Nov DAT support group, anyone taking it this Nov?

[Guest Guyver03]

Carve carve carve, cough, stupid soap

 

Anyone practicing for the DAT in this coming Nov? I personally is very nervous of this exam, espcially about the carving and PAT section. I hope they are going to be as easy as those in the CDA manual that they sent out. :smokin

[Guest alexis411]

I certainly hope so too =)

[Guest Guyver03]

How's your studying going alexis411? I'm concentrating on the PAT and carving right now, I'm planning to only take the DAT once and get over it. I really don't want to do this again, sigh. |I

[Guest yukontim]

I'm taking in in November too. Good luck everyone

[Guest alexis411]

I'm most worried about the reading comprehension. Any ideas on a good strategy for reading comp? ie, do people find it best to just get the main idea of every paragraph and then go to the questions, or read more in depth the first time? For me it takes too long to read it all in depth, and I don't retain it all anyway...

[Guest Guyver03]

For me alexis411, I don't find the reading comp to be very important, because most Canadian schools look at your academic average, PAT, and carving score, and your AA is only going to be the average of SNS and reading comp, so it only counts 1/3 of the mark.

 

Anyway, I personally prefer to fly through the reading, circle or underline any big word, and sometimes write the general idea of each paragraph beside it. Then I go to the questions, read them, then go back to the paragraph and look for the answers. It might not work for you, but give it a try. Another strategy (this one from my co-worker) is to concentrate on 2 of the passages, and when only 10min are left, do the last one. You gotta figure out your own strategy. Good luck dude.:hat

[Guest pearlywhitesBC]

I'm taking it too. Fun times studying these days.

 

As for the reading comprehension, I find it helps to underline key points or jot down some short notes to summarize paragraphs. I find that helps the material sink in (and give the rest of the passage some context, which makes it make more sense) and also allows you to easily identify the part of the passage that you need to answer the question (rather than going back and doing a "word search" over the whole passage. I guess the trick is to make sure not to get too tied up with this.

 

Maybe I'm wrong -I haven't practice my timing much. I've been spending alot of my time practicing PAT questions. Stupid keyholes - I was falling for all of their tricks! Oh well, nothing a little practice won't fix (or help at least!)

[Guest Guyver03]

Yeah, stupid key hole questions, and the angle questions too, I'm falling for their tricks like crazy. Stupid thing, they made the questions in the CDA manual so easy that people might think the actual exam is that easy, which I definitely think it's not.

[Guest pearlywhitesBC]

I agree with you on that one Guyver03 - everyone that I've spoken with who's already taken the DAT says that the CDA manual give easy examples (for almost everything). I guess they don't want to give their tricks away before the test.

 

What book(s) are you using to study for the PAT? I've heard that the kaplan book is decent but that Barron's book give the hardest PAT examples. I just got this one but haven't looked at it much yet so I can't compare. I am finding that a little bit of practice is definitely improving my ability to identify the little "tricks" in the PAT questions...guess that's what it's all about. Sounds like you're doing your work so you should be fine:D

[Guest Guyver03]

Hey hey pearlywhitesBC, for the PAT, the Barron book is harder, but because their small figures it's hard to tell, plus I heard that book has tonnes of mistakes. I've been using the PAT forms that are sold at UBC's bookstore, I think they're pretty good. I've asked around the forum and people said they are similar

 

pub125.ezboard.com/fpreme...=263.topic

 

You can read what bcdentalgirl wrote.

 

How's everyone doing now? Only 1 more week till our demise, are we having fun yet?????

[Guest Pearly Whites]

Hi! I'm writing the DAT this nov too. If you're in UBC, check out the UBC Pre-Dent club. I know they have lots of PAT material (the ones from UBC) but you have to be a member. it's a good deal either way, tho i'm not sure how easy it is to get a hold of those books so close to the DAT. anyway, just a suggestion! Good luck y'all!

[Guest Guyver03]

Hmmm, pearlywhitesBC and Pearly Whites, long lost twins??

 

How do you guys studying for the carving? how many soaps have you guys bought? I bought lots of it and I have 12 left, I'm going to carve 1 everyday till the day comes.

[Guest Pearly Whites]

haha, i was pretty surprised to see another pearly whites... and in BC too! we should meet some day :rollin

carving... i use that IQ book from the bookstore. yea, i'm in the same boat as you in terms of number of soap. alterating between "perfecting" ends and just trying to manage under 30 min

[Guest avaid]

hey guys

the trick is to be calm through out the DAT. remember realx and make this DAT a learning experience for you if you havent taken it before. keep your hands dry during the soap because you dont want them to be slippery try wearing gloves (latex) if that helps and do the easy section in the PAT first and also during the reading comp part try to find the easy one usually the first or the third from what i know and remember RELAX . good luck to you all and if you have any question about any section post them oh yeah and forget the candy between the breaks thats a must

[Guest pearlywhitesBC]

OOPS! I obviously didn't look at any other user names very closely before I picked mine. Didn't quite clue in!:rollin

 

Does anyone know if there are any of those PAT forms left at the UBC bookstore? You're right about the Barron's book having some mistakes. But at least it has some good suggestions on how to be systematic about your approach.

[Guest Guyver03]

Hey pearlywhitesBC, the don't have any more of those PAT forms at the UBC bookstore now? Good thing I photocopied them before they were sold out. If you're looking for it, I heard that Woodward library might have a copy of one of the three forms, but don't know if it is a reference material or not, if it's not then I doubt you can get your hands on it cause it's so close to DAT now.

 

About soap, I heard that the soap quality at the exam might vary from the ones that they sent out, is that true? Right now I have 3 kinds a soap, powery, chalky, and the soapy ones that CDA just recently sent out, and each one behaves differently, which ones do you guys have? Good luck on the DAT everyone.:hat

[Guest happychica]

Hi

i;m taking DAT this Nov too...

 

how long did it take for you to receive the soaps from the cda?

maybe its too late for me to buy more now =(

[Guest tottihead]

Yup, with just over a week to go, ive already got the butterflies.

[Guest YYCdentboi]

Anyone in Calgary writing the DAT in a week? Looking for someone to critique my carvings

[Guest Guyver03]

Hmmmm, that's not a bad idea YYCdentboi, asking other predent to criticize each other's carving. Too bad I live in BC, anyone in BC interested in getting together and take a look at each other's carving? I'd think that should help with our carving skills. I'd suggest meeting at Hebb theater on Friday, to case out the exam place too. Anyone interested?

[Guest Bigheadbebe]

I heard that there is a tutoring session this Thurs in IRC (probably in Woodward library Rm217) at 6pm-8pm for mock soap &/or Reading Test, with comment & marking by experienced marker...and you can get soap from them too if you need extra. 8o

[Guest BBB]

~ GOOD LUCK ON THE DAT, EVERYONE. ~

 

If your hands shake during the carving session of the test, don't worry. You won't be the ONLY ONE!!! If you don't think you'll shake, you'll probably have to see a doctor.

 

You actually have 40 minutes for the carving. 10 minutes for inspecting the design (and doing all the calculations on the diagram), then whole 30 minutes for marking layouts and carving.

[Guest pearlywhitesBC]

Are you absolutely sure about the ten minutes? Whoa, that will make a big difference - I found it hard to get alot of the more complex carvings done in 30 minutes (marking and carving). Hopefully we do get 40 minutes!

 

bigheadbebe - do you have to be a member of the UBC predent society to attend the carving tutorial? Is there a fee? Thanks!

[Guest tottihead]

I think youre confused. They give you 10 minutes with just the outline, you can do all your calculations and thought processes in this period of how you are gonna approach the structure, once you get the soap and all the material you have 30 minutes.

[Guest LestatZinnie]

ya if i remember correctly the initial 10 minutes you can just STARE at the diagram. you can not touch your pencil, blade, soap, etc during these 10 minutes.