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- Sep 2, 2014
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Hello everyone!
I finally got accepted to some dental schools and wanted to share the summary of my DAT preparation. I hope this helps!
Overall I studied about three to four months for the test, first month or two, I only studied about 4 hours a day on average the last month I probably studied about 10-12 hours a day.
My scores:
AA:25 TS:28 PAT:20 Bio: 30 GC:25 OC:29 Reading:20 QR:21
Biology
-Kaplan blue book (better for physiology chapters)
-cliff Ap Bio (great resource except for physiology chapters)
-Destroyer (the format of questions are not the same as the actual DAT but it helps to cover material)
-DAT Qvault (I highly suggest this, I only purchased the bio section, it was amazing resource, the format of questions are the most similar to the actual DAT)
-DATBootCamp
-campbell text book (I referred back to my text book for topics that I felt I needed more info, or better pictures and explanation)
-Feralis notes (condensed biology notes that are great for reviewing material, I highly suggest to read the notes. I studied few pages of this before I go to sleep) you can find these on DAT Bootcamp website.
My general Advice for Bio: The format of questions on the Actual DAT is kind of weird. Sometimes you may have to read the question few times to understand what its asking. Try to do as many bio questions as you can, the more resources you can practice, the better! I made my own notes during my studies and I reviewed my notes weekly.
Gen Chem and Ochem
I took my gen chem and ochem classes four years prior taking my test so I had to reteach myself everything.
Best best best invest of my life: Chad’s videos
This guy is awesome! I watched his videos for gchem and ochem once and took very detailed notes. I reviewed my notes on a weekly base. I practice the quizzes twice, Once after watching the videos and second time a month before my test. Sometimes if I still felt that I was not good in a topic, I would go back and watch chad’s video for that section.
Also I used Destroyer. I went over the questions twice.
I think if someone studies chad’s videos and destroyer for these two topics they are set! I also used DAT bootcamp.
The actual DAT had a really easy ochem. And gchem was very doable.
PAT
I purchased the crack dat pat with tutorials. The tutorials were helpful for sure.
CDP is super easy, much easier the actual pat on dat. I recommend starting with CDP.
DATBOOTCAMP PAT section is the most similar I had seen prior to my test. I wish I practiced more with that. I highly recommend going over the practice test at least twice.
Reading Comprehension
English is not my first language, so I had a hard time preparing for this section. I used Crack DAT Reading. And DATBootcamp. You have to practice this and find a way that works the best for you. There are some different ways explained on DATBOOTCAMP website.
QR
I used Math Destroyer and DAT destroyer. The math is super easy on DAT, the only issue is timing.
The questions are not hard; they just take time to solve. I highly recommend timing yourself when doing practice exams.
QR is the last section of the test, so by the time you get to this section you are exhausted. In order to get used to this, I always studied math or did math problems at the end of the day when I was preparing for my test.
Other materials used:
TopScore Pro: used this last week before my test only to get used to sitting down for like 5 hours and take the DAT, basically your body/brain get used to it. But keep in mind that its much much easier than the actual DAT.
ADEA free DAT sample test
Free OAT sample test
I recommend that you study each topic everyday. And use marker instead of pen or pencil. Try to mimic the test condition as much as you can.
I finally got accepted to some dental schools and wanted to share the summary of my DAT preparation. I hope this helps!
Overall I studied about three to four months for the test, first month or two, I only studied about 4 hours a day on average the last month I probably studied about 10-12 hours a day.
My scores:
AA:25 TS:28 PAT:20 Bio: 30 GC:25 OC:29 Reading:20 QR:21
Biology
-Kaplan blue book (better for physiology chapters)
-cliff Ap Bio (great resource except for physiology chapters)
-Destroyer (the format of questions are not the same as the actual DAT but it helps to cover material)
-DAT Qvault (I highly suggest this, I only purchased the bio section, it was amazing resource, the format of questions are the most similar to the actual DAT)
-DATBootCamp
-campbell text book (I referred back to my text book for topics that I felt I needed more info, or better pictures and explanation)
-Feralis notes (condensed biology notes that are great for reviewing material, I highly suggest to read the notes. I studied few pages of this before I go to sleep) you can find these on DAT Bootcamp website.
My general Advice for Bio: The format of questions on the Actual DAT is kind of weird. Sometimes you may have to read the question few times to understand what its asking. Try to do as many bio questions as you can, the more resources you can practice, the better! I made my own notes during my studies and I reviewed my notes weekly.
Gen Chem and Ochem
I took my gen chem and ochem classes four years prior taking my test so I had to reteach myself everything.
Best best best invest of my life: Chad’s videos
This guy is awesome! I watched his videos for gchem and ochem once and took very detailed notes. I reviewed my notes on a weekly base. I practice the quizzes twice, Once after watching the videos and second time a month before my test. Sometimes if I still felt that I was not good in a topic, I would go back and watch chad’s video for that section.
Also I used Destroyer. I went over the questions twice.
I think if someone studies chad’s videos and destroyer for these two topics they are set! I also used DAT bootcamp.
The actual DAT had a really easy ochem. And gchem was very doable.
PAT
I purchased the crack dat pat with tutorials. The tutorials were helpful for sure.
CDP is super easy, much easier the actual pat on dat. I recommend starting with CDP.
DATBOOTCAMP PAT section is the most similar I had seen prior to my test. I wish I practiced more with that. I highly recommend going over the practice test at least twice.
Reading Comprehension
English is not my first language, so I had a hard time preparing for this section. I used Crack DAT Reading. And DATBootcamp. You have to practice this and find a way that works the best for you. There are some different ways explained on DATBOOTCAMP website.
QR
I used Math Destroyer and DAT destroyer. The math is super easy on DAT, the only issue is timing.
The questions are not hard; they just take time to solve. I highly recommend timing yourself when doing practice exams.
QR is the last section of the test, so by the time you get to this section you are exhausted. In order to get used to this, I always studied math or did math problems at the end of the day when I was preparing for my test.
Other materials used:
TopScore Pro: used this last week before my test only to get used to sitting down for like 5 hours and take the DAT, basically your body/brain get used to it. But keep in mind that its much much easier than the actual DAT.
ADEA free DAT sample test
Free OAT sample test
I recommend that you study each topic everyday. And use marker instead of pen or pencil. Try to mimic the test condition as much as you can.
Last edited:
if u can add any more comments in this part please let me know. Thx
wish you the best
Congrats. Can I borrow your science scores? 
