Quan Pham
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- May 9, 2024
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2024 DAT BREAKDOWN!!! (22AA/23TS/20PAT)
SCORES:
PAT – 20
QR – 22
RC - 17
Bio - 25
GC - 25
OC - 20
TS - 23
AA - 22
BACKGROUND:
Just completed my BS in Biology with Overal GPA of 3.92 and Sci.GPA of 3.89. Similarly to many people in the same pathway, I’m not a native speaker and it’s very tough for me to overcome the reading part especially. However, that’s what my best and I’m proud of what I’ve done.
STUDY TIMELINE:
I started preparing for the DAT right after I finished my bachelor's degree. Unlike other students (who usually take the DAT in their junior, senior, etc. years), I did not start my educational path in the US and therefore during my 4 years of university it was really heavy for me, so I studied hard and decided to devote all my time to maintaining a good GPA. I registered for the Booster program in mid-January 2024 for the 90-day course. I steadfastly followed Booster's 10-week study guide. I spend about 10 hours a day reviewing the materials I still remember as well as the things I kind of forgot in my first years of college. In the early days of following this study guide, I was very tired and depressed. But, I set a discipline for myself and eventually adapted to it. Of course, there were times when I wasn't able to complete all the bullets in this study guide because everyone knows their limits and for some moments you need time to rest for your brain to absorb. I closely stick to it until the Review Phase, I knew which sections I was good and bad at so I sticked to my own schedule. Mainly, I focused on the PAT and RC sections because for me personally, they were very difficult and my practice scores were inconsistent. Therefore, I need to practice a lot. In March, when my membership was almost over, even though I was not very confident, I still decided to schedule the DAT exam for mid-April. However, I was shocked because it was full. Therefore, I had to postpone until May 7. I had to pause my membership so that time I could review my own notes and practice on the PAT generator. When it was about 20 days to my exam date, I unpaused and retook all 10 practice tests to see what I still retained in mind as well as to exploit the questions that Booster newly updated.
SOURCES:
Mainly Booster:
BIO – Feralis’ Note was extremely helpful to just UNDERSTAND the concepts, but NEVER misunderstand to remember EVERYTHING on it. But, DO MEMORIZE the Cheat Sheets because they are very HIGH-YIELD topics. Make sure to watch all of the videos in this section because there was helpful information not indicated in Feralis’ notes and Cheat sheets, but don’t be stressed if you don’t have time to watch them. The cheat sheets got your back. I didn’t use the Anki/Flashcard just because I personally was able to recall most of the important things. I also did the Bio bits after I watched the videos and read Feralis’ notes, but it’s optional and you don’t have to finish all of the questions (save some for practice and review phases). Must complete 10 practice tests because they were very representative of the DAT. It did take time for me to study the Taxonomy parts, especially in the plant section, but you will see the logic and similarities among this part if you pay attention and it’s totally doable. On the day of DAT, I luckily encountered with a majority of questions testing the knowledge being covered by the Booster. If you understand the concept, then you will be able to answer it and even make a logical guess. I’m glad that this section was my major during college, that’s why I felt a little breeze while preparing and testing on it.
Genchem – I took this one early in my first year or so in college. Therefore, there was not much material retained in my mind, but I was luckily able to recall it thanks to the videos and notes from Booster. I experienced that the contents in the videos were exactly the same as what was on the notes. However, if you have time, DO watch the videos first and READ the notes after cause the double you review something, the more likely you can remember it. I was exhausted with the question banks because they had some questions way more specific than the materials being presented. But I believe it was just to make sure you understand the concept, so it doesn’t hurt to complete those hard questions and don’t assume they will appear on your test. The formula sheet was helpful because it pointed out what the most HIGH-YIELD equations for you to remember in a digestible way. As always, finished all 10 practice tests because they were extremely helpful and very representative of the real one. On the day of DAT, again I was luckily encountered with a majority of questions testing the knowledge being covered from the Booster even though I was really scared to get a low score on this part.
Ochem- I feel neutral on this part because I took it during my Sophomore year in college. It did take a little bit of time for me to recall the materials cause it was mainly reactions and mechanisms. I had time during the preparation, so I watched all of the videos from Booster as well as reading the notes. I would say the notes were more and more important than others. Personally, I believe they were enough for me to refresh what I learned 2 years ago so make sure you take an effort on this part. Questions banks and Rxn Qbanks were helpful if you want to test yourself where you’re at and how well you remember the reactions. They were not that lengthy compared to Genchem’s ones, so I did reset some question banks I wasn’t good at. The cheat sheets for reactions were super helpful and got your back for the DAT since they were very detailed in a digestible way so make sure to go several times reading through nearby your exam date. As always, make sure to complete the 10 practice tests they were also representative of the real one. On the day of DAT, I felt like I did this better than Genchem cause I majorly was confident with the answers, but I have no idea why I scored lower on this one compared to Genchem, whatever!
RC – The worst part I feel ever cause I totally didn’t know how to tackle it, just personally. My strength wasn’t reading and it even made my life tougher since I’m not a native speaker. I was depressed at first because I believed even if I tried my best, I would score really low on the real DAT cause I’d never know what questions I was being asked and what articles I needed to read. Therefore, although some people, they leave this part until the end to do some practice, I constantly read and practice with all of the strategies Booster advice. The highest score I got on the practice was 21, and the lowest was 18. During the time when it was almost my exam date, I saw a lot of bad feedback on this part of the real one because folks complained that the articles were much longer than Booster and that questions required more critical and comprehensive thinking. I couldn’t describe how I was being depressed with this part after seeing those reviews. I was a little surprise on the day of DAT because to me the articles were merely the same length as Booster. But in general, the format and types of questions being asked were the same as Booster.
PAT – It’s hard to have a certain way of how I tackle this, but one thing I and a lot of people would say is practice, practice, and practice. It’ll be really tough and crazy at first, but the more you practice, the better you will feel. The rock-key-hole was my weakness, I kind of got the correct shapes, but I’m off to the point when comparing the proportions of the objects and the answers. Most of part, I got half of key holes correctly. The next little tough part was TFE, it was much easier and simpler on Question banks, but it was much harder on the practice tests. I just feel okay on the rest: angle ranking, cube counting, hole punching, and pattern folding. That’s when doing practice and on the date of exam, I jumped right into the ranking section, what I saw most people did, in order to get most of the correct answers that I believe I should have been able to. I went back to keyholes and TFE when it was about 22 minutes left and I did with all I could. Booster was really well-prepared me for this part.
QR – I’m generally good at math so this part was fine for me. Similarly, like other sections, I watched the videos first and did all of the questions banks. At first, I kept running out of time on the practice tests cause I didn’t catch the tricks and understand some questions. However, after thoroughly review everything on all 10 practice tests, I was be able to redo all of them while there were still 5 minutes left. Therefore, I suggest completing all of the practice tests like other sections if you don’t have time to prepare because they were again very representative of the real one. The three formula cheat sheets were extremely valuable to quickly solve word problems as well as some geometry. I redid some of the question banks on the part that I feel like I was a little weak at during the practice phase. In general, if you understand the problems and remember the formula, you will be in good shape. On the exam date, I encountered some questions I hadn’t seen before, it required some critical thinking to solve, but it took too much time, so I made a guess and moved on to questions that I was able to answer really well. I was almost running out of time on the exam because I kept checking my work back and forth on some questions somehow.
Partially Bootcamp (basic materials available to everyone)
- I took the free practice tests of Bootcamp on all sections to learn what I missed or knew from Booster. It was helpful to know more about what you didn’t. Personally, I believe their materials and difficulty were the same. Each has its own unique features and guidance that both help you to ace the DAT. I didn’t have opportunity and feel like unnecessary to buy both Booster and Bootcamp, but if you have time and be able to, just go for it because you have more chance to practice and might encounter some questions that were covered on one, but weren’t by another. I appreciate both programs to help and prepare students to overcome the challenges of the DAT.
Ending thoughts and advice:
I believe that each person will have different circumstances and experiences when preparing for and taking the DAT exam, but our common purpose is to fulfill the dream of becoming a dentist come true. There were times when I felt so self-conscious and timid when facing difficulties on my DAT-prep path that I even wanted to give up, but the most important thing was to overcome fear and create self-discipline. I thought I would fail the first time, but miracles and luck came to me. I hope that luck will come to everyone who is preparing and studying for this DAT exam. I also wish for those who have passed this DAT exam that they will be successful on their path to becoming dentists. Finally, I strongly encourage those who are discouraged by the difficulty of DAT or didn't succeed the first time to have confidence in themselves because any effort will be rewarded accordingly. Once again, good luck to everyone!!!!
SCORES:
PAT – 20
QR – 22
RC - 17
Bio - 25
GC - 25
OC - 20
TS - 23
AA - 22
BACKGROUND:
Just completed my BS in Biology with Overal GPA of 3.92 and Sci.GPA of 3.89. Similarly to many people in the same pathway, I’m not a native speaker and it’s very tough for me to overcome the reading part especially. However, that’s what my best and I’m proud of what I’ve done.
STUDY TIMELINE:
I started preparing for the DAT right after I finished my bachelor's degree. Unlike other students (who usually take the DAT in their junior, senior, etc. years), I did not start my educational path in the US and therefore during my 4 years of university it was really heavy for me, so I studied hard and decided to devote all my time to maintaining a good GPA. I registered for the Booster program in mid-January 2024 for the 90-day course. I steadfastly followed Booster's 10-week study guide. I spend about 10 hours a day reviewing the materials I still remember as well as the things I kind of forgot in my first years of college. In the early days of following this study guide, I was very tired and depressed. But, I set a discipline for myself and eventually adapted to it. Of course, there were times when I wasn't able to complete all the bullets in this study guide because everyone knows their limits and for some moments you need time to rest for your brain to absorb. I closely stick to it until the Review Phase, I knew which sections I was good and bad at so I sticked to my own schedule. Mainly, I focused on the PAT and RC sections because for me personally, they were very difficult and my practice scores were inconsistent. Therefore, I need to practice a lot. In March, when my membership was almost over, even though I was not very confident, I still decided to schedule the DAT exam for mid-April. However, I was shocked because it was full. Therefore, I had to postpone until May 7. I had to pause my membership so that time I could review my own notes and practice on the PAT generator. When it was about 20 days to my exam date, I unpaused and retook all 10 practice tests to see what I still retained in mind as well as to exploit the questions that Booster newly updated.
SOURCES:
Mainly Booster:
BIO – Feralis’ Note was extremely helpful to just UNDERSTAND the concepts, but NEVER misunderstand to remember EVERYTHING on it. But, DO MEMORIZE the Cheat Sheets because they are very HIGH-YIELD topics. Make sure to watch all of the videos in this section because there was helpful information not indicated in Feralis’ notes and Cheat sheets, but don’t be stressed if you don’t have time to watch them. The cheat sheets got your back. I didn’t use the Anki/Flashcard just because I personally was able to recall most of the important things. I also did the Bio bits after I watched the videos and read Feralis’ notes, but it’s optional and you don’t have to finish all of the questions (save some for practice and review phases). Must complete 10 practice tests because they were very representative of the DAT. It did take time for me to study the Taxonomy parts, especially in the plant section, but you will see the logic and similarities among this part if you pay attention and it’s totally doable. On the day of DAT, I luckily encountered with a majority of questions testing the knowledge being covered by the Booster. If you understand the concept, then you will be able to answer it and even make a logical guess. I’m glad that this section was my major during college, that’s why I felt a little breeze while preparing and testing on it.
Genchem – I took this one early in my first year or so in college. Therefore, there was not much material retained in my mind, but I was luckily able to recall it thanks to the videos and notes from Booster. I experienced that the contents in the videos were exactly the same as what was on the notes. However, if you have time, DO watch the videos first and READ the notes after cause the double you review something, the more likely you can remember it. I was exhausted with the question banks because they had some questions way more specific than the materials being presented. But I believe it was just to make sure you understand the concept, so it doesn’t hurt to complete those hard questions and don’t assume they will appear on your test. The formula sheet was helpful because it pointed out what the most HIGH-YIELD equations for you to remember in a digestible way. As always, finished all 10 practice tests because they were extremely helpful and very representative of the real one. On the day of DAT, again I was luckily encountered with a majority of questions testing the knowledge being covered from the Booster even though I was really scared to get a low score on this part.
Ochem- I feel neutral on this part because I took it during my Sophomore year in college. It did take a little bit of time for me to recall the materials cause it was mainly reactions and mechanisms. I had time during the preparation, so I watched all of the videos from Booster as well as reading the notes. I would say the notes were more and more important than others. Personally, I believe they were enough for me to refresh what I learned 2 years ago so make sure you take an effort on this part. Questions banks and Rxn Qbanks were helpful if you want to test yourself where you’re at and how well you remember the reactions. They were not that lengthy compared to Genchem’s ones, so I did reset some question banks I wasn’t good at. The cheat sheets for reactions were super helpful and got your back for the DAT since they were very detailed in a digestible way so make sure to go several times reading through nearby your exam date. As always, make sure to complete the 10 practice tests they were also representative of the real one. On the day of DAT, I felt like I did this better than Genchem cause I majorly was confident with the answers, but I have no idea why I scored lower on this one compared to Genchem, whatever!
RC – The worst part I feel ever cause I totally didn’t know how to tackle it, just personally. My strength wasn’t reading and it even made my life tougher since I’m not a native speaker. I was depressed at first because I believed even if I tried my best, I would score really low on the real DAT cause I’d never know what questions I was being asked and what articles I needed to read. Therefore, although some people, they leave this part until the end to do some practice, I constantly read and practice with all of the strategies Booster advice. The highest score I got on the practice was 21, and the lowest was 18. During the time when it was almost my exam date, I saw a lot of bad feedback on this part of the real one because folks complained that the articles were much longer than Booster and that questions required more critical and comprehensive thinking. I couldn’t describe how I was being depressed with this part after seeing those reviews. I was a little surprise on the day of DAT because to me the articles were merely the same length as Booster. But in general, the format and types of questions being asked were the same as Booster.
PAT – It’s hard to have a certain way of how I tackle this, but one thing I and a lot of people would say is practice, practice, and practice. It’ll be really tough and crazy at first, but the more you practice, the better you will feel. The rock-key-hole was my weakness, I kind of got the correct shapes, but I’m off to the point when comparing the proportions of the objects and the answers. Most of part, I got half of key holes correctly. The next little tough part was TFE, it was much easier and simpler on Question banks, but it was much harder on the practice tests. I just feel okay on the rest: angle ranking, cube counting, hole punching, and pattern folding. That’s when doing practice and on the date of exam, I jumped right into the ranking section, what I saw most people did, in order to get most of the correct answers that I believe I should have been able to. I went back to keyholes and TFE when it was about 22 minutes left and I did with all I could. Booster was really well-prepared me for this part.
QR – I’m generally good at math so this part was fine for me. Similarly, like other sections, I watched the videos first and did all of the questions banks. At first, I kept running out of time on the practice tests cause I didn’t catch the tricks and understand some questions. However, after thoroughly review everything on all 10 practice tests, I was be able to redo all of them while there were still 5 minutes left. Therefore, I suggest completing all of the practice tests like other sections if you don’t have time to prepare because they were again very representative of the real one. The three formula cheat sheets were extremely valuable to quickly solve word problems as well as some geometry. I redid some of the question banks on the part that I feel like I was a little weak at during the practice phase. In general, if you understand the problems and remember the formula, you will be in good shape. On the exam date, I encountered some questions I hadn’t seen before, it required some critical thinking to solve, but it took too much time, so I made a guess and moved on to questions that I was able to answer really well. I was almost running out of time on the exam because I kept checking my work back and forth on some questions somehow.
Partially Bootcamp (basic materials available to everyone)
- I took the free practice tests of Bootcamp on all sections to learn what I missed or knew from Booster. It was helpful to know more about what you didn’t. Personally, I believe their materials and difficulty were the same. Each has its own unique features and guidance that both help you to ace the DAT. I didn’t have opportunity and feel like unnecessary to buy both Booster and Bootcamp, but if you have time and be able to, just go for it because you have more chance to practice and might encounter some questions that were covered on one, but weren’t by another. I appreciate both programs to help and prepare students to overcome the challenges of the DAT.
Ending thoughts and advice:
I believe that each person will have different circumstances and experiences when preparing for and taking the DAT exam, but our common purpose is to fulfill the dream of becoming a dentist come true. There were times when I felt so self-conscious and timid when facing difficulties on my DAT-prep path that I even wanted to give up, but the most important thing was to overcome fear and create self-discipline. I thought I would fail the first time, but miracles and luck came to me. I hope that luck will come to everyone who is preparing and studying for this DAT exam. I also wish for those who have passed this DAT exam that they will be successful on their path to becoming dentists. Finally, I strongly encourage those who are discouraged by the difficulty of DAT or didn't succeed the first time to have confidence in themselves because any effort will be rewarded accordingly. Once again, good luck to everyone!!!!
