DAT Breakdown by: AHugeDeadWhale

Thanks to "AHugeDeadWhale" DentalDAT was able to add another quality DAT breakdown to the archive. The scores that he earned are nothing to be ashamed of. Just about anyone with scores in this range has an excellent chance at getting multiple interviews and ultimately multiple acceptances. Read through this carefully as he gives some great feedback on study materials and some excellent tips for studying for the DAT.

AHugeDeadWhale DAT Breakdown

BIO: 19
GCHEM: 21
OCHEM: 22
PAT: 21
Reading: 22
QR: 21
AA: 21
TS:21

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone on this forum for their help and tips. Definitely couldn't have done it without you guys. If anything, your posting of 21+ scores scared me into studying hard lol.

I took a Kaplan online course and used their online tests as my practice tests. I had never gotten higher than 17 on Science on any of the Kaplan tests (I think they are supposed to be fairly easy). I don't know what magically happened on Test Day, but somehow I pulled it off. I didn't do a single full-length test for the 3 weeks leading up to the test (idk why lol) so maybe something clicked for me in that time?

Bio: Cliff's, Kaplan, DAT Destroyer. Bio is my weakest subject, as you can see. Everything was pretty straightforward on the test but like other people have said, it was really random. There were a couple that I just had no idea about. When I read the first question, I was completely clueless and had to mark it. Thought to myself, "Well this isn't going to go well." I read through Cliff's once and Kaplan bio once. Then randomly in the weeks before Test Day I would just open up a random chapter and read it. I only went about halfway through DAT Destroyer Bio because honestly it was kicking my butt and I was getting really frustrated. I think it is overkill and the only helpful quality of it is that it gives you reality check on how much material there is to know. I don't remember much about Bio now, probably because I was so freaked out while taking it lol. I do remember I had several ecology and evolution questions and only one basic taxonomy question. I would say to expose yourself to as much material as possible and favor "breadth over depth" if you are short on study time.

GChem: Chad's and DAT Destroyer were enough for this section. I watched Chad's twice over the course of a few months. The first time through I took super detailed notes, but the second time I was sat back and watched and tried to pick up on things that I hadn't seen before. Again, Destroyer is a little much here. The math on this section of the test wasn't that bad at all, pretty straight forward. A lot of them were the "setup" type problems where you just pick the answer that has the right calculation setup. I probably made some stupid mistakes here.

OChem: Chad's and DAT Destroyer. Watched Chad's 2X. I didn't finish Destroyer for this either . I'm also retaking Organic I right now in the summer so I think that really helped out a lot. The test was definitely heavier on Organic I material, so pretty basic reactions. There were I think 3 or 4 EAS reactions as well. I used to hate organic chem but now I think I understand it (well, at least on a DAT level) and actually kind of like it. I finished the Sciences with about 10 minutes left and used that time to go over my marked problems.

PAT: Crack DAT PAT. Once you know how to approach each type of problem and have developed a strategy for solving it, CDP is all you really need. Kaplan PAT is too easy, don't use it. For example, I had been able to use line counting for TFE on Kaplan, but on the actual test most of the answer choices have the same number of lines and so I had to actually picture the shape in 3D. The difficulty level is about the same as CDP, which surprised me because I thought CDP was supposed to be harder. I had been getting 20-22 on CDP. I will say that angles on my actual test are FREAKING HARD. I wouldn't be surprise if everything I missed came from the angle section. They definitely don't care about lining up the angles for you at the same size and rotation. And even when they did, I still couldn't tell them apart. I just went with my "gut" on most of them. There were also a few (2 or 3) keyholes that were quite outrageous and I had to mark them and basically use an educated guess. Everything else was straightforward. Hole punching and Cubes were a little easier than CDP, I thought. I only had a max of 16 cubes to count, not bad at all. I finished with about 90 seconds left.

Reading: I did not prepare for this section at all. I had been getting 21 on the Kaplan practice tests and I wasn't sure how else to prepare for it. I actually spent 5 minutes of my break time deciding whether I was going to read the whole thing through or just go straight to the questions. I am not a good reader so I used the search and destroy method, which worked out for me. I hardly got any tone questions at all. Oh yeah, I got the ETHICS passage. I actually thought I got every question right on this whole section and I finished with 20 minutes left (wtf right?). SO maybe the Ethics passage tricked me or something, but I thought it was fairly easy, not nearly as hard as other people have said. Maybe I got a different Ethics passage?

QR: Math Destroyer. I am pretty good at math, or so I thought (5 on AP Calc BC, that is my claim to fame lol). I went through all of the Math Destroyer because it helped me gain some of my confidence back haha. Some people have said to go through it twice, with and without timing. I was pretty confident so I just put 45 minutes on my timer and dove straight in. The first few practice tests I only got through about 30-33 questions and getting a lot wrong. So I looked over the answers carefully, found out the "quicker" ways of doing those problems and brushed up on my equations and formulas. After Test 4 or so, I was able to finish an entire test basically right on time with getting only a few questions wrong. To be honest I was aiming to get everything right on this section, but that didn't work out I guess, LOL. I think my mistake was that I got caught up on one problem and I didn't want to give up so I wasted like 4 minutes on it. Then I had to rush through everything else half-assed. Poop. I finished the section with about 1 minute left.

Even though I think 21 AA is quite good, I don't think it will be enough to get me in during this cycle. I have 3.0 scGPA and 3.3 cumGPA with lots of volunteering. Still, I am applying to all the Texas schools (resident) and a few of the OOS friendly ones around the country to test the waters.

Thanks for reading and good luck to you all!

Thanks once again to "AHugeDeadWhale" for donating his DAT Breakdown! If you have a DAT Breakdown you would like to donate you can contact me vie e-mail at TheCreator@DentalDAT.com

More DAT Breakdowns

• My DAT Experience (breakdown) 
• DAT Breakdown by "Lucky Tangerine"
• DAT Breakdown by "Dental2000"
• DAT Breakdown by Tely
• DAT Breakdown by "SLYgUY2098"

Question & Answer Session With "Lucky Tangerine"

"Lucky Tangerine" is a student who had an amazing performance on the DAT. He received an astounding 26 academic average, 28 total science, and 30 perceptual ability all of which are in the 100 percentile range! "Lucky Tangerine" was already gracious enough to write a detailed breakdown of his DAT experience.


In addition to his breakdown I had a few other questions for him which I thought would be valuable to the pre-dental community. Please enjoy the responses and let us know what you think in the comments section!

1. How many months did you study for?

I set aside my entire summer to study for the DAT, so it was about 3 months. I knew that was more than enough time to prepare for the DAT so I took many days off to relax, hang out with friends, and go out.

2. What was your study schedule like? 

During my review phase, which was from mid-June to end of July, I believe I studied at most 8 hours a day if I was feeling productive. Most days I would probably average around 6 hours of studying time. I usually took Fridays off, or if I did study on Friday, then it would just be for an hour or two.

Three weeks up until my test day, I kicked my studying into overdrive. I studied everyday of the week for about 9 hours. I remember each of those days was a daily routine for me. All I basically did was wake up, workout, eat, study, eat, study, eat, study, browse SDN, and then sleep. During Friday nights, however, I hung out with my best friend just to get outside and give my brain a break from studying

3. Were you able to still have fun while studying for the DAT?

Of course! If I studied every single day of those three months I dedicated for DAT studying, I would go crazy.

During my review phase, I had a lot of free time during my days since all I was doing was reading through my Kaplan book+highlighting, Cliffs AP Bio+highlighting, or watching Chad's videos+taking notes.

4th of July weekend I had a few friends come down to visit so I essentially took the entire weekend off to go to the beach and stuff. I also ran a 5k on 4th of July back in my hometown.

Every Friday during the month of July, I watched a movie at the theaters with my roommate. It definitely helped to get my mind off of studying.

I also did a mud run during July as well. I did that with a group of friends and that was definitely fun!

I took one weekend off to go down to Ensenada for a humanitarian trip. I volunteered during the day and lived it up during the nights. It served as a mini-vacation for me.

I also went go-karting with my best friend one of the Friday nights leading up till test day. This was a huge stress reliever honestly. Who knew go-karts could be so fun?

All throughout the three months, I went to the pubs to enjoy a beer or hit up some happy hour specials just to be out of the apartment and away from studying. I did this maybe like once a week and I usually used these moments to see a few friends who were available at the time to refrain from being antisocial.

I definitely worked as much as I can. I would usually go out for a run or lift some weights here and there. I felt that I have to keep myself physically fit in order to keep up with the excessive studying. And, of course, sitting all day studying is definitely not good for my health so trying to stay active is essential for the mind and body.

Overall, it seemed like I did a lot, but that's because I set aside more than enough time for myself to study for the DAT (3 months). I knew I wouldn't be able to study consistently everyday, so 3 months gave me plenty of days to relax and to have some fun. Of course, if I was going to take a day off from studying, then I would make the most of it!

4. Can you give some of the details of your schedule for the day before and day of the DAT?

Day Before
The day before I went to grab some Chick Fil A with a couple friends since, at the time, Chick Fil A was having a promotion to enjoy a free breakfast entree. Afterwards, I stopped by a Target to buy Cliff bars and Gatorade for my break during the DAT. My friends and I also went to the mall afterwards just to walk around and talk about things to do the following week before summer was about to end for most of us. During this entire time, I had completely forgotten that I was going to take the DAT. It wasn't even on my mind at all! I definitely encourage others to relax and go hangout the day before the DAT.
I got home around mid afternoon so I just skimmed through Alan's Bio Notes with the supplemental notes I added on while studying. I enjoyed a salmon for dinner and looked through Destroyer Road Maps for O chem. I tried sleeping early but my sleep schedule at the time wouldn't let me sleep until 3AM (fortunately my DAT was scheduled at 12:30 the following day.So I just watched random YouTube videos until I felt tired.

Day Of
I woke up around 9AM. Worked out for half an hour. Watched three episodes of Fresh Prince of Bel Air while eating breakfast. Afterwards, I showered and got ready. I left for my test center at 12 and arrived there about 20 minutes before my appointment. It took a while to sign in since a lot of people were coming in to take their GREs I believe. I entered the testing room around 12:34 and it was showtime!

5. If you could do one thing different what would it be?

Not take the Kaplan course. It's not worth the money honestly. The class wasn't very helpful since the teacher just regurgitated basic information that we already reviewed from the Kaplan book. My teacher also kept rushing through the lessons making a lot of mistakes while trying to explain stuff. The online materials were good though, but I'm sure the other studying materials I had would've been sufficient.

Studying With Music

Many of us enjoy studying while listening to music. I do not want to say that their is a right or wrong type of music to listen to while studying but there is definitely a more effective music to listen to. Yes, I turn on my favorite tunes in the car or while at home relaxing. However, I usually (like most of you) use music to take my mind off of school, work, and the other cares of the world. Frankly, if I am going to be spending my time studying I want my focus to be on what I am studying not my music.

Generally, I only put my headphones on when I am not in a quiet study area. This includes my apartment (especially when my kids are running around), the library (when people are talking, eating, or making annoying repetitive sounds such as typing or tapping a pen), or any other public location. 

I have a few simple guidelines when it comes to choosing study music that I try to follow at all times. It does not matter how much studying I want to get done, if I listen to music without following these guidelines I will not get any studying done. Check them out:

1. No Lyrics: Music with lyrics distract from what you are studying. Often times one will fined themselves thinking more about the lyrics they are listening to instead of what they are studying!

2. Avoid Loud Music: Many of us like bands with jamming guitars and fast beating drums. The noise created by this music can be just as distracting as someone eating a bag of potato chips next to you in the library. It will often times break your focus and put you in an anxious mood. 

3.  Low Tempo: The tempo of the music can also play a big role in how one studies. I like to be relaxed (not sleeping!) while studying. Fast paced music sometimes interrupts ones ability to slow down and think deeply about what they are studying. Why do you think Hollister and all those other clothing companies play the fast beat music? Simple, if you feel like you are in a hurry you might make the rash decision of over paying for a shirt that you otherwise may not have purchased! May not make sense to you but it sure makes sense to me. Tricking myself into thinking I understand something is pretty easy when I am anxious or in a hurry. 

The guidelines are simple and have definitely helped me choose effective study music. Below is one of my study playlists. This list may not be for everyone but be creative and find music that HELPS you and does not hinder your studying. You are not limited to classical music by any means. There is plenty of suitable music that involves pianos, guitars, brass instruments, and whatever else you can think of.

Feel free to post songs that you like to study to in the comment section!