MCFMP Posted June 13, 2008 Report Share Posted June 13, 2008 Ok, I just bought the Canadian Dental Association package and I'm a bit disappointed. They only sent a few practice tests along with the soaps. For those who did the test and are from Quebec, did you guys just looked at your cegep notes? And for those not from Quebec, what do you guys recommend I use to study? I'm planning to buy this: http://store.kaptest.com/catalog/templates/category.jhtml?rcid=T00090000&CATID=T00090002&cid=268470 but I'm not sure if this will be enough. Will this be a one-stop study guide? Worst case possible, I think I might use my brother's MCAT notes, so I would like to know what you guys think about that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xylem29 Posted June 13, 2008 Report Share Posted June 13, 2008 You should utilize the forums and find out what others have found useful. I'll share what I have discovered. The Kaplan books (retail version or course version) are considered the best that you can get for the DAT, for the most part. It is weak in the ecology/plants subjects, so getting an AP Bio book is important. Btw, that is the right book but DO NOT pay $80 for it, look for it on the classifieds, please! Barron's is excellent prep for the PAT section of the DAT. Top Score practice tests are important. IQ Publication practice tests are important. CDA soaps and knives are important. That's about it - search the classified section of premed101 and SDN, eBay, and craigslist, and you'll find some deals. I found that using prep books designed specifically for the test is better than using your notes from school simply b/c they teach only the information that is tested, they often emphasize/point out concepts/equations that are a MUST to memorize/learn (your notes don't do this), making them a more efficient tool than using your school notes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaim Posted June 13, 2008 Report Share Posted June 13, 2008 Kaplan DAT book for the chemistry and reading sections. Kaplan GRE (Biology) book for the biology sections. Barron's DAT book and IQ Publishing for the PAT. IQ Publishing (book AND chalk) and CDA official soap for the carving section. TopScore practice tests once you've studied the above. That's my suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arnie Posted June 14, 2008 Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Ok, I just bought the Canadian Dental Association package and I'm a bit disappointed. They only sent a few practice tests along with the soaps. For those who did the test and are from Quebec, did you guys just looked at your cegep notes? And for those not from Quebec, what do you guys recommend I use to study? I'm planning to buy this: http://store.kaptest.com/catalog/templates/category.jhtml?rcid=T00090000&CATID=T00090002&cid=268470 but I'm not sure if this will be enough. Will this be a one-stop study guide? Worst case possible, I think I might use my brother's MCAT notes, so I would like to know what you guys think about that too. Kaplan MCAT questions that are published as 'stand alones' are actually used in the Kaplan DAT practice material. MCAT questions that are referenced to a passage are useless because it is not the way the DAT is structured. Get all the texts mentioned by others here, rather than using your Bro's stuff. Getting it used, and as xylem said, will not be very expensive. I'd bet ~$200. Lastly, when you study, learn from your mistakes. You need to be tested on what you've learned so see if you can get a hook up for all the Subject Tests Kaplan makes. Learn from your mistakes and turn them into strengths. If you're desperate for even more practice, then at this point your Bros stuff may come in handy (GChem and Bio). Others and myself have posted extensively concerning our DAT study methods and what worked for us. Everyone above has offered what I find to be pretty sound advice. Skim the older threads and consider what may work best for you. GLuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCFMP Posted June 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Thanks guys! I'm a complete newbie at this, so please forgive my lack of patience. The test is only a few months away and I'm a bit nervous Another quick question though... I'm planning to buy some older versions of the Kaplan DAT books... from 2004, 2005 and I'm wondering if that's a smart move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arnie Posted June 15, 2008 Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 Thanks guys! I'm a complete newbie at this, so please forgive my lack of patience. The test is only a few months away and I'm a bit nervous Another quick question though... I'm planning to buy some older versions of the Kaplan DAT books... from 2004, 2005 and I'm wondering if that's a smart move. No shame in being a n00b man. Everyone was at one point. Buy whatever year's version of Kaplan DAT you can get a hold of. They don't change the content at all. Maybe the spacing of the text will change or some other trivial detail. It's not worth worrying about. I've even compared Kaplans old MCAT books; 2000 vs 2007. They just change appearances and placement, without ever changing the only thing that matters: the content. EDIT: Just checked my Kaplan Blue Book.... it was from 2002. I wrote the 2007 Nov DAT. Didn't make a difference. GLuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aclementine Posted June 15, 2008 Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 what would you guys say is the biggest difference between test-taking strategies for the MCAT and for the DAT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adversary Posted June 15, 2008 Report Share Posted June 15, 2008 One's about reading passages to extract information while the other is a regurgitation of facts. The DAT is much easier than the MCAT. Hence, a lot of premeds do quite well on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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