Second Time DAT Taker

[Dental_Dream101]

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Hey guys, I have been lurking on this site for a long time and decided to finally make an account. So i studied for the DAT during summer and didn't do too well. I studied using the DAT destroyer, DAT genius and DAT Q Vault. Growing up i never really had a great childhood and worked through out my college career which didn't really help set a solid foundation. these are the grades i received the first time. I also have it attached.

PAT-20
QR-16
RC-17
Bio-18
GC 16
OC 17
TS 17
AA 17

So i have been determined to retake and destroy the DAT. i have been working very hard daily, i have finished all of destroyer and went through it throughly with notes, i am almost done with the DAT Math destroyer. I recently started DAT Qvault and also have Genius and Destroyer. i plan on finishing Qvault and then going through Destroyer one more time and then doing DAT genius FL practice tests and then DAT BC and finally retaking my DAT. Does anyone recommend a alternative game plan? i review my notes every night and sometimes take a day off to just review notes and watch videos on youtube.

my current DAT Qvault scores are
Bio 19,18,16,16,17,18,17,19,16,18
GC 17,18,18,18,18,15,17,18,19,17
OC 16,16,15,18,14,15,16,15,18
RC 18,20,18,19

I realized that my scores in ochem and bio aren't that great so the past 2 days i have been reviewing everything including my weaknesses.

I will be updating all my practice scores time to time. Any advice would be seriously appreciated.

_________________________________________________________________
1/22/2017

Hello guys, i just took the DAT two days ago.

Old score/New score
PAT 20/18 -2
QR 16/18 +2
RC 17/19 +2
Bio 18/19 +1
GC 16/19 +3
Ochem 17/19 +2

AA 17 /AA 19

Guys i know my new scores aren't that great but i am really happy with it. I never had a great foundation in the sciences. I was a finance major and loved finance through out high school and college. I know my scores aren't great but if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.

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[asdf99]

The first time you wrote, did you go through all of QVAULT, destroyer, and genius? Also, when did you write it ? This provides us with some more information
If you already did those tests before attempt #1, it may be a good idea to invest in bootcamp, that way you aren't repeating questions you've already seen before. Actually, regardless I recommend bootcamp just for some more practice.

Compared to other standardized exams, the DAT (in my opinion) is largely a test of content and recall. I do not want to come off like a jerk (and please let me know if I give a bad vibe) but judging by your practice scores, I'm sensing some holes in your content knowledge especially those sub-17 scores in organic. I never used QVault though so I'm not sure if their scaling is harsh. Before your first attempt what did you use for content review? Furthermore, what have you used for content review since attempt #1?

I've considered myself pretty privileged/lucky, so I have utmost respect for those that have to support themselves/work their way through college. We have all got this, one step at a time !
Although I tend not to mention it, I wrote the test 2 times and I was able to improve quite a bit the second time. You can do it!

EDIT: Going through destroyer more than once is actually good

 

[Dental_Dream101]

The first time you wrote, did you go through all of QVAULT, destroyer, and genius? Also, when did you write it ? This provides us with some more information
If you already did those tests before attempt #1, it may be a good idea to invest in bootcamp, that way you aren't repeating questions you've already seen before. Actually, regardless I recommend bootcamp just for some more practice.

Compared to other standardized exams, the DAT (in my opinion) is largely a test of content and recall. I do not want to come off like a jerk (and please let me know if I give a bad vibe) but judging by your practice scores, I'm sensing some holes in your content knowledge especially those sub-17 scores in organic. I never used QVault though so I'm not sure if their scaling is harsh. Before your first attempt what did you use for content review? Furthermore, what have you used for content review since attempt #1?

I've considered myself pretty privileged/lucky, so I have utmost respect for those that have to support themselves/work their way through college. We have all got this, one step at a time !
Although I tend not to mention it, I wrote the test 2 times and I was able to improve quite a bit the second time. You can do it!

EDIT: Going through destroyer more than once is actually good

Hey thanks a lot for the response, I did use the bootcamp, genius and Q Vault the first time. and have all 3 for the second time. I took the test 6/16/2016, so it has been a long time. I used chads for content and have bootcamp, destroyer, genius and Vault.

 

[asdf99]

Hey thanks a lot for the response, I did use the bootcamp, genius and Q Vault the first time. and have all 3 for the second time. I took the test 6/16/2016, so it has been a long time. I used chads for content and have bootcamp, destroyer, genius and Vault.

Hm I see.

How recent are your qvault scores?

 

[asdf99]

And when is your second test?

 

[Dental_Dream101]

I just started doing practice exams. Vault is from the last 6 days. MY PAT i am not worried about i am getting 20's.
I haven't scheduled my test but i was thinking i would be done with all the practice tests by the end of December so maybe early jan? i think my Qvault scores will go up because i think i filled more gaps the past 2 days by reviewing throughly.

 

[asdf99]

I just started doing practice exams. Vault is from the last 6 days. MY PAT i am not worried about i am getting 20's.
I haven't scheduled my test but i was thinking i would be done with all the practice tests by the end of December so maybe early jan? i think my Qvault scores will go up because i think i filled more gaps the past 2 days by reviewing throughly.

Ah solid. Yeah your PAT is clearly a strong suit, given your first test.

Maybe update us later on new practice scores so we can give you more advice. In the meantime though, I suggest you continue hammering content review to address any glaring holes in content knowledge.

Good luck

 

[Dentistry.masterd]

my first time taking the dat, i had worse scores than you! my advice would be to study/memorize feralis for the bio section but before you do that i would study/read thru cliffs ap bio. for orgo you can find pdf's of all the reactions you need to know for the dat online and make sure you memorize those forwards and backwards! i agree with asdf99, definitely invest in dat bootcamp! BUT don't start doing those if you don't know the material!! you need to have a foundation of the knowledge first before you do bootcamp, that way you'll get better scores and it will be easier to learn from the mistakes you make on those exams

 

[klownzo]

Hey OP here's some advice that will get you a solid score. Make sure you watch and take notes on all of Chad's videos for GC, OC, and QR. Now make sure you can go through his quizzes and know why you're getting the right answer. I would highly recommend memorizing every reaction that Chad provides in the reaction file. This is essential in my opinion. Once you have his quizzes down, start going through destroyer. Do 30 questions of GC and OC a day. Go through the solutions slowly and learn from them. Do not make the mistake of just marking what you got wrong. For QR, I used math destroyer. I would recommend doing 1 test a day and learning from your mistakes. Start off with cliffs for biology. Read every chapter and take notes or make flash cards on it. Personally I made flash cards for every term I didn't know and memorized them. Once you're at that point, you can slowly go through feralis. For PAT and RC, I would highly recommend purchasing bootcamp. It was my only source for those two sections and it helped me out a ton. Once you've gone through destroyer the first time and have a good handle on cliffs, I would start using bootcamp for full length practice exams. Spread them out until your test day. These are awesome and you will learn a ton. Read my breakdown for more details but if you follow this you'll be on track for an awesome score!

 

[Dental_Dream101]

Hey OP here's some advice that will get you a solid score. Make sure you watch and take notes on all of Chad's videos for GC, OC, and QR. Now make sure you can go through his quizzes and know why you're getting the right answer. I would highly recommend memorizing every reaction that Chad provides in the reaction file. This is essential in my opinion. Once you have his quizzes down, start going through destroyer. Do 30 questions of GC and OC a day. Go through the solutions slowly and learn from them. Do not make the mistake of just marking what you got wrong. For QR, I used math destroyer. I would recommend doing 1 test a day and learning from your mistakes. Start off with cliffs for biology. Read every chapter and take notes or make flash cards on it. Personally I made flash cards for every term I didn't know and memorized them. Once you're at that point, you can slowly go through feralis. For PAT and RC, I would highly recommend purchasing bootcamp. It was my only source for those two sections and it helped me out a ton. Once you've gone through destroyer the first time and have a good handle on cliffs, I would start using bootcamp for full length practice exams. Spread them out until your test day. These are awesome and you will learn a ton. Read my breakdown for more details but if you follow this you'll be on track for an awesome score!

Hey thanks a lot for your advice, i have gone through all of cliffs and memorizing 10 pages of feralis a day. i plan on doing this until 2 days before the test date. I know a lot of people say they are a slow learner but i am really a slow learner and i try really hard. i appreciate all the help and support from everyone here on SDN.

 

[LuckBloodandSweat]

You destroyed me on PAT. I stunk at learning that. Keep at it! Your materials are good just make sure you utilize it to the maximum possible extent and squeeze out everything you can for it.

 

[Dental_Dream101]

Hey guys, i updated the rest of my Qvault scores.

So i am not sure what to do, my scores are still really low. my test is in 30 days, I spent this weekend watching Chads videos again . my plan for the next 30 days is to redo Destroyer problems this coming week and then do a practice test every other day. I will first do genius and then DAT BC full length exams. i will use the day in between to review every subject and throughly review the areas i missed on full length. i will also starting tomorrow take a RC test, Math test and PAT test every day until my test.

I was wondering if y'all think i should approach this a different way or maybe do some things differently?

 

[asdf99]

Hey guys, i updated the rest of my Qvault scores.

So i am not sure what to do, my scores are still really low. my test is in 30 days, I spent this weekend watching Chads videos again . my plan for the next 30 days is to redo Destroyer problems this coming week and then do a practice test every other day. I will first do genius and then DAT BC full length exams. i will use the day in between to review every subject and throughly review the areas i missed on full length. i will also starting tomorrow take a RC test, Math test and PAT test every day until my test.

I was wondering if y'all think i should approach this a different way or maybe do some things differently?

Hmm. Depending on your other obligations, 30 days is quite quite a bit so stay positive.
Have you been thoroughly going over your mistakes from the practice tests? I think that it more important than watching videos that you have already done.

The last 5 qvault scores that you posted, how recent are they?

 

[8_man]

Hey guys, i updated the rest of my Qvault scores.

So i am not sure what to do, my scores are still really low. my test is in 30 days, I spent this weekend watching Chads videos again . my plan for the next 30 days is to redo Destroyer problems this coming week and then do a practice test every other day. I will first do genius and then DAT BC full length exams. i will use the day in between to review every subject and throughly review the areas i missed on full length. i will also starting tomorrow take a RC test, Math test and PAT test every day until my test.

I was wondering if y'all think i should approach this a different way or maybe do some things differently?

When I went through Bootcamp, a day was nowhere near enough time for me to review answers for a practice exam. I took 2-3 days to casually review and really understand the material, in addition to doing PAT generators and reviewing Chad's quizzes. I looked over every single answer choice for each Bootcamp question and read their answer breakdowns to see how they fit together in a larger context.

If what you're doing now feels manageable, then keep at it! But I would feel burnt out going at the pace you're describing.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Shoot me a PM with your phone number, i think it would benefit you greatly to join our GroupMe DAT chat