Hi, took the DAT this past monday (March 26th). I'd recommend reading my background before judging my score based on using only bootcamp.
Background: Prior to my First year of college I couldn't decide between biomedical engineering and dentistry. I went to a community college and was heavily leaning towards engineering so I took primarily calc/physics courses my first year of college. I then transferred to an engineering school my second year, realizing I hated engineering. I transferred to another university that had a much better science undergraduate program and have been there ever since. I started studying mid Feb, but it was half-ass studying. I didn't really do hardcore studying until the week before which was my spring break in which I was at the library, phone off 9am-9pm. I currently have a oGPA of ~3.65 and sGPA of ~3.55. Physics research for over a year and am an organic chemistry tutor this semester.
Resources: Bootcamp and cliffs 3rd. i bought destroyer but did not use it except for 1 QR exam 2 days before my DAT (don't do this)
Score: PAT 20 / QR 22 / RC 22 / BIO 21 / GC 23 / OC 30 /
Overall, I am extremely happy considering i did not study as much as I should have. Seeing how well I did with how little I studied annoyed me because I could have done much better if I had spent more time especially on gChem and QR through destroyer.
Biology (21): This and PAT were the most difficult for me. My intro organismal biology class (eco/evo/taxonomy etc...) was useless and I learned nothing so I had to teach myself all this material. I first read cliffs once fully. I didn't remember anything. I learned later that reading a chapter over and over and then moving on and reviewing that chapter later is MUCH better. I.e: Read ecology chapter 5-6 times, read plants chapter 3-4 times, reread ecology once, read plants another 3 times, read evolution 3 times, read plants and ecology once... and so on. This helped me tremendously. I complemented cliffs with feralis old notes and bio dynamite. Bio Dynamite destroyer is also an AMAZING resource. I prefer feralis' new notes the most but those are not complete yet. Dr. Romano's bio notes are a little too disorganized for my taste but they should not be looked past. I would read a chapter from cliffs, feralis and dynamite before i moved on to anything else. This repetition helped me A TON!!! Bootcamps' explanations were also excellent... probably my favorite resource to study off of. My bootcamp practice tests (1-9) ranged from a 16-20.
Courses I took before DAT: Bio 1,2, Genetics, Human Physio. THESE 2 CLASSES ARE EXTREMELY HELPFUL BEFORE THE DAT, ESPECIALLY PHYSIO! I am also currently taking microbio. That was helpful but not nearly as much as genetics and physio.
gChem (23): Man I hate this subject. I watched Mike's videos twice. Once in january and once 2nd week of march. I really really wish I did gChem destroyer because it would've probably gotten me a 30 in this section. I'm assuming I got 4 wrong and I'm confident i could've gotten those 4 if I did destroyer. My bootcamp scores (tests 1-10) ranged from 19-21 and a 26 once. The problems were straightforward and similar to bootcamp's difficulty. I did not have to do any difficult calculations like destroyer makes you do.
oChem (30): I've always had a soft spot for orgo, I think it comes from my love for integrals when I took calc. I watched mike's videos once the week before the exam. Very similar to bootcamp's tests. Tutoring orgo helped a little because explaining things to others kept certain topics fresh in my mind. Again, I wish I did orgo destroyer, but I can't really complain. My bootcamp scores (tests 1-10) ranged from 17(lol exam 1) to 22.
QR (22): This is where I messed up the most. Math has been my best subject growing up, so naturally like the naive college student I am, I put this off to the end since I breezed through calc 1 and 2 and thought that would have any correlation to what would be on the DAT. DONT DO WHAT I DID!! This should have been an easy 26+ for me but I postponed to the last second to practice this. IMO math destroyer is the way to go. Bootcamp is also good but I wasn't a fan of their QR explanations. If I could go back I would've done every practice test and destroyer problem. I ran out of time with 5 questions left unanswered and had to guess on them. I also had never taken a prob and stats course. I got extremely lucky to got the score i had gotten. My bootcamp scores (tests 1-6) ranged from 17 to 19.
RC (22): Reading has always been my worst subject growing up. The passages being science based definitely helped me not lose interest while reading. I didn't read any bootcamp science articles. I used search and destroy method. I'd read the first few questions then look. I always kept at least 3 questions in my head to look for while reading. I did not get ANY statement/reason questions. Bootcamp passages were much longer than the real thing and the questions were also a lot easier on the real test. Practice test scores (1,3,4,5) ranged from >14 to 18. Make sure you do RC academy on bootcamp and figure out what strategy works best for you.
PAT (20): I grew up with TERRIBLE vision. i've gotten surgery on my eyes a few times growing up and have always struggled with depth perception. This was definitely the toughest section for me. I did Angle Ranking, hole punching, cube counting, TFE, Keyhole, Pattern folding in that order (quickest to longest time per question). I'll break it down by section, numbered by difficulty, 1 being easiest, 6 being hardest.
-Keyhole (4): This section comes down to your ability to how well you can differentiate 3D object lengths on a 2D screen. The most difficult problems for me were the ones where appendages were coming towards me or away for me. The best strategy is to use the cross out feature religiously. Usually you can bring it down to 2 answers then you should rapid eye to spot the differences between the actual object and the answers. If the 2 final answer choices are the same view (I.E. both top view), find the differences between those 2 answers and compare it to the actual object. I went through all the bootcamp problems. Make sure you understand why you got problems wrong, don't just get it wrong and move on. LOOK FOR WHY AN ANSWER IS WRONG, NOT WHY IT IS CORRECT.
My practice tests (tests 1-9) ranged from 5-10 correct out of 15.
-TFE (2-3): I did a ton of generators before I took any practice tests, it helped, but the generators were NOTHING like the actual tests. Tests had circular objects and triangles which the generators never brought up. Usually, the 4 answers come in pairs. 2 are similar and the other 2 are similar. Find a big difference between the 2 pairs to narrow it down to 2 answers. Example: answers 1-4 have the same line in the same spot, but answers 1 and 2 are a solid line whereas 3 and 4 are a dashed line. Use your 2 views and figure out whether that specific line should be dotted or solid and you can eliminate the incorrect pair. Do the same thing again. LOOK FOR WHY AN ANSWER IS WRONG, NOT WHY IT IS CORRECT.
My practice tests ranged from 8-14 out of 15 correct.
-Angle Ranking (6000): Generators help a lot, but are not as difficult as the real exam. Real exam had angles around 10 degrees and 160+ degrees whereas generator generally stays around 80-140 degrees. Use the answer choices to your advantage like PAT academy teaches you. Not much advice I can give for this section, you either got it or you don't. When going through generator, look over all the questions you got wrong and why you got it wrong. This will help you improve a lot.
-Hole punching (1): Definitely the easiest section for me. I finished my science exam early, drew 15 4x4 grids and just used symmetry method. I averaged 13-15 correct on practice tests.
-Cube Counting (2-3): With the extra time I had after my science section, I drew 5 vertical number lines numbered 1-5. During this section, I'd look at the 3 questions per structure and which painted faces they wanted. Let's say they wanted 2, 3 and 5 painted faces. I'd cross out 1 and 4. Go through the structure and draw vertical dashes whenever I got to a 2/3/5 painted face cube. This is a risky but quick method, practice it to perfection. I averaged 8-15 on my practice tests.
-Pattern Folding (5): This section was really tough. Generators do not represent the real/practice tests. The generators were mainly dice and shaded things and didn't cover oddly shaped objects. I think I got lucky on this section on the real thing, not too many weird folds. A lot of shaded problems which are much easier for me than strange folds. I averaged 5-8 correct on practice tests.
Conclusion: If I could go back I would have done gChem and math destroyer which could have boosted my AA a ton. I definitely wish I studied bio more as well. Don;t make the same mistakes I did, don't procrastinate and do your practice tests early. I did 4 of my full length practice tests within 7 days of my exam which was stupid of me. Regardless, I am extremely happy with my score and you guys all definitely helped a lot. Thank you everyone! Let me know if you have any questions!
Background: Prior to my First year of college I couldn't decide between biomedical engineering and dentistry. I went to a community college and was heavily leaning towards engineering so I took primarily calc/physics courses my first year of college. I then transferred to an engineering school my second year, realizing I hated engineering. I transferred to another university that had a much better science undergraduate program and have been there ever since. I started studying mid Feb, but it was half-ass studying. I didn't really do hardcore studying until the week before which was my spring break in which I was at the library, phone off 9am-9pm. I currently have a oGPA of ~3.65 and sGPA of ~3.55. Physics research for over a year and am an organic chemistry tutor this semester.
Resources: Bootcamp and cliffs 3rd. i bought destroyer but did not use it except for 1 QR exam 2 days before my DAT (don't do this)
Score: PAT 20 / QR 22 / RC 22 / BIO 21 / GC 23 / OC 30 /
Overall, I am extremely happy considering i did not study as much as I should have. Seeing how well I did with how little I studied annoyed me because I could have done much better if I had spent more time especially on gChem and QR through destroyer.
Biology (21): This and PAT were the most difficult for me. My intro organismal biology class (eco/evo/taxonomy etc...) was useless and I learned nothing so I had to teach myself all this material. I first read cliffs once fully. I didn't remember anything. I learned later that reading a chapter over and over and then moving on and reviewing that chapter later is MUCH better. I.e: Read ecology chapter 5-6 times, read plants chapter 3-4 times, reread ecology once, read plants another 3 times, read evolution 3 times, read plants and ecology once... and so on. This helped me tremendously. I complemented cliffs with feralis old notes and bio dynamite. Bio Dynamite destroyer is also an AMAZING resource. I prefer feralis' new notes the most but those are not complete yet. Dr. Romano's bio notes are a little too disorganized for my taste but they should not be looked past. I would read a chapter from cliffs, feralis and dynamite before i moved on to anything else. This repetition helped me A TON!!! Bootcamps' explanations were also excellent... probably my favorite resource to study off of. My bootcamp practice tests (1-9) ranged from a 16-20.
Courses I took before DAT: Bio 1,2, Genetics, Human Physio. THESE 2 CLASSES ARE EXTREMELY HELPFUL BEFORE THE DAT, ESPECIALLY PHYSIO! I am also currently taking microbio. That was helpful but not nearly as much as genetics and physio.
gChem (23): Man I hate this subject. I watched Mike's videos twice. Once in january and once 2nd week of march. I really really wish I did gChem destroyer because it would've probably gotten me a 30 in this section. I'm assuming I got 4 wrong and I'm confident i could've gotten those 4 if I did destroyer. My bootcamp scores (tests 1-10) ranged from 19-21 and a 26 once. The problems were straightforward and similar to bootcamp's difficulty. I did not have to do any difficult calculations like destroyer makes you do.
oChem (30): I've always had a soft spot for orgo, I think it comes from my love for integrals when I took calc. I watched mike's videos once the week before the exam. Very similar to bootcamp's tests. Tutoring orgo helped a little because explaining things to others kept certain topics fresh in my mind. Again, I wish I did orgo destroyer, but I can't really complain. My bootcamp scores (tests 1-10) ranged from 17(lol exam 1) to 22.
QR (22): This is where I messed up the most. Math has been my best subject growing up, so naturally like the naive college student I am, I put this off to the end since I breezed through calc 1 and 2 and thought that would have any correlation to what would be on the DAT. DONT DO WHAT I DID!! This should have been an easy 26+ for me but I postponed to the last second to practice this. IMO math destroyer is the way to go. Bootcamp is also good but I wasn't a fan of their QR explanations. If I could go back I would've done every practice test and destroyer problem. I ran out of time with 5 questions left unanswered and had to guess on them. I also had never taken a prob and stats course. I got extremely lucky to got the score i had gotten. My bootcamp scores (tests 1-6) ranged from 17 to 19.
RC (22): Reading has always been my worst subject growing up. The passages being science based definitely helped me not lose interest while reading. I didn't read any bootcamp science articles. I used search and destroy method. I'd read the first few questions then look. I always kept at least 3 questions in my head to look for while reading. I did not get ANY statement/reason questions. Bootcamp passages were much longer than the real thing and the questions were also a lot easier on the real test. Practice test scores (1,3,4,5) ranged from >14 to 18. Make sure you do RC academy on bootcamp and figure out what strategy works best for you.
PAT (20): I grew up with TERRIBLE vision. i've gotten surgery on my eyes a few times growing up and have always struggled with depth perception. This was definitely the toughest section for me. I did Angle Ranking, hole punching, cube counting, TFE, Keyhole, Pattern folding in that order (quickest to longest time per question). I'll break it down by section, numbered by difficulty, 1 being easiest, 6 being hardest.
-Keyhole (4): This section comes down to your ability to how well you can differentiate 3D object lengths on a 2D screen. The most difficult problems for me were the ones where appendages were coming towards me or away for me. The best strategy is to use the cross out feature religiously. Usually you can bring it down to 2 answers then you should rapid eye to spot the differences between the actual object and the answers. If the 2 final answer choices are the same view (I.E. both top view), find the differences between those 2 answers and compare it to the actual object. I went through all the bootcamp problems. Make sure you understand why you got problems wrong, don't just get it wrong and move on. LOOK FOR WHY AN ANSWER IS WRONG, NOT WHY IT IS CORRECT.
My practice tests (tests 1-9) ranged from 5-10 correct out of 15.
-TFE (2-3): I did a ton of generators before I took any practice tests, it helped, but the generators were NOTHING like the actual tests. Tests had circular objects and triangles which the generators never brought up. Usually, the 4 answers come in pairs. 2 are similar and the other 2 are similar. Find a big difference between the 2 pairs to narrow it down to 2 answers. Example: answers 1-4 have the same line in the same spot, but answers 1 and 2 are a solid line whereas 3 and 4 are a dashed line. Use your 2 views and figure out whether that specific line should be dotted or solid and you can eliminate the incorrect pair. Do the same thing again. LOOK FOR WHY AN ANSWER IS WRONG, NOT WHY IT IS CORRECT.
My practice tests ranged from 8-14 out of 15 correct.
-Angle Ranking (6000): Generators help a lot, but are not as difficult as the real exam. Real exam had angles around 10 degrees and 160+ degrees whereas generator generally stays around 80-140 degrees. Use the answer choices to your advantage like PAT academy teaches you. Not much advice I can give for this section, you either got it or you don't. When going through generator, look over all the questions you got wrong and why you got it wrong. This will help you improve a lot.
-Hole punching (1): Definitely the easiest section for me. I finished my science exam early, drew 15 4x4 grids and just used symmetry method. I averaged 13-15 correct on practice tests.
-Cube Counting (2-3): With the extra time I had after my science section, I drew 5 vertical number lines numbered 1-5. During this section, I'd look at the 3 questions per structure and which painted faces they wanted. Let's say they wanted 2, 3 and 5 painted faces. I'd cross out 1 and 4. Go through the structure and draw vertical dashes whenever I got to a 2/3/5 painted face cube. This is a risky but quick method, practice it to perfection. I averaged 8-15 on my practice tests.
-Pattern Folding (5): This section was really tough. Generators do not represent the real/practice tests. The generators were mainly dice and shaded things and didn't cover oddly shaped objects. I think I got lucky on this section on the real thing, not too many weird folds. A lot of shaded problems which are much easier for me than strange folds. I averaged 5-8 correct on practice tests.
Conclusion: If I could go back I would have done gChem and math destroyer which could have boosted my AA a ton. I definitely wish I studied bio more as well. Don;t make the same mistakes I did, don't procrastinate and do your practice tests early. I did 4 of my full length practice tests within 7 days of my exam which was stupid of me. Regardless, I am extremely happy with my score and you guys all definitely helped a lot. Thank you everyone! Let me know if you have any questions!
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