Background: Junior in college majoring in Biology. This is my second time taking the DAT. The first time I took my DAT these were my scores: PAT= 18, QR = 20 , RC= 24, Bio= 25, Chem = 20 , Orgo = 19 ( 22 AA, 23 TS). These are great scores and I know that they don't really warrant a retake, but I felt that they were not competitive enough for me as an international applicant. I also felt that I could have done so much better ( especially the orgo section). I will share what I changed and how I was able to improve.
My Old scores: PAT= 18, QR = 20 , RC= 24, Bio= 25, Chem = 20 , Orgo = 19 ( 22 AA, 23 TS)
New Scores: PAT = 20, QR=20, RC = 25, Bio= 30, Chem = 26, Orgo = 30 ( 26 AA, 29 TS)
Resources: DAT Booster, Chad's Prep ( videos and questions), Destroyer
PAT: Okay so I only improved two points here but all I changed was that I took the daily practice more seriously. First time around I was very on and off but this time around I would at least do 10 questions of three types every day. I don't have much else to say about this, I think the thing is on par with booster, not harder and not easier. I do think Key holes is simpler than booster while PF was more complicated.
QR: there was no change in this score even though I gave it more time during my studies. I think this section is more about time than anything. So, practice well and get familiar with any shortcuts there are.
RC: Just like the previous test, I did not really practice this section, I did maybe 1 or 2 of the individual reading tests on booster and got a 30 on those. I use a mix between reading and search and destroy. Also, I make sure to highlight dates, locations, percentages and names of people. This really saves you time because a lot of questions are about those stuff. Okay now onto the fun stuff
Biology: I went from a 25 to a 30 in this section which is crazy. Here is what I did differently. I took notes on all the chapters in the span of about 1 week. Then from there, every day I would do 2 of the questions banks, ( this is very time consuming). Once I finished them all, I reset them and started again. Then four days before my test I reset them all and went through ALL of them in the span of one day. So, I would say I went over the questions banks about 4 times. Once I would finish a question bank, I took notes on what I did wrong and marked the questions. For the previous test I had used destroyer for biology, but I really struggle with solving over something that’s solved so I just kind of skimmed through it. Questions were heredity heavy for me today which was unexpected. Either way, this section is very large so, expose yourself to as much information as possible and it will all eventually stick.
Chemistry: The last time I relied exclusively on Booster for this section and found destroyer to be too difficult. IMO booster does not have a lot of questions for chem and as someone who them did already, they did not feel challenging. I signed up for one month of Chads Prep DAT questions and only did Chem questions. I wouldn't say the questions resemble the real thing, but they definitely improved my performance because they gave me more practice. I also recommend going through DAT Chemistry quizlets. The exam is indeed heavy on the conceptual stuff so the quizlets are a great way to learn those things. I also went through like 100 destroyer questions ( IMO not very helpful but good to do for a topic that you keep getting wrong).
Orgo: okay wow. From a 19 to a 30! So basically, this time around I really tried to understand the reactions. I know its cliche but if you just memorize with zero understanding your just gonna put in more work and risk a lower score. I spent at least two days on every group of reactions ( ex: two days on alkenes) and really tried to understand them. I did two of the DAT reaction question banks daily ( the short ones), and then reset them all day before the test and did them then. If there was anything I didn't understand, Chad's prep has some short videos that quickly explain reactions. I also did some destroyer maybe about 50 but it is very overwhelming and time consuming.
I am glad to be done with this test and wish everybody good luck with their tests and applications.
My Old scores: PAT= 18, QR = 20 , RC= 24, Bio= 25, Chem = 20 , Orgo = 19 ( 22 AA, 23 TS)
New Scores: PAT = 20, QR=20, RC = 25, Bio= 30, Chem = 26, Orgo = 30 ( 26 AA, 29 TS)
Resources: DAT Booster, Chad's Prep ( videos and questions), Destroyer
PAT: Okay so I only improved two points here but all I changed was that I took the daily practice more seriously. First time around I was very on and off but this time around I would at least do 10 questions of three types every day. I don't have much else to say about this, I think the thing is on par with booster, not harder and not easier. I do think Key holes is simpler than booster while PF was more complicated.
QR: there was no change in this score even though I gave it more time during my studies. I think this section is more about time than anything. So, practice well and get familiar with any shortcuts there are.
RC: Just like the previous test, I did not really practice this section, I did maybe 1 or 2 of the individual reading tests on booster and got a 30 on those. I use a mix between reading and search and destroy. Also, I make sure to highlight dates, locations, percentages and names of people. This really saves you time because a lot of questions are about those stuff. Okay now onto the fun stuff
Biology: I went from a 25 to a 30 in this section which is crazy. Here is what I did differently. I took notes on all the chapters in the span of about 1 week. Then from there, every day I would do 2 of the questions banks, ( this is very time consuming). Once I finished them all, I reset them and started again. Then four days before my test I reset them all and went through ALL of them in the span of one day. So, I would say I went over the questions banks about 4 times. Once I would finish a question bank, I took notes on what I did wrong and marked the questions. For the previous test I had used destroyer for biology, but I really struggle with solving over something that’s solved so I just kind of skimmed through it. Questions were heredity heavy for me today which was unexpected. Either way, this section is very large so, expose yourself to as much information as possible and it will all eventually stick.
Chemistry: The last time I relied exclusively on Booster for this section and found destroyer to be too difficult. IMO booster does not have a lot of questions for chem and as someone who them did already, they did not feel challenging. I signed up for one month of Chads Prep DAT questions and only did Chem questions. I wouldn't say the questions resemble the real thing, but they definitely improved my performance because they gave me more practice. I also recommend going through DAT Chemistry quizlets. The exam is indeed heavy on the conceptual stuff so the quizlets are a great way to learn those things. I also went through like 100 destroyer questions ( IMO not very helpful but good to do for a topic that you keep getting wrong).
Orgo: okay wow. From a 19 to a 30! So basically, this time around I really tried to understand the reactions. I know its cliche but if you just memorize with zero understanding your just gonna put in more work and risk a lower score. I spent at least two days on every group of reactions ( ex: two days on alkenes) and really tried to understand them. I did two of the DAT reaction question banks daily ( the short ones), and then reset them all day before the test and did them then. If there was anything I didn't understand, Chad's prep has some short videos that quickly explain reactions. I also did some destroyer maybe about 50 but it is very overwhelming and time consuming.
I am glad to be done with this test and wish everybody good luck with their tests and applications.
