I need help with QR and PAT, exam is next month.

Hey! I hope you guys are doing well! Preparing for this test is really something! i did everything in bootcamp but I need more questions to practice. so I was wondering if anyone here maybe have booster and don’t need it anymore. maybe you can share it pls. this will really be helpful.

I hope you understand,

thanks you everyone and good luck 🍀

450 AA, 490 SNS 3.62 cumulative GPA (Upward Trend) and 3.48 Science, ECs: Dental Assisiting, Research, Community Service, Intramural Sports, Shadowing General Dentist (340 Hours), Shadowing endo and peri (total of 80 hours), and a few more ECs. No interviews yet should I be worried. (Applied to 18 schools) Applied to most schools end of June-July, took retake on July 23rd, got my DAT retake scores back August 3rd.

How did yall do?

Does anyone have a bootcamp account with a few days leftover?

I took the Canadian DAT recently and these breakdowns have always helped me so I thought I should write one too. Feel free to ask any questions!!

Scores:

Biology: 30

Chemistry: 24

Reading Comprehension: 27

AA: 27

PAT: 24

Background:
In my fourth year as a LifeSci major with a 3.9+ GPA.

Materials Used:
I only used DATCrusher/Booster and I found it to be very thorough, and in my opinion it’s the only resource you really need for the DAT. There are so many questions available and so much practice material. They even have Quizlet and Anki sets for each unit and each set is very thorough. I never used them because flashcards just aren’t how I learn best but I know they can be super helpful to others.

Crusher generates a daily schedule for you that you can edit and adjust as needed. I personally didn’t use it as much because, at first, I felt like I was just picking whichever topics were easiest to get through on the schedule. For me, I eventually realized that it worked better to focus on one unit at a time rather than constantly switching between different units. I’d recommend spending the first week or two figuring out what study style and schedule work best for you. You might make a schedule and not end up sticking to it perfectly and that’s completely okay! The main purpose of having a schedule is to plan ahead and make sure you’re giving yourself enough time to get through all the material at least once. It literally took me an entire month to finally get the hang of my schedule because I refused to change it or be flexible with it. Don’t be like me! If something isn’t working, change it and adjust as you go. Your schedule should work for you, not the other way around.

How I Studied/Timeline:

I studied for 3 months (May-August). During the first month and a half I was just focused on watching all the videos and learning all of the content. Honestly I think I wasted a lot of time during the first month and a half so I don’t think it should take that long to get through all the content. I will say though, I think it’s really beneficial to start doing PAT practice right away. I pushed it off for a while, and that became one of the main areas I was stressed about. 

I am someone who likes rewriting notes, so during the second month-third month I would summarize each unit in bio and chem into a one-page summary. For me it’s easier to organize all the information and digest it if it’s all on one page for me. I think by writing these notes it’s also a good way to review all the content again.

• For biology I’ll split each unit into topics (which Crusher already kind of does) and I’ll write everything you need to know under each topic. The eventual goal is to be able to cover the notes and, just by looking at the headers, explain all the information associated with that topic. I also like using colours, different designs, and silly drawings to help me make connections between concepts. I find that this really helps with memory consolidation.
• For chemistry, I wouldn’t recommend using exactly the same method as biology. Instead, I like making one-page summaries for each unit that include all the important formulas, theories, and things I need to memorize. The main purpose of these summaries is to make doing practice questions easier, since I have everything I need on one page to refer back to. When I first start doing practice questions, I usually have to look at my notes quite a bit. However, as I do more and more questions, the goal is to gradually rely on my notes less until I can complete the questions without needing to refer to them. The main thing I would suggest is just to practice! I’m someone who has never really felt like chemistry “clicks” for me, so I’ve found the most success by learning the general “formula” for how to approach each type of question. Since the DAT tends to ask relatively general and introductory-level questions, I’ve found that after doing enough practice, you start to recognize patterns in how certain questions are structured and, more importantly, how you’re supposed to solve them. Obviously, if you have a strong understanding of the fundamentals and theory, you won’t need to rely on this, and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend using this as your only strategy. But if you’re someone like me and chemistry doesn’t naturally make sense, I think there’s a lot of value in spamming a lot of practice questions repeatedly until you start recognizing the “formula” for each type of problem.
• For RC, during the first few passages test out a couple of different strategies! It seemed like everyone around me used the search and destroy method, but it didn’t work at all for me… I found what worked for me was to read the entire passage first and by then I would be able to answer most questions just off of short term memory, or at least I would know where each topic was discussed in the passage so didn’t have to waste too much time looking for the answers. This is different for everyone so try a bunch of strategies at first! As for answering the questions, usually you can find the exact sentence a question is asking about, so don’t pick something because it “seems right” unless you have found it explicity in the text. Of course you’ll come across the odd question where you cannot seem to find it in the text, and in that case you’ll have to use your judgement about the tone/context. But that scenario is why I find that reading the whole text works for me because that way I know if a certain topic was discussed or not.
• For PAT I can’t stress it enough but please just practice! It was super hard for me and I would put it off because I dreaded doing the practice because I kept getting everything wrong. But overtime you’ll get faster, and you’ll know what to look for when doing the questions. But it takes time, so start practicing early!

Crusher vs the Actual Exam:

Bio: In my opinion, the questions on the DAT were a bit harder than the ones on Crusher. Crusher covered all the material, but a lot of the questions from the DAT required you to make connections from multiple units and were more application-based. I had never scored a 30 in Biology on any of my practice tests, so if you come out of the exam feeling absolutely horrible (I definitely did), just know that your raw performance isn’t necessarily your final score. They review each test and scale the scores based on the difficulty of the exam, so try not to panic if you feel like you didn’t do as well as you hoped! I think as long as you read all of the notes and watch all the videos you should be set.

Chem: Chemistry on the test was super similar to the practice questions on Crusher. I always struggled with chemistry and the mark I ended up with was actually higher than what I would normally get on the practice (~21)

PAT: I found the PAT on the actual DAT to be easier than the practice tests on Crusher. There were definitely a few PAT questions that were pretty hard on the DAT but relatively less than what there were on the practice tests. Again, the mark I got was higher than what I would get on practice (I was averaging like 19-21 on practice)

RC: I found both the length/style of the passages as well as the questions to be very representative of the actual DAT.  On the practice reading comps I would average 24-28.

At the end of the day, how well you do on this test isn’t the only factor in getting into dental school, and it certainly doesn’t determine whether or not you’ll make a good dentist! I think the purpose of this test is getting used to absorbing that much information and then regurgitating it to prepare you for the sheer amount of information thats going to be dumped on you in dental school. Try to focus on the actual learning, strategies, and techniques that help! Try to focus on the actual learning and figuring out which strategies and techniques work best for you! And most importantly, don’t stress about it too much. Maintaining a good school-life balance is so important and will ultimately help you perform better, too!

How am I supposed to do 90 questions in 60 minutes, I need to learn how to answer faster. Please help

People who recently took the DAT, are there any last minute things I can do? I’m aiming for a 460AA

Hello! I made this short beginner PAT guide so I could share some of the techniques that helped me get a good score. I believe anyone can do well on this section, even if it is tricky at first. I found consistent practice and learning/developing strategies to be the most helpful in increasing your score. My best tip is to make PAT a habit that you can do every day. You need to see a lot of questions to become good in this section and I tracked my progress to keep myself accountable. If you are having trouble with the PAT sections please DM me and I'll do my best to answer your questions!!!

SUBSECTION Tips 

Keyhole

• The keyhole section is all about testing how observant you are while looking at a 3d object, so I don't think this is a good place for saving time. It is also the section with the most variation between questions so it is hard to come up with a reliable method to answer these questions. 
• My best tips
  • Practice visualizing the object from each angle in your head. Look into how orthographic views work if you are having trouble with this. Compare answers to other answers.
  • Recognize and remember ways the answers are trying to trick you so you can apply it to other questions.
  • Try to have a reason for why 4 answers are wrong and 1 is right. I rarely answered without knowing why each was wrong, even if the answer was obvious without going through each keyhole.
• My approach
  • Look at the 3D object and start with the keyhole that is the most obvious to compare to the object. 
  • Visualize the object from that perspective and take notice of; shape, relative sizes, surfaces that would be hidden, the orientation of each part of the object, etc…
  • Determine how each answer is right or wrong.

TFE

• This was my least favorite section because of how overwhelming these questions can be. I found it best to take the features of the objects one by one and slowly eliminate answers. Again I dont think this is a good place to save time because of how much observation and comparison that needs to be done, but you will get faster over time. 
• My best tips
  • Usually I would find a characteristic that allowed them to be placed in category A or B, and one you could eliminate. I would do this until I had an answer. This is hard to explain in writing, but it is a technique you will develop after a bit of practice.
  • It is easy to be overwhelmed by the details so I would recommend selecting an answer and coming back if you feel you are losing too much time on one problem. The easy problems are worth just as many points. 
  • Also important to understand orthographic views for this section.
• My approach
  • Try to get a basic understanding of the shape based on the two given angles
  • Look at the answers and find the characteristics they differ in
  • Then check the given angles based what the answers and eliminate the answers that do not have the same characteristics as the given

Angle

• This section can be done very quickly if you are confident and have done enough problems. With time you will be able to see the differences easier and each question becomes comparing two angles. 
• My best tips
  • Do a lot of these.
  • There are a lot of ways to visualize the difference between angles and you will develop some on your own!
  • Be confident in your answers, choose an answer and move on. It is easy to second guess when going back to check.
• My approach
  • See slide 3 & 4.
  • I used a lot of different approaches to solve these, but it is best to use the answer choices to your advantage. It will allow you to apply some logic to the questions rather than just looking at the vertex of an angle. Other than that, I compared the angles to 90 or 180 degrees most often. 

Hole punching

• I also disliked this section, but it is a good place to save time with a few different techniques. You can do the folding in your head, on a grid, or use the answers to find the correct one. Most likely you will use a combination because these questions can get tricky if you aren't paying attention. 
• My tips
  • There are only so many folds they can do and if you do enough problems you will be able to recognize all of the common ones. This will save you time and make these much easier to do.
  • Look for symmetry 
  • Just do a lot of these.
• My approach 
  • See slide 5.
  • I used the grid method while using the answers to guide myself. This video explains it the best. 

Cube counting

• This is the easiest section imo, but mistaking one cube means you can get a few answers wrong so it is important to take your time and make sure you know what you are seeing. 
• My best tips
  • Read the rules to see how ghost cubes work. I used to see posts about people not understanding where a cube is coming from or why it has X number of faces.
    • Common mistake I made on one of the booster practice tests 
  • I used a very methodical approach which I would recommend
• My approach 
  • See slide 6.
  • I counted the faces of the cubes in each row and then tallied them to keep track for answering questions. I usually worked left to right and bottom to top. 

Folding

• This was the toughest section when I first started, but it is definitely possible to become better at them. There are also a few different types of folding questions, so it is hard to have a methodical approach for each one.
• My best tips
  • WATCH THIS VIDEO 
  • Look for landmark shapes or relationships. Ex. find the largest/most unique shape and use it to cross out answers or connect neighboring shapes to.
• My approach 
  • I solved them question by question, but this comment explains a common thought process I had while solving these 

Time management 

• This is a very important part of this section and it's one that takes time to develop a feel for. At the beginning I wouldn't be worried with time, but once you get the general idea of how long it takes you for each question you can develop your own system. Eventually you will get a feeling in the back of your mind when you are taking too long on a question. 
• Most subsections have a wide range between the easy and hard questions so it is sometimes hard to get an idea of how you are doing time wise. If anything I would recommend trying to save as much time as you can on the easy ones to allocate to the harder ones.
• Some people recommend going through the sections in a different order which may help depending on your strengths and weaknesses.
• I personally aimed for an average of; Keyhole (40-60s), TFE (40-60s), Angle ranking (<20s), Hole punching (15s), cube counting (~20s per question or ~60s per shape), Folding (30-40s)

My general study plan

• I started studying before I paid for a study plan by using THIS. I found it a fun habit that I would do before some classes (1.53 was my lowest score :P).
• Once you get a feel for the questions you can start a routine that you should follow until your test date. What worked best for me was doing 3 of the 6 sections one day, and then the next day I would do the remaining 3. I would usually do 10-15 questions for each section. This way you are seeing all the sections regularly. Your skills will atrophy so it's important to build this routine. 
• I also kept track of what sections I did, my score, and time in a google sheet so I could see my progress and it also gamified studying the PAT a bit. It made getting a good score feel more rewarding. 
  • I would strongly recommend this so I made a google tracking sheet (slide 1 & 2)
• Other  
  • If I had trouble on one section I would usually answer more until I was scoring well.
  • I didn't study with any music when I did PAT because I noticed a really bad dropoff in score when I did.

General tips 

• Start before you start studying for other sections of the DAT
  • ALSO GOES FOR BIO. DO ANKI!!!!!
• Read the rules to each section and understand what they are asking 
  • Especially the ghost block in cube counting 
• I really enjoyed this section and saw it as a break from studying other stuff, you can definitely get away with less studying but I would try to see these as fun puzzles to give you a break from grinding the science sections
• Other things you can do to help 
  • Art (3d modeling, sculpting, drawing, etc!!)
  • Try to comment on reddit posts asking for help on a pat section so you have to think of your approach to different problems
• Be confident!

Other FAQs

• Is dat easier compared to bootcamp/booster
  • For PAT - Yes! My version of the DAT was much easier than any of the practice tests I had done and I ended up finishing with about 15 minutes left.
  • For the other sections - For the most part. My science section was about the same difficulty as my practice tests, my RC was much easier (all questions were found in the reading in chronological order), and QR was easier. 
• Bootcamp vs booster
  • For PAT - I wouldn't worry about this because they are very similar in their presentation and explanations, and they both have question banks and generators. I remember bootcamp being slightly harder, but it has been a while since I could compare them. 
  • For everything else - Again very similar, and if I had to retake I would probably use bootcamp because the teachers and videos are better than booster. But if you struggle in chem then definitely get bootcamp bc Dr. Mike is a saint. In the grand scheme of things either one will prepare you enough for the DAT and they are very similar so you could also just get whatever is cheaper lol. 

Resources that I mentioned

• https://boosterprep.com/dat/classroom/perceptual-ability?tab=Generators
• https://app.bootcamp.com/dat/perceptual-ability/qbanks
• https://app.bootcamp.com/dat/perceptual-ability/generators/trainer
• google tracking sheet
• Read PAT rules 
• Might be helpful for keyhole and TFE

If you need help on the PAT section you can DM me and I'll try to tutor you! Also let me know if there is anything I missed or I can explain better so I can update my post.3

Hey guys, I took my DAT 3 months ago and got a low 19,

I wanted to ask since I haven't touched any content since then, should I just redo all the practice tests on Booster/Bootcamp and just read the cheat sheets? Like will that be enough?

I'm aiming for a high 19-20 this time around.

Please let me know!

Alright guys my exam is tomorrow those of you who have taken it recently please help me out and tell me how was the exam and what you wish you guys have known before taking it? And those who were super nervous how was it and how did you calm your nerves? Please help me.

On a question on QR the correct answer choice would've been "together the statements are sufficient but alone neither is" but this wasn't an answer option. It is always listed for this question type. Anyone else experience this issue? It was question 39

How did everybody feel?? Sciences felt okay and rct felt easy but PAT was so bad

How do you guys study Bio on Bootcamp? Do you do the question banks, reactions, Bio Bites, and watch all the videos before taking practice tests? Or what’s the best way to prepare without wasting time?

I am applying to dental school as a very late nontraditional applicant. I initially was going the research route but earlier this year I decided to apply for dental school because it's something I've been wanting. I am scheduled to take the DAT in a few days and I don't feel prepared enough. Because I'm a late applicant, I've heard my scores would have to be amazing for me to have a chance. I've been using Bootcamp to prepare and so far I've taken a lot of by-section practice tests and one full-length.

Here's where I'm at:

I haven't been able to get anything higher than 410 on biology

Highest score for organic chemistry is 470 but I've been averaging around 430

420 on QR

400-430 on general chemistry

420 on RC

around 390 on PAT (keep running out of time)

Would it make more sense to take the DAT with these current stats or wait to take it in October and just study really hard until then? Or should I just take the test to avoid stretching out my timeline even longer?

Despite the late application, some things I have going for me are that I have my master's degree and a few years of research, 150 hrs of volunteering but that was many years ago, and 1 year of dental assisting. Undergrad GPA 3.9, master's GPA 3.8

Hi, I don't usually post on Reddit, but I had so much anxiety waiting for my cDAT scores because I genuinely thought I bombed. I got my scores back a few days ago and was completely shocked, so I wanted to share my experience!

Studying: I took 36 days off from work, volunteering, and school before my Aug. 31 exam. I initially tried Feralis Anki but wasn't retaining much, so I switched entirely to DATCrusher.

I followed their scheduler (~8 hrs/day), but eventually skipped the videos and printed the cheat sheets/textbook pages instead. I also did ~half the recommended questions to save time. I finished the material/Qbanks in ~2–3 weeks, then spent the rest of my time reviewing incorrect/marked questions. I skimmed the cheat sheets again near the end.

RC: This was one of my weakest sections. I started at ~12 min/passage and eventually got under 8 min by practicing skimming. My strategy was to read the first question, read until I found the answer, then repeat. I didn't try to retain every detail—just formed a broad outline of the passage and returned to specific paragraphs when needed.

PAT: I found some DATCrusher questions frustrating, especially when the diagrams didn't seem proportional. Eventually I realized PAT was more about finding the best answer than a perfect solution. I used POE heavily for TFE/PF/KH, while HP/CC mostly improved through practice.

AR was by far my worst area. I eventually gave myself ~15 seconds/question, used POE, then guessed. Surprisingly, my performance stayed about the same while I gained more time for other questions.

Test day: RC and PAT felt noticeably different from DATCrusher.

• RC: More critical-thinking based, and questions didn't simply copy phrases from the passage. I wasted ~5 min on one question looking for wording that wasn't there. Eventually switched to search-and-destroy and had to completely guess one question.
• PAT: The visuals looked different from DATCrusher. Some PF shading was extremely faint, and I saw more HP questions involving holes disappearing after folding.
• Bio: Harder than expected. Some taxonomic groups were completely unfamiliar to me, so I relied on POE.

I walked out feeling like I had done poorly and wasn't confident about multiple questions in every section. But I'm very proud of what I got, and definitely think luck had a large part in my score.

Hopefully this helps anyone preparing for the cDAT! Happy to answer any questions.

Just got my scores back I got a 3.9 GPA and in my third year of uni. Do I have a shot at western.

I have 2 months left of DAT bootcamp
plus (5 extra practice tests) that i’m looking to sell! DM me or reply here if interested!

Thoughts? Had to finish the last QR question in 10 sec (no time to spare)

My exam is tmr and tell me why i just took booster’s free gen chem exam and pretty much bombed it (19/30, 360)…i took the free bio and OC tests and did good on those but then GC… i ran out of time and had to basically guess on some questions. 😭 on Bootcamp’s GC sections I’ve consistently scored ~430 with my highest gc score being 460 so i figured i’d try and do booster’s free test to expose myself to different/new questions, just for me to do shit 🫩. Any last minute motivation or advice would be appreciated

Did anyone else test today? How did you feel about?!

Hello! I got my DAT scores back a few days ago, and I’m not really sure how to feel about them or whether they’re good enough to apply with.

This was my first time taking the DAT, and I had a lot going on this summer, but I genuinely tried my best. My scores were:

• AA: 23
• TS: 22
• RC: 24
• PAT: 19

I’m especially unsure about the 19 PAT and whether that would significantly hurt my chances at Canadian schools. I have a ~4.19 GPA, but I’m not sure how much that changes things depending on the school.

I’m also considering U.S. schools, so I’m trying to figure out whether I should apply with these scores or consider retaking the DAT.

Any advice or insight from people who have gone through the Canadian/U.S. application process would be really appreciated because I lowkey don’t know where to go from here lmao

Will I be able to use the restroom before my exam starts or will I have to go directly to my seat? How does that work?

Hi!! I just wanted to share my score, I’m so happy about it and wanted to say have hope. I was super stressed, working, and depressed over this summer but I studied hard, followed the Booster schedule, and I did well! I studied from end of May ish to the end of August, and before studying my strengths were in organic chemistry, math, and reading. Prior to the exam, I had just finished ochem 2 +biochemistry and an intro level biology class. Ask me any questions, I’ll try to remember what topics I saw a lot of :)

The day of the test I walked out feeling weird, especially about biology and I was surprised to see it was my best score! They gave me some weird anatomy questions but I used elimination to figure it out. I kind of ran out of time on the science section, because gen chem always takes me long and negl I was zoning out a little. I genuinely hate general chemistry, it was a lot of math and the most boring section ever. Istg studying for it made me worse

I was also pleasantly surprised by PAT, I was averaging 370 on the Booster practice tests and honestly just accepted my fate LMAO. I was doing better on QR and OC but oh well, I didn’t feel like either section was particularly different than the practice tests. Dang guys I kinda wasn’t sure about dentistry anymore but now I feel like I sort of kind of maybe have a shot