Which of these DAT books are useful and which are not? Am I missing anything?

[StudentDentistsRock]

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Hi fellow dental enthusiasts!

I am currently about to finish the fall semester of my junior year! I'll be applying this June, and I'm actually excited! Seeing my some fellow undergrad pre-dents get their acceptances was an awesome feeling!

I will have about 20 days of winter break to just do whatever. I want to get a head start with DAT studying. I bought the AP bio and two destroyer books from a fellow predent for $50. However, an awesome professor of mine got me a ton of Kaplan DAT books and now i don't know which books to use and which not to use. I DO NOT want to overwhelm myself as I stress relatively easily (unfortunately). I know the destroyers and cliff notes ap bio are essentials, but anything else in my collection that I should also use? I have to be honest, I was surprised when I bought the destroyers. I thought they would contain all the study content, but they only have problems? So I am guessing they come at the end of my study phase for practice?

Long story short, what should I add to my collection? What should I remove? 2016 edition of destroyer books fine? Any suggestions about how to study for this? I am bad at time management; I don't think I can study for the DAT during the spring semester as I focus all my energy on my courses. I am also gonna be taking a load next semseter, so I don't know if I should even start studying because I don't want to just halt my progress at some point. One more thing, my orgo notes are a mess. My gen chem note are not too bad, but I thought the destroyer books contain all the study material. I know I should use cliff's for the bio material, but what about all the other subjects? Do I have to simply rely on my past class notes?

Thoughts? Thank you bunches!

Edit: image formatting.

Edit: I would love to take it before applications open (before June first). But If I could take it somewhere in March-ish, that would be awesome too. I just find it hard with the semester going on.

 

[acemason]

That's great that you want to get a head start. When do you plan on taking it?

Here's a good place to start: https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-test-takers-look-here.1230067/#post-18369034

It's a great thread by @8_man that has a compiled list of DAT breakdowns of successful test takers including what they used and how they studied.

The 2016 Destroyer books will be just fine. I personally wouldn't use the Kaplan, Princeton Review, and Barrons books.

For OC and GC, look into Chad's Videos on coursesaver. These will be the perfect review for OC and GC. He also has videos for the Quantative Reasoning section which are decent. Take good notes on those videos.

I'd say you can go ahead and start watching Chad's videos over winter break and just take really good notes on them. When you actually schedule a date and start studying hardcore for your exam, you can just refer to the notes you had taken over winter break or just rewatch all the videos on 2x speed. This is what I did.

I took mine last week and was able to obtain a decent score, here's a link to my breakdown, it's fairly comprehensive: https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/dat-breakdown-24aa-26ts-12-01-2016.1231514/

Good luck studying!!!

 

[Incis0r]

Yes, the Cliffs/DAT/Math Destroyers are amazing resources

 

[rdub]

You need Cliffs AP Bio 3rd edition, not 4th (yes, it does make a difference). The ebook is free online or it is like $10 on amazon.
DAT/Math Destroyer is essential if you are doing a self study plan.
I'd recommend chucking any Kaplan books you have if you aren't doing one of their courses. Also don't waste your time on an MCAT book or that Barrons book you have.

Other than that, most of the good study materials are online or software like DAT Bootcamp, Coursesaver, Feralis Notes, etc.

 

[StudentDentistsRock]

That's great that you want to get a head start. When do you plan on taking it?

Here's a good place to start: https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...-test-takers-look-here.1230067/#post-18369034

It's a great thread by @8_man that has a compiled list of DAT breakdowns of successful test takers including what they used and how they studied.

The 2016 Destroyer books will be just fine. I personally wouldn't use the Kaplan, Princeton Review, and Barrons books.

For OC and GC, look into Chad's Videos on coursesaver. These will be the perfect review for OC and GC. He also has videos for the Quantative Reasoning section which are decent. Take good notes on those videos.

I'd say you can go ahead and start watching Chad's videos over winter break and just take really good notes on them. When you actually schedule a date and start studying hardcore for your exam, you can just refer to the notes you had taken over winter break or just rewatch all the videos on 2x speed. This is what I did.

I took mine last week and was able to obtain a decent score, here's a link to my breakdown, it's fairly comprehensive: https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/dat-breakdown-24aa-26ts-12-01-2016.1231514/

Good luck studying!!!

A 24!! You call that decent? I don't know if I'll be able to pull off a 20! Honestly, for me, a 20 won't cut it. I would definitely retake 🙁

I hope to take the DAT before June 1st. If not, then I would definitely be taking them before the end of June. I know I need to do well on this exam. I remember my friend telling me a few weeks ago how she took the DAT, scored a 23, and she was upset. I asked her why and she told me that everyone else at the test center did better than her. Meaning, I have to keep up with the rest of the crowd or else I'm out of the game. Thanks also for linking me to your comprehensive breakdown! I felt encouraged reading it. I did not know bootcamp costs $200 (edit: it is now for $137; 31% off). That is like way out of my budget right now. Chad's videos are also $50 so I need some money making to do. Thank you for linking 8_man's thread. It's very useful indeed.

Thanks for the encouragement and advice! Also, many congratulations on your score!

 

[x0jessmariex3]

W

A 24!! You call that decent? I don't know if I'll be able to pull off a 20! Honestly, for me, a 20 won't cut it. I would definitely retake 🙁

I hope to take the DAT before June 1st. If not, then I would definitely be taking them before the end of June. I know I need to do well on this exam. I remember my friend telling me a few weeks ago how she took the DAT, scored a 23, and she was upset. I asked her why and she told me that everyone else at the test center did better than her. Meaning, I have to keep up with the rest of the crowd or else I'm out of the game. Thanks also for linking me to your comprehensive breakdown! I felt encouraged reading it. I did not know bootcamp costs $200 (edit: it is now for $137; 31% off). That is like way out of my budget right now. Chad's videos are also $50 so I need some money making to do. Thank you for linking 8_man's thread. It's very useful indeed.

Thanks for the encouragement and advice! Also, many congratulations on your score!

What do you mean everyone at the test center did better than her? People at the test centers are taking all different types of tests. I highly doubt there were others at the same site the same day taking the DAT and that she would know their score.

 

[#cariology]

I still don't understand everyone's fascination with destroyer. Every single question is a trick and way harder than the real DAT. There's nothing to learn from it. I got rid of it the day after it came in the mail. Bootcamp is way more realistic and the better way to go, in my opinion. Chad is a great way to review chem and orgo. (Self studied and got a 24 AA, btw)

 

[TrueMenace]

I still don't understand everyone's fascination with destroyer. Every single question is a trick and way harder than the real DAT. There's nothing to learn from it. I got rid of it the day after it came in the mail. Bootcamp is way more realistic and the better way to go, in my opinion. Chad is a great way to review chem and orgo. (Self studied and got a 24 AA, btw)

You used Destroyer wrong. It's not marketed as a practice exam book. Your supposed to use the answers (filled with amazing information) to TEACH you.

 

[TLV-TUS]

DON'T use Kaplan, especially older version, even the last one wasn't updated and I found two mistakes on it at a quick glance.

 

[LuckBloodandSweat]

@placebooooo you sound like me. Take a look at the compilation thread that 8man made it's pretty good. Only good stuff you got there is destroyer; there's plenty of stuff for BIO online like tyjacob, feralis, russell, youtube, etc. You'll be fine; all the resources are available. I retook a 20 so I understand how mad you would be if that's what you got.

 

[JeffM]

Chads videos are a must. Go through a few videos each day and take great notes. Especially with orgo, I took notes and then created flash cards for every reaction he went through; this was the sole reason I got a 29 in orgo.

 

[DentSwag]

I cannot recommend Chad's videos more.

 

[StudentDentistsRock]

I still don't understand everyone's fascination with destroyer. Every single question is a trick and way harder than the real DAT. There's nothing to learn from it. I got rid of it the day after it came in the mail. Bootcamp is way more realistic and the better way to go, in my opinion. Chad is a great way to review chem and orgo. (Self studied and got a 24 AA, btw)

Everyone is recommending Chad and Bootcamp, but I simply HATE how they are limited time subscriptions. I have about two weeks and a few days to do some hard core studying, but when the semester starts, I won't have as much time on my hands. I feel like I'll be lucky to do two hours a day. Is it even worth it to start studying if this happens? Not only this, but if I don't have enough to study for the DAT, this means I'm not gonna be utilizing my bootcamp and chad subscriptions as much; I won't get my money's worth.

Also, I am trying to narrow down study materials. Does this sound right to you:

Bio: cliffs 3rd and feralis notes.
Gen chem: Chad's videos (will his vids cover all material on the DAT?)
Orgo: chad's vids (will his vids cover all material on DAT?)

QR, PAT, and RC I am not sure where to go. Are these all part of bootcamp? What exactly will I be using bootcamp for?

 

[#cariology]

First off, I recommend holding off the DAT until sometime in June or July. This way, you can focus on this semester and then put all of your energy into the DAT. It should take you at most 6-10 weeks of concentrated study to master this test. First half of studying is learning stuff (bio stuff and chads videos) and the second half is practice (Bootcamp). The only exception is PAT, which you should practice every day from the start. With this schedule, you won't have an issue with time constraints. Therefore, if you start studying the beginning of May (or even the middle of April) you will be ready by the end of June/beginning of July. Just make sure to get the primary in by June 30th.
As far as the test,

Bio: cliffs 3rd AP and feralis will cover almost everything. Bootcamp practice tests are scarily similar. You won't be disappointed.

Chem/Orgo: I promise you, learn and memorize the chad videos and you won't score below a 21 on either. Especially if you use Bootcamp as well. Nothing else is needed (use the destroyer as a paper weight or maybe toilet paper)

PAT: Bootcamp has these awesome simulators. Do 15-20 questions of each type every day. I really recommend daily practice. Also be sure to do the practice tests in testing conditions. Stamina is key and their is an art to nailing the timing here. Also, do not panic if you keep getting 18s and 19s on Bootcamp. Your practice scores here don't matter much. Just keep practicing (one damn angle at a time). At first I was horrible at this stuff, but with enough determination and practice, got a 20.

QR: Chad has some review here. I also recommend khan academy or YouTube for areas of struggle. Trig and geometry is the bane of my existence. Again, Bootcamp is really good here. Go through the practice tests, learn the question types, and build stamina.

RC: There's sorta no good way to "improve" here. Either you comprehend dense prose or you don't. Just go over the practice exams on Bootcamp and try to read scientific literature every day.

I know it's a lot to digest. Just make a schedule, take breaks, take care of yourself. If you really want to be a dentist you'll persevere. Best of luck!! Let me know if you have any more questions.