DrStudentDentist

What was the actual day of the exam like?

There’s a lot of talk of studying and preparation but what about the actual day? What went through my mind? What were things I wish someone told me prior to going?

Well, lemme tell you.

The 5 days before my exam, I went to bed, imagining the next morning was the day of the exam. I signed up for the 8:30am exam to get it over with. I think I do better with early morning exams, given I wake up for it. I practiced psyching myself out as a way to get all the jitters out the days before the DAT, instead of the day of the DAT. That’s just something I do. If you have your own little thing you like to do, then do that instead.

Here are the top 10 things I learned that day:

1) Have someone drive you to the testing center unless you know there is parking. It’s always nice to have someone to talk to before the exam. I had my brother drive me. His girlfriend had just broken up with him and he spent the morning talking about it over breakfast. No time to be fretting over the DAT with that.

2) Read the instructions on the confirmation page. I didn’t and took the elevator to the floor I thought it was on. I stepped out to a security guard and a long corridor. Turns out I had gotten off on the criminal court floor. Oops. I hopped back on the elevator, glad to be taking the DAT and not going to criminal court.

3) Bring food. They have lockers for you to put your clothes, bags, and/or food. I only brought a Starbucks Frappaccino. That plus the PAT section on a lousy CRT monitor left me going through the reading and math sections with a killer headache. Bring a light snack, just not Starbucks. I’d suggest good ol’ water for sure.

4) Wear sneakers/boots/closed toe shoes of any kind. August is pretty hot and I went into the testing site with my black Reef sandals. My feet were freezing! The testing site is comprised of several computers in an enclosed room. If there are computers, there’s air conditioning. I didn’t think about that. By the end of the exam, I was tucking my feet under my butt to keep warm.

5) Wear clothes. For the same reasons as #4. If anything, layer up. That way you can unzip your sweater if you feel warm.

6) Bring two forms of ID. They have you verify who you are with the ID. I had my drivers license and my credit card. I was only allowed to bring the 2 IDs, 2 pencils, a booklet of 11×8 paper and the locker key into the room with me. The IDs are also good for *cough cough* the PAT section *cough cough*.

7) All sorts of people are taking all sorts of exams in the room with you. They will finish and get up to leave. They will come in, after you started, to take their exam. They may need assistance and the proctors will walk in. You better get used to all this now. It is inevitable and unavoidable. Now that you know, you can get in the frame of mind that your main focus is your own exam.

8 ) There is a tutorial at the beginning, use the time wisely to set up your paper. I asked the proctor lady about the tutorial time and if I could set up my paper. She didn’t seem to know what I was talking about - told me not to look suspicious and I’d be good. So I did what she said.

9) Take the pee break. Skipping it isn’t going to do you any good. Not taking it could cause your bladder to explode, ending your dental career before it begins.

10) Have someone drive you back. While their driving, you can call up everyone and their mothers and brag about your awesome score.

Yipes, I got busy learning German these last few days and didn’t make time to post. Hrm, I see how lack of time can be a problem when dental school starts. Well, you guys can send me hate mail if I don’t post. How’s that for keeping me honest?

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If you have yourself a set of material - not too much since much of it is redundant. For instance, I had the Kaplan blue book but it wasn’t right for me - too boring - so I studied from other material. Better to find a good set that covers the essentials and then learn it well. Too little and it doesn’t cover everything. Too much and it’s overwhelming.

Like I’ve written before, have a set date to work with and space your Topscore & Achiever exams backwards from the test date. I’ve put together a mock schedule in the below thumbnail.

This wasn’t my exact schedule but you get the idea. I made sure to train my body to sit through the hours straight through with a 15 minute break. If you think you can handle it, obviously feel free to pack the practice exams tighter and closer to the test date but there’s a fine line between grinding and burning out. I didn’t want to risk it since studying was still rather new to me.

When I studied, I left 2-3 days between practice tests to go through my wrong answers. Mostly to sit through the PAT section 3-D models or learn some concept I didn’t get in the sciences. Get me? Concepts, not actual problems. Don’t get hung up on a wrong problem but if you see that you consistently get Claisen condensation problems wrong then you need to learn how to do it cause you didn’t the first time around. The only way to weed out your weakness is to do enough problems to either see a pattern in your mistakes. If there is no pattern in your mistakes then you’re being careless and that’s what you’ll have to work on.

Aside from practice exams spacing which is something I think you guys should implement, the way to study is up to you. If what you’re doing works, don’t fix what ain’t broke. The DAT is not the time to start experimenting with new fangled studying methods so just have some faith and start burning through the material. At this point, it’s just about putting the time in.

Addendem: I did print out the math problems from Topscore (yes, 1 problem/page) and worked through them by hand. For Achiever, I manually copied and pasted them into a Word doc and printed that out (a lot of  Ctrl-C & Ctrl-V but it got the job done). I was being overly cautious since math hasn’t been my strength. I also did Destroyer problems and whatever I got wrong, I flagged with a Post-It. Then I concentrated on those. That’s how I weeded out my weaknesses.

So, I had this great idea for a post about prep material but I realized, the best place to get that information would probably be SDN. Students are constantly posting about who got what and what they used. I’ve still taken the liberty to do a small bit about the ins & outs of each material I used but bear in mind, I did take mine more than a year ago. However, before you brush me off as an old-timer who’s out of the loop, do realize Kaplan uses the same material year after year without updates. But their big name still gets students to shell out the grand it takes to register for their course. So, do take care to do your own homework.

Here’s a mini-breakdown of the materials I used and what my opinion of them were - not in any particular order.

1) Kaplan - Course (currently: $1399)

The main teacher was an medical student who taught both MCAT and DAT science sections. He knew about as much as the Kaplan-assigned binder he was teaching from. He re-iterated what was already in the manuals in front of us and offered little insight into the actual going ons with the DAT.This girl who did take the DAT came in once in a while to half-heartedly go through the PAT section. She purportedly scored in the 90th percentile. Now that I, myself, have taken the DAT, I don’t know what her 90th percentile means. Did she score in the 90th percentile in all sections or her AA or her TS? And frankly, does it even matter? If she can’t teach (and she couldn’t), she could’ve written the test herself and it wouldn’t have done me any good.

Remember, a good test-taker doesn’t make a good teacher. I know, my name’s on the top of that list.

Bottom line: It’s a gamble. The usefulness of the course depends on the teacher and their teaching ability but that varies greatly depending on location. If you want to take a course, ask around the area. See if there are others with scores you want and ask them who their Kaplan teacher was. Or there’s always the option of the slightly cheaper online version. One last thing, when you sign up for the course, they send you two kaplan books. One is a thin course manual with exercises for the course. The other is a thicker one. That’s the review book which is identical to the blue book they sell in bookstores. Just a heads up.

2. Schaum’s Biology

Boring. I started using this and found it too dry and boring to continue. Paper is gray. Words are tiny. Pictures, minimal. Does the great world of biology a disservice.

3. Topscore ($50) & Achiever ($50)

I group these together because they’re both computerized. That’s their strength. They both contain 3 full length exams for a total of 6 full length exams between them. You have the opportunity to take each section separately or together. I’d urge you to definitely invest in both of them. Taking an exam is more than knowing the answers for each question. That’s a major part of it but the other part that gets frequently overlooked is the actual exam experience. If you ask anyone why they got a low QR score, it’s never “the math was hard”. It’s always, “I ran out of time”. The math is high school math at most - algebra, a dash of trig, some basic probability. Not calculus. Personally, I’m not good with numbers and whip out my phone calculator to tally up restaurant tabs & tip and having had bad experiences with math, D’s in pre-calc and calc 2, my confidence in my math abilities were low. Still, I ended up getting a 20 on the DAT. Not stellar but doesn’t have to be. I’ve seen smarter kids wind up with 17s and 16s. Why? They underestimated time. That’s where a computerized test simulator comes in handy. These aren’t for studying. They’re for gaging your ability to sit through a 4 hour exam and training you in proper time management. How will you know if you’re gonna freak out with 10 minutes left on the counter if you don’t actually put yourself in that situation?

If you can’t see the value in exam simulation, then go ahead and cut this corner. I personally think $100 is a small price to pay.

4. Undergraduate textbooks

If you kept them, great. If you haven’t, it’s not going to make a difference. You could just as easily find the information elsewhere. If you want to know if you should keep them, the only one I’d consider keeping is Campbell’s biology. Keep in mind, I had other sources of study material for organic chemistry and general chemistry. I used Campbell’s biology just to get some info on subjects not covered in my undergrad biology courses - ecology, evolution stuff.

5. DAT Destroyer ($149.95)

A plastic spiral bound book. Not very professional looking but what it lacks in looks, it makes up for in quality. This book is packed to the brim with questions written by a DAT/OChem/Physics tutor. Dr Romano does this for a living. He could be practicing dentistry but he tutors instead. Compare that with Kaplan tutors who take the exam, get a good grade and go back to do some teaching for some extra spending money. Plus, if he’s preparing students for the DAT, don’t you think he’ll follow up with them after they take the exam. They’ll probably even discuss their experience, what worked, what didn’t work, etc. You can piece two and two together. Dr Romano gets personal accounts from real people regarding the actual DAT.

When I used this, it wasn’t any bigger than a regular spiral notebook. Romano’s constantly adding updated questions to this and last I saw from another DAT taker, this thing has ballooned to quite a manual. It’s all Q&A format. Not your typical review book but it works.

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I’d say find out how you study best then find the material that suits your needs. I bag on Kaplan but plenty of people do well with it. That’s great! The purpose is to find the test prep material to best facilitate your learning.

While we’re on the subject of personal statements, I might as well include some key points I learned going through the process as well and looking back on it.

1) Quality beats quantity any day
After I had drafted and edited my essay, I was a bit self-conscious that it was hanging onto page 2 by a sliver of 2 sentences. This was my chance to shine and I could only come up with 683 words. What was I to do? Nothing, I copied and pasted that sucker right into AADSAS and sent it off*. I said what I had to say succinctly and to try to puff it up any more would be 1) not my style and 2) looking back, unnecessary. I imagine admission staff are actual living, breathing people and they see the world as you and I see the world so if you’ve finalized your essay and got a second opinion on it, more than likely, it’s good to go.

*Wanna hear something blasphemous? I didn’t even indent!

2) Play up your strengths - If you got it, flaunt it
I didn’t have much under my belt before getting serious. Up to that point, I had zero volunteer hours, was part of zero organizations, and did zero research. Was I going to base my personal statement around those things? No, my personal statement would have been really short. Instead, I talked about what I did do. I did ace my upper division biology courses. I was top of biochemistry class. I was a TA (for 2 classes actually) and I was nominated for an award based on my stellar work as a TA. The fact that I did all that after I had horrible grades need not be mentioned. Having horrible grades prior does not subtract from the fact that I did all those things but writing about them does. In the essay, the goal is to convey what you can bring to the dental school. A spoonful of confidence (based on real results) can go a long way.

Plus, they have a complete record of my grades - A’s and D’s. What they don’t have are letter grades quantifying my drive, dedication to the field of dentistry and unwavering perseverance. Let that stuff shine in your essay - backed by real results, obviously.

So if you’ve worked in a dental office, you can talk about the exposure you got, what you’ve learned about being a team player, how it cemented your desire for dentistry even further. If you have great grades already, you can talk about the extracurricular activities that make you stand out, that round you out as an applicant - from surfing to knitting. It can all be linked back to life experience and in that way, make you a better applicant.

3) If you don’t got it, what can you do to change that?

If you’re like me and had nothing to list under manual dexterity, what can you do to change that? For the summer of 2007, I signed up for ceramics and piano lessons, in addition to yoga. I got into biking and volunteered at a dental office. Since I couldn’t list them under exhibiting manual dexterity or anywhere for that matter, I took the liberty to let the admissions staff know, in my personal statement, that I would be gaining some manual dexterity skills soon enough. I think this lets them know that I’m committed to learning, that I know where I can improve and I’m taking the steps in the right direction, and that I will be a well-rounded applicant. And even if I wasn’t all those things when I wrote the essay, by the time I’m 6 inches from them, I would be.

Remember, your personal statement is unique to you. Aside from accentuating your strengths and being grammatically sound, there is no one recipe for your story.

What does your tale say about you?

Ben, from DMDstudent, commented on my blog! eeek. I’m as giddy as a schoolgirl.

Ben is really amazing. He balances the dental school thing and a family - with kids to boot. Very awesome.

I started reading his blog when I was applying the 1st time, to get an idea of what being a dental student was like. It wasn’t until my 2nd time applying that I began using it as a resource. I was lost trying to come up with another personal statement as my first one wasn’t turning heads. I hadn’t written anything other than biology lab reports. And the history class I took requiring essays, I opted for pass/no credit and walked out of the class with no credit. It was sad times and even sadder thinking I needed some inspiration and there wasn’t any to be had. Then this article, AADSAS Personal Statement Essay, showed up on DMDstudent with links to sample personal statements written by real pre-dents. Reading them showed me that you don’t have to be an English major to write acceptance worthy personal statements.

That’s a good thing. I was freaking out and putting lots of pressure on myself to pump out modern day Shakespeare and since I didn’t fit the mold of I-wanted-to-be-a-dentist-since-conception or I’m-the-Harry-Potter-of-the-dentistry-world-can’t-you-see-the-flowable-composite-coursing-my-veins, coming up with a way to prove myself worthy in my essay seemed a daunting task. In the end, I managed a 683 word piece telling my story in my own way. You can read it below:

“Dentistry is a multifaceted profession that includes being a businessman, a manager, a salesman, an educator, a craftsman, and an artist, in addition to the role as a doctor” — this was the summary of his job a dentist gave me that finally convinced me I wanted to become one, as well. These roles are what I have attempted to incorporate into my life in order to prepare myself to be successful in the profession.

Since the winter of 2003, I have worked at my family’s dental clinic as a receptionist. On slower days, I would observe the dentists working in their operating rooms. I was intensely fascinated with the work the dentists performed — the way they kept a patient calm, even as they cut into their mouths and repaired their damaged teeth. My parents and I worked out a schedule whereby I shadowed a doctor for an hour for every three hours of work at the front desk. By now, I have observed ten dentists for approximately 500 hours in total. I had the opportunity to watch common preventative procedures as well as more serious operations, such as alveoplasty. While working in the Brooklyn-based dental office, I encountered patients from many cultures and backgrounds. Under these circumstances, I developed an understanding of what makes a dental office a welcoming environment for all patients.

After researching the field and conversing with the dentists I was shadowing, I developed a passion for dentistry and decided to commit to the profession. I knew the first step was to turn around my academics. Since I had underperformed in my lower-level science courses, I knew my effort in my upper-level science courses would have to be especially ambitious. For the following semester, I took on an aggressive course load, including Organic Chemistry II and lab, Cell Biology, and Genetics. Despite advice to lighten my schedule, I knew the goal was realistic; I performed well and scored no lower than A- in my science courses. This achievement continued into the next semester as well, where I ranked top of the class in Biochemistry I.

One of the best things that has come out of my success in my upper division biology courses was the option to become a teaching assistant in the courses in which I was most interested. I enjoy being a TA because it allows me be a guide to undergraduates who, like me, only became serious students late in their academic career. I make lecture recordings available to students, make myself available outside my office hours, and hold voluntary question-and-answer sessions before exams. My professor was so impressed with my dedication that he nominated me for a student leadership award, but more important than the recognition I received was the opportunity I had to educate.

This summer, I will be combining the above elements of my life — work, academics, and helping people — by going across the country to be a part of a dentist’s office in Palo Alto, CA. This position will allow me to see the operation and management of a dental office different than that with which I have experience. A new and different patient pool, with a different dentist managing his team, will allow me to get out of my comfort zone of my family’s dental practice and provide further perspective on running a dental clinic. I will also be extending the success I have achieved in my academic life into my personal life by taking on activities for personal enrichment, such as learning Mandarin Chinese and taking up hobbies such as playing piano and sculpting — the latter two of which will also help me develop manual dexterity.

In these ways, I continue to expand my experience in each of the different roles of a dentist. Whether dealing with the day-to-day activities of running a clinic, applying the academic medical knowledge to the treatment of my patients, or educating patients and future dentists about the profession and dental health, I want to be prepared to perform in a way that exemplifies what it is to be a dentist.”

In other news: I will be revisiting Taking the DAT! No worries, kay?

When I took mine back in Aug 2006, I followed SDN extensively. I read everything I could to get a lead on the exam. I even went as far as to put together an excel spreadsheet of SDNer practice scores vs. actual scores. Nothing scientifically based but it gave me peace of mind. Sure you could do the same but looking back, it was overkill.

There are lots of ways to do well on the DAT, all dependent on the background you’re working with. Most pre-dents are biology majors but even if you’re not (I wasn’t), it’s not an issue for doing awesome. Having coached some friends through the process, I’ve come up with a few DAT hacks, a.k.a. tips that frequently get overlooked.

1) Sign up early before you start studying

You can go to ADA.org: DAT to sign up for the exam. Do this before you begin your studying. You have to receive the eligibility letter before you can set a date to take the exam. I’ve found that setting a date before studying allowed me to space my topics and practice exams backwards from my test date. When you do, see #2 below.

2) Set a date in concrete

Just as you wouldn’t change the day of your wedding because you don’t feel prepared (run off to Albuquerque, New Mexico maybe) but not push it back until you feel ready; you also don’t change the date of the DAT. The frame of mind you need to have is not study until you feel good. It needs to be: this thing is happening no matter what and I’m ready when it comes. The best thing I did for myself was schedule a week-long trip to Cancun 2 days after my test. I did this at the start of my studying and was really on the fence about doing it but there is nothing more motivating than having no back door. The option of re-scheduling is mighty enticing especially when the exam is 2 days away. If you know you have a problem with this, eliminate the escape plan. (Sickness excluded)

When should one schedule the exam?

I think it would be best to schedule it as early as possible in the application cycle. ADA’s website says it takes 3-4 weeks for schools to receive your scores. I took mine in August and the schools didn’t get it until Sept. This was a bad move as I wasn’t a super strong applicant. If you’re not a strong applicant, do what you can control and get everything in ASAP, as in Day 1.

3) Study for the exam, not the subject matter

Quell the desire to learn it all. You can’t. The field of biology and chemistry have been around for hundreds of years and there is more than you’ll ever need to know to pass the DAT. The goal you are working with is: Pwning the DAT. It is not to become an expert scientist and winning the “I know it all” prize. They can be mutually exclusive.

I’d recommend getting your hands as many review books as you can. If you know you can’t afford a mediocre score, spend the money on the review material. If you think it’s expensive now, imagine the costs of a a lousy score and how much it’ll cost to re-register and/or reapply. Make the initial investment, do it right the first time around and save yourself money, time, and kleenex in the future. Also, I will be giving my take on the different materials that I used for preparation in Taking the DAT: Materials.

For the tabula rasa: In some ways, not having an extensive background in the sciences can be used to your advantage. As long as you have taken the pre-reqs, you’ll have enough to hit the review books. Starting with a blank slate means you won’t have conflicting data roaming around in your mind making you doubt everything you read. But if you’re going to study, study from a trusted source. Don’t study Barron’s if you know it has a history of typos. Wrong input equals wrong output equals low DAT score.

For the biology major: Study for the exam and nothing more. Know what you need to know for the exam and only what you need to know for the exam, unless of course you want to. It won’t be necessary for you to dig out your advanced cell anything textbook.

4) Shoot for a 30, only, ever.

You may not get it. I didn’t but it didn’t stop me from shooting for it. I’ve always told anyone who asks, I didn’t know how to convert grams to mole and vice versa before studying. I had been exposed to it so it wasn’t hard to learn the basics fast but I always had an aversion to general chemistry, mostly because I had a terrible chemistry teacher in the 6th grade. But I set my sights on the 30 anyways and walked out with a 23. Say, if I were a little more “realistic”, I would have been happy with a 20 and maybe would’ve walked out with a 17. The only benefit that comes from aiming low is you don’t have to feel silly but I’d rather feel silly than crappy because I didn’t push myself to reach further.