Week Before DATs

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For those that took the DATs already, how did you spend the last week before exams?

I reviewed all material I studied everyday. I also did crack DAT pat, and took one practice test each day. I did not take anymore practice chem or bio tests from crack DAT because they were way more difficult than the real DAT, and it only discouraged me from studying when I did not perform well. Honestly, I would not take any practice test 2 or 3 days before the exam (except crack DAT pat because you need to practice practice practice). You either know it or you don't, and any poor performance on a practice test can have bad effects in your studying abilities during those crucial 2-3 days before test day ( at least thats how it works for me)

I would say I studied about 8-10 hours per day during the last week. Mainly review of concepts I had already studied rather than learning new concepts. The day before the exam, I only studied for 2 hours because I was very stressed and I knew it would affect my performance on the exam, so I decided to stop and go to bed (I also worked 8 hours per day which would leave me studying late into the night).

Remember, once it gets to the day before the test.....you either know it or you dont. You don't know what is gonna be asked. You're better off reinforcing the concepts you are already good at.

Best of luck.

Here's my breakdown.

PAT 24
QR 21
RC 19
BIO 23
GC 23
OC 27
TS 24
AA 23

Originally Posted by capitan2011

I reviewed all material I studied everyday. I also did crack DAT pat, and took one practice test each day. I did not take anymore practice chem or bio tests from crack DAT because they were way more difficult than the real DAT, and it only discouraged me from studying when I did not perform well. Honestly, I would not take any practice test 2 or 3 days before the exam (except crack DAT pat because you need to practice practice practice). You either know it or you don't, and any poor performance on a practice test can have bad effects in your studying abilities during those crucial 2-3 days before test day ( at least thats how it works for me)

I would say I studied about 8-10 hours per day during the last week. Mainly review of concepts I had already studied rather than learning new concepts. The day before the exam, I only studied for 2 hours because I was very stressed and I knew it would affect my performance on the exam, so I decided to stop and go to bed (I also worked 8 hours per day which would leave me studying late into the night).

Remember, once it gets to the day before the test.....you either know it or you dont. You don't know what is gonna be asked. You're better off reinforcing the concepts you are already good at.

Best of luck.

Here's my breakdown.

PAT 24
QR 21
RC 19
BIO 23
GC 23
OC 27
TS 24
AA 23

How long did you study for? Like total months or weeks?

I took my DAT February 23rd 2012

Started studying probably first week of December. (Didn't really study that great during December. Roughly 1 maybe 2 hours per day and not every day).

Jnanuary 1st -- 1 week before test (5 hours per day)
Week before test - 8 hrs per day

** I was originally scheduled to take it February 4th, but two weeks before test day, I decided to reschedule to February 23rd. I knew I was no where near ready. Best decision I ever made!

I did practice 4 practice tests in the week before my exam and basically re-did destroyer's Bio and Chem. I also found the DAT Qvault literally a week before my test so I just did their free bio practice. I was really only terrified of Bio and RC because Bio has this ability to totally surprise you and RC can give you some nasty passages. Everything else is pretty samey. GC, OC and QR are all about what formulas and stuff you have memorized and PAT is fine with sufficient practice.

Besides practice though, I went through my mistakes on past tests every day (including test day) this is probably the best way to never repeat mistakes since you'll know your past ones in such great detail.m

I did 1 last topscore exam, reviewed errors I made in topscore and DATQvault, did Destroyer O-Chem until I didn't get any wrong, re-read Barrons AP Bio and did all questions, ran through Math Destroyer test #4, and did Destroyer Bio reading all explanations. I stayed very busy my last week of studying and probably gained an point or two because of it.

1 thing I regret was not doing PAT practice the last 3 weeks. I found I got a little rusty and the real DAT PAT didn't go as well as I would have liked.

I am about 10 days from taking the DAT and I am wondering if I should purchase and download TopScore or Achiever for more practice tests. I have been using Crack Dat for Science, Math and PAT, DAT destroyer and the math destroyer, KBB blue book, barron's chem and bio books. I have been reading all the posts about Topscore and achiever and how well they prepared you, so just need some feedback if it is worth it at this point in the game. I have not scheduled the test yet, so I could push it off for more practice. I have already taken this thing once and did not do so great. Feedback

Originally Posted by Dentgrl2984

I am about 10 days from taking the DAT and I am wondering if I should purchase and download TopScore or Achiever for more practice tests. I have been using Crack Dat for Science, Math and PAT, DAT destroyer and the math destroyer, KBB blue book, barron's chem and bio books. I have been reading all the posts about Topscore and achiever and how well they prepared you, so just need some feedback if it is worth it at this point in the game. I have not scheduled the test yet, so I could push it off for more practice. I have already taken this thing once and did not do so great. Feedback

You might want to double check when they have open dates, you can't always get a test day right when you want one.

its not DATs its just DAT


but i did some general studying (destroyer, CDP,) and far more review of all the eqns and concepts I had to know

Good luck