Practice exam on ADA website

[Brown10]

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Is the practice exam on the ADA website anything like the real DAT? It seems so much easier than any practice exam I have taken before and I'm wondering if it is close to the real thing.

 

[Orgodox]

Yep its much easier than what you'll get now. I heard it was an actual old test from a while back and the DAT is getting progressively harder. So its good to look at but not great to use as a benchmark for a practice score.

 

[doc3232]

I got a 19 on it 🙂
But as others said, its way easier. I took it with 0 knowledge in O-chem and got like a 17 on o-chem which tells you how easy it is.

 

[DDSelin2mori]

For sure it is easier.

 

[dentalplan]

hehe i just looked through it...i havent taken the real dat yet but im guessing this is a slightly dumbed down version of what we will be getting. Hits on all of the same topics im assuming though (like for QR and stuff)...

But for anyone who recently took the DAT and saw some of the questions on this practice exam: http://www.ada.org/prof/ed/testing/dat/dat_test_sampleitems.pdf

Can anyone say exactly how different the questions are from the real thing? -like just in general, for bio, gen, orgo, QR, etc.



also- Anyone know if this practice exam was ever officially administered?

 

[allstardentist]

If I remember correctly, RC is about the same level as the real thing but the rest requires more in-depth knowledge.

 

[eatkabab]

the one RC passage is comparable, and the QR is like 35% easier. the rest is a total joke. ESPECIALLY the PAT.

 

[dentalplan]

how about for gen, bio, and orgo..? In what ways exactly is the real DAT harder? Just different, more obscure questions....or....?

 

[eatkabab]

how about for gen, bio, and orgo..? In what ways exactly is the real DAT harder? Just different, more obscure questions....or....?

on the real test, there will be more questions you're unsure of, and will have to take more of an educated guess rather than choose the correct answer. on the sample test, nearly 99% of the questions you straight out know the answers to. you might go through it and think "wow this is like kind of a difficultish topic" and you're probably correct, the real thing doesn't stray beyond that, but its just in a more 'thinky' way. basically, if you're unsure of what you know, the sample test is gonna be very forgiving. the real thing is less forgiving in the sense that if you're unsure of what you know, well there are numerous other answers that might make sense...

I think all that sounds like I was avoiding the question, but I dunno any other way to really answer. took the thing about 5 days ago, so dunno how fresh everything is in my head.