November 2017 DAT Thoughts

[Super Nova]

39 minutes ago, toothfairyhopeful said:

I agree, you can tell the PAT was a lot harder this test. 20 for example is the 72nd percentile in feb and the 82nd percentile in nov.

Unfortunately its a little more complicated then that since the two test dates vary a lot simply because of the number of students writing! might make more sense to look at the raw number of students with each score rather than percentile if you want to compare. But yeah from the sounds of it, this PAT was harder. Was it just the rock keyholes that threw everyone off or was the entire thing just more difficult?

[Leeds1100]

1 hour ago, Super Nova said:

Unfortunately its a little more complicated then that since the two test dates vary a lot simply because of the number of students writing! might make more sense to look at the raw number of students with each score rather than percentile if you want to compare. But yeah from the sounds of it, this PAT was harder. Was it just the rock keyholes that threw everyone off or was the entire thing just more difficult?

General consensus I think was the keyholes were ridiculous, ~6 rocks IIRC. Really threw me off guard tbh, although the rest of PAT was more or less okay.

[ak0917]

20 hours ago, Risk21 said:

RC 21

Bio 23

Chem 26

Science: 24

AA: 23

PAT: 20

 

First time writing the DAT, was pretty surprised by my scores. Thought I would have done way worse on the Bio and RC, but better on the PAT. Still really happy though! Also I know i'm in no position to give out advice, but I basically just studied using BootCamp, Kaplan Blue Book, and Cliffs. I'm a pretty fast reader but for RC I never read the passages and just used search and destroy. For me, the passages are just way too long to be able to read them and still retain the small details they ask, so I had to try other methods

Hi, do you mind replying with what you used to study/practice for the chem section? 

[Risk21]

25 minutes ago, ak0917 said:

Hi, do you mind replying with what you used to study/practice for the chem section? 

For sure, though I will preface this by saying I think I got really lucky with my chem score cause I didn't really utilize a lot of resources for it, so this might not be very helpful aha. I went through all of Mike's videos on BootCamp which I found to be really helpful, and did all of his practice questions. I did all the exams on bootcamp for practice but honestly they were way harder than any of the questions I had on the DAT. Other than that, just did the Kaplan blue book and as well my friend had the MCAT Kaplan Chemistry book pdf so I looked through that as well, but bootcamp was my main chem study source

[Fakedoctor]

second crack at the dat, gald to see I did in fact improve even thou RC wasn't as good as I would like it to be

PAT 21

AA 22 

bio 23

chem 23 

RC 19

[Ms. Anonymous]

First time writing the DAT and didn't do well. For anyone feeling like crap. Congratulations to those who did so well! 

RC 17

Bio 21

Chem 20

AA: 19

PAT: 18

[Driillzz]

55 minutes ago, Ms. Anonymous said:

First time writing the DAT and didn't do well. For anyone feeling like crap. Congratulations to those who did so well! 

RC 17

Bio 21

Chem 20

AA: 19

PAT: 18

hey there, dont feel bad, a lot of ppl end up redoing the DAT so at least now u have a better idea of what to look for, and can help u better understand which areas u need or dont need to improve on.  So u shouldnt feel like crap, use those scores to motivate urself to excel on the upcoming DAT. Good luck!!!!

[newstudent95]

23 AA 

26 Chem

23 Bio

20 RC 

23 PAT 

 

chances at UBC with a 85% avg IP?

[Fakedoctor]

33 minutes ago, newstudent95 said:

23 AA 

26 Chem

23 Bio

20 RC 

23 PAT 

 

chances at UBC with a 85% avg IP?

savage scores, well done! very good chance as a IP student at ubc 

[predent98]

Any chances of getting an interview at U of A? My GPA is at 3.87 after the fall semester but hopefully I can boost it again next semester to ~3.9

RC - 21

PAT - 21

MDT - 23

[Super Nova]

5 hours ago, predent98 said:

Any chances of getting an interview at U of A? My GPA is at 3.87 after the fall semester but hopefully I can boost it again next semester to ~3.9

RC - 21

PAT - 21

MDT - 23

You will get an interview for sure. You can start prepping now! If you get a high 30s on the interview you have a solid shot at acceptance

[westcoastbestcoast]

RC 20

PAT 20

AA 21

Average: 85%

 

What are my chances at getting an interview at UBC? I'm defs below the posted scores - but very slightly. Am i too far off?

Thanks!

[rocmarc]

Any advice on what to use to study for retaking a 21AA and 21PAT? I'm okay with GC but would like to use more resources for RC, Bio and PAT. Last time I used Bootcamp (10 test version) and CliffsAP/Feralis.

I'll probably use Destroyer and qVault this time for Bio but how about for RC and PAT? Has anyone had success with Crack the DAT, DAT Crusher or qVault for any sections specifically? 

[Super Nova]

44 minutes ago, rocmarc said:

Any advice on what to use to study for retaking a 21AA and 21PAT? I'm okay with GC but would like to use more resources for RC, Bio and PAT. Last time I used Bootcamp (10 test version) and CliffsAP/Feralis.

I'll probably use Destroyer and qVault this time for Bio but how about for RC and PAT? Has anyone had success with Crack the DAT, DAT Crusher or qVault for any sections specifically? 

i found qvault to have inferior quality of questions but that is reflected in its price and its a budget friendly option. Destroyer is great and you will probably learn more than you need for bio but that is never a bad thing! crusher is amazing for the PAT but their RC is too easy compared to the DAT. They are good with feedback though and they said they have changed the RC content to match the DAT more closely but we wont know if this is the case untill people start using it. As for Crack the DAT, it is also a good resource for PAT as there is a lot of material but RC wont be much use. I also found their biology to be different than what was on the actual DAT. Not sure how much cracker is going for these days, been a while since i checked.

[rocmarc]

15 minutes ago, Super Nova said:

i found qvault to have inferior quality of questions but that is reflected in its price and its a budget friendly option. Destroyer is great and you will probably learn more than you need for bio but that is never a bad thing! crusher is amazing for the PAT but their RC is too easy compared to the DAT. They are good with feedback though and they said they have changed the RC content to match the DAT more closely but we wont know if this is the case untill people start using it. As for Crack the DAT, it is also a good resource for PAT as there is a lot of material but RC wont be much use. I also found their biology to be different than what was on the actual DAT. Not sure how much cracker is going for these days, been a while since i checked.

Thank you. I'm trying not to spend too much so I think Destroyer will be enough for Bio. Seems like reliable RC practice is hard to come by apart from Bootcamp so I might just try to read a lot of articles instead of buying. Which would you rec more for PAT, Crack the DAT or Crusher? Since Crusher is kinda new it's hard to find opinions on it

[Super Nova]

7 hours ago, rocmarc said:

Thank you. I'm trying not to spend too much so I think Destroyer will be enough for Bio. Seems like reliable RC practice is hard to come by apart from Bootcamp so I might just try to read a lot of articles instead of buying. Which would you rec more for PAT, Crack the DAT or Crusher? Since Crusher is kinda new it's hard to find opinions on it

Yeah that's very true. I wouldn't have said bootcamp has representative RC for Canadian DAT though. Anyways when it comes to the PAT, go with crack if you want volume (assuming you get the package that gives you 10 exams) but the quality of the questions are lower and the price is more than double. Go with crusher if you want better quality and lower price but you will not be getting as many exams. The printable generators are also cool since their format is exactly what you see on the DAT but personally i didn't mind not being able to print my questions. Some really want that though so that could also be a plus.  

[tiper15]

I thought the DAT was super hard ... I have taken the American DAT before this and it was a lot harder in my opinion, especially on the RC and PAT. The Bio section was similar but the CHM was easier, imo. 

I ended up with: 

RC 23

AA 21

PAT 22 

My GPA is below average though, so I am unsure if I will get in even with a relatively competitive DAT.

[tiper15]

On 12/12/2017 at 11:02 PM, KdentB said:

For all who scored >20 for RC what resources and method did you use?

Resources: I used Kaplan and DATBootcamp. I will say that for this you really have to just practice reading over and over again. Like the practice and the actual DAT, doesn't have to be science articles. I will say that my time in undergrad learning how to skim countless articles for a single sentence for lab reports really has helped me and my reading skills. 

Method: Honestly changed for a while. In the beginning, I used to use the search and destroy method, but I found all the going back and forth really annoying esp when you dont really remember where things are. I actually just read or skim read the entire passage and then go through the questions. It allows me to read a question and actually kinda remember where I saw it in the overall passage to get there faster and get the answer faster. I found it easier to know where than just look for words that may reappear multiple times. I will say the RC was a lot longer than the ones on bootcamp and kaplan, so I actually had to rush a lot of reading but it worked out. I actually tried to do search and destroy in the middle of the test when I realized i was running out of time, but it didnt work out for the 5 minutes I tried to do it so i went and just read the whole thing and answered the questions as best as i could. 

Bottom line is just practice reading. The questions not as much. Just get used to reading faster. 

 

[JeBron Lames]

AA: 20

RC: 22

PAT: 19

MDT: Not taken

 

I personally thought it had gone pretty well as I left the room but it turns up that I'm not as smart as I originally thought :/

 

Should I still apply or is it a waste of money as this point?

[newstudent]

Is there a chance to get an interview from UBC dental school (in province) with 3.0 gpa with 21 AA and 22 PAT? Or with higher DAT?

Thanks

[Hopeful2018]

.

[rocmarc]

1 hour ago, Hopeful2018 said:

I have the same stats as you and am also curious. Based on what I've seen on threads, it seems quite unlikely  but has anyone in the last cycle (2017) received an interview with similar stats? I know it varies year to year but it would be great to know!

Seems unlikely to me as well based on previous year averages/threads but this is the first year they used CASPer. We really have no idea how much it'll count pre-interview but maybe there's a chance a great score could make up for a slightly below average DAT. Wouldn't bank on that though, especially since we don't get CASPer feedback.

[newstudent95]

48 minutes ago, rocmarc said:

Seems unlikely to me as well based on previous year averages/threads but this is the first year they used CASPer. We really have no idea how much it'll count pre-interview but maybe there's a chance a great score could make up for a slightly below average DAT. Wouldn't bank on that though, especially since we don't get CASPer feedback.

The average of accepted applicants has been around a 22 ish DAT and 86 gpa. So why do you say that it is very unlikely. Arent those scores only sightly below the averages?

[rocmarc]

33 minutes ago, newstudent95 said:

The average of accepted applicants has been around a 22 ish DAT and 86 gpa. So why do you say that it is very unlikely. Arent those scores only sightly below the averages?

Well I didn't say very unlikely, I just said unlikely. I think he or she still has a chance. And I'm just guessing and kinda basing it on someone I know who got rejected with 84GPA+21DAT which is somewhat similar+the 2016/2017 invite threads. Also, I might be completely wrong but I was thinking that an 85.6%GPA+22DAT pretty much guarantees an interview. If you have a below average GPA then you'd need an above average DAT and vice versa. Even though 85%+20.5 is close to the average, it's still below in both categories. The averages also trend slightly above 85 and 22, not below. 

[DKVG]

could someone post a screenshot of this years score scale (Nov) for those who didn't write? Interested to see how it compares to Feb