Customer Reviews

Kaplan DAT with CD-ROM: Third Edition (Kaplan Dat (Dental Admission Test))

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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.

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.

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.

For the practice, this Kaplan book is worth it.

The reviews for me were not specific enough. I studied my college text books before I took any practice test.

Basically, the written test is good for pointing out your weak areas to begin with. The Preparation booklet put out by the ADA is another written test and is actually closer to the level of dificulty you'll see on the real DAT.

The Kaplan science sections are harder than the real DAT, the reading and quantitative are about the same as the real DAT, and the perceptual ability is easier than the real DAT. I scored about 17 on the Kaplan total science and 23 on the real DAT. For perceptual ability, I scored about 20 for Kaplan and 18 for the real DAT.

So, basically, the book is worth the money for pointing out what you don't get right on the practice test. Also, the more practice you get for perceptual ability, the better. In addition to this Kaplan book, I recommend TopScore Pro practice test.

There are limited reference books for the Canadian DAT, which is quite different from the American DAT (the Cdn DAT has soap carving for manual dexterity testing and does not have organic chem and math on the exam).
Primarily, I used the biological science, chem, reading comprehension and PAT sections for review and practice. The last time I learned the content in university was about 8 years ago, but I found that the biology and chem reviews were comprehensive enough and prepared me enough. However, I need to point out that this is a thinking test and questions on the exam are tricky and does not necessarily ask for straight memory work and when it is recall type questions, it tends to be obscure detail you wouldn't think you'd need to remember in such detail. The reading comprehension and PAT were helpful, but again, it doesn't give enough practice. I found the suggested approach to doing the PAT in this book was useful.
I did not like the CD. Reading comprehension on the CD didn't do anything for me because it wasn't representative of the format (the reading selections were unusually short) and the rotating objects in the PAT section were not helpful to me, at least)
My advice is to do more timed practice exams. Do as many as you can.
As for the Canadian DAT, I also used practice exams from IQ Publications (not the greatest because there isn't much out there for the Canadian DAT market, but has decent practice exams). Their book on soap carving you should definitely get, but don't get their soap carving kit (the exacto knife is different than the one used in the actual exam), get the one from the Canadian Dental Association plus extra soap pieces.
The Canadian DAT was a relatively difficult exam, but I did relatively well (I am competitive with same scores as the applicants who got into dental schools in Canada--the ones that gave entrance statistics anyways). My review came from this Kaplan book and intensive practice before the exam. Of course, don't forget practice, hard work, and discipline! I studied 3 - 4 months in advance, but I was busy with my daytime job. Probably studied only 1/2 to 1 hour weekdays, a little longer on weekends. Closer to the week before the exam, I studied the entire evening. Good luck!

If you buy this used, it is a good buy. Be aware that the PAT practice is far easier than the actual DAT. Their science practice tests is pretty accurate in terms of difficulty, but on my DAT at least, the material was a bit different. I didn't use much to review material but what I did read was fairly well-presented but very dense. The CD practice was not much like the real DAT, but still helpful to get used to doing it on the computer.

Bottom Line: only buy used and use other books too.

I took a very expensive Kaplan course and the special book that you get is exactly the same as this one, well worth the money

I am using mainly the Kaplan book in my preparation for the DAT. The review materials are concise and the examples are very helpful. It also comes with a practice test on the CD which I feel is necessary to prepare for this test. Overall, I am happy with the purchase.

Kaplan is a good review of stuff, when you have already had the real classes and just need a refresher or reminder. I have found a couple mistakes, but on the whole it is a great resource to have.

This is a must for any Pre-Dental Student. All of the course material is laid out in an effective manner and the comprehensive review leaves no stone unturned. I truly beleive that without the Perceptual Abilities Review Section's help, the DAT would be 10 times more difficult. If you're planning on taking the DAT you need this book.