Hey all, so I've kind of been a long time lurker on these DAT forums, looking up suggestions on how to study and all that.
So I started studying for my DAT's when Winter Break started (I'm in my senior year graduating this May), and I took my DAT's today, so about 6-7 weeks of studying hardcore, using Chad's for Organic and General Chemistry with some Destroyer, Cliff's/Feralis/Barron's AP Biology for the Biology section, DAT Bootcamp for the PAT, and Math Destroyer 2013 for the QR section.
Here's my story though -- I attend my state's biggest four-year college and I'm majoring in Biology. For a long time, I was really unfocused as to what I wanted to do in life, even though I knew I always liked science, but because of that lack of motivation, I didn't do well at all for my first three years of college or so (also had recurring family emergency, which ended with a death in the family that was hard to deal with 🙁). A few months ago, I realized how much I love dentistry and by gaining more exposure to the field, I've fallen in love! I have an upward trend now, but I think I'll be graduating in May with a science GPA of around a 3.2 or slightly above.
I have tons of volunteering hours, about 40 shadowing hours (and I'm currently shadowing for another 50 or so at a general dentists' office), and I have research experience working at a medical school. I've also TA'd for a Biology class.
So my scores are:
PAT - 18 (Don't know why I ran out of time on this one and had to quickly figure out the ones I had left/guessed on a bunch; DAT Bootcamp was perfect, and I only wish I used it more than I did, but it is very representative of the real exam, like I almost feel like its identical; know Bootcamp, you'll know the DAT's PAT)
QR - 18 (A lot easier than I expected... I only did 4 tests of Math Destroyer, but I feel like if I had done more and actually understood every problem to the fullest extent, I could've done much better)
RC - 20 (Didn't study for this... should have done some practice, since it was harder than I thought, and for my test, search-and-destroy did not work...)
BIO - 23 (I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this section was... I was kind of scared because I'd forgotten so much stuff even though I reviewed everything at least 2-3 times, but there was some stuff like Taxonomy and Plants and Photosynthesis that I didn't cover for a few weeks and went in the test with that stuff buried way in the back of my head... they showed up on my test, but I must've guessed okay here!)
CHEM - 20 (I'm kind of disappointed here, since I felt like I prepared the most for this section; watched Chad's and did his quizzes numerous times and even most of the Destroyer questions and DAT Bootcamp practice; I really feel like it was harder or on par, but I might've just blanked or panicked when I didn't automatically know how to do one)
OCHEM - 20 (I almost exclusively did Chad's for this, reviewing my detailed notes over and over again and making flashcards along with his quizzes... the OC section was actually a lot easier than I thought it was going to be, and pretty much every question I remember seeing from Chad's lectures, but I also blanked on some that I didn't review too much... for example, I had two NMR questions, and I completely forgot to go over those more than once, so I didn't know how to do them)
TS - 21
AA - 20
What do you all think based on my science GPA and stuff?
Should I be happy with my scores and apply early with them?
Or should I retake?
I feel like I'm in such a weird zone right now haha since I don't really know how to react to my scores... I was kind of aiming for a 21 minimum AA score, but I ended up with a 20.
So I started studying for my DAT's when Winter Break started (I'm in my senior year graduating this May), and I took my DAT's today, so about 6-7 weeks of studying hardcore, using Chad's for Organic and General Chemistry with some Destroyer, Cliff's/Feralis/Barron's AP Biology for the Biology section, DAT Bootcamp for the PAT, and Math Destroyer 2013 for the QR section.
Here's my story though -- I attend my state's biggest four-year college and I'm majoring in Biology. For a long time, I was really unfocused as to what I wanted to do in life, even though I knew I always liked science, but because of that lack of motivation, I didn't do well at all for my first three years of college or so (also had recurring family emergency, which ended with a death in the family that was hard to deal with 🙁). A few months ago, I realized how much I love dentistry and by gaining more exposure to the field, I've fallen in love! I have an upward trend now, but I think I'll be graduating in May with a science GPA of around a 3.2 or slightly above.
I have tons of volunteering hours, about 40 shadowing hours (and I'm currently shadowing for another 50 or so at a general dentists' office), and I have research experience working at a medical school. I've also TA'd for a Biology class.
So my scores are:
PAT - 18 (Don't know why I ran out of time on this one and had to quickly figure out the ones I had left/guessed on a bunch; DAT Bootcamp was perfect, and I only wish I used it more than I did, but it is very representative of the real exam, like I almost feel like its identical; know Bootcamp, you'll know the DAT's PAT)
QR - 18 (A lot easier than I expected... I only did 4 tests of Math Destroyer, but I feel like if I had done more and actually understood every problem to the fullest extent, I could've done much better)
RC - 20 (Didn't study for this... should have done some practice, since it was harder than I thought, and for my test, search-and-destroy did not work...)
BIO - 23 (I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this section was... I was kind of scared because I'd forgotten so much stuff even though I reviewed everything at least 2-3 times, but there was some stuff like Taxonomy and Plants and Photosynthesis that I didn't cover for a few weeks and went in the test with that stuff buried way in the back of my head... they showed up on my test, but I must've guessed okay here!)
CHEM - 20 (I'm kind of disappointed here, since I felt like I prepared the most for this section; watched Chad's and did his quizzes numerous times and even most of the Destroyer questions and DAT Bootcamp practice; I really feel like it was harder or on par, but I might've just blanked or panicked when I didn't automatically know how to do one)
OCHEM - 20 (I almost exclusively did Chad's for this, reviewing my detailed notes over and over again and making flashcards along with his quizzes... the OC section was actually a lot easier than I thought it was going to be, and pretty much every question I remember seeing from Chad's lectures, but I also blanked on some that I didn't review too much... for example, I had two NMR questions, and I completely forgot to go over those more than once, so I didn't know how to do them)
TS - 21
AA - 20
What do you all think based on my science GPA and stuff?
Should I be happy with my scores and apply early with them?
Or should I retake?
I feel like I'm in such a weird zone right now haha since I don't really know how to react to my scores... I was kind of aiming for a 21 minimum AA score, but I ended up with a 20.
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