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75 of 76 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not enough prep for bio and PAT, October 17, 2005
This review is from: Kaplan DAT with CD-ROM: Third Edition (Kaplan Dat (Dental Admission Test)) (Paperback)
I just took my DAT last week. Thanks to the reader who suggested the Schaum's Outline for Bio. The bio review in Kaplan is really not sufficient if you want to get a top score. Get the Schaum's, know everything in it (in my DAT, there were only 1 or 2 bio questions that weren't covered in Schaum's), and you will get a great score in bio. Also, please note that at least one of the answers in the written practice test of the bio section is wrong and some of the questions are poorly worded.
The chemistry, organic and math sections of the real thing are easier than the Kaplan practice test, and the Kaplan review sections for these subjects should be sufficient.
The PAT of this (and of every test prep I've come across) is much easier than the real one I took. The tips they give you do help, but the examples they give are too easy on average. Find the hardest problems of the practice PAT test and figure that to be about the average level of difficulty for the real thing. Some of the angle ranking questions on the real thing are nearly impossible unless you can distinguish 1 degree of difference. I really messed up on this section because I finished with enough time on the practice test - but on the real thing, I mismanaged my time and basically had to guess the last 9 questions or so.
Here's how I did on the practice compared to real thing - Practice: Bio 18, Chem 18, Organic 23, PAT - 21, Reading - did not take, Math - 21. Real thing: Bio - 22, Chem - 29, Organic - 29, PAT - 17 (ouch!), Reading - 22, Math - 25, Academic Avg. - 25.
Hope this helps, and good luck.
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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Study Guide, August 10, 2005
This review is from: Kaplan DAT with CD-ROM: Third Edition (Kaplan Dat (Dental Admission Test)) (Paperback)
I used the Kaplan book to study for my DAT this summer and found it very useful to help focus and figure out what to study. I used it mainly to get an idea of what major topics to review and then turned to college textbooks for better detail. The Biology section is ok, but fairly weak. It will give you a great review of several important topics (cellular respiration, cellular reproduction, genetics, etc) but I felt it was weak in areas of plant biology, classification, ecology and invertebrate biology. I would recommend reviewing college textbooks for those areas, I'm pretty sure that's a lot of what I got wrong on the real test. The Chemistry and Organic sections are pretty strong and probably all you will need to review in those sections. I reviewed the quantitative reasoning in the book, but in retrospect I wish I had reviewed my old pre-calc book for a more in depth trig review. My DAT focused a lot on probability, trig, and rate/distance calculations. The perceptual ability section is a great introduction to the types of questions, but as far as difficulty, they are much easier than the actual test.
The two practice tests are an excellent addition to the book. I took the written one first. I felt it was easier to take the test on paper than on the computer, but still I found it worthwhile to introduce you to the type and range of questions to expect. The CD was very similar to the format of the real DAT. Familiarizing yourself to the computer format is essential. It is a much different testing environment when you can't write notes right on the page. Also, the science sections on the computer are far more difficult than the real exam, I would say review what you are getting wrong, but expect to score at least a couple points higher. My real DAT scores were intermediate to the written and CD that came with this book.
For the sake of comparison, in biology i scored 22 on the written, 17 on the cd, and 20 on the real thing; chemistry: 19 written, 16 cd, 20 on the real thing; organic: 28 written, 18 cd, 24 on the real thing; total sci: 23 written, 17 cd, 21 on the real thing; reading: 19 written, 22 cd, 22 on the real thing; PAT: 18 written and cd, 16 on the real thing.
I basically "crammed" for the test, which was proably not the smartest thing to do. I would say use this book, take your time, study, and definitely study as much as you can for perceptual. Chances are if you are a strong pre-dental candidate, you already know most of the science information from college classes. This book will help you refresh what you already know and clear up some details that may have become a bit foggy. I plan to use this book again over the next few months and try to improve on my current scores.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Kaplan DAT w/ CD Rom, July 6, 2005
This review is from: Kaplan DAT with CD-ROM: Third Edition (Kaplan Dat (Dental Admission Test)) (Paperback)
I have both the 2nd edition and the 3rd edition. Most of the content is the same, but I did not have a 2nd ed. CD. The 3rd edition of the book is maybe 90% the same. As a prospective dental student who is reapplying (3 waiting lists doesn't cut it!) and needs to improve his PAT score (note to other pre-dentals, Practice, practice and practice for the PAT! That is the reason why I did not gain acceptance for 2005), I was pleased with Kaplan's prep material for the PAT. Very helpful. Really helped me visualize the shapes and gave some invaluable test day hints. That alone made it worth it. One thing I wouldn't have minded: they should have left the end of section "quizzes" that they had in the 2nd edition. Overall, most people will be pleased with the Kaplan book.
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