To the people who have recently taken the DAT....similarity with BC?

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virtualmaster999

virtualmaster999

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Hi all!

So my exam is in 3 days (oh gawd)!

How have you guys found the DAT to be in comparison to BC (for any/ all sections)? I know that BC is similar in format/ difficulty to the exam, but I just wanted to hear some feedback from recent test takers.

Anything helps!

Thanks in advance!!
 
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Haven't taken the DAT so take this with a grain of salt, but I've heard the RC, PAT and QR are very hard on BC compared to the real thing. From what I've read, the sciences are just about spot on, but it seems like most people do score a little higher on the real thing than they did on BC. That could be because of difficulty or because it's the real thing and you try a little harder. I guess we will both find out soon! Good luck!
 
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ThunderSplash said:
Haven't taken the DAT so take this with a grain of salt, but I've heard the RC, PAT and QR are very hard on BC compared to the real thing. From what I've read, the sciences are just about spot on, but it seems like most people do score a little higher on the real thing than they did on BC. That could be because of difficulty or because it's the real thing and you try a little harder. I guess we will both find out soon! Good luck!
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Thank you, same to you!
 
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Hey! First off, good luck, and just remember how hard you have worked, and stay confident in your approach. Do not spend a lot of time second guessing yourself, as it will generally just hurt. DAT BC is legit. So legit, that it in fact cannot quit. The PAT section is so good, I got like for my last 5 tests on PAT BC 18/19/19/20/20 and got a 24 on the real thing. Spend time using all the generators that Ari has put up, they are incredibly helpful, and are great review for a day or two before you take the exam.
The Math section is way harder. The final QR section I took on BC it said "Score Less than 16," and I got a 19 on the real DAT. I also suck at math generally, though.
The sciences are great and I would spend time going under each concept set of questions and making sure you understand why the answers are what they are, and why the others are not correct. Make sure you also watch any video solutions for Orgo if you have trouble, I did not see them until the day before my exam and spent a lot of time going over them (scored a 23 on OC). The GC section is great too, and I was even surprised by my score because I felt most comfortable on GC going into he exam, but I just got a harder version I think. RC is also great on BC as well, it was a little harder than the real one, but I have always been good at RC too, so maybe it was just me.
Overall, DAT BC should be a staple in your study arsenal because it is that comparable to the real thing (only it's a little harder) and its a great overall resource to have. Good Luck on your exam, and don't worry, you'll CRUSH it!
 
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The Dentanator said:
Hey! First off, good luck, and just remember how hard you have worked, and stay confident in your approach. Do not spend a lot of time second guessing yourself, as it will generally just hurt. DAT BC is legit. So legit, that it in fact cannot quit. The PAT section is so good, I got like for my last 5 tests on PAT BC 18/19/19/20/20 and got a 24 on the real thing. Spend time using all the generators that Ari has put up, they are incredibly helpful, and are great review for a day or two before you take the exam.
The Math section is way harder. The final QR section I took on BC it said "Score Less than 16," and I got a 19 on the real DAT. I also suck at math generally, though.
The sciences are great and I would spend time going under each concept set of questions and making sure you understand why the answers are what they are, and why the others are not correct. Make sure you also watch any video solutions for Orgo if you have trouble, I did not see them until the day before my exam and spent a lot of time going over them (scored a 23 on OC). The GC section is great too, and I was even surprised by my score because I felt most comfortable on GC going into he exam, but I just got a harder version I think. RC is also great on BC as well, it was a little harder than the real one, but I have always been good at RC too, so maybe it was just me.
Overall, DAT BC should be a staple in your study arsenal because it is that comparable to the real thing (only it's a little harder) and its a great overall resource to have. Good Luck on your exam, and don't worry, you'll CRUSH it!
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Thank you! Really appreciate the valuable advice- great job on your exam btw!
 
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cacajuate said:
Chads quizzes are most representative for the OC portion.

You got this. Will be interested to see what you score.
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Thank you, I appreciate the positivity! I really hope this goes well! I'll let everyone know how it went as soon as Im done Tue afternoon.
 
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cacajuate said:
Yes, they are very close to it. The GC ones are pretty dang close also.

I thought Chads were most representative for GC/OC. BC for bio.
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I agree. I did all of his 372 GC questions and 366 OC questions a few days before my exam and I thought it helped tremendously. It doesn't feel as repetitive since all the topics are in random order, and it really really makes things stick.

RC and PAT were much easier on the real thing (got +3 points than my BC averages, in both sections). I'm sure you read about the "rocks" for the keyhole section. I would recommend just marking them and coming back to them later. I stayed away from reading SDN before my test and didn't know about them, and I ended up spending way too much time on keyholes staring at those oddly shaped things.

Before your test, I would recommend trying out the DAT Genius PAT. I only did the first test using the free trial, but I felt it best represented the real deal (aside from the aforementioned "rocks"). The score prediction was accurate for me too.

QR was weird for me. I know EVERYONE says that BC is much harder than the real thing, but it was the opposite for me. I had a lot of time consuming problems and ended up running out of time, an issue I never had with BC. My BC average was around 25 but I got a 23 on the real thing. I think I was just unlucky. Or maybe I was getting tired by that time.
 
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ArugulaSalad said:
I agree. I did all of his 372 GC questions and 366 OC questions a few days before my exam and I thought it helped tremendously. Doesn't feel as repetitive since all the topics are in random order, and it really really makes things stick.

RC and PAT were much easier on the real thing (got +3 points than my BC averages, in both sections). I'm sure you read about the "rocks" for the keyhole section. I would recommend just marking them and coming back to them later. I stayed away from reading SDN before my test and didn't know about them, and I ended up spending way too much time on keyholes staring at those oddly shaped things.

Before your test, I would recommend trying out the DAT Genius PAT. I only did the first test using the free trial, but I felt it best represented the real deal (aside from the aforementioned "rocks"). The score prediction was accurate for me too.

For QR, it was weird for me. I know EVERYONE says that BC is much harder than the real thing, but it was the opposite for me. I had a lot of time consuming problems and ended up running out of time, a problem which I never had in BC. My BC average was around 25 but got a 23 on the real thing. I think I was just unlucky. Or maybe I was getting tired by that time.
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Man qr seems to be the biggest wild card
 
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Hey! Even though I just joined today, I've been stalking the dental forums for a while. I took the DAT just last Monday, and I'd have to say BC was pretty much spot on. My lowest was QR sadly...this score however was equal to the lowest I ever got on BC which was 19. Everything else was above a 20. I think my QR suffered because it was the last section and I suddenly remembered I would find out my scores after this section so...commence heart pounding lol I would have to say, for my version of the test at least, that the real QR was the same difficulty as the BC QR. But don't worry! I had one of many versions so hope you luck out x) other than that, BC was perfect for everything else. Oh I got 22 AA, 22 TS on the real deal whereas on BC I averaged 18-19 AA and TS. Other than that, good luck! I felt like I knew nothing walking into the test...but guessed it worked out lol also, I highly recommend going through the tutorial in the beginning to allow time for your brain to settle down and get used to the environment in which you will be stuck in for the next 5 hours XD
 
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cacajuate said:
Yes, they are very close to it. The GC ones are pretty dang close also.

I thought Chads were most representative for GC/OC. BC for bio.
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Hi Guys! The quizzes you talk about, are they the ones at the end of each video? Or are there other quizzes I'm missing out on 🙂
 
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shiba_inu said:
Hi Guys! The quizzes you talk about, are they the ones at the end of each video? Or are there other quizzes I'm missing out on 🙂
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If you go to "DAT / PCAT Quizzes", you can take quizzes for each video or for all of GC/OC. There are also two practice DAT quizzes for GC and OC.
 
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Thanks, ArugulaSalad! I didn't know about those little quizzes either...just the ones right beside the videos.
 
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