- Joined
- Jan 3, 2012
- Messages
- 1,137
- Reaction score
- 398
Let's break it down, ya'll!
First, my scores:
SCORES
PAT 24 (98.1)
QR 23 (98.8)
RC 28 (99.7)
BIO 26 (99.5)
GC 22 (91.8)
OC 24 (95.7)
TS 24 (99.1)
AA 25 (99.9)
General Plan
I studied in the library for 8hrs a day, M-F, for about 7 weeks. Weekends were light study days. In all, Id estimate about 45 hours a week. Id 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 wasnt ever a big benefit. Do what works for you in this respect.
Review of Study Materials
Ill review DAT QVault and DAT Bootcamp independently below.
Biology- Feralis Notes (11/10, TEST MVP), DAT Bootcamp (10/10), DAT Qvault (10/10), Cliffs AP (9/10), Barrons AP (9/10), Campbells 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 Ill discuss later.
Feralis Notes covered the answer to every one of my test questions. The style of writing/summary wasnt 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 thats 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. Its 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. Id 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 doesnt cut it. I anticipated this and so I used Campbells and Feralis 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- Chads 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 its nice to have on the iPad or something for those easy days. Either resource was enough. Destroyer didnt 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 its overkill.
Organic Chemistry- Chads Videos (9/10), DAT Destroyer (7/10), Solomons Organic Chemistry (7/10)
OChem is/was my favorite class. I expected to crush this section, and didnt 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 Solomons text for clarification of Chads 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. Im sorry to dash your hopes, but I didnt 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), Chads Videos (6/10)
Im 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 Chads videos, which were sort of a refresher, but I didnt really like his methods here. I dont 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 didnt 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! Ill 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 Chads 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 its all of biology were 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 Id 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 shouldnt have. Really few surprises here, and in fact there were some incredibly simple, Can you read? type questions. Just know the stuff and youll 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 whos 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 didnt 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 didnt see any need for SnD, since theyre pretty short and I can read I guess moderately fast.
QR- A pleasant surprise. The trig was easier than anything youd 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 didnt know the math on them, just had the extra time. But, it was really simple math that I just couldnt quite figure out. I always finish QR really quickly, so thats 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, Ive 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? ), but I also work for what I want. This score didnt 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, dont buy every test prep software that crosses your eyes, and focus.
We are going to be dentists, but well 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
First, my scores:
SCORES
PAT 24 (98.1)
QR 23 (98.8)
RC 28 (99.7)
BIO 26 (99.5)
GC 22 (91.8)
OC 24 (95.7)
TS 24 (99.1)
AA 25 (99.9)
General Plan
I studied in the library for 8hrs a day, M-F, for about 7 weeks. Weekends were light study days. In all, Id estimate about 45 hours a week. Id 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 wasnt ever a big benefit. Do what works for you in this respect.
Review of Study Materials
Ill review DAT QVault and DAT Bootcamp independently below.
Biology- Feralis Notes (11/10, TEST MVP), DAT Bootcamp (10/10), DAT Qvault (10/10), Cliffs AP (9/10), Barrons AP (9/10), Campbells 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 Ill discuss later.
Feralis Notes covered the answer to every one of my test questions. The style of writing/summary wasnt 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 thats 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. Its 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. Id 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 doesnt cut it. I anticipated this and so I used Campbells and Feralis 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- Chads 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 its nice to have on the iPad or something for those easy days. Either resource was enough. Destroyer didnt 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 its overkill.
Organic Chemistry- Chads Videos (9/10), DAT Destroyer (7/10), Solomons Organic Chemistry (7/10)
OChem is/was my favorite class. I expected to crush this section, and didnt 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 Solomons text for clarification of Chads 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. Im sorry to dash your hopes, but I didnt 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), Chads Videos (6/10)
Im 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 Chads videos, which were sort of a refresher, but I didnt really like his methods here. I dont 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 didnt 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! Ill 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 Chads 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 its all of biology were 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 Id 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 shouldnt have. Really few surprises here, and in fact there were some incredibly simple, Can you read? type questions. Just know the stuff and youll 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 whos 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 didnt 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 didnt see any need for SnD, since theyre pretty short and I can read I guess moderately fast.
QR- A pleasant surprise. The trig was easier than anything youd 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 didnt know the math on them, just had the extra time. But, it was really simple math that I just couldnt quite figure out. I always finish QR really quickly, so thats 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, Ive 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? ), but I also work for what I want. This score didnt 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, dont buy every test prep software that crosses your eyes, and focus.
We are going to be dentists, but well 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
Last edited: