ASDA Simulation Course

Image taken from MWU 

The ASDA Simulation Course in Glendale Arizon is a fantastic for anyone who is considering going to dental School. The 2 day simulation course gives pre-dental students a good idea of what dental school is really like. This will give you an opportunity to know what you are getting into before you drop thousands of dollars on applications, interviews, and tuition. The last date to register is June 8 and the cost is only $100. Check out their website for more information at ASDA Simulation Course. Take a look and let me know if you sign-up!

Top 3 DAT Biology Study Materials

Image from gradprofiles.com

You have probably seen the article "The Hottest DAT Study Material 2011" which ranks the Top 10 DAT study aids. However, the best study aids do not necessarily translate into the best resource for each section. This is why it is highly recommended that you take the time to find the right combination of DAT material for you. In order to help you find the best materials for the biology section of the DAT, I have put together a Top 3 list of materials. I did not do a Top 10 or even a Top 5 list simply because the Top 3 materials that I am going to list blow the others out of the water. Yes, in my opinion and many others these are far superior study materials for the DAT biology section than any of the others.

#1- Cliffs AP Biology

I have written several articles now about Cliffs AP Biology. I cannot say enough about this resource. It outlines, in an easy to memorize fashion, just about everything you need to know for the biology section . The book isn't written on fancy paper but the simplicity and content that is included makes up for that. Oh, did I mention that this book can be purchased at Amazon for less than $10! I do have to warn you that Cliffs AP Biology does lack a little bit in the physiology portion and maybe a few other small areas.I would recommend checking the ADA specification outline to be sure you covered all the material.

Links:
DentalDAT: Give It Away #2
Cliffs AP Biology: The Rave

#2- DAT Destroyer


DAT Destroyer is another one of those that you cannot go wrong with. This actually supplements Cliffs AP Biology very well. The thing that separates this from many of the other typical study materials is that it is just a bunch of questions. Believe me, these questions will "destroy" you your first time through. Just remember it is not about getting the questions right or wrong it is about learning from every question. Thankfully, the DAT Destroyer has very detailed answers in the back and this is where you learn.

Links:
The Hottest DAT Study Material 2011

#3- TIME


Alright, I know time is not a material but reality is I couldn't choose a third resource to put in the #3 spot. If you know Cliffs AP Biology and work your way through DAT Destroyer (more than once) you can land yourself at least a 19 in the biology section. So my advice is to go out and get the 2 best study materials and start studying. You can spend hours debating on which study materials to use but the reality is, you just need to put the time into studying.

Honorable Mentions:

Top Score Pro: Test yourself using this DAT simulator software. Probably one of the most accurate software programs that you can buy. If you want to know what you will score on the real DAT take a couple of these tests. You will probably score a point or two lower on the biology section in comparison to the real DAT as they do put in a few extra taxonomy questions.

DAT Achiever: Test yourself using this DAT simulator software. Don't be discouraged if you end up with only 15 or 16 in the biology section as many of these questions are far more difficult than the real DAT. This will be a good 3 to 4 points lower than what you will score when you get to the real test.

Kaplan Blue Book: Often times Kaplan gets negative feedback on their material because it is too easy in comparison to the real DAT. However, they do a pretty decent job in the biology section. This will definitely pick up anything that is lacking in Cliffs AP Biology.

Hopefully this saves you some time and helps you to get a higher score on the DAT. The study material that you choose can really make a difference. The Top 3 materials that I have presented to you today are materials that have been used by thousands of pre-dental students to get high scores on the DAT. Good luck to all! Just remember... IT'S WORTH IT!

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"

DentalDAT: Give It Away #2

Give It Away!

Announcing DentalDAT's second "Give it Away". This is a chance for you to win CliffsNotes AP Biology book. This is an excellent resource for studying the biology section of the DAT. In fact, it is ranked #5 on DentalDAT's "The Hottest DAT Study Material 2011".

Product Breakdown

• 275+ pages of easy to read biology outlines
• Practice questions after each chapter
• 2 Sample practice tests at the end of the book to test your biology knowledge
• Best of all it follows the ADA biology outline very closely (Check out "Cliffs AP Biology: The Rave")

How To Win

Unfortunately, I am unable to give this book to everyone who visits DentalDAT. However, I will choose one lucky winner who will receive this book at no expense! Every student is allowed to enter their name up to one time. This is how you can enter your name for the drawing;

Facebook: "Like" DentalDAT. The "Like" button can be found at the top left corner of DentalDat.com, on the bottom toolbar of DentalDat.com, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/DentalDAT/. If you already "Like" DentalDAT on Facebook please go to the page and "Share" it with your friends! Remember to fill out the form below and check the corresponding box in order to have your name entered.

The drawing will take place after the DentalDAT Facebook page has received 100+ likes or April 1, 2012 which ever comes first. Need the book soon? All the more incentive to get your friends to "Like" DentalDAT! 

I will notify the winner by e-mail and subsequently I will post the winner in the comments section of this post. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours of the drawing. I will draw a second winner. 

Rules and Regulations

1. There is a limit of up to 1 entry per person.
2. In order to be considered an entry, each person must "Like" the DentalDAT Facebook page or make a status update suggesting their friends "Like" DentalDAT AND submit the above form.
3. This "Give It Away" is open to readers with US shipping addresses only.
4. Free Shipping to the WINNER! (remember US shipping address only!)
5. Winner must respond within 48 hours of the drawing or another winner will be chosen (no exceptions)
6. The item cannot be exchanged for another item or money.

Disclaimer: I plan on everything going smoothly and without a problem. However, in the off chance that I encounter an unexpected hiccup please be patient as I rectify the situation.

Any feedback can be posted in the comments section of this post. If you wish you may also e-mail me at Thecreator@dentaldat.com for any suggestions or feedback.

THANKS FOR PARTICIPATING!