Question about Chad's Video

[jaehan]

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I'm just starting to study for DAT and need someone to clarify which video course of chad's I need to sign up for that ppl are recommending.

Is it the College Review vids for gen/ochem or DAT Gen/OChem vids?

Also, is it worthwhile to also get quantitative vids?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Glimmer1991]

Buy the DAT bundle.

 

[acoburn73]

Buy the DAT bundle.

Question on this. Most DAT takers and subsequent dental school applicants are either in or fresh out of college. I've been out for 13 years now, but did have all pre-reqs plus twice as many more upper-level science and engineering courses, and I've even taken the DAT long ago. I've subscribed to Chad's videos and began watching, taking notes and completing the quizzes each night this week - my DAT test is July 11th. I have a plan for 16-20 hours of studying each week between now and then, all while working full time as an engineer and having a pregnant wife. The information quickly comes back to me while watching, so I'm not too concerned about being ready come test day.

Now, my question:

Could a person with little to no science background, or a background that is far in the past, feasibly perform well on the DAT by doing nothing more than watching Chad's over and over, taking his quizzes, taking practice DATs, and reading the Barron's and Cliff's AP Bio books?

Watching Chad's, I sometimes see that he assumes those watching already have some background and memory of the basics of each topic. On one of his GC videos he never mentions the octet rule, yet his quiz asks about the octet rule and which molecule listed is a full octet.

Thanks!

 

[UCSFx2017]

Question on this. Most DAT takers and subsequent dental school applicants are either in or fresh out of college. I've been out for 13 years now, but did have all pre-reqs plus twice as many more upper-level science and engineering courses, and I've even taken the DAT long ago. I've subscribed to Chad's videos and began watching, taking notes and completing the quizzes each night this week - my DAT test is July 11th. I have a plan for 16-20 hours of studying each week between now and then, all while working full time as an engineer and having a pregnant wife. The information quickly comes back to me while watching, so I'm not too concerned about being ready come test day.

Now, my question:

Could a person with little to no science background, or a background that is far in the past, feasibly perform well on the DAT by doing nothing more than watching Chad's over and over, taking his quizzes, taking practice DATs, and reading the Barron's and Cliff's AP Bio books?

Watching Chad's, I sometimes see that he assumes those watching already have some background and memory of the basics of each topic. On one of his GC videos he never mentions the octet rule, yet his quiz asks about the octet rule and which molecule listed is a full octet.

Thanks!

Chad's great at conveying the few concepts that are on the DAT. If you can completely follow and understand everything he's saying, you're set to memorize these concepts and random facts for solving chemistry problems when you start drilling yourself with problem sets.

If you need information to fill in the missing pieces in Chad's videos, look at the blue Kaplan book for quick reference or online.

 

[acoburn73]

Chad's great at conveying the few concepts that are on the DAT. If you can completely follow and understand everything he's saying, you're set to memorize these concepts and random facts for solving chemistry problems when you start drilling yourself with problem sets.

If you need information to fill in the missing pieces in Chad's videos, look at the blue Kaplan book for quick reference or online.

Thanks for the quick response.

So far, no issues grasping what he's saying. As I said, it's been coming back to me pretty quickly, but watching last night and seeing so many people on SDN rave about Chad's videos while boasting 22-26 AAs in their signatures had me curious - were these high scores a result of a combination of freshly-out-of-college minds and Chad's, or is Chad's just that good at consolidating the necessary topics rather than spending hours on the wrong things via old text books that testers can feasibly knock out the DAT by simply focusing intently on his topics.

Another variable is study technique, efficiency and dedication to consistency.

 

[UCSFx2017]

Thanks for the quick response.

So far, no issues grasping what he's saying. As I said, it's been coming back to me pretty quickly, but watching last night and seeing so many people on SDN rave about Chad's videos while boasting 22-26 AAs in their signatures had me curious - were these high scores a result of a combination of freshly-out-of-college minds and Chad's, or is Chad's just that good at consolidating the necessary topics rather than spending hours on the wrong things via old text books that testers can feasibly knock out the DAT by simply focusing intently on his topics.

Another variable is study technique, efficiency and dedication to consistency.

Chad's videos give you a review of the Chemistries for you to complete DAT Destroyer problems. Chad's w/ end-of-chapter problems and Destroyer will get you great GC and OC scores (> or = 20).

 

[Glimmer1991]

Thanks for the quick response.

So far, no issues grasping what he's saying. As I said, it's been coming back to me pretty quickly, but watching last night and seeing so many people on SDN rave about Chad's videos while boasting 22-26 AAs in their signatures had me curious - were these high scores a result of a combination of freshly-out-of-college minds and Chad's, or is Chad's just that good at consolidating the necessary topics rather than spending hours on the wrong things via old text books that testers can feasibly knock out the DAT by simply focusing intently on his topics.

Another variable is study technique, efficiency and dedication to consistency.

I had genuinely forgotten most of GC and was able to use Chad's videos to get myself back up to speed. Although I won't attribute my success to the actual class I took to any large extent, I'm sure that it made it easier for me to re-learn everything the second time around.

Organic Chemistry was a different story, though. I had just taken the class and remembered a pretty good deal from it. However, Chad helped me brush up on all the things that had slipped away over the course of the summer.

I wouldn't expect a 30 with Chad alone, especially if you haven't been in school for years. I do, however, think that knowing all of his videos inside and out can practically guarantee you a 22. I agree it would be wise to use KBB to brush up on any topics you weren't very confident about. However, I didn't use the KBB myself for the sciences; I relied primarily on Chad. I did the Destroyer as well, but didn't find it to be nearly as effective.

If you REALLY know Cliff's and Barron's AP bio books, I once again think you are guaranteed at least a 22. My sneaking suspicion is that people who don't score so well after using these books *say* they learned them, but they didn't really.

People have a habit of spreading themselves too thinly amongst a ton of different resources. I say pick a few resources, REALLY learn them, and you're good to go. It's what I did. I never even took a practice test. However, I am admittedly very good at preparing for tests. I can figure out what to focus on and what to regard as "fluff." You seem like a smart guy yourself, so I bet you have similar skills.

If you have any more questions about what I used and/or how I studied, you're more than welcome to shoot me a PM! 😀 My breakdown is also in my signature, and I talk about a lot of these things in it.

 

[acoburn73]

I had genuinely forgotten most of GC and was able to use Chad's videos to get myself back up to speed. Although I won't attribute my success to the actual class I took to any large extent, I'm sure that it made it easier for me to re-learn everything the second time around.

Organic Chemistry was a different story, though. I had just taken the class and remembered a pretty good deal from it. However, Chad helped me brush up on all the things that had slipped away over the course of the summer.

I wouldn't expect a 30 with Chad alone, especially if you haven't been in school for years. I do, however, think that knowing all of his videos inside and out can practically guarantee you a 22. I agree it would be wise to use KBB to brush up on any topics you weren't very confident about. However, I didn't use the KBB myself for the sciences; I relied primarily on Chad. I did the Destroyer as well, but didn't find it to be nearly as effective.

If you REALLY know Cliff's and Barron's AP bio books, I once again think you are guaranteed at least a 22. My sneaking suspicion is that people who don't score so well after using these books *say* they learned them, but they didn't really.

People have a habit of spreading themselves too thinly amongst a ton of different resources. I say pick a few resources, REALLY learn them, and you're good to go. It's what I did. I never even took a practice test. However, I am admittedly very good at preparing for tests. I can figure out what to focus on and what to regard as "fluff." You seem like a smart guy yourself, so I bet you have similar skills.

If you have any more questions about what I used and/or how I studied, you're more than welcome to shoot me a PM! 😀 My breakdown is also in my signature, and I talk about a lot of these things in it.

Thanks again for your time and help.

Going through the Nuclear and Quantum sections of Chad's GC this week, and wondered something - should I simply go through all of the GC videos and just listen and watch, try his quizzes after each section, and when complete, start over and take tedious notes while stopping/starting and watching a second time? Or did you guys typically take notes along the way on the first time through, then review them and re-watch the videos later?

I'm trying to make this as efficient as possible given I have roughly 16-20 hours per week to study from now until July 11th, and a lot of refreshing to do on GC, OC (not so hard, I loved OC in college and got As in both semesters), and Bio. I'm thinking that one could actually watch the videos intently multiple times and absorb quite a bit before starting to make the connections between the concepts. I can tell right now that GC is going to be the thorn in my side, so I'm probably going to end up doing more on it than all other subjects to prepare.

Thoughts?

 

[ekephant]

Thanks again for your time and help.

Going through the Nuclear and Quantum sections of Chad's GC this week, and wondered something - should I simply go through all of the GC videos and just listen and watch, try his quizzes after each section, and when complete, start over and take tedious notes while stopping/starting and watching a second time? Or did you guys typically take notes along the way on the first time through, then review them and re-watch the videos later?

I'm trying to make this as efficient as possible given I have roughly 16-20 hours per week to study from now until July 11th, and a lot of refreshing to do on GC, OC (not so hard, I loved OC in college and got As in both semesters), and Bio. I'm thinking that one could actually watch the videos intently multiple times and absorb quite a bit before starting to make the connections between the concepts. I can tell right now that GC is going to be the thorn in my side, so I'm probably going to end up doing more on it than all other subjects to prepare.

Thoughts?

I personally went through the videos once, occasionally pausing or rewinding and took very thorough notes. After each video, I took the quizzes right after. If I could do something differently I feel like it might be more beneficial to take the quizzes a little bit later (maybe the next day) to make sure you actually remember the information instead of just using short term memory, because taking the quizzes right after the videos were a little bit too easy. After going through all of the videos I reviewed all of my notes (pretty much memorized everything) and did practice problems from DAT Destroyer. For anything that I felt was unclear on my notes (probably due to being too lazy to take good notes on a particular day) I would rewatch the specific video that I didn't understand. The videos actually take a considerable amount of time to actually go through and understand, and I didn't have enough time to watch everything twice, helping me make the decision to watch just once. For the videos that I needed to rewatch, I used the option of playing it at 1.5x speed. Chad is a great teacher and really made both chemistries so much easier for me. I would honestly attribute the results of my DAT chemistry sections to Chad's Videos. Good luck with studying!

 

[Glimmer1991]

I went through his GC videos three times and took the quizzes probably 10 times each. I would watch a video and immediately do the quiz. When I watched them the first time through, I would begin my studying every day by taking the quizzes for the sections I had gone over the previous day (or days, sometimes) to make sure I remembered everything. Only then would I move on to new videos.

I took notes every time I went through his videos. I would stop quite often so I could get down the things he said. I also followed along with the outlines he has. The first time I watched his videos was on regular speed, and the other times were on fast play. I made sure that I went through ALL of his videos and quizzes the week of my DAT, and I studied my notes from those videos in their entirety the night before my test. I invested a ton of time into chad's videos, and it paid off!

Interestingly enough, I am writing this post on my new iPad mini that I won from course saver (they entered you if you bought a subscription over the summer). I just got it in two days ago! Seriously, Chad and Alan are the best. I've never won anything good before! 😀

 

[acoburn73]

I went through his GC videos three times and took the quizzes probably 10 times each. I would watch a video and immediately do the quiz. When I watched them the first time through, I would begin my studying every day by taking the quizzes for the sections I had gone over the previous day (or days, sometimes) to make sure I remembered everything. Only then would I move on to new videos.

I took notes every time I went through his videos. I would stop quite often so I could get down the things he said. I also followed along with the outlines he has. The first time I watched his videos was on regular speed, and the other times were on fast play. I made sure that I went through ALL of his videos and quizzes the week of my DAT, and I studied my notes from those videos in their entirety the night before my test. I invested a ton of time into chad's videos, and it paid off!

Interestingly enough, I am writing this post on my new iPad mini that I won from course saver (they entered you if you bought a subscription over the summer). I just got it in two days ago! Seriously, Chad and Alan are the best. I've never won anything good before! 😀

Thanks again. Actually, the technique you describe is what I'm doing now, so I'll stick with it. I do mix it up topic-wise each night, though. For example, Monday night I started with moving down the list on Chad's GC vids (probably my weakest topic thanks to years gone by), but then I'd stop an hour in and switch over to Crack PAT or a quick Crack Math sample test (picking one subject within QR, increasing the timer and just working through problems), and then read a few pages of Cliff's/Barron's before bed at 10-10:30 (I get up at 4:30 am and return home at 6 pm for commute + work).

Last night was just straight Chad's GC, but it was a review of section 1.3 (quantum numbers) because that subject requires a bit more tying in to orbital nomenclature to make sure you can be ready for the different angles the DAT may throw at you. And, that section is the least-recognizable for me, thus requiring more review and re-review. I do complete the quizzes every time, and then redo them again a couple of days later using the notes. My plan is to do the quizzes immediately after the video using notes, again 2 days later using the notes, and then once per week repeat all of them for that week using no notes. Wash, rinse, repeat with each topic!

At any rate, I'll continue down the path that I'm currently on, as it seems best for me, and clearly works for others! Some nights I'm intense, others I'm more casual. However, I know what I need to do and I know that consistency is key, so let's just see where that gets me on July 11th!

Looking forward to delivering my "breakdown" - hopefully I make that "Hot Dishes - for the ambitious" breakdown collection you recently posted!

Thanks again for taking time to offer advice. It's helpful and keeps motivation high!

 

[Glimmer1991]

But don't you want your dish to be exotic?! 😀

Anyhow, I think you will do extremely well on your test. Like you, I also studied multiple subjects every day. I'd have died of boredom otherwise!

 

[acoburn73]

But don't you want your dish to be exotic?! 😀

Anyhow, I think you will do extremely well on your test. Like you, I also studied multiple subjects every day. I'd have died of boredom otherwise!

Oh wait, I did mean exotic! Wrong section!

 

[ekephant]

I went through his GC videos three times and took the quizzes probably 10 times each. I would watch a video and immediately do the quiz. When I watched them the first time through, I would begin my studying every day by taking the quizzes for the sections I had gone over the previous day (or days, sometimes) to make sure I remembered everything. Only then would I move on to new videos.

I took notes every time I went through his videos. I would stop quite often so I could get down the things he said. I also followed along with the outlines he has. The first time I watched his videos was on regular speed, and the other times were on fast play. I made sure that I went through ALL of his videos and quizzes the week of my DAT, and I studied my notes from those videos in their entirety the night before my test. I invested a ton of time into chad's videos, and it paid off!

Interestingly enough, I am writing this post on my new iPad mini that I won from course saver (they entered you if you bought a subscription over the summer). I just got it in two days ago! Seriously, Chad and Alan are the best. I've never won anything good before! 😀

Congrats on the iPad! haha