February Dat: atten visceral

[wisdom_tooth]

Hey visceral!

 

I saw your DAT scores, congrats those are amazing! I saw you made a suggestion as to what you used to study for biology (Schaum's Outline of Biology). I took the kaplan course in the summer and I'm studying again for the DAT (review) right now preparing myself for the February DAT session and I'm studying from the Kaplan materials provided. My question is with regards to biology and how in depth you studied. My other question is with regards to chem, do I need to know definitions that are bolded in the Kaplan book or should I just know the formulas and how to apply them to solve problems?

 

If anyone besides visceral has any suggestions, they are also welcome. I'm really nervous, I feel like it is a waste to study now because I know in about a week I'm going to forget everything. How did people cope with this, or am I just doomed???

-wisdom tooth

[Visceral]

Hey dude,

Thanks a lot.

 

About the biology, I would have to say that Schaum's gives you the perfect level of depth to know. So although it may sound daunting, knowing almost all of the material in there will prepare you well. Except for plants and taxonomy, where I think knowing the basics of each kingdom is good, and then for mammalia knowing the characteristics of each phylum and how they compare to eachother. The embryogenesis aspects of each phylum I found to be important, and it helps to understand embryogenesis in general. Do not go overboard since biology can really burn you out. I would say I spent 80% of my time on biology, and it’s only a fifth of the exam.

 

Like to be honest, biology is a crapshoot, and I have always thought that to do well on the DAT, you need luck too. They could have asked me 10 questions on areas of biology I was not strong in, but fortunately there was a lot of genetics/cell bio on my DAT, and I do better on those areas.

 

Knowing how in depth you have to know material is risky. I can say you can never know everything unless you want to dedicate an exorbitant amount of time. It's just using your time efficiently while studying that is key, so getting the most out of the time you put it. I think you can sometimes sense yourself whether or not some material is unnecessary. For example, I knew while studying that I likely won't be asked questions on in depth sexual physiology because the CDA might not want to ask questions about female genital sweating etc. hahah

 

About Chem, Celeron who got 29 (congrats) and others can probably offer more insight, but personally I would know everything including definitions. I think like a quarter of the questions I received may have been word questions where being confident with your understanding of concepts is key. So I would definitely know it. For example, if they ask how the nuclear binding energy changes as you go from x to y, it would be best to have a solid understanding of what NBE is. Also, I think on my DAT I had questions about phase changes too, where I had to know what sublimation, deposition etc. entailed. I also had a really deceiving question on defining molarity, which seemed overly simplistic so I hope I got that right haha

 

And, about forgetting material, it's certainly a concern. All I can say is this is probably very personal. We all approach learning differently. Personally, I go over material over and over by purely reading it. By doing this, it helps me retain the information. When I started studying in August I did rather light studying where I just acquainted myself with material. For 6 weeks from September to Mid-October I did serious memorization study where I learned most of the information. And then, I did many light overviews just to get a better holistic understanding of the material at hand. Relating the different chapters to eachother helps, for example, understanding embryogenesis helps with understanding taxonomy, which helps with understanding macro evolution.

 

I know this sucks, and my girlfriend and friends agree, but I had to make some serious sacrifices, and unless someone is a genius, significant work has to be put in. I am not going to say live and breath the DAT, but it's only 6 weeks of your life so give it your all. Making a realistic study plan, with realistic goals is important. Also try to reward yourself if you do well. Personally, I like my Xbox 360 so I just said I'd get myself a game if I did well. The console appreciates it too since it was gathering dust for a good 2-3 months haha

 

Now, on carving, what you do is....

[lecture3waves]

I think Viceral pretty much said it all.

 

As far as study materials go, I used the kaplan book for bio and ended up with a 27. For the most part, I felt it covered everything pretty well.

 

As for chem, again I used the kaplan book and got a 25. There aren't a lot of terms and formulae to memorize and you really should know them all. Most importantly, you should feel comfortable with the subject matter so that you dont need to think when you're asked questions on it. Out of all the sections, I think this one is easiest to improve on by doing practise questions. Maybe crack open your chem 101 text (Petrucci?).

 

Everyone studies differently, but if I were you I would start as soon as you finish exams (probably right now).

 

Chem is good in that once you know it, it's not easily forgotten. As you study, make notes of the terms you don't know, and all of the formulae. Once this is done and you're comfortable with everything, a quick review over your note sheet once in a while should keep you in touch.

 

For bio I would suggest going through the reading highlighting what you dont know (and have this done hopefully before school starts). Then, while school is on you can focus on reviewing what you have highlighted.

 

The dat can be nerve wracking and seem like a daunting task, but just take it one step at a time.

[wisdom_tooth]

thanks you guys!

 

I'm feeling a little more confident, both of your messages gave me a boost in confidence and I decided to do some extra studying, until 12 am. I never thought in a million years I'd be studying until 12 in the morning during my christmas break, but you gotta do what you gotta do!

 

good luck to both of you, with your DAT stats you two are a shoe in for dental school!