much at all. My overall score never changed. My final score on two of the sections were slightly higher than my preliminary results.
 
I took my adat in August but my pass application doesn't say the official adat results were received. When does PASS get the results?
 
I took my adat in August but my pass application doesn't say the official adat results were received. When does PASS get the results?

I didn't wait for PASS to get the results. I sent them directly to the schools I applied for.
 
I had a similar experience. I studied for like 3-4 weeks, trying for a few hours a day (but ended up being like every other day.) ADAT knockout was the only resource I used, and I think it worked pretty well. I jut did all the practice questions/tests and looked up anything I wasn't totally sure on.

I got a 710 Overall Score (99th percentile)

I actually thought the Data Interpretation part was the hardest, because my school never really taught us anything about it. Let me know if you have any questions about it!
 
I had a similar experience. I studied for like 3-4 weeks, trying for a few hours a day (but ended up being like every other day.) ADAT knockout was the only resource I used, and I think it worked pretty well. I jut did all the practice questions/tests and looked up anything I wasn't totally sure on.

I got a 710 Overall Score (99th percentile)

I actually thought the Data Interpretation part was the hardest, because my school never really taught us anything about it. Let me know if you have any questions about it!

Were your practice questions/tests indicative of the score you got?
 
Were your practice questions/tests indicative of the score you got?
Far from it. I was doing horribly on ADAT Knockout, like I never once got higher than 60-65% correct. But I guess looking up all those wrong answers helped.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
It’s a standardized test designed to “rank” test takers. By its very nature there’s no such thing wiggle room. Your stupid and not so stupid mistakes will be reflected in your score.

Big Hoss
Thank you!!
 
Does the difficulty level of questions change as you answer more questions correctly on the ADAT like it does on the GRE?
 
Top