DefeATed! (25AA, 24TS, 24PAT)

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Illfavor

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Let's break it down, ya'll!

First, my scores:

SCORES

PAT 24 (98.1):thumbup:
QR 23 (98.8):eek:
RC 28 (99.7):eek:
BIO 26 (99.5):thumbup:
GC 22 (91.8):thumbup:
OC 24 (95.7):thumbup:
TS 24 (99.1):laugh:
AA 25 (99.9):love:

General Plan
I studied in the library for 8hrs a day, M-F, for about 7 weeks. Weekends were light study days. In all, I’d estimate about 45 hours a week. I’d cover some of everything every single day just to keep things fresh and interesting. I had a general study outline, but I deviated from it often and it wasn’t ever a big benefit. Do what works for you in this respect.

Review of Study Materials

I’ll review DAT QVault and DAT Bootcamp independently below.

Biology- Feralis Notes (11/10, TEST MVP), DAT Bootcamp (10/10), DAT Qvault (10/10), Cliff’s AP (9/10), Barrons AP (9/10), Campbell’s Biology (9/10), Craig Savage Youtube Videos (8/10), DAT Destroyer (7/10), ExamKrackers MCAT Audio Osmosis (6/10)

I wanted to hit Bio from as many angles as possible. It was the subject I focused on the most. As you know, Bio is huge…there is just too much to know. But, you can make educated decisions about where to focus your attention. Metabolic processes? Yep. Anatomy? Yep. Taxonomy? Less so. Plants? Maybe not. I made the decision to focus on high yield areas and let my cursory knowledge of low yield areas guide me. Ultimately this worked perfectly for me, as I’ll discuss later.

Feralis’ Notes covered the answer to every one of my test questions. The style of writing/summary wasn’t ideal for me but I worked with it. Not much else to say here. The free notes had all the answers.

Destroyer was overkill, but did save me on exactly one question. I went through it twice, finishing the day before the exam. In hindsight, I would skip Destroyer and get a stronger conceptual basis for every single concept in biology, because that’s how they will test you. Memorizing the Feralis notes to a better degree would have been just as useful.

Campbell Biology was my text in Bio I/II. It’s encyclopedic but really excellent at explaining concepts in biology. My Bio II teacher was atrocious so I ended up teaching myself all of anatomy, reproduction, evolution, ecology and animal development. I’d go over a section in the Feralis notes then skim it in Campbell, annotating my notes whenever some major point would stick out.

I would like to stress something about Bio. I would not have scored this well if I had only used AP review books. That just doesn’t cut it. I anticipated this and so I used Campbell’s and Ferali’s notes to fill in the HUGE gaps in those books. This is mostly in anatomy, some specifics about cells, hormones, and the respiratory/circulatory system. I had multiple questions that required detail of anatomy that was never mention in these review books, and that I only knew from my Bio classes or other notes.

Auditory learning is generally low yield, but I had 1.5 hours of driving everyday so that was at least 30 extra minutes of studying via ExamKrackers Audio Osmosis.

General Chemistry- Chad’s Videos (11/10), DAT Bootcamp (10/10), ExamKrackers MCAT Review (9/10), DAT Destroyer (8/10), DAT QVault (8/10)

Like a broken record on SDN, Chad is all you need. EK actually summarizes pretty much the exact same material as Chad, so it’s nice to have on the iPad or something for those easy days. Either resource was enough. Destroyer didn’t cover the problems I missed (Chad did, I just forgot it), and it was a distraction from the basics I needed. I again did Destroyer twice, but it’s overkill.

Organic Chemistry- Chad’s Videos (9/10), DAT Destroyer (7/10), Solomon’s Organic Chemistry (7/10)

OChem is/was my favorite class. I expected to crush this section, and didn’t really study much here. I did Destroyer twice as well, but this was way too much studying. Wasted time. I would guess I could have made the same score without studying at all since I just finished Orgo II. Destroyer is overkill, and I used the Solomon’s text for clarification of Chad’s notes. This section was basic, and actually pretty much just Orgo I, minus a few reactions.

PAT- DAT QVault (10/10), CDP (6/10)
CDP is just too easy. I quickly regretted the expense. Only their angle rankings are remotely accurate, if not too hard. Always did this at the end of the day when I was most tired.

RC- Random Journal Articles and QVault. Too little to really rate it.
I figure this is a score people are curious about. I’m sorry to dash your hopes, but I didn’t really study for it. I took one QVault test, got a 26, and shrugged off RC. If you are a competent reader you should be fine here. I just read the passage and answered the questions. No special method.

QR- Math Destroyer (11/10), Chad’s Videos (6/10)
I’m not great at math, and QR freaked me out more than anything before the test. I have not taken a math class in a very long time. I started with Chad’s videos, which were sort of a refresher, but I didn’t really like his methods here. I don’t like shortcuts; I need to understand the genesis of answers and such really well. Math Destroyer covered literally everything on my exam in maybe 3 tests, but I did the entire book twice. I was scoring 30/40 in the beginning, but as the tests wore on they seemed to get harder, to the point that I was scoring 20/40 on the last few. That obliterated my already fragile confidence, but also forced me to step it up. I also did this at the end of the day, to simulate test tiredness. I skipped DAT Destroyer Math since I figured it was too easy. Be sure to memorize like every area/volume formula under the sun. Circles, ellipses, just in case. ;)
-----------------
DAT QVault (10/10)
Two sections in particular here, Bio and PAT, were real standouts. In PAT, it is great preparation for the actual exam in every way except their scoring. As I was making 82/90 and only getting 21s, I was worried about my potential for the actual test. QVault is harder than or nearly at exam level for most sections. TFE and Keyholes are WAY BETTER on DQV than CDP. I was like “are they serious?” on the real thing after having struggled with DQV for weeks. Angle ranking is too easy, but every other section is perfectly hard. I am TERRIBLE at cube counting and ended up triple checking this section on the exam. For hole punching I used Line of Symmetry, pretty much never missed a question in practice. DQV Bio is also quite good. The sheer amount of questions and exposure is just great. Maybe their taxonomy is too detailed, but you never know what will show up on a test. It has a similar format of questions (purposefully unclear at times?) to force you to stay on your toes. I also learned a great deal from the questions. After about 6 tests I just started using the practice questions to review concepts I had covered. I didn’t really use the GC/OC all that much, since I had so many other resources there.

DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
Spectacular. Ari and friends really understand how questions are asked on the exam, and FORCE you to think your way through an exam. This is what the DAT is about. It is not enough to just know what a term means. That just gets you in the door. You need to be able to apply concepts, think on your feet, and reason out answers. Every Bootcamp test forces you to do this! I’ll report my scores lower, but they were close to my actual…except for QR. Man, Bootcamp QR was literally the hardest thing in any section of my test prep. It has too many lengthy math calculations. My actual QR was much more straightforward.

Summary of Test Materials:
Do well in your classes, and use the free materials as much as possible. If I could go back I would only buy Bootcamp, DQV (Bio+PAT), Math Destroyer and Chad’s OC/GC and saved a few hundred bucks.

Practice Test Scores
DQV
B-21/19/20/23/25/25
GC- 22/19/22/24/24/22
OC-20/24/20
PAT-21/21/21/21/20/20/21/21/21

DAT Bootcamp
B-26/22/25/22/22
GC-24/22/26/22/20
OC-27/23/24/26/21
QR-21/20/18/20/X

2009 DAT (borrowed copy, only did sciences and QR)
B-26
GC-24
OC-30
QR-18

Test Day:
Bio- Solid mix of straightforward/obvious and conceptual questions. Some detail questions that you just had to know. I guess you could say it was random, but it’s all of biology we’re talking about here. Spent about 10 minutes of my 90 on two questions that I knew I knew the answer to, just had to find it in my head. They find interesting ways to test basic concepts. Bootcamp and DQV were quite similar, if not slightly harder. No low yield topics. The AP books covered 75% of it, but that last 25% required a ton of different resources to piece together. I left this section initially thinking I’d be retaking, but as the test wore on I realized I actually did quite well.

GC- Very simple. Missed some basic math stuff that I really shouldn’t have. Really few surprises here, and in fact there were some incredibly simple, “Can you read?” type questions. Just know the stuff and you’ll be fine.

OC- Mostly conceptual. Had two questions that were new concepts to me, so I had to guess. The rest was very easy. Simple reagents, maybe 8 reactions total. Nothing crazy.
I finished the sciences in 55 minutes, went back over every question twice and then sat my head down for a few minutes. I ended up changing about 10 answers out of the 100, mostly in Bio.

PAT- This was surprisingly easy and I thank QVault for that. Keyholes were straightforward. The guy who’s posting some up here (bawby?) Those are way harder than what I saw. TFE was easier than DQV. Angle ranking = CDP, harder than DQV. Cube counting was fine. Pattern folding was…interesting. Expect the unexpected. Had 15 minutes to review/check things but didn’t really change much.

RC- Three 14-paragraph passages about basic science. One was about some basic biology, which I had studied in detail for the exam and knew a lot of the answers to already. I finished with 15 minutes to spare and started the QR early, since I wanted to go home at that point and there was no way I was rereading any of that stuff. A few tone questions, but SnD would get a 20+ here. I didn’t see any need for SnD, since they’re pretty short and I can read I guess moderately fast.

QR- A pleasant surprise. The trig was easier than anything you’d have in a high school trig class. Really basic math here. I finished my first run having marked about 12 questions in 30 minutes, I then had time to literally just plug and chug in the answers to those other ones to get it right. I didn’t know the math on them, just had the extra time. But, it was really simple math that I just couldn’t quite figure out. I always finish QR really quickly, so that’s a strong plus. Calculator AND mouse were terrible, just terrible.

*EDIT* I am getting a lot of questions about the Destroyer Science resources. Let me be clear. Nothing I was tested on was exclusively covered by Destroyer. In any section. That does not mean that is universally true. That is just my experience. Going through the Destroyer is a good experience, as it does make you think in different ways. Ultimately it is up to you. I have the benefit of hindsight, but what is true for me may not be true for you. The power is yours!

Final Impressions:
I started science courses 13 months ago. In that time, I’ve started a new career path, gotten married, and taken the DAT. Anyone can beat this test if you are dedicated. I would consider myself a smart person (who doesn't? :cool: ), but I also work for what I want. This score didn’t just fall from the sky. I have years of experience teaching myself material in multiple disciplines and I understand how I learn. Learning to learn is the true goal of higher education. Do what works for you, don’t buy every test prep software that crosses your eyes, and focus.

We are going to be dentists, but we’ll only get there together, so rely on me, and everyone else here. There is no way I could have done this without you guys, and I will do everything I can to return the favor. Thanks so much and good luck to everyone!

An old African proverb to live by

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If you don't mind me asking, how long were your RC stories? how many paragraphs or so? I have been doing Topscore to practice RC and they use mostly 12 paragraphs or so. I want to be ready, in case I get in there and there is a 20 paragraph stories.
 
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Thanks guys! Woke up early today since my body hasn't realized the test is OVER. Breakdown is posted. I've gotten a lot of PMs so be patient if I don't get back to you right away. Thanks again. :D
 
Great job and breakdown! We had very similar scores actually.

I am glad you addressed that the AP books don't cover everything; as invaluable as Cliff's is, it doesn't cover everything. I didn't use Campbell's, but I definitely agree that more information on anatomy and physiology is needed.
 
Awesome breakdown! congrats!!

i have about 20 days till my world would be collapsed and destroyed by DAT...

what should i be doing right now?

i've covered everything but i don't feel confident. i'm doing destroyer for second time and going through the questions on Chad's bio/chem section qvault, bootcamp, and etc, and reread the chapter i frequently get wrong on the tests.

please give me any advice ! thank you!
 
so you recommend not going over the gen chem, ochem, bio destroyer questions?
I'm just saying it turned out to be a waste for me. That hasn't been the case for others. I went over it because I feel it's better to over prepare than to not, but in some ways Destroyer goes into things that detract from the true basics that they will probably cover. If you have to time, of course do the Destroyers, but when crunched, I'd certainly skip the GC/OC Destroyer. Bio offers a lot of insight into body processes, but so does Campbell Bio.

Great job and breakdown! We had very similar scores actually.

I am glad you addressed that the AP books don't cover everything; as invaluable as Cliff's is, it doesn't cover everything. I didn't use Campbell's, but I definitely agree that more information on anatomy and physiology is needed.
Indeed. I was skeptical from the get-go of the myth of the AP books. Sure, they might get you a 20, but getting into dental school isn't get easier.

Awesome breakdown! congrats!!

i have about 20 days till my world would be collapsed and destroyed by DAT...

what should i be doing right now?

i've covered everything but i don't feel confident. i'm doing destroyer for second time and going through the questions on Chad's bio/chem section qvault, bootcamp, and etc, and reread the chapter i frequently get wrong on the tests.

please give me any advice ! thank you!
You're doing exactly what I did. Anything you aren't sure of, that you can't nail, then review it. Explain things in different ways. Think deep to find the connections. Pretty much everything in biology can be related. Imagine how much you'd have to cover if you just wanted to examine the various ways oxygen impacts metabolic processes or something. Connect the dots. Every concept has an organelle, a hormone, something like that. I had varying levels of confidence going into the test. About 2 weeks before the test, I thought I was ready and was feeling really good. Then I took a practice test that asked me something relatively basic about photosynthesis and I had to think on it for a while...are you really ready?:idea: Best of luck to you!
 
Finally, someone who agreed with me about the Destroyer!! :D

Congratulations! I'll add you to my list when I'm not on my iPhone! It's the best feeling to have the DAT over with, especially when you were working towards scores like this.
 
first congratulations! your the man, and im super jealous of you. I have about a week and a half before my DAT and am just reviewing Chads notes in OC and gen chem, and working destroyer, but i think after what you said ill get bootcamp and focus more on my notes then trying to push through destroyer..... kind of agree with that? Also, would you say barrons or feralis was better for bio? or destroyer bio?
 
Finally, someone who agreed with me about the Destroyer!! :D

Congratulations! I'll add you to my list when I'm not on my iPhone! It's the best feeling to have the DAT over with, especially when you were working towards scores like this.
Thanks, it's an honor to be on the list! I'm very happy to be done. Destroyer is a mixed bag. Some people have said it coincided with their test a great deal, and then for us it was mostly irrelevant. :shrug:

first congratulations! your the man, and im super jealous of you. I have about a week and a half before my DAT and am just reviewing Chads notes in OC and gen chem, and working destroyer, but i think after what you said ill get bootcamp and focus more on my notes then trying to push through destroyer..... kind of agree with that? Also, would you say barrons or feralis was better for bio? or destroyer bio?
No need to be jealous, just go out there and kick some butt. Bootcamp was really great. It'll present things in new ways and you'll probably be better for it. I'm not trying to tell folks to avoid Destroyer, I just didn't have anything from it on my exam. It made me more confident the second time I ran through it, but it was useless knowledge. Chad is fine for GC/OC.

A lot of folks seem to think Destroyer is good for the "random bio facts" you'll get on the exam. But what a lot of folks who haven't seen both the Feralis notes and Destroyer don't know is that the Feralis notes include pretty much all of the "random bio facts" from the Destroyer books...and they are free. :nod: Barron's had more useful detail than Cliff's did, but I feel the Feralis notes had the appropriate breadth and depth. You really have to cover the integumentary, skeletal, muscular and endocrine systems better than the AP review books do to have all your bases covered. Basic anatomy as well. For example, different muscle types (not cardiac/skeletal, but ciliary/papillary), eye anatomy...it can all be on there, and if you haven't even sniffed that stuff and they ask, you're already 2 questions behind the ball. Feralis notes covered my entire exam, but I'd expose myself to as much material as possible!
 
Thanks, it's an honor to be on the list! I'm very happy to be done. Destroyer is a mixed bag. Some people have said it coincided with their test a great deal, and then for us it was mostly irrelevant. :shrug:


No need to be jealous, just go out there and kick some butt. Bootcamp was really great. It'll present things in new ways and you'll probably be better for it. I'm not trying to tell folks to avoid Destroyer, I just didn't have anything from it on my exam. It made me more confident the second time I ran through it, but it was useless knowledge. Chad is fine for GC/OC.

A lot of folks seem to think Destroyer is good for the "random bio facts" you'll get on the exam. But what a lot of folks who haven't seen both the Feralis notes and Destroyer don't know is that the Feralis notes include pretty much all of the "random bio facts" from the Destroyer books...and they are free. :nod: Barron's had more useful detail than Cliff's did, but I feel the Feralis notes had the appropriate breadth and depth. You really have to cover the integumentary, skeletal, muscular and endocrine systems better than the AP review books do to have all your bases covered. Basic anatomy as well. For example, different muscle types (not cardiac/skeletal, but ciliary/papillary), eye anatomy...it can all be on there, and if you haven't even sniffed that stuff and they ask, you're already 2 questions behind the ball. Feralis notes covered my entire exam, but I'd expose myself to as much material as possible!

Thanks so much, i really appreciate that, i will ditch destroyer bio since ive already gone through once with barrons, and go through feralis. and i got bootcamp! already love it, going to switch off it and destroyer till time comes, thanks again and good luck in dental school
 
Hey CONGRATS!! Quick question. I read on your breakdown that you recommend QVault for Bio and PAT but comparing the QVault and Bootcamp in those 2 sections which do you feel was better?
 
Thanks so much, i really appreciate that, i will ditch destroyer bio since ive already gone through once with barrons, and go through feralis. and i got bootcamp! already love it, going to switch off it and destroyer till time comes, thanks again and good luck in dental school

Thanks! Sounds like a plan, just make sure you focus on your weakest areas and you should be set.

Hey CONGRATS!! Quick question. I read on your breakdown that you recommend QVault for Bio and PAT but comparing the QVault and Bootcamp in those 2 sections which do you feel was better?

Bootcamp doesn't have PAT at this time. If you only have money for one, like $100, I'd buy the QVault PAT and Bio if we're just discussing those two sections. The DAT QVault PAT was perfect for me, full of tough problems that prepared me for the exam without being too discouraging when I wasn't doing so hot. If you can afford both, I'd get them because Bootcamp is better for GC/OC, with QR being a wash between them. Qvault has more features than Bootcamp (I think bootcamp launched like a month ago, but they've already added more good stuff). I think bootcamp is on its way to becoming a top product, while QVault is already there IMO.
 
Hey man congrats on your scores. Quick question was their alot of importance put on and spectroscopy or nmrs?
 
Hey man congrats on your scores. Quick question was their alot of importance put on and spectroscopy or nmrs?

I'll put it this way (so there are no rules issues here): rarely have I seen folks who score well place any particular emphasis on spectroscopy or NMR.
 
I’d cover some of everything every single day just to keep things fresh and interesting. I had a general study outline, but I deviated from it often and it wasn’t ever a big benefit.

Hi IllFavor! two quick questions:

What was your study outline / plan like?

How did you approach each day of studying?
 
Hi IllFavor! two quick questions:

What was your study outline / plan like?

How did you approach each day of studying?

My grand scheme sorta mirrored the dentalWorks 8week plan, but only for 7 weeks. I did Chad's Videos and Feralis Notes first. (4 weeks). Then I started all 4 destroyer sections (bio, gc, oc, Math Destroyer) for about 1.5 weeks. I also started PAT around week 3 on CDP, but later switched to DQV. Then I just review, focusing on what I didn't know for about 4/5 days. For the last 1.5-2 weeks, things were intense. I had designated pages where I would note what I missed, and then study it. I probably went over the immune system, respiration and photosynthesis 8 times each because I wasn't nailing everything. For the last 3 weeks of prep I was taking a few practice tests and exposing myself to different resources, videos, just to hear/read everything I could. In the last few days I tried to taper off, getting mentally ready for the test.

In general, every day I would hit every subject. A day would look like this:

830-10 Bio
10-1130 GC
Lunch
1230-2 OC
2-5 Practice tests, or Destroyers, or whatever I needed here.
Dinner and Recreation
7-8 Review of something or a practice test, depending on my needs.
9-10 Math Test and review
10-1130 PAT Test and review

Each hour of studying was typically 50-10 study/break ratio.
 
So would you think its a good idea to get... Sciences(OC/GC) and Math from Bootcamp and get PAT and Biology from Qvault?
 
Congrats!
Thanks!:luck:

So would you think its a good idea to get... Sciences(OC/GC) and Math from Bootcamp and get PAT and Biology from Qvault?
Bootcamp will give you Bio in the package too, and it's certainly worth it. I didn't use the non Bio/PAT parts of DQV much and you can certainly score well without it.
 
lllfavor so are all/most of the ochem reactions covered in chad's videos then? thanks in advance and nice scores btw.
 
lllfavor so are all/most of the ochem reactions covered in chad's videos then? thanks in advance and nice scores btw.

Yeah, Chad covers pretty much everything I felt I needed from OC. I think the only reactions he didn't really cover that I looked at were The tin chloride reductions and the basic diazonium stuff, which isn't that tough.
 
Yeah, Chad covers pretty much everything I felt I needed from OC. I think the only reactions he didn't really cover that I looked at were The tin chloride reductions and the basic diazonium stuff, which isn't that tough.

favor, have you used achiever at all?
 
Not one bit. I wanted to limit my "study materials that make me not want to study" as much as possible. :laugh:

lol ok..

i am planning to use achiever for extra practice but won't put too much weight on it

will get bootcamp towards the end of my studies
 
Congratulatios on your phenomenal scores! I have seen your posts before, and you seemed to always have great advise. No wonder!

I am really worried for my test, which is in the middle of August. I have lots of material including Kaplan's course and everything else that everyone is talking about. But really overwhelmed at this point because I still have not done any practice tests:(

Favor, I think you mentioned about Barron's AP book? I do like the read of that, but has some mistakes, which I believe is good kind of, since I can catch the mistakes. But certainly will supplement it with other more credible sources.

Congratulations again. Hope I can post great scores like you did too soon:)
I loved the African Proverb!
 
Feralis’ Notes covered the answer to every one of my test questions. The style of writing/summary wasn’t ideal for me but I worked with it. Not much else to say here. The free notes had all the answers.

Sorry about the short-hand! When I initially wrote these my goal was to cram all the details from various sources while keeping them as brief as possible, but it wasn't until I reviewed the notes after I'd stepped away from them for a while that I realized sometimes the notes were so brief they weren't easy to understand anymore. Version 2 should bring a lot of improvements to that (and hopefully I'll have the time to gut and rework the taxonomy stuff).

Anyways, congratulations!
 
Congratulatios on your phenomenal scores! I have seen your posts before, and you seemed to always have great advise. No wonder!

I am really worried for my test, which is in the middle of August. I have lots of material including Kaplan's course and everything else that everyone is talking about. But really overwhelmed at this point because I still have not done any practice tests:(

Favor, I think you mentioned about Barron's AP book? I do like the read of that, but has some mistakes, which I believe is good kind of, since I can catch the mistakes. But certainly will supplement it with other more credible sources.

Congratulations again. Hope I can post great scores like you did too soon:)
I loved the African Proverb!

Thank you, I appreciate the kind words. Yes, we always have to be on the lookout for incorrect information. That's why I think it's so important to be exposed to information in multiple ways, from many sources! I'm sure you'll do excellent on this exam. You have around a month. This exam can be beaten in a month. It is possible to have too many resources. The important thing is focusing on your weaknesses and eliminating them. I remembered some things after one look through, and other things I had to go over again and again. Eradicate your weakness using whatever tools you have!

Sorry about the short-hand! When I initially wrote these my goal was to cram all the details from various sources while keeping them as brief as possible, but it wasn't until I reviewed the notes after I'd stepped away from them for a while that I realized sometimes the notes were so brief they weren't easy to understand anymore. Version 2 should bring a lot of improvements to that (and hopefully I'll have the time to gut and rework the taxonomy stuff).

Anyways, congratulations!

Thanks! Yea, the notes were obviously written in a way you were used to, but honestly I was being too picky. They are beautiful notes, are well organized, and contained the correct level of detail in most sections. That section on anatomy was a bit demoralizing, but in a good way! I remember many times throughout my prep thinking I should give it up because there was just too much to know, but I'm glad I stuck with it.Thanks so much for such an excellent resource!
 
Let's break it down, ya'll!

First, my scores:

SCORES

PAT 24 (98.1):thumbup:
QR 23 (98.8):eek:
RC 28 (99.7):eek:
BIO 26 (99.5):thumbup:
GC 22 (91.8):thumbup:
OC 24 (95.7):thumbup:
TS 24 (99.1):laugh:
AA 25 (99.9):love:

General Plan
I studied in the library for 8hrs a day, M-F, for about 7 weeks. Weekends were light study days. In all, I’d estimate about 45 hours a week. I’d cover some of everything every single day just to keep things fresh and interesting. I had a general study outline, but I deviated from it often and it wasn’t ever a big benefit. Do what works for you in this respect.

Review of Study Materials

I’ll review DAT QVault and DAT Bootcamp independently below.

Biology- Feralis Notes (11/10, TEST MVP), DAT Bootcamp (10/10), DAT Qvault (10/10), Cliff’s AP (9/10), Barrons AP (9/10), Campbell’s Biology (9/10), Craig Savage Youtube Videos (8/10), DAT Destroyer (7/10), ExamKrackers MCAT Audio Osmosis (6/10)

I wanted to hit Bio from as many angles as possible. It was the subject I focused on the most. As you know, Bio is huge…there is just too much to know. But, you can make educated decisions about where to focus your attention. Metabolic processes? Yep. Anatomy? Yep. Taxonomy? Less so. Plants? Maybe not. I made the decision to focus on high yield areas and let my cursory knowledge of low yield areas guide me. Ultimately this worked perfectly for me, as I’ll discuss later.

Feralis’ Notes covered the answer to every one of my test questions. The style of writing/summary wasn’t ideal for me but I worked with it. Not much else to say here. The free notes had all the answers.

Destroyer was overkill, but did save me on exactly one question. I went through it twice, finishing the day before the exam. In hindsight, I would skip Destroyer and get a stronger conceptual basis for every single concept in biology, because that’s how they will test you. Memorizing the Feralis notes to a better degree would have been just as useful.

Campbell Biology was my text in Bio I/II. It’s encyclopedic but really excellent at explaining concepts in biology. My Bio II teacher was atrocious so I ended up teaching myself all of anatomy, reproduction, evolution, ecology and animal development. I’d go over a section in the Feralis notes then skim it in Campbell, annotating my notes whenever some major point would stick out.

I would like to stress something about Bio. I would not have scored this well if I had only used AP review books. That just doesn’t cut it. I anticipated this and so I used Campbell’s and Ferali’s notes to fill in the HUGE gaps in those books. This is mostly in anatomy, some specifics about cells, hormones, and the respiratory/circulatory system. I had multiple questions that required detail of anatomy that was never mention in these review books, and that I only knew from my Bio classes or other notes.

Auditory learning is generally low yield, but I had 1.5 hours of driving everyday so that was at least 30 extra minutes of studying via ExamKrackers Audio Osmosis.

General Chemistry- Chad’s Videos (11/10), DAT Bootcamp (10/10), ExamKrackers MCAT Review (9/10), DAT Destroyer (8/10), DAT QVault (8/10)

Like a broken record on SDN, Chad is all you need. EK actually summarizes pretty much the exact same material as Chad, so it’s nice to have on the iPad or something for those easy days. Either resource was enough. Destroyer didn’t cover the problems I missed (Chad did, I just forgot it), and it was a distraction from the basics I needed. I again did Destroyer twice, but it’s overkill.

Organic Chemistry- Chad’s Videos (9/10), DAT Destroyer (7/10), Solomon’s Organic Chemistry (7/10)

OChem is/was my favorite class. I expected to crush this section, and didn’t really study much here. I did Destroyer twice as well, but this was way too much studying. Wasted time. I would guess I could have made the same score without studying at all since I just finished Orgo II. Destroyer is overkill, and I used the Solomon’s text for clarification of Chad’s notes. This section was basic, and actually pretty much just Orgo I, minus a few reactions.

PAT- DAT QVault (10/10), CDP (6/10)
CDP is just too easy. I quickly regretted the expense. Only their angle rankings are remotely accurate, if not too hard. Always did this at the end of the day when I was most tired.

RC- Random Journal Articles and QVault. Too little to really rate it.
I figure this is a score people are curious about. I’m sorry to dash your hopes, but I didn’t really study for it. I took one QVault test, got a 26, and shrugged off RC. If you are a competent reader you should be fine here. I just read the passage and answered the questions. No special method.

QR- Math Destroyer (11/10), Chad’s Videos (6/10)
I’m not great at math, and QR freaked me out more than anything before the test. I have not taken a math class in a very long time. I started with Chad’s videos, which were sort of a refresher, but I didn’t really like his methods here. I don’t like shortcuts; I need to understand the genesis of answers and such really well. Math Destroyer covered literally everything on my exam in maybe 3 tests, but I did the entire book twice. I was scoring 30/40 in the beginning, but as the tests wore on they seemed to get harder, to the point that I was scoring 20/40 on the last few. That obliterated my already fragile confidence, but also forced me to step it up. I also did this at the end of the day, to simulate test tiredness. I skipped DAT Destroyer Math since I figured it was too easy. Be sure to memorize like every area/volume formula under the sun. Circles, ellipses, just in case. ;)
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DAT QVault (10/10)
Two sections in particular here, Bio and PAT, were real standouts. In PAT, it is great preparation for the actual exam in every way except their scoring. As I was making 82/90 and only getting 21s, I was worried about my potential for the actual test. QVault is harder than or nearly at exam level for most sections. TFE and Keyholes are WAY BETTER on DQV than CDP. I was like “are they serious?” on the real thing after having struggled with DQV for weeks. Angle ranking is too easy, but every other section is perfectly hard. I am TERRIBLE at cube counting and ended up triple checking this section on the exam. For hole punching I used Line of Symmetry, pretty much never missed a question in practice. DQV Bio is also quite good. The sheer amount of questions and exposure is just great. Maybe their taxonomy is too detailed, but you never know what will show up on a test. It has a similar format of questions (purposefully unclear at times?) to force you to stay on your toes. I also learned a great deal from the questions. After about 6 tests I just started using the practice questions to review concepts I had covered. I didn’t really use the GC/OC all that much, since I had so many other resources there.

DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
Spectacular. Ari and friends really understand how questions are asked on the exam, and FORCE you to think your way through an exam. This is what the DAT is about. It is not enough to just know what a term means. That just gets you in the door. You need to be able to apply concepts, think on your feet, and reason out answers. Every Bootcamp test forces you to do this! I’ll report my scores lower, but they were close to my actual…except for QR. Man, Bootcamp QR was literally the hardest thing in any section of my test prep. It has too many lengthy math calculations. My actual QR was much more straightforward.

Summary of Test Materials:
Do well in your classes, and use the free materials as much as possible. If I could go back I would only buy Bootcamp, DQV (Bio+PAT), Math Destroyer and Chad’s OC/GC and saved a few hundred bucks.

Practice Test Scores
DQV
B-21/19/20/23/25/25
GC- 22/19/22/24/24/22
OC-20/24/20
PAT-21/21/21/21/20/20/21/21/21

DAT Bootcamp
B-26/22/25/22/22
GC-24/22/26/22/20
OC-27/23/24/26/21
QR-21/20/18/20/X

2009 DAT (borrowed copy, only did sciences and QR)
B-26
GC-24
OC-30
QR-18

Test Day:
Bio-
Solid mix of straightforward/obvious and conceptual questions. Some detail questions that you just had to know. I guess you could say it was random, but it’s all of biology we’re talking about here. Spent about 10 minutes of my 90 on two questions that I knew I knew the answer to, just had to find it in my head. They find interesting ways to test basic concepts. Bootcamp and DQV were quite similar, if not slightly harder. No low yield topics. The AP books covered 75% of it, but that last 25% required a ton of different resources to piece together. I left this section initially thinking I’d be retaking, but as the test wore on I realized I actually did quite well.

GC- Very simple. Missed some basic math stuff that I really shouldn’t have. Really few surprises here, and in fact there were some incredibly simple, “Can you read?” type questions. Just know the stuff and you’ll be fine.

OC- Mostly conceptual. Had two questions that were new concepts to me, so I had to guess. The rest was very easy. Simple reagents, maybe 8 reactions total. Nothing crazy.
I finished the sciences in 55 minutes, went back over every question twice and then sat my head down for a few minutes. I ended up changing about 10 answers out of the 100, mostly in Bio.

PAT- This was surprisingly easy and I thank QVault for that. Keyholes were straightforward. The guy who’s posting some up here (bawby?) Those are way harder than what I saw. TFE was easier than DQV. Angle ranking = CDP, harder than DQV. Cube counting was fine. Pattern folding was…interesting. Expect the unexpected. Had 15 minutes to review/check things but didn’t really change much.

RC- Three 14-paragraph passages about basic science. One was about some basic biology, which I had studied in detail for the exam and knew a lot of the answers to already. I finished with 15 minutes to spare and started the QR early, since I wanted to go home at that point and there was no way I was rereading any of that stuff. A few tone questions, but SnD would get a 20+ here. I didn’t see any need for SnD, since they’re pretty short and I can read I guess moderately fast.

QR- A pleasant surprise. The trig was easier than anything you’d have in a high school trig class. Really basic math here. I finished my first run having marked about 12 questions in 30 minutes, I then had time to literally just plug and chug in the answers to those other ones to get it right. I didn’t know the math on them, just had the extra time. But, it was really simple math that I just couldn’t quite figure out. I always finish QR really quickly, so that’s a strong plus. Calculator AND mouse were terrible, just terrible.

*EDIT* I am getting a lot of questions about the Destroyer Science resources. Let me be clear. Nothing I was tested on was exclusively covered by Destroyer. In any section. That does not mean that is universally true. That is just my experience. Going through the Destroyer is a good experience, as it does make you think in different ways. Ultimately it is up to you. I have the benefit of hindsight, but what is true for me may not be true for you. The power is yours!

Final Impressions:
I started science courses 13 months ago. In that time, I’ve started a new career path, gotten married, and taken the DAT. Anyone can beat this test if you are dedicated. I would consider myself a smart person (who doesn't? :cool: ), but I also work for what I want. This score didn’t just fall from the sky. I have years of experience teaching myself material in multiple disciplines and I understand how I learn. Learning to learn is the true goal of higher education. Do what works for you, don’t buy every test prep software that crosses your eyes, and focus.

We are going to be dentists, but we’ll only get there together, so rely on me, and everyone else here. There is no way I could have done this without you guys, and I will do everything I can to return the favor. Thanks so much and good luck to everyone!

An old African proverb to live by

You said MY scores were good!? Thanks for being nice but your scores are AMAZING! Definitely going to try Qvault!
 
That is an incredible score!!! I feel like I am starting from square 1 while trying to prepare for the DAT. The DAT makes me extremely nervous. But for the biology section, how did you retain ALL that information from which you studied? Did you rewrite all the notes or just kept reading them over and over again. Also, for RC, what would you recommend us reading to prep for the exam? And lastly for QR and PAT, would it be wise to say that those come down to just practicing effectively?
 
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