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- Jan 5, 2014
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Hello everyone!!!
I just wanted to post a mini breakdown to help anyone who’s taking the DAT soon. I took the DAT Friday, and have heavily relied on post breakdowns in the past. I didn’t get 23+, like a lot of people that post on here seem to score, but hopefully my experience will be helpful for someone....so this is my contribution to the community!
I scored a 20AA
PAT 22
QR 19
RC 23
BIO 21
GC 17
OC 20
TS 20
I'm currently a Master's student and my classes ended July 27th, so I couldn't start studying for the DAT until then. ~Just some background on me~ I took the DAT for the first time Feb 2014 and I scored an 18 (PAT 19, QR 18, RC 19, Bio 18, GC 18, OC 18, TS 18). I studied for 2 more months, retook the DAT in June 2014, and scored a 19 (PAT 22, QR 17, RC 22, BIO 17, GC 18, OC 19, TS 18, AA 19). That was my senior year of college and I also applied with that score for the 2015 cycle but did not receive interview invites. My undergrad science GPA was 2.9 but my grad GPA has been a 3.6. I honestly believe my Bio and QR scores were higher because of the graduate program I am in. I go to Rutgers GSBS in Newark, and although I had to make a big move to come to this school I have honestly grown into a much stronger student. I would advise anyone who’s been denied to dental school or isn't a competitive applicant to consider getting a Masters degree. That being said, I’ve applied this cycle and I’ll let y’all know if the Masters ends up being worth it in the end.
Anyway, this post is for the people who don’t have as much time to study. It seems like everyone on here studies 2 + months, but I think that if you are diligent and productive, you can score well with less time. Ideally you don’t have to take the DAT 3 times like I did…. so my advice to anyone who’s taking the DAT for the first time is to study like you know you cant retake it. I think the first two times I took the DAT, I knew in the back of my mind that there was always the option of retaking it and so I was chill about it. This time around I couldn’t reschedule or retake the test, so I knew I needed to work hard to get the score I want.
Before I go into what resources I used, I want to mention that I am not sure what happened during the Gen Chem section. I had a brief moment where I panicked because I thought I was running out of time, and I rushed through some questions…. So I think that’s may be why my score was so low for GC..... But in all honestly I thought the questions were fair, and I am pretty confident that if I had taken time to review those questions (like I did for BIO and OC before my time was up) that I would have made a better score.
Chads GC/OC: 10/10
I watched Chad’s videos for GC/OC the first week and frequently referred back to my notes throughout the rest of my study time. My advice to fully utilize the Chads resources is to do the quizzes, complete GC/OC Destroyer, and then to complete Chad’s quizzes again (you will be surprised by how much easier it is).
Destroyer Bio: 10/10
I started going through DAT BIO Destroyer literally day 1 of my studies. I completed 30 questions a day (later amping it up to 40), quizzing myself, and reading the sections in the Kaplan book that were relevant to questions I missed. As I went through Bio Destroyer I wrote answers in a notebook and for the past month I seriously took that notebook EVERYWHERE with me to read it whenever I had the chance (on the treadmill, train, ubers, etc). I word-for-word saw questions on my exam that were also in Bio Destroyer, so I definitely recommend this resource to other test takers. Don't ignore anything.
Destroyer GC/OC: 8/10
I went through the GC and OC sections of the DAT Destroyer twice in 10 days (60 questions for both a day). It was pretty overwhelming at first, but I definitely think it helped me understand how questions are structured and how to answer them. These questions will kill your confidence, but just power through. You will be a better student because of it. THE ROADMAPS ARE EVERYTHING. I reviewed them the week before my exam and especially the morning of my test.
Cliffs AP Bio 5/10
Honestly everyone really loves this book and I don't know why. I would say that most of the questions I had on the DAT were not covered in this book. I’m not sure if Ari’s chapter-by-chapter study guide schedule of going through this book is worth it in my opinion. I used Cliffs to study the past two times I took the DAT, but this time around I only used it as a reference if I needed more info on a section which I did maybe twice (for kidneys and photosynthesis).
Kaplan blue book for BIO 10/10
I took a DAT course with Kaplan back in 2014, and kept the huge blue book they give their students. The book is HUGE and long, with chapters that go in detail on every subject of the DAT. I am confident that the BIO section of this book covered 98% of the questions that were on my actual DAT. I used this book as a reference during my studying alongside Bio Destroyer. When I first started studying I read the section in the book that was relevant to my bio destroyer questions for that day until eventually the subjects began to repeat, and I felt comfortable with my knowledge on that topic.
Craig Savage Videos 10/10
Random... but I used Craig Savage videos on Youtube for Bio Diversity, and I know it helped me with at least 2 questions on my actual DAT. The videos are kinda weird haha ... but their chart that breaks up all the dif animal groups really helped me understand bio diversity. Cliffs/Feralis just didn’t go into enough detail for me to grasp the concept
QR Destroyer 10/10
Do the questions, and the review the ones that gave you trouble. I did all of these questions twice, along with the first two Math Destroyer tests and definteily saw similar questions on my actual DAT.
Bootcamp 10/10
Bootcamp is a wonderful resource, but my advice to future DAT test takers is to take practice exam scores with a grain of salt. I was freaking out over how low my BC scores were, and looking back... I think it was a huge waste of time. As long as you are LEARNING from the mistakes you make you should be fine. If you get it wrong the first time it’s okay, but don’t get that question/concept wrong a second time. Go through each problem multiple times if you need to so that if you came across something similar on the real exam you would be able to ace it.
I completed Bootcamp tests for every subject except reading. I am generally a strong reader and just felt like the RC practice tests were a waste of my time, so I can’t really attest to how accurate they are, but judging from the other tests I am sure it’s a good practice for the real test.
I think Bootcamp PAT is a little harder than the actual DAT… but also that it definitely prepared me for test day. I also feel the same about QR.
QVault 10/10
I really really really liked Qvault questions. I thought their Math and PAT were exactly on par with the level of difficulty I saw on my real DAT (especially their weird keyholes). I also went over Bio and OC questions with Qvault. Interestingly…. I didn’t go through Qvault’s GC questions. Considering I didn’t do very well in GC I can’t help but wonder if the missing out on the extra practice was what caused my GC score to drop? I'm not sure.
I didn't study for RC, but I would recommend just reading as much as you can to prep for that section. I think my exposure to wordy research articles in my Masters courses definitely helped prepare me for reading comprehension. Also I am very into politics, and frequently read lengthy Hillary/Trump analysis articles that I believe helped me get through the RC section of the DAT. With RC on the DAT, I think the most important thing is to be able to get past “big words” to search for the answer you need. For this section I quickly skimmed the article and would highlight words that were important topics of each paragraph. Then I would go through the questions and come back to the article to find the answers I needed.
Also for those of you that are interested these are my practice exam scores. Shout out to @Endeross for posting your practice scores!! After every test I would check your practice exam scores to see how similar they were to your actual DAT in an effort calm down lol. Moral of the story, I think if you push through the wrong answers and make sure you fully understand the correct answers, you will be solid for the DAT.
Bootcamp:
Bio: 24/18/19/18/22
GC: 18/18/20/18/19
OC: 16/17/20/19
PAT: 20/20/20/20
QR: 18/17/16/16
Qvault:
Bio: 21/20
OC: 19/20/19
QR: 20
I hope this helps someone! Feel free to message or post on here if you have questions for me and I will get back to you.
Good luck to anyone who’s studying!! You got this
I just wanted to post a mini breakdown to help anyone who’s taking the DAT soon. I took the DAT Friday, and have heavily relied on post breakdowns in the past. I didn’t get 23+, like a lot of people that post on here seem to score, but hopefully my experience will be helpful for someone....so this is my contribution to the community!
I scored a 20AA
PAT 22
QR 19
RC 23
BIO 21
GC 17
OC 20
TS 20
I'm currently a Master's student and my classes ended July 27th, so I couldn't start studying for the DAT until then. ~Just some background on me~ I took the DAT for the first time Feb 2014 and I scored an 18 (PAT 19, QR 18, RC 19, Bio 18, GC 18, OC 18, TS 18). I studied for 2 more months, retook the DAT in June 2014, and scored a 19 (PAT 22, QR 17, RC 22, BIO 17, GC 18, OC 19, TS 18, AA 19). That was my senior year of college and I also applied with that score for the 2015 cycle but did not receive interview invites. My undergrad science GPA was 2.9 but my grad GPA has been a 3.6. I honestly believe my Bio and QR scores were higher because of the graduate program I am in. I go to Rutgers GSBS in Newark, and although I had to make a big move to come to this school I have honestly grown into a much stronger student. I would advise anyone who’s been denied to dental school or isn't a competitive applicant to consider getting a Masters degree. That being said, I’ve applied this cycle and I’ll let y’all know if the Masters ends up being worth it in the end.
Anyway, this post is for the people who don’t have as much time to study. It seems like everyone on here studies 2 + months, but I think that if you are diligent and productive, you can score well with less time. Ideally you don’t have to take the DAT 3 times like I did…. so my advice to anyone who’s taking the DAT for the first time is to study like you know you cant retake it. I think the first two times I took the DAT, I knew in the back of my mind that there was always the option of retaking it and so I was chill about it. This time around I couldn’t reschedule or retake the test, so I knew I needed to work hard to get the score I want.
Before I go into what resources I used, I want to mention that I am not sure what happened during the Gen Chem section. I had a brief moment where I panicked because I thought I was running out of time, and I rushed through some questions…. So I think that’s may be why my score was so low for GC..... But in all honestly I thought the questions were fair, and I am pretty confident that if I had taken time to review those questions (like I did for BIO and OC before my time was up) that I would have made a better score.
Chads GC/OC: 10/10
I watched Chad’s videos for GC/OC the first week and frequently referred back to my notes throughout the rest of my study time. My advice to fully utilize the Chads resources is to do the quizzes, complete GC/OC Destroyer, and then to complete Chad’s quizzes again (you will be surprised by how much easier it is).
Destroyer Bio: 10/10
I started going through DAT BIO Destroyer literally day 1 of my studies. I completed 30 questions a day (later amping it up to 40), quizzing myself, and reading the sections in the Kaplan book that were relevant to questions I missed. As I went through Bio Destroyer I wrote answers in a notebook and for the past month I seriously took that notebook EVERYWHERE with me to read it whenever I had the chance (on the treadmill, train, ubers, etc). I word-for-word saw questions on my exam that were also in Bio Destroyer, so I definitely recommend this resource to other test takers. Don't ignore anything.
Destroyer GC/OC: 8/10
I went through the GC and OC sections of the DAT Destroyer twice in 10 days (60 questions for both a day). It was pretty overwhelming at first, but I definitely think it helped me understand how questions are structured and how to answer them. These questions will kill your confidence, but just power through. You will be a better student because of it. THE ROADMAPS ARE EVERYTHING. I reviewed them the week before my exam and especially the morning of my test.
Cliffs AP Bio 5/10
Honestly everyone really loves this book and I don't know why. I would say that most of the questions I had on the DAT were not covered in this book. I’m not sure if Ari’s chapter-by-chapter study guide schedule of going through this book is worth it in my opinion. I used Cliffs to study the past two times I took the DAT, but this time around I only used it as a reference if I needed more info on a section which I did maybe twice (for kidneys and photosynthesis).
Kaplan blue book for BIO 10/10
I took a DAT course with Kaplan back in 2014, and kept the huge blue book they give their students. The book is HUGE and long, with chapters that go in detail on every subject of the DAT. I am confident that the BIO section of this book covered 98% of the questions that were on my actual DAT. I used this book as a reference during my studying alongside Bio Destroyer. When I first started studying I read the section in the book that was relevant to my bio destroyer questions for that day until eventually the subjects began to repeat, and I felt comfortable with my knowledge on that topic.
Craig Savage Videos 10/10
Random... but I used Craig Savage videos on Youtube for Bio Diversity, and I know it helped me with at least 2 questions on my actual DAT. The videos are kinda weird haha ... but their chart that breaks up all the dif animal groups really helped me understand bio diversity. Cliffs/Feralis just didn’t go into enough detail for me to grasp the concept
QR Destroyer 10/10
Do the questions, and the review the ones that gave you trouble. I did all of these questions twice, along with the first two Math Destroyer tests and definteily saw similar questions on my actual DAT.
Bootcamp 10/10
Bootcamp is a wonderful resource, but my advice to future DAT test takers is to take practice exam scores with a grain of salt. I was freaking out over how low my BC scores were, and looking back... I think it was a huge waste of time. As long as you are LEARNING from the mistakes you make you should be fine. If you get it wrong the first time it’s okay, but don’t get that question/concept wrong a second time. Go through each problem multiple times if you need to so that if you came across something similar on the real exam you would be able to ace it.
I completed Bootcamp tests for every subject except reading. I am generally a strong reader and just felt like the RC practice tests were a waste of my time, so I can’t really attest to how accurate they are, but judging from the other tests I am sure it’s a good practice for the real test.
I think Bootcamp PAT is a little harder than the actual DAT… but also that it definitely prepared me for test day. I also feel the same about QR.
QVault 10/10
I really really really liked Qvault questions. I thought their Math and PAT were exactly on par with the level of difficulty I saw on my real DAT (especially their weird keyholes). I also went over Bio and OC questions with Qvault. Interestingly…. I didn’t go through Qvault’s GC questions. Considering I didn’t do very well in GC I can’t help but wonder if the missing out on the extra practice was what caused my GC score to drop? I'm not sure.
I didn't study for RC, but I would recommend just reading as much as you can to prep for that section. I think my exposure to wordy research articles in my Masters courses definitely helped prepare me for reading comprehension. Also I am very into politics, and frequently read lengthy Hillary/Trump analysis articles that I believe helped me get through the RC section of the DAT. With RC on the DAT, I think the most important thing is to be able to get past “big words” to search for the answer you need. For this section I quickly skimmed the article and would highlight words that were important topics of each paragraph. Then I would go through the questions and come back to the article to find the answers I needed.
Also for those of you that are interested these are my practice exam scores. Shout out to @Endeross for posting your practice scores!! After every test I would check your practice exam scores to see how similar they were to your actual DAT in an effort calm down lol. Moral of the story, I think if you push through the wrong answers and make sure you fully understand the correct answers, you will be solid for the DAT.
Bootcamp:
Bio: 24/18/19/18/22
GC: 18/18/20/18/19
OC: 16/17/20/19
PAT: 20/20/20/20
QR: 18/17/16/16
Qvault:
Bio: 21/20
OC: 19/20/19
QR: 20
I hope this helps someone! Feel free to message or post on here if you have questions for me and I will get back to you.
Good luck to anyone who’s studying!! You got this
