what would you done differently?

[ddschris]

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greetings everyone,
I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. 🙂

I took DAT two years ago,
and I got 21AA 21TS 21PAT.
I didn't get in anywhere, so here I am preparing for another one in July..

I guess my scores are decent, but I felt like I concentrated too much on reading and learning the materials, and spent too little time on practicing my knowledge with actual problems. I never used destroyer, and did very little practice questions. All I did was pretty much reading Kaplan bluebook over and over, like, twenty times.

Again, I thought my score was ok, I think I was in 93th percentile or something like that. (I will be like 21st percentile on SDN, of course.)
But I think my score could be better if I studied smarter.

Anyhow, my advice to fellow pre-dents who are preparing for the big exam is work as many practice problems as you can find. That is what I am trying to do right now, i feel like it is way more efficient in retain information.

So I guess my question to you guys is,
if you are done with the test,
what would you do differently if you were to take the test again?

 

[suhshi]

your scores are pretty solid
may i ask what your gpa was?

 

[iwannabadentist]

i HIGHLY doubt you DAT scores were your problem. you are quite above the national average, and 2 yrs ago, you were probably way way above the natl. avg. so can u enlighten us with your GPA? or maybe you didnt meet the prereqs for the schools you applied to?

 

[nicz888]

can u please tell us what happen? those scores are good, in fact i'll be very happy with that if i get those number in 13 days.

 

[lazybummy]

Are you kidding me???? Nothing was wrong with your DAT scores (unless u scored something like a 13 in a section that we can't tell from your AA and TS). There must be something else... are u an international student (then the standards would be much higher), what were your gpa?, did you apply smart (not a bunch of public out of state schools)? did u have any dental experience? Were u at least called back for interviews (might be the fact that u bombed the interviews)? 😱

 

[lazybummy]

Oh i found his gpa.... Def nothing was wrong with your DAT. Do what u did before. Rock it again! Good luck!

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=511334

 

[jay47]

Geez people...just answer the question and don't ask about his personal situation. Maybe he can't change the other aspects and all he has is the DAT...

I also got a 21 on my DAT and am proud of it, but if I were to do it again....I would have used a MUCH larger variety of resources than I did the first time. All I used was old textbooks, Topscore Pro, and a Kaplan blue book.

If I could do it again, I would have....

1. Taken the Kaplan course to use the online resources (yes, I teach for Kaplan everyone, but I didn't even know they had that before I took the test)
2. Bought and read through all of Destroyer, twice
3. Bought Cliffs AP biology notes and read through them
4. Bought ACS study guides everyone is talking about on SDN for the chemistries
5. Practiced math MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE (because I didn't practice at all for my DAT)
6. Bought and practiced Crack the PAT for more PAT practice

Hope this helps you and if you did all of those things, I'm pretty sure you could score 23+. My goal the first time was a 19, so a 21 was a bit of serendipity, but I wish I would have scored even better, I may have been able to secure extra funding for DS....

 

[lazybummy]

Geez people...just answer the question and don't ask about his personal situation. Maybe he can't change the other aspects and all he has is the DAT...

I also got a 21 on my DAT and am proud of it, but if I were to do it again....I would have used a MUCH larger variety of resources than I did the first time. All I used was old textbooks, Topscore Pro, and a Kaplan blue book.

If I could do it again, I would have....

1. Taken the Kaplan course to use the online resources (yes, I teach for Kaplan everyone, but I didn't even know they had that before I took the test)
2. Bought and read through all of Destroyer, twice
3. Bought Cliffs AP biology notes and read through them
4. Bought ACS study guides everyone is talking about on SDN for the chemistries
5. Practiced math MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE (because I didn't practice at all for my DAT)
6. Bought and practiced Crack the PAT for more PAT practice

Hope this helps you and if you did all of those things, I'm pretty sure you could score 23+. My goal the first time was a 19, so a 21 was a bit of serendipity, but I wish I would have scored even better, I may have been able to secure extra funding for DS....

🙁 i think we're all just trying to point him to the right direction for the "change" he's looking for. We all think 21 across is pretty damn awesome.. Not meant to sound mean at all!

 

[avian777]

last year my ts 21, aa 21, pat 18 but i'm taking it again next week, i'm scared and not sure if i'm going to improve it, but this is one way i try to improve my apps, I studied 2-3 hrs/day for 2 months and now take 2 weeks vacation off to study full time, no more vacation this year, but i'll be worth it if I score 20+ across the board I think I study alot but that doesn't guarantee high score, last time my average was high due to ochem score of 27, math was only 17.
cross my fingers and wish me luck

 

[Kratoz24x]

Thought this was a cool concept and decided to bump for the new generation. Any opinions?

 

[yappy]

Dont do O chem Odyssey. Just do ACS + Dat destroyer for practice.

 

[JonLee]

If you are a person that needs absolute quiet too concentrate best, definitely bring your own pair of comfy earplugs (only thing you are allowed to bring with you on test day) and than wear the uncomfy Prometric headphones to cancel out all noise.

Wearing just one muffled the noise for me (girl typing profusely on keyboard *facepalm*). Hopefully you aren't like me. It stinks being unable to completely zone out noise 0.o