DAT TIPS and Help: By Tely

Remember, there are a lot of predental students that went before you that are willing to lend a helping hand. Tely is a great example of one of these people. Instead of doing the same old "DAT Breakdown" by writing everything out he went ahead and made videos. These videos have a lot of helpful tips for taking the DAT. I hope you take the time to watch them!

DAT Breakdown: Tely

Academic Average: 23
Total Science: 26
Perceptual Ability: 25
Bio: 24
GC: 28
OC: 25
RC: 20
QR: 18

Other DAT Breakdowns:

• My DAT Experience (breakdown) 
• DAT Breakdown by "Lucky Tangerine"
• DAT Breakdown by "Dental2000"

If you would like to contribute to DentalDAT.com in any way you can contact me by e-mail at TheCreator@DentalDAT.com.

DAT Breakdown by: Dental2000

Taken from Off the Dribble...

Once again one of your predental peers has graciously donated their DAT breakdown. Please take the time to read through this breakdown as there is a lot of solid advice that is beneficial to anyone preparing to take the DAT. Please show your appreciation to "Dental2000" by leaving a comment at the bottom of the post!

Dental2000 DAT Breakdown

I took this test in 2010 and got a 17AA/15PAT

2011
PAT - 21
RC- 20
QR- 22
Bio- 19
G-Chem-20
O-Chem-21
TS- 20
AA- 20

Bio
Materials used: KWB (Kaplan White Book), Alan's notes, DAT destroyer, Datqvault, Cliffs AP Biology, Schaum's (a little), flashcards, various bio websites, 2009 ADA exam
All I can say here is keep studying it over and over again over the span of your study schedule. Use Cliff notes for sure, DO NOT use KWB as your only source, you are bound to mess your bio score up. Make your own notes from Cliffs AP Biology and KWB and make your own flashcards and study them over and over. The more you revise something the more it will get embedded in your long term memory. DAT Destroyer is a great source which doesn't get enough credit. DO IT. Definitely will surprise you as to how many similar questions appear on the DAT from the destroyer.

G-Chem and O-Chem
Materials used: Chads Videos, KWB, DAT destroyer, various websites of chem, 2009 ADA exam
Chad is great, Amazing for the DAT...His concepts are pretty sweet and concise for the DAT. Look through his videos and treat it as if you were in the classroom with him, make your own notes and try to answer his questions when he asks them in the videos. General chemistry is straight practice after you understand the concepts. Organic chemistry you have to keep practicing reactions in order to remember them. DO the destroyer road maps, you may think they don't help that much but trust me, the more you practice the road maps the more you will learn some of the reactions and reagents that correspond to them.
Do the destroyer over and over for the Chem sections, great practice and great help.
Best Advise: GET CHADS!

PAT
Materials: CDP, Kaplan PAT, Ross videos, 2009 ADA exam and Ross's free PAT practice test on his website from http://predds.info/.

This is just Pure practice, CDP is the key. I just practiced CDP 5 times a week and went over my mistakes. Ross's free PAT practice exam is a good representative for how you might do on the actual DAT.

Keyholes and a bit harder than CDP, but very doable
TFE was just a point harder than CDP but overall comparable
Angles were easier
Hole punching was way easier than what i expected, folds were very straightforward and I didn't get any half punches or 'punch over a punch'
Cubes were very easy, no illusions like CDP
Pattern Folding has always been my Achilles heal, could not figure some out so i just picked the best out of the 4. I probably lost most points here. If you can do CDP then you are golden on the DAT.

RC
Prepared the least for this section. Wasn't expecting the score I got. My passages were simple. I would look over a question and then read the passage and if I came across the keyword in the paragraphs that matched the question I would answer the question. Can't really give you guys tips here except train yourself to not get bored while reading them. Every time you yawn while reading it wastes time, lol .

QR
Materials: MATH Destroyer and Kaplan math

I was least worried about this section since I was good at math in high school but Math Destroyer is all you need. Do their problems over and over again until you understand their concepts.

Very Importanto - Do not spend to much time on one question. If you don't understand it, mark it and move on. It's basically a race against time type of test. Do what you know and if you have time redo the stuff you are not sure of.

Overall I'm pretty happy with what I got based on my studying. If I could do it again I definitely would change some of my studying habits and work harder in general chemistry and biology.

Advice to my fellow DAT takers: You Can do it if you push yourself. Don't give up if people say you can't do it. Remember it is not what you do when your down but what you do when you get back up. Hard work always triumphs.

Pray and ask for his guidance, He always answers. Ask and you shall receive.

Other DAT Breakdowns:

• My DAT Experience (breakdown) 
• DAT Breakdown by "Lucky Tangerine"
• DAT Breakdown by Tely

Thanks once again to Dental2000 for donating their DAT Breakdown! If you have a DAT breakdown you would like to donate you can contact me by e-mail at TheCreator@DentalDAT.com.

Dental Schools Ranked by DAT Scores

Many students wonder what dental school suites them the best according to their DAT scores. This was I question that I definitely had when I was trying to decide which schools to apply to. Remember, the DAT is a very big portion of your application and should not be taken lightly. However, this does not mean that if you earned a 19 academic average (AA) that you cannot apply to a school that has a an average AA of 21. The statistics are just that, statistics! If a school accepts someone with an AA of 23 that means that they must have accepted several others with lower scores. 


When scores are reported they are seen in three general categories including Academic Average (all of your scores averaged together except perceptual ability scores), Total Science (average of the biology, general chemistry, and organic chemistry sections), and Perceptual Ability. Each of these general categories along with each individual section must be taken into account when choosing schools to apply to. 


Some schools will put a high emphasis on the science sections while others may put more weight on reading comprehension or the perceptual ability section. 


Other factors that you will want to consider while choosing schools to apply to include but are not limited to overall GPA, science GPA, extra curricular activities, leadership experience, volunteer experiences, and shadowing. 


For your convenience, I listed the dental schools in order of highest Academic Average to lowest Academic Average. I also included a list of the schools ranked according to their perceptual ability scores. The statistics shown come from the "2010 ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools". 



Dental School Rankings (Academic Average)

1. Columbia 21.7 
2. UCLA 21 
3. Harvard 21 
4. Stony Brook  21 
5. Alabama 20 
6. UCSF 20 
7. UoP 20 
8. Connecticut 20 
9. New York  20 
10. Pennsylvania 20 
11. Minnesota  19.63 
12. Nova 19.58 
13. Maryland  19.5 
14. New Jersey  19.45 
15. Buffalo  19.42  
16. Pittsburgh 19.4
17. Washington 19.39 
18. Boston University  19.35
19. Temple  19.3
20. Houston  19.15
21. Louisiana State  19.1
22. Illinois at Chicago  19.1
23. UNLV 19.01
24. USC 19 
25. Colorado Denver 19
26. Florida  19
27. Iowa  19
28. Kentucky  19
29. Tufts 19
30. Detroit Mercy  19
31. Michigan  19
32. Chapel Hill  19
33. Case 19
34. Ohio State 19
35. Oklahoma  19
36. Baylor  19
37. San Antonio  19
38. Virginia Commonwealth  19
39. Indiana  19
40. Loma Linda  18.79
41. Oregon  18.71
42. Southern Illinois  18.6
43. Midwestern  18.5
44. Creighton 18.48
45. Missouri - Kansas City  18.02
46. Western U. 18
47. Georgia 18
48. Louisville  18
49. Mississippi  18
50. Nebraska  18
51. South Carolina  18
52. Tennessee  18
53. Marquette 18
54. Arizona  17.84
55. Howard 17.7
56. West Virginia 17
57. Puerto Rico  16
58. Meharry 16 

Dental School Rankings (Perceptual Ability)

1. UCLA 21 
2. UoP 21
3. Harvard 21
4. Stony Brook  21
5. Minnesota  20.74
6. UNLV 20.24
7. Loma Linda  20.15
8. Creighton 20.11
9. Washington 20.02
10. Buffalo  20.01
11. UCSF 20
12. Indiana  20
13. Detroit Mercy  20
14. Michigan  20
15. New York  20
16. Case 20
17. Ohio State 20
18. Pennsylvania 20
19. South Carolina  20
20. Virginia Commonwealth  20
21. Oregon  19.93
22. Temple  19.7
23. Pittsburgh 19.6
24. Maryland  19.3
25. Houston  19.25
26. Georgia 19.2
27. Boston University  19.15
28. Southern Illinois  19.1
29. Alabama 19
30. Midwestern  19
31. USC 19
32. Western U. 19
33. Colorado Denver 19
34. Connecticut 19
35. Florida  19
36. Illinois at Chicago  19
37. Iowa  19
38. Kentucky  19
39. Louisville  19
40. Tufts 19
41. Mississippi  19
42. Chapel Hill  19
43. Marquette 19
44. Oklahoma  18.98
45. Louisiana State  18.9
46. Nova 18.85
47. New Jersey  18.73
48. Arizona  18.34
49. Missouri - Kansas City  18
50. Tennessee  18 
51. Baylor  18
52. San Antonio  18
53. West Virginia 18
54. Howard 17.4
55. Nebraska  17
56. Puerto Rico  16
57. Meharry 16  

*NOTE: The statistics that have been listed were taken from the "2010 ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools".