This will be a long breakdown!
I want to thank everyone on SDN for all their breakdowns and support!
This is the second time taking the DAT. I took the DAT in August of 2010 while rushing it so I can get my application through.
DAT 2010
Bio: 18
Chem 18
Ochem 20
RC 21
QR 18
PAT 24
TS 19
AA 19
I think I had a pretty easy version the first time I took it. I applied to 18 schools, my application didn't go through until mid September. Landed 2 post December interview, but was waitlisted. Applied to the SFSU Post-bacc interviewed, but got rejected. So here I was back to ground zero.
I had a full-time job at a dental office as a front desk receptionist, office manager, and did billing. However, I quit the job moved back home so I could study full-time.
DAT 2011
Bio: 20 (88%)
G-Chem: 26 (98.8%)
O-Chem: 21 (85.7)
Pat: 24 (98.1%)
RC: 19 (52.2)
QR: 19 (91.2)
TS: 22 (95.6)
AA: 21 (93.4)
Started studying at the beginning October, Monday through Friday from 1pm - 12 am. (Test was registered for 1:30pm) Always took Saturday and Sunday off to relax and hang out with the family. (I think this really helped me from going insane)
However, after the first month I started using a stopwatch to keep track of how many hours I actually studied. It was suggested by a fellow SDNer. By keeping track with a stopwatch, I only averaged about 5.5-6.5 hours a day. This is something I highly recommend, to see if you are really studying.
Followed Dentalworks 8 week program to begin with, but the daily schedule was too slow for me so I watched more videos per day.
Biol (20): Materials used; Cliffs, Barrons, DAT Destroyer, and DAT QVault. I am really surprised on the score I received, a lot of the questions were straight forward. However, I had a lot of the questions marked. Cliffs was great and very detailed, Barron was good and was easy to read. What I did here was read one chapter of Barrons then read one chapter of Cliffs afterwards. DAT Destroyer was good for all the random details. DAT Qvault was great, I did all 10 tests averaged 18-19 and never cracked 20. DAT Qvault is an amazing resource because of how nice it is setup with the solutions. They often give you tips on remembering certain concepts. I had a question on the DAT that was almost word for word from Qvault. The one thing I really enjoyed using Qvault for was eliminating the wrong answer choices.
I almost rescheduled my DAT on Monday night because I felt like I wasn't ready for the Biology section, but I already booked my hotel which was non-refundable. So I told myself to just relax and sleep on it. Thought about it some more and told myself, I would never be ready for the Bio section.
Gchem (26): Chads and Destroyer, these are the only two items you need for both Chem sections. I used chad the first month to review and did Destroyer 4.5 times. Not much to describe here, but PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. I honestly thought I did horrible on the gchem section during the test, I guess I knew more than I thought.
Ochem (21): Chad and Destroyer. Did destroyer 5 times, I did better than the first time I took the DAT, but while I was taking the DAT I was thinking that this ochem section has been one of the hardest sections I've taken. I'm glad I received the score I did.
PAT (24): Crack DAT. I got the royal flush edition last year and reused it. I only went through 7 practice tests this time around and got within 22-25. I barely studied for this as I already had a pretty good grasp on it. Mainly used it so I won't be rusty as it showed the first few tests I took even though I was still getting a 22 or 23. For all of those who are having trouble with this section, just practice and you will be fine. When I first started last year it took me 1 hour to get through just 45 questions. But I just practiced and practiced.
Break: I used it just to calm myself down because I felt like I blew the Sciences. I told myself to suck it up and just try to do well on the RC.
RC (19): Topscore and Crack RC. Both were great resources because with Topscore you get your SnD and with Crack RC you get all those other questions. Used it to practice my timing, as I already knew what worked for me because of the 21 I received the first time I took it. These passages were definitely harder than when I first took the DAT. When I first took the DAT, all the passages were 14 paragraphs and they were all easy reads. The first passage I read was very dense, took me 20 minutes to read and get through the questions. Then second passage came up and it said ETHICS… I s**t myself and said crap I'm really going to have to retake this damn test!!!!! Took me 25 minutes to get through this very long and tough passage. I knew I only had 15 minutes left to answer almost 20 questions and read the last passage so I just did search and destroy. Found all the answers and was definitely the best choice because it was definitely an easy passage to search and destroy.
QR (19): Math Destroyer and Chad. Chad was just so and so, but Math Destroyer was key. The test wasn't too bad I felt like I knew most of the questions, but I guess I didn't know enough to get more than a 19.
What I did different the second time.
The first time I took it I was going to use DentalWorks 8 week program, but didn't and just said I'll study using my own method. I studied one subject at a time. Spent one week on gchem another week on another subject. This didn't turn out to well.
I actually had a plan and schedule. As mentioned above I used DentalWorks 8 weeks as a foundation. Used it the first couple of days, but decided that going at that pace I wasn't getting enough done in one day so I kicked it up a notch. Make sure you make adjustments that will work for you. I studied all subjects every single day instead focusing one subject at a time. I spent more time with Destroyer and actually did Destroyer Bio. The first time I took it, some people said destroyer is too much and had a whole bunch of random information so I ignored it. I also got Barron's Bio so I had another source of Biology.
Topscore 1 took it on November 18:
Bio-18, Chem-17, Ochem-18, Pat-23, RC-18, QR-18
Topscore 2 took it last week:
Bio-18, Chem-18, Ochem-19, didn't do Pat, RC-18, QR-18
Topscore 3 took it 3 days ago:
Bio-17, Chem 17, Ochem-25, QR-18.
ADA 2007 – forgot what I got, it was way too easy for chem and ochem. On par for Bio
ADA 2009 (paid) – Took it a week ago.
Bio – 21, Chem-21, Ochem-19, Pat-25, RC-18, QR-15
Sorry for the long break down, I wrote it hoping to help someone who will be taking the DAT soon. If I can do it, you can too!!! I'm not a smart person, just studied hard. I really wished I got around a 22-23, just like everyone else, but I am satisfied with my scores and will not be retaking it again. I will be re-applying again June 2012. Hopefully it works out better for me this time around.
If you have any questions feel free to ask me on here or pm me.
I want to thank everyone on SDN for all their breakdowns and support!
This is the second time taking the DAT. I took the DAT in August of 2010 while rushing it so I can get my application through.
DAT 2010
Bio: 18
Chem 18
Ochem 20
RC 21
QR 18
PAT 24
TS 19
AA 19
I think I had a pretty easy version the first time I took it. I applied to 18 schools, my application didn't go through until mid September. Landed 2 post December interview, but was waitlisted. Applied to the SFSU Post-bacc interviewed, but got rejected. So here I was back to ground zero.
I had a full-time job at a dental office as a front desk receptionist, office manager, and did billing. However, I quit the job moved back home so I could study full-time.
DAT 2011
Bio: 20 (88%)
G-Chem: 26 (98.8%)
O-Chem: 21 (85.7)
Pat: 24 (98.1%)
RC: 19 (52.2)
QR: 19 (91.2)
TS: 22 (95.6)
AA: 21 (93.4)
Started studying at the beginning October, Monday through Friday from 1pm - 12 am. (Test was registered for 1:30pm) Always took Saturday and Sunday off to relax and hang out with the family. (I think this really helped me from going insane)
However, after the first month I started using a stopwatch to keep track of how many hours I actually studied. It was suggested by a fellow SDNer. By keeping track with a stopwatch, I only averaged about 5.5-6.5 hours a day. This is something I highly recommend, to see if you are really studying.
Followed Dentalworks 8 week program to begin with, but the daily schedule was too slow for me so I watched more videos per day.
Biol (20): Materials used; Cliffs, Barrons, DAT Destroyer, and DAT QVault. I am really surprised on the score I received, a lot of the questions were straight forward. However, I had a lot of the questions marked. Cliffs was great and very detailed, Barron was good and was easy to read. What I did here was read one chapter of Barrons then read one chapter of Cliffs afterwards. DAT Destroyer was good for all the random details. DAT Qvault was great, I did all 10 tests averaged 18-19 and never cracked 20. DAT Qvault is an amazing resource because of how nice it is setup with the solutions. They often give you tips on remembering certain concepts. I had a question on the DAT that was almost word for word from Qvault. The one thing I really enjoyed using Qvault for was eliminating the wrong answer choices.
I almost rescheduled my DAT on Monday night because I felt like I wasn't ready for the Biology section, but I already booked my hotel which was non-refundable. So I told myself to just relax and sleep on it. Thought about it some more and told myself, I would never be ready for the Bio section.
Gchem (26): Chads and Destroyer, these are the only two items you need for both Chem sections. I used chad the first month to review and did Destroyer 4.5 times. Not much to describe here, but PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. I honestly thought I did horrible on the gchem section during the test, I guess I knew more than I thought.
Ochem (21): Chad and Destroyer. Did destroyer 5 times, I did better than the first time I took the DAT, but while I was taking the DAT I was thinking that this ochem section has been one of the hardest sections I've taken. I'm glad I received the score I did.
PAT (24): Crack DAT. I got the royal flush edition last year and reused it. I only went through 7 practice tests this time around and got within 22-25. I barely studied for this as I already had a pretty good grasp on it. Mainly used it so I won't be rusty as it showed the first few tests I took even though I was still getting a 22 or 23. For all of those who are having trouble with this section, just practice and you will be fine. When I first started last year it took me 1 hour to get through just 45 questions. But I just practiced and practiced.
Break: I used it just to calm myself down because I felt like I blew the Sciences. I told myself to suck it up and just try to do well on the RC.
RC (19): Topscore and Crack RC. Both were great resources because with Topscore you get your SnD and with Crack RC you get all those other questions. Used it to practice my timing, as I already knew what worked for me because of the 21 I received the first time I took it. These passages were definitely harder than when I first took the DAT. When I first took the DAT, all the passages were 14 paragraphs and they were all easy reads. The first passage I read was very dense, took me 20 minutes to read and get through the questions. Then second passage came up and it said ETHICS… I s**t myself and said crap I'm really going to have to retake this damn test!!!!! Took me 25 minutes to get through this very long and tough passage. I knew I only had 15 minutes left to answer almost 20 questions and read the last passage so I just did search and destroy. Found all the answers and was definitely the best choice because it was definitely an easy passage to search and destroy.
QR (19): Math Destroyer and Chad. Chad was just so and so, but Math Destroyer was key. The test wasn't too bad I felt like I knew most of the questions, but I guess I didn't know enough to get more than a 19.
What I did different the second time.
The first time I took it I was going to use DentalWorks 8 week program, but didn't and just said I'll study using my own method. I studied one subject at a time. Spent one week on gchem another week on another subject. This didn't turn out to well.
I actually had a plan and schedule. As mentioned above I used DentalWorks 8 weeks as a foundation. Used it the first couple of days, but decided that going at that pace I wasn't getting enough done in one day so I kicked it up a notch. Make sure you make adjustments that will work for you. I studied all subjects every single day instead focusing one subject at a time. I spent more time with Destroyer and actually did Destroyer Bio. The first time I took it, some people said destroyer is too much and had a whole bunch of random information so I ignored it. I also got Barron's Bio so I had another source of Biology.
Topscore 1 took it on November 18:
Bio-18, Chem-17, Ochem-18, Pat-23, RC-18, QR-18
Topscore 2 took it last week:
Bio-18, Chem-18, Ochem-19, didn't do Pat, RC-18, QR-18
Topscore 3 took it 3 days ago:
Bio-17, Chem 17, Ochem-25, QR-18.
ADA 2007 – forgot what I got, it was way too easy for chem and ochem. On par for Bio
ADA 2009 (paid) – Took it a week ago.
Bio – 21, Chem-21, Ochem-19, Pat-25, RC-18, QR-15
Sorry for the long break down, I wrote it hoping to help someone who will be taking the DAT soon. If I can do it, you can too!!! I'm not a smart person, just studied hard. I really wished I got around a 22-23, just like everyone else, but I am satisfied with my scores and will not be retaking it again. I will be re-applying again June 2012. Hopefully it works out better for me this time around.
If you have any questions feel free to ask me on here or pm me.
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