My DAT breakdown... Advice please!

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

itskchris

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2016
Messages
13
Reaction score
4
Hello guys! I've been lurking in these forums for months of reading people's breakdowns and what they had to say. I just took my DAT For the first time.. And I'm pretty disappointed. After reading many threads, I felt like an AA of 19 would make me happy. However, I got an 18. I literally went home sad and I cried for a bit. I feel like I won't be able to get into any school with the scores I got.
To break it down, my scores for the DAT are :
PA: 20
QR: 18
RC: 18
Biology: 18
Organic Chemistry: 20
TS: 19
AA: 18

I felt pretty good in organic and okay in bio. I felt like GChem was the worst and I surprisingly got an 18. Can anyone recommend any sources that I can improve on GChem ?

All I had to study for for this DAT was one book, Princeton's Review cracking the DAT .

Do you think it's possible for me to get into a school? I do plan on applying to UT, LSU, Howard, Baylor for sure, + 6 other schools that I haven't really thought about. 10 schools for sure though.

My GPA Is a 3.65 and sGPA is I believe 3.63

My shadowing is around 60, I've had my fair share of volunteering, although I can do more, I've also did a Summer Program for 6 weeks at Howard University for dentistry.

Thanks for any responses! I appreciate all !
 
First of all, with just that one book you used, you actually did a pretty good score, so kudos to you! However, after reading all the other people's breakdowns, may I ask why you didn't use the resources that they used? I'm pretty sure you've read that the typical bundle of resources that almost EVERYONE uses now are: DAT Destroyer, DAT Bootcamp, Chad's videos, and Feralis' bio notes (in addition to other commonly used resources). As many people have said before, the best option would have been to invest in those resources and finish the DAT in one test sitting, because if you plan to retake it, the test itself ($415) costs more than all those study tools combined... Your GPA is good, so doing even slightly well on your retake will be tremendously helpful to you.
 
I would personally recommend retaking since that will put you into much more higher chance of getting interviews. As long as you get consistent 20's in each sections you should be fine. Even with what you have now could still be sufficient.
Use chad's videos for orgo/gen chem and DAT destroyer, and practice what you learned with DAT bootcamp. I would also use Feralis Bio as bio supplement
 
I haven't taken it, but IMO if you could pull those scores without some crucial resources, you can do amazing if you had Bootcamp, Chad videos, & DAT Destroyer. Every breakdown I've seen ALWAYS use these resources in addition to any misc. ones
 
The problem is you spent months reading when you should have been studying! The good news is you got an average score using just one book(that seems pretty shoddy).

Pick up datbootcamp, dat destroyer, cliffs ap bio(free) , feralis notes and chads videos. In 3 months time( which is the time needed for a retake) you should be able to hit 20+. Don't settle for 19, aim for the stars.
 
Top