DAT Breakdown by: SLYgUY2098

To Start of this new year "SLYgUY2098" wanted to lend all of you pre-dental students out there a hand by posting his DAT breakdown here on DentalDAT. First of all congratulations to "SLYgUY2098" for a job well done. Scoring in the 98th percentile is not an easy task when it comes to the DAT. I highly recommend that you read this breakdown along with the others that are posted in the DentalDAT archive. Use the information that you gather from these successful students to formulate a winning strategy for yourself. Once you formulate a strategy that fits you and your schedule stick to it and you will see the results that you have been longing for.

SLYgUY2098 DAT Breakdown

PAT: 21 (87.9%)
QR: 24 (99.0%)
RC: 23 (89.8%)
Bio: 21 (92.3%)
GC: 21 (87.0%)
OC: 27 (98.7%)

TS: 22 (95.6%)
AA: 23 (98.7%)

Generally speaking, I thought the actual DAT exam was easier in respects to the practice that I've been doing. The only section that I thought was harder was the PAT, specifically pattern folding. All in all, as many have stated, if I can do it, so can you.

I would like to thank everyone on SDN that has helped me throughout this summer and dentalworks for his DAT 8-week study guide that I based my study schedule on. My family, friends, and you SDNers truly made these scores possible. I am humbled and deeply grateful. I will be posting a complete breakdown later tonight.

Here's my breakdown:

Practice Tests:
TopScore:
Bio/GC/OC/QR/RC/PAT/TS/AA
Test 1: 29/28/30/22/22/20/30/26
Test 2: 22/28/30/30/29/25/27/28
Test 3: 24/28/30/26/22/21/28/26

Achiever:
Test 1: 17/19/19/18/18/16/19/18

**Before I begin the actual breakdown of how I tackled my studying for the DAT, a quick note about materials. KBB was not the best. I read it as a  foundation but didn't rely on it at all. Pretty much none of it stuck after I finished with it. Achiever was ridiculous and  killed my confidence. TopScore was pretty accurate in its difficulty.  Nearly matched that of the real DAT.** Additionally, I modeled my study schedule after dentalwork's 8-week study program.

Biology: 
Materials: KBB, Destroyer, DAT QVault, Cliff's AP Bio, Alan's Notes
Comments:
I first started with KBB and realized that practically nothing I read was sticking. Asking advice from a friend who already took the DAT last year, I then bought the Cliff's AP Bio. Solid investment. Cliff's goes through almost everything you need for the biology section of the DAT. It lacked on details regarding the skeletal system (bone anatomy) and special senses (eye and ear).

Next, after reading through Cliff's twice, I then did Destroyer. First time through, I got about 50-60 wrong. Then my second run, I got 10 wrong. After Destroyer 2x, I then reviewed Alan's notes. They are detailed, but very succinct. You really have to know your material to find Alan's notes useful (and they are!).

I intermittently did DAT Qvault (bought the subscription) and it really helped. Started out at 18 for benchmark test #1 and went up to 23 for benchmark test #9 and #10. Very good investment and helped broaden the range of questions I came across.

Overall, I felt quite prepared for the bio section of the real DAT.

General Chemistry: 
Materials: KBB, Destroyer, Chad's Videos
Comments: 
I watched Chad's videos once, then did Destroyer once. Took notes using the handouts provided by Chad and then ran through Destroyer. I initially tried Destroyer prior to watching Chad's videos and I knew next to nothing. Chad's videos are VERY helpful. It was worth my money!

Overall, I felt super prepared for this section.

Organic Chemistry: 
Materials: KBB, Destroyer, Chad's Videos
Comments: 
Same thing as General Chemistry. Did Destroyer twice, and looked at the roadmaps too! (They help!)

Overall, I felt really prepared for this section as well.

Quantitative Reasoning:
Materials: KBB, Math Destroyer, Chad's Videos
Comments:
Judging from the success I had with Chad's videos for GC and OC, I plunged into his latest collection of videos, the ones for the QR section. It turns out I made the right decision. I tried Math Destroyer before watching the videos and I ran out of time about 25 problems into it. Post-watching the videos, I nailed all 40 with a few minutes to spare. I did Math Destroyer once through.

Overall, I was really surprised at the QR section. I know it has a nasty reputation for being the section people run out of time on, but I finished with 5 minutes left. There was nothing I didn't know or see before between Chad's videos and Math Destroyer.

Added advice: Please do not underestimate this section! I know I first did because I assumed I knew everything due to my perfect math SAT scores, but that's not the case! Take this section seriously too!

Reading Comprehension:
Materials: Crack DAT Reading (10-test), TopScore, Achiever
Comments:
Crack DAT Reading was nice, I used the 10-test version. Went through all of them, scored 23-25 on each one. It had more history and philosophical passages, very few on science. It helped build my speed and focus.

TopScore reading passages were far more like the real DAT because they were highly technical and science-based. Achiever was a bit overboard in my opinion.

Overall, I was confident going into the RC section. I read every passage (taking 10 minutes maximum), then answered the questions (10 minutes max). I didn't run out of time.

PAT:
Materials: KBB, Crack DAT PAT (10-test), TopScore
Comments:
Well I knew this was going to be a killer. Started out with CDP at a 16, worked my way up to 25 by the end of test 10. CDP was great because it had excellent explanations, and the range of figures/patterns/hole punches were great. Timing is key. But the most important part was practice. Practice, practice, practice. This isn't something you can "learn" how to do, it is simply practice-driven.

Overall, PAT wasn't terrible. Keyholes, hole punches, and cube counting were easier than CDP. Angles and TFE were the same difficulty. Pattern folding was pretty tricky, definitely harder than CDP. The pattern folding on TopScore was more representative of the difficulty of the real DAT though. Actually, TopScore PAT in general is quite representative of the actual DAT. Again, Achiever is pretty nuts.

Overall:
My experience with studying for the DAT has proven to me one thing: with hard work, anything can be achieved. I started my studying on July 5th, and concluded it on August 21st. I worked 8am-5pm Monday-Friday during that timeframe, and yet I still managed to study effectively and efficiently. I guarantee you that your hard work will be bountifully rewarded at the conclusion of your studies.

Other DAT Breakdowns

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

Thanks once again to "SLYgUY2098" for donating his DAT Breakdown! If you have a DAT Breakdown you would like to donate you can contact me via 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.