My DAT results 6/7/2013

[tneimar]

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Hey guys,

So I kind of feel defeated today considering I didnt score where i was aiming. I just finished my organic chemistry final last week and started biochem summer school this past week. I took the test this morning, and here are my results:

PA 22
QR 19
RC 17
BIO 18
GC 17
OC 17
TS 17
AA 18

Now, here is where i need feedback. I hadnt taken physio or anatomy, so i crash-coursed it from the Kaplan MCAT Bio book, KBB was too general, and i felt like i knew everything from bio. Obviously my score doesnt reflect it. The questions in bio were so out of this world random! like
if you add a radioactive material, deoxycytosinide triphosphate to a cell and it lysis, where would you find the the radioactive material?

mRNA
cRNA
DNA
protein
tRNA

I put DNA, but i honestly did not get what the hell they were asking. and most of my questions were just not what i studied. The G chem seemed a bit easier and o chem was pretty close the the destroyer... but still i got 17 each! wtf?! Ive been studying straight for 4 weeks now, learning as much info as possible. I am still struggling with memorizing reagents, and basically crammed in the last couple of days. I plan on retaking it (unfortunately, thatll mean i wont apply until september, which puts me at a disadvantage with schools, but i guess thats the risk with these things). So now that i have the whole summer, I need some advice on how to tackle it. I think I should have done more practice tests and timed tests. and i only watched chad's g chem videos... so i probably should do the o chem videos too. What are the best sources for "like" questions in the sciences? Crack the DAT? QVault? Topscore? Acheiver? Im pretty much game for any of them, so please let me know which ones are worth getting.

I super appreciate anyone's input!

 

[Moka11]

I'm sure you'll kill it in September.

Out of curiosity for me and others can you please post what you used to study?

 

[Ari Rezaei]

Not completely terrible, you're above average! You are below average for acceptance (19.5), but that average also means they accept people as low as 16AA.

Also, the correct answer is indeed DNA 🙂

 

[bluemoon27]

I would say since you have already taken it, submit your apps and scores now to get the ball rolling. Then when September rolls around, take the DAT again and send it to them again. That way, your not super behind with your timing and your app can get processed and you get secondaries out of the way. And your scores although not being very high are not that bad.

 

[tneimar]

I'm sure you'll kill it in September.

Out of curiosity for me and others can you please post what you used to study?

Sure!

KBB- read the whole thing, took notes on the bio
Kaplan MCAT Bio- much more detailed with the systems, easy to follow. I took notes as well.
Destroyer- personally, i struggled with destroyer. i was getting half right every time i did it. i tried to memorize the roadmaps 3 days ago... dont think it helped lol.
Chad's videos- watched g chem, loved him! didnt have time to watch o chem. i just reviewed his outline. so im definitely going to invest time into doing that.
Crack the PAT- loved this. best thing to prepare for the actual.

 

[Moka11]

Sure!

KBB- read the whole thing, took notes on the bio
Kaplan MCAT Bio- much more detailed with the systems, easy to follow. I took notes as well.
Destroyer- personally, i struggled with destroyer. i was getting half right every time i did it. i tried to memorize the roadmaps 3 days ago... dont think it helped lol.
Chad's videos- watched g chem, loved him! didnt have time to watch o chem. i just reviewed his outline. so im definitely going to invest time into doing that.
Crack the PAT- loved this. best thing to prepare for the actual.

Awesome. Thanks!

How'd you find CDP angles compared to real deal? Another poster today said the real thing was harder. Your take?

 

[tneimar]

I would say since you have already taken it, submit your apps and scores now to get the ball rolling. Then when September rolls around, take the DAT again and send it to them again. That way, your not super behind with your timing and your app can get processed and you get secondaries out of the way. And your scores although not being very high are not that bad.

would it hurt me chances if i give them 2 dat scores? I have a good amount of extracurriculars and ive been a dental assistant and Cerec guru for the past two years. My science GPA is 3.8. I guess im concerned with the first dat scores being a determinant for my app before i get to the second one.

 

[tneimar]

Awesome. Thanks!

How'd you find CDP angles compared to real deal? Another poster today said the real thing was harder. Your take?

totally thought the angles were easier on the real thing. Like they were more obvious. maybe 2 i was iffy on.

 

[Moka11]

totally thought the angles were easier on the real thing. Like they were more obvious. maybe 2 i was iffy on.

👍 awesome. Thanks again!

 

[tneimar]

Not completely terrible, you're above average! You are below average for acceptance (19.5), but that average also means they accept people as low as 16AA.

Also, the correct answer is indeed DNA 🙂

What did you use to study? i see your scores are through the roof! and is there anywhere we can get old exams from the ADA? my mom is a dentist, and she told me that when she did her boards (24 years ago lol) that they could buy old exams from the ADA website. What do you think?

 

[athomas]

Not trying to make you feel bad, but that question is a dead giveaway. Deoxycytidine triosphosphate is dCTP, the base used in DNA (well, 2P cleaved off to dCMP). If you didn't know that, it's easy to figure out because deoxy is a giveaway for DNA.

Maybe some of the random seeming questions were actually things you knew and didn't realize it?

 

[babowc]

I feel like the DAT around this time has a LOT of random bio/anatomy questions.
I was really surprised by my bio section too.
Really unpleasantly surprised!!