Resources vs. Resources vs. Resources!?

[pandalove89]

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So after reading many posts about resources I was curious as to what you guys would be good choices.

• For the biology sections I have a Princeton Review book from 2007. Would this book be enough? Everyone keeps saying that the 2007 AP Cliff Biology is the best but I don't want to spend money if the Princeton Review book is just as good. (I also have Kaplans Big blue book and the bigger Kaplan book from an actual class I took)
• For Chemistry and General Chemistry I feel like Kaplans BBB and the class book is enough along with DAT Destroyer
• For PAT I am worried that maybe Kaplan isn't good enough. Is Crack PAT worth $100? I just feel bad because I currently don't have a job and my parents are paying for it.
• Also I am worried about the math section. Is the Destroyer math book worth the money? The 2011 DAT destroyer contains some math problems and I thought that maybe it wasn't worth buying the actual separate Math book.
  
  
  Cheers!

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

Cliffs is like 10 bucks on amazon.

The dat is all about practicing problems. The more you practice the more prepared you'll be.

Most people would recommend all of the above.
Get the 5 test version of cpd if you can't afford the 10 tests one.
And you will need QR practice if you're worried about it.

I haven't seen someone wing a 21+ DAT before.
Everyone who scored that high provided extensive breakdowns using all of the above you mentioned + more.

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

Who's gonna pay for your application fees, secondaries and plane tickets to interviews? Those are much larger expenses than what you're worrying about right now.

 

[LetsGo2DSchool]

There are people who score 22s with just KBB and Destroyer. CDP will be a plus.

Also, the more you buy, the more time you will need to get thru all the material so there's a time issue.

In a perfect world, we could afford all the resources and have all the time to prepare. But very few of us do so in essence, it's a tradeoff of picking the materials that will give you the most bang for your buck while still being affordable.

 

[LetsGo2DSchool]

Who's gonna pay for your application fees, secondaries and plane tickets to interviews? Those are much larger expenses than what you're worrying about right now.

True, but everything adds up so a $100 here and $100 there could pay for some of these later expenses.

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

200$ isn't much on a 200k+ debt
I hope we can agree on that.

22 with just Kaplan for pat? Must be extremely rare. I've heard horror stories of people who score less than 17 on PAT relying on solely on Kaplan.

 

[LetsGo2DSchool]

200$ isn't much on a 200k+ debt
I hope we can agree on that.

22 with just Kaplan for pat? Must be extremely rare. I've heard horror stories of people who score less than 17 on PAT relying on solely on Kaplan.

Of course in the grand scheme of things $200 is nothing on a $200K debt, but that $200K debt doesn't need to get paid back until after you become a DMD/DDS when you're earning $200K/year.

The money needed to pay for prep materials, applications, airplane tix needs to be paid now meaning you have to be able to afford it now and not 5 years down the road.

The 22 reference I made pertained to the sections other than PAT; perhaps I should've been more specific. My comment toward CDP was aimed at scoring a 22 and you could have assumed that was my intent.

Sometimes you need to read things not so literally on a message board as posters are typing quickly without putting much thought into the clarity of their sentences.

 

[ajhalls3]

200$ isn't much on a 200k+ debt
I hope we can agree on that.

200K is only if you are lucky enough to get into a state school, Midwestern adds up to 95K per year for the 4 years plus anything your come out of undergrad and the application cycle with.

It is funny how people are willing to pay the personal price to do well like studying hard, but are unwilling to invest in good material to reach thier dreams. If you have good material and are confident then you are fine, if you are struggling in a topic, don't look back - invest in yourself and do well so you don't have to take another round of studying, another round of LOR's and another round off work, and most importantly another year away from acceptance.

I personally bought CDP, SKF review, KBB, Topscore, Achiever and always considered it money well spent since I was accepted Dec 1.