Use DAT inflation to increase your AA

[wantVCUdental]

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Being a desperate predent, like many of you reading this, i constantly browse predents and look at other people's profile. I have noticed the following:
some AA is seriously inflated, for example:
The difference between 25 and 30 on GC is just one question (only 1 point on TS) but it affects the AA by a whole point.
Similarly, in OC, the difference between 30 and 27 is also one question, again, only 1 point diffference in TS but 0.6 difference on AA.

The point is, if you want a high AA, just focus on 2 or 3 sections and aim for 30 😀 on those.

 

[FutureDent020]

wow, I never thought about that. That sucks.

 

[2PacClone23]

yeah but mastering those two-three sections is nearly impossible. a stupid mistake and ur down to a 25 like u said

 

[allstardentist]

getting a 30 on a section not only require extreme amount of studying but also need a bit of luck.

 

[prsndwg]

i think ochem is doable.. you have seen people getting 30s here..

 

[americanpierg]

i think ochem is doable.. you have seen people getting 30s here..

most people on this site get between 1-3 wrong in orgo/chem. a 30 on either section or both is easily doable if you give yourself some extra time by going through bio quickly. the problem is not knowing stuff, its timing, or at least that was my case.

 

[wantVCUdental]

Getting 30 in Ochem, Gchem and QR are very possible.
All you need is to sacrifice 2min from Bio to recheck the chemistries, it's very doable with some diligence, because the concepts they test are very elementary.

 

[OU11BB]

Getting 30 in Ochem, Gchem and QR are very possible.
All you need is to sacrifice 2min from Bio to recheck the chemistries, it's very doable with some diligence, because the concepts they test are very elementary.

are the concepts that elementary??

 

[doc toothache]

Getting 30 in Ochem, Gchem and QR are very possible. All you need is to sacrifice 2min from Bio to recheck the chemistries, it's very doable with some diligence, because the concepts they test are very elementary.

In fact, so "elementary" that for 2007 four managed the score in gc, 5 in oc and none in qr.

 

[NTwoO]

Getting 30 in Ochem, Gchem and QR are very possible.
All you need is to sacrifice 2min from Bio to recheck the chemistries, it's very doable with some diligence, because the concepts they test are very elementary.

I think you are going to have enough time for every question on the SNS; no sacrifice will needed at the expense of one particular section. Just make sure you read the questions carefully and not commit any silly mistakes.

 

[wantVCUdental]

I think you are going to have enough time for every question on the SNS; no sacrifice will needed at the expense of one particular section. Just make sure you read the questions carefully and not commit any silly mistakes.

I wrote my test already, and I posted this as an advice for those who are about to write it. Because of my lack of diligence and going over some questions too fast, i made 1-2 mistakes in both chemistries and didn't get 30s. I finished the science sections with 2 minutes to spare, I would just like to remind others to pace themselves so they dont' make the same mistakes that i made.

 

[Innulja]

I had enough time to go over SNS section twice. I was able to pick up some mistakes and fix them, so yes having extra time to go over is very important, espacially for the chamistries where it is much easier to make some silly mistakes since it involves math and calculations.

 

[OU11BB]

I had enough time to go over SNS section twice. I was able to pick up some mistakes and fix them, so yes having extra time to go over is very important, espacially for the chamistries where it is much easier to make some silly mistakes since it involves math and calculations.

hey how did you have so much time left over? I feel that i know alot of the material. when i take a timed test i consistently get 10-20% fewer right than if i take the test w/o time constraints. This is extremely frustrating. Its not even like i spend double the time either, maybe an extra 3-5 minutes. It seems that being on the clock flusters me? any suggestions,is this a mental block i need to overcome? this is huge b/c the diffrence between 20 and 25 questions is 2-3 points.

 

[wantVCUdental]

hey how did you have so much time left over? I feel that i know alot of the material. when i take a timed test i consistently get 10-20% fewer right than if i take the test w/o time constraints. This is extremely frustrating. Its not even like i spend double the time either, maybe an extra 3-5 minutes. It seems that being on the clock flusters me? any suggestions,is this a mental block i need to overcome? this is huge b/c the diffrence between 20 and 25 questions is 2-3 points.

what is huge is the difference between 29 and 30 is over 3 points.

 

[OU11BB]

that is why i ask if the true DAT questions are elementary b/c some people here dont seem to have timing issues. If the questions are just testing over 1 concept they may be easier than a practice question, testing over 3 or 4 concepts and you deciphering between?

 

[OU11BB]

what is huge is the difference between 29 and 30 is over 3 points.

i know...i need big points in these sections. my math is weak and and reading is average or below according to the ada percentiles. funny how a 19 0r 20 in reading is like 60%

 

[americanpierg]

that is why i ask if the true DAT questions are elementary b/c some people here dont seem to have timing issues. If the questions are just testing over 1 concept they may be easier than a practice question, testing over 3 or 4 concepts and you deciphering between?

The "concepts" covered on the exam are freshman/highschool level.

 

[wantVCUdental]

The "concepts" covered on the exam are freshman/highschool level.

+1, i agree

 

[WisdomDoc]

Its very doable to get a 30 in o-chem

 

[prsndwg]

its very doable to get a 30 in o-chem

+1

 

[doc3232]

Difference between a 25 and a 30 is not 1 point. I am almost sure that is never the case.

But the overall point sort of works out. Still, its easy to get 1-3 question wrong.

 

[Innulja]

We should also understand that the DAT scores are following the normal distribution curve, where majority is in the middle and about 2.5% at both ends. I looks that the grading scale is made to follow the distribution, and in that case it's all understandable.

 

[FutureDent020]

Since when was organic chemistry a freshman or high school level concept.

 

[UofT09]

Since when was organic chemistry a freshman or high school level concept.

I guess it depends on the school you go to... in Canada, most schools do it in their first year. Not to the point of like complex claisen condensation etc, but enough about mechanisms that you can take the DAT (afterall, in the DAT the tough concept questions are very easy as long as you understand electron flow)

I disagree with OP that it is "easy" to get a 30, because a person can only get 30 either if he's LUCKY or got real skills. To really master a subject, the student must dedicate most of his time to that particular subject and so getting 30 on more than 1 subject is very very hard. I am a chemistry major and even after 4 years of rigorous classes at the University of Toronto I was unable to get 30 in Gchem or Orgo, though i came close, i consider myself lucky to get a few easy questions.

 

[NTwoO]

I guess it depends on the school you go to... in Canada, most schools do it in their first year. Not to the point of like complex claisen condensation etc, but enough about mechanisms that you can take the DAT (afterall, in the DAT the tough concept questions are very easy as long as you understand electron flow)

I disagree with OP that it is "easy" to get a 30, because a person can only get 30 either if he's LUCKY or got real skills. To really master a subject, the student must dedicate most of his time to that particular subject and so getting 30 on more than 1 subject is very very hard. I am a chemistry major and even after 4 years of rigorous classes at the University of Toronto I was unable to get 30 in Gchem or Orgo, though i came close, i consider myself lucky to get a few easy questions.

Did you also write the Canadian DAT? I heard there is no OChem or maths in it.

 

[FutureDent020]

Did you also write the Canadian DAT? I heard there is no OChem or maths in it.

You're right

 

[UofT09]

Did you also write the Canadian DAT? I heard there is no OChem or maths in it.

I wrote the american DAT, canadian DAT is too hard to score high, a 20AA is like 97+ percentile in cDAT whereas a 22AA in US DAT is only 95th percentile.

 

[Extirpator]

I wrote the american DAT, canadian DAT is too hard to score high, a 20AA is like 97+ percentile in cDAT whereas a 22AA in US DAT is only 95th percentile.

That's not because the canadian is harder, it's because American's are smarter 😉

 

[OG1]

I've got a sweet idea - forgive me if I'm repeating the idea, maybe someone has posted this on SDN before. How about you take the extra time to study hard and thoroughly, and do well on the entire test?

 

[wantVCUdental]

I've got a sweet idea - forgive me if I'm repeating the idea, maybe someone has posted this on SDN before. How about you take the extra time to study hard and thoroughly, and do well on the entire test?

That is the best idea i've ever heard! yeah, why do i keep on aiming for a 20 while i could have aimed for 28? better yet, why don't i aim for 30 and not take the DAT until i can score 30 on topscore AND achiever. OG1, you are so smart! why don't you give the US government some idea on how to get out of this financial crisis and maybe even tell the UN how to stop terrorists from the middle east?

Also, why do people only live to an average age of 70? they should aim for 100! seems stupid to die 30 years early doesn't it?

I am nominating you to become a MacAuthor fellow 2010, your idea will revitalize the whole world!🙄

 

[wantVCUdental]

That's not because the canadian is harder, it's because American's are smarter 😉

+1, i also think american's are smarter 😀, take me for example, i am very smart

 

[jay47]

That is the best idea i've ever heard! yeah, why do i keep on aiming for a 20 while i could have aimed for 28? better yet, why don't i aim for 30 and not take the DAT until i can score 30 on topscore AND achiever. OG1, you are so smart! why don't you give the US government some idea on how to get out of this financial crisis and maybe even tell the UN how to stop terrorists from the middle east?

Also, why do people only live to an average age of 70? they should aim for 100! seems stupid to die 30 years early doesn't it?

I am nominating you to become a MacAuthor fellow 2010, your idea will revitalize the whole world!🙄

Instead of a smart alek answer, I think you should take time to interpret what the person is really saying.

I believe they were implying that by the time you spend 500 hours studying to try and get a 30 on gen chem or o chem, you could have evenly divided your time and raised your score proportionately, with OVERALL better scores, instead of taking advantage the laws of averages.

 

[jay47]

The "concepts" covered on the exam are freshman/highschool level.

I can completely assure you, 95% of high schools (at least I can speak for TX high schools) do not cover this sort of material, especially in the depth and breadth the DAT requires you to know. My high school was a joke and I played catch up in college for 2 years.

 

[sketo43]

I agree with OG1. I think it makes more sense to try to improve your worst section than to try to improve your best section. If you spend all your time studying ochem, and you get a 30 on OC but a 15 on bio, that's not good.

 

[americanpierg]

I can completely assure you, 95% of high schools (at least I can speak for TX high schools) do not cover this sort of material, especially in the depth and breadth the DAT requires you to know. My high school was a joke and I played catch up in college for 2 years.

Well, all the material that was on the exam was covered in my highschool classes. The AP bio exam was just as difficult as the DAT bio section, and that exam was made for highschoolers. AP chemistry was harder than DAT chemistry. Many people take orgo their freshman year if they get AP chem credit, and most finish orgo by their sophmore year even if they don't have AP chem credits. Reading comprehension is not even reading comprehension, its "find this phrase in the following article."

My TS and AA were in the 99th percentile, and I finished undergrad with a 3.0 gpa so I was far from a genius. I felt I had a lot of room for improvement too becuase I know the questions I got wrong were the ones I skipped and marked a random answer because I was running out of time, but never actually got a chance to come back and do them becuase I DID run out of time. I didn't even study that much, about a month, and afterwards I felt any more studying woudl've been a total waste of time. The extra studying should've ben put towards time management.

It's not even the fact that the DAT only tests the basic sciences (you'll be hard pressed to find upper level pchem/physio/biochem/etc. material on it) but also that it's multiple choice. Multiple choice makes gchem and orgo 1000+ times easier. The questions are really broad and non specific and doesn't require any true mastery of the subject. You don't need to know every single enzyme and intermediate in the Calvin cycle like you would in your biochem class, you just need to know the big picture, ie what goes in, what comes out. They could have made the DAT so much harder than it is, so we should all be happy and understand that it IS beatable, and a TON of people come very close every year (1-3 wrong in each section). It is those who go into it KNOWING that they can beat it and knowing anything less is a disappointment that actually do get these extra 1-3 questions right and landing the 30. Its a shame people go into the DAT hoping to score a 20 on a section when someone should have told them it is actually not too difficult to score a 30.

If someone wouldve told me last year that a 30 was easy to get, and i should spend time doing practice test so i get the structure of the exam and the timing down 100%, I probably wouldve came out with a couple more 30s. Instead I went into the exam thinking it was like Achiever and psyching myself out.

With this said, it still amazes me when 3.8-4.0 students end up with 18AAs. Says quite a bit about that GPA and the institution it came from.

 

[2PacClone23]

Yeah the DAT isn't THAT hard. The multiple choice factor helps but damn. I wish I had gotten 20AA+

 

[TJNova2011]

My TS and AA were in the 99th percentile, and I finished undergrad with a 3.0 gpa so I was far from a genius. Were you a pile in undergraduate?

With this said, it still amazes me when 3.8-4.0 students end up with 18AAs. Says quite a bit about that GPA and the institution it came from. Poor standardized test taker and/or a hard worker?

Interesting take...

There are people who have 18AA dominating in dental school. You are on the same playing field as those with 28AA. Some might be better test takers and the other a hard worker.

 

[OG1]

That is the best idea i've ever heard! yeah, why do i keep on aiming for a 20 while i could have aimed for 28? better yet, why don't i aim for 30 and not take the DAT until i can score 30 on topscore AND achiever. OG1, you are so smart! why don't you give the US government some idea on how to get out of this financial crisis and maybe even tell the UN how to stop terrorists from the middle east?

Also, why do people only live to an average age of 70? they should aim for 100! seems stupid to die 30 years early doesn't it?

I am nominating you to become a MacAuthor fellow 2010, your idea will revitalize the whole world!🙄

Thank you, thank you very much. You see son, hard work will take you far in life. I'm glad I could make a contribution to your dental career.

 

[Masseter]

lol... US DAT...

😛

 

[jay47]

Well, all the material that was on the exam was covered in my highschool classes. The AP bio exam was just as difficult as the DAT bio section, and that exam was made for highschoolers. AP chemistry was harder than DAT chemistry. Many people take orgo their freshman year if they get AP chem credit, and most finish orgo by their sophmore year even if they don't have AP chem credits. Reading comprehension is not even reading comprehension, its "find this phrase in the following article."

My TS and AA were in the 99th percentile, and I finished undergrad with a 3.0 gpa so I was far from a genius. I felt I had a lot of room for improvement too becuase I know the questions I got wrong were the ones I skipped and marked a random answer because I was running out of time, but never actually got a chance to come back and do them becuase I DID run out of time. I didn't even study that much, about a month, and afterwards I felt any more studying woudl've been a total waste of time. The extra studying should've ben put towards time management.

It's not even the fact that the DAT only tests the basic sciences (you'll be hard pressed to find upper level pchem/physio/biochem/etc. material on it) but also that it's multiple choice. Multiple choice makes gchem and orgo 1000+ times easier. The questions are really broad and non specific and doesn't require any true mastery of the subject. You don't need to know every single enzyme and intermediate in the Calvin cycle like you would in your biochem class, you just need to know the big picture, ie what goes in, what comes out. They could have made the DAT so much harder than it is, so we should all be happy and understand that it IS beatable, and a TON of people come very close every year (1-3 wrong in each section). It is those who go into it KNOWING that they can beat it and knowing anything less is a disappointment that actually do get these extra 1-3 questions right and landing the 30. Its a shame people go into the DAT hoping to score a 20 on a section when someone should have told them it is actually not too difficult to score a 30.

If someone wouldve told me last year that a 30 was easy to get, and i should spend time doing practice test so i get the structure of the exam and the timing down 100%, I probably wouldve came out with a couple more 30s. Instead I went into the exam thinking it was like Achiever and psyching myself out.

With this said, it still amazes me when 3.8-4.0 students end up with 18AAs. Says quite a bit about that GPA and the institution it came from.

I understand where you are coming from, but I can tell you I was one of about 3 students who even passed and AP exam (3 in my case) at my high school (graduating class 160). You should feel lucky that you actually had teachers of a caliber that could get you there. My teachers were nice, but when you have the head of janitorial services from last year teaching AP biology, and a football coach teaching physics for the first time only because he "took it in college", you run into trouble. At our school, it was more like a wall.

I agree the 21,22,23 are definitely achievable for most students with the right study scheme, BUT, any higher than that and you are only talking about literally 1-3 questions per section. It is very difficult to know everything about every subject (because 1-2 strange questions will appear on your test most likely), plus be talented in math (you should have had my high school teachers, and I didn't take any math in college), and be a fast reader. 30 is not easy for sure, but if you have a solid background in most of the subject, study hard, and practice test taking skills like timing, you might be able to pull it off.

With regards to your last statement, I believe that most of the time, these students probably just slack on the test because they know their GPA will carry them. I don't think any 4.0 student is dumb for sure; you can't be dumb and make straight A's for 120 hours in any reasonable college or major, but I think there is still a lot of variability between the best 4.0 and the least 4.0.

 

[TJNova2011]

I understand where you are coming from, but I can tell you I was one of about 3 students who even passed and AP exam (3 in my case) at my high school (graduating class 160). You should feel lucky that you actually had teachers of a caliber that could get you there. My teachers were nice, but when you have the head of janitorial services from last year teaching AP biology, and a football coach teaching physics for the first time only because he "took it in college", you run into trouble. At our school, it was more like a wall.

I agree the 21,22,23 are definitely achievable for most students with the right study scheme, BUT, any higher than that and you are only talking about literally 1-3 questions per section. It is very difficult to know everything about every subject (because 1-2 strange questions will appear on your test most likely), plus be talented in math (you should have had my high school teachers, and I didn't take any math in college), and be a fast reader. 30 is not easy for sure, but if you have a solid background in most of the subject, study hard, and practice test taking skills like timing, you might be able to pull it off.

With regards to your last statement, I believe that most of the time, these students probably just slack on the test because they know their GPA will carry them. I don't think any 4.0 student is dumb for sure; you can't be dumb and make straight A's for 120 hours in any reasonable college or major, but I think there is still a lot of variability between the best 4.0 and the least 4.0.

You can be 4.0 and lack every ounce of street smarts.