The Ultimate DAT Breakdown :) ! 1/9/15

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eugpeng

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Hey guys. I just finished taking my DAT a couple days ago and I cant believe that it is finally over. (actually I can lol) I really wanted to provide some knowledge and intuition into what it takes to do well on the test but also pay it forward for all the great help I have gotten. I have spent the past few days compiling some stuff on what is SUPER important to succeed! I have read many breakdowns during my time of studying and many of them helped me a lot, while others not so much. I think a lot of people write breakdowns but dont emphasize that every test is different, people are different. People study at different rates and have certain habits. Having said that, by no means do you need to follow what I did but this is just what I did that worked for me. This is a little long but please READ EVERYTHING carefully and understand what I said. I will be breaking down time frames of study, materials, section by section and overall important things to know during your time of study. If something isnt clear, please feel free to message me personally and i will do everything I can to help. My scores are not like godly but I think it is good enough and I am wicked proud of the results given the amount of time I put in.Time spent studying: 3 months avg 9 hrs a day. I know this might be a little excessive but if you read my background you will know why. Also, why wouldn't you put in this much time. Sure, people have work, bfs and gfs and sisters and brothers and dogs but isn't this your dream? Don't you want to take this once and get it over with? Put all of your effort into it and you will be so happy you did it. Sure your friends are going out and getting hammered and having a "life" but so? who cares. As you go through this journey focus on what is really important.


My results: Bio: 22 Gen Chem: 23 Orgo: 23 Reading: 19 QR: 24 PAT: 21 AA: 22 TS:22

Background: I graduated this year from a top 40 University but wasn't a straight A student. I am a Economics major, so I had to satisfy all those requirements along with pre dental stuff. That being said, I lacked upper biology courses like most people. This was one of the biggest fears I had going into studying because there was a lot of stuff I havent seen in undergrad. I only took like 2 upper level bio courses. So if you are reading this and have fear that you haven't taken enough upper bio courses for the bio section, DONT! This only means you just have to put in more effort into understanding biology. Trust me you will like to learn it, if not then you shouldn't be considering dentistry as a profession lol. But overall, what I am trying to prove is that ANYONE can do it. You dont need to be the top person in your class to do well on this test. You just gotta study and work hard and the results will come. I f"ed up my first two years at school but then I had to really assess whether I really wanted it or not so I took it upon myself to work hard the last two years of college and do well on the DAT. And here I am. Enough about me. Lets get down to the details!


Materials I used for each section: (not in order of helpfulness)
Before I start talking about the materials to use for the DAT, which seems to be a huge question for first time takers, I want to emphasize that DO NOT OVERDO IT. Find 5-10solidresources and stick with them the whole way through. I see many people asking about this and that and buying a bunch of crap. DONT. If you have the money to blow on a bunch of stuff then do it, but economically, stay with a few great stuff than a bunch of mediocre stuff. LESS IS MORE! Trust me I was in your situation at the beginning and was freaking out about what to use. You will begin to see while you study which stuff works and which stuff doesnt. If you need extra help studying the material, ask friends go on YOUTUBE and google everything you don't get. This is extremely IMPORTANT. I know you might be like oh I got this, ill remember it. In 15 min, i guarantee you will forget it. Write notes about what is wrong and why. I am gonna also emphasize that you don't take the Kaplan DAT course. I have friends who have taken it and said it isn't worth it. I actually signed up for it just before I started studying and then I was like hell no, I'm not shelling out this much money into a course where I can learn this all myself so I cancelled it. yea they give you a cool book and some online resources but who cares. dont need it. If you need a class to motivate you to study, then you might wanna look into a different profession. :) Also these resources worked for me and like I said you don't need to stick to it.

Biology: I used DAT bootcamp, Feralis Bio notes, Cliffs AP bio 3rd edition, DAT destroyer 2012/2014 and Chads MCAT biology videos, Craig Savage Bio videos Youtube and Bozemann Science. and regular note cards ( a ton of them ) I made over 3000 notecards.

So biology, like I said was one of the biggest weakness of mine. Ididnt have the upper level courses like most so I knew I had to step my game up on this one. I probably spent 3/4th of my study time on this section because the Bio is supposed to be the most broad and (is) the most broad section of the test. They can certainly ask you about anything so you have to be ready. It is just brute memorization. Sure, you need to understand what you are memorizing. KEY TO doing well on this is to write notecards for everything you messed up on or you don't know. If you don't know what enzyme did that write it down. If you got a question wrong in destroyer, write it down. If you haven't seen a word you know in BC, write it down. Forgot the equation for cardiac output? Write it on a notecard. That way you will keep it memorized and engrained in your head. Dont be a passive learner.

BC (10/10): Amazing resource ! Ari really saved my ass on this one. They ask very similar formatted questions on the real thing and the wording is very spot on. They have 5 amazing tests that are part of the whole subscription. It is so worth the $100 bucks. They provide great answer explanations and you want to get your timing down which is key. Mark your scores down on what you got for each test, and then come back and do the problems you got wrong a week later, to see if you really understood it. Once again, notecards, notecards, notecards on stuff you got wrong. Do Bootcamp after you studied cliffs and feralis. The tests should be started within id say 1 month to a 1month and half before your exam that way you will have time to learn the stuff you got wrong. The week before my test, I did all of the bio tests over and made sure I got a 30 in each one and i mean a 40/40.

Cliffs AP bio 3rd Edition (8/10): Great resource. This was the first resource I used to start studying for the bio section. It is easy to read and it condenses MOST of the bio for you that will show up on the DAT. Again, I made notecards for every term in that book. I would read while I wrote it down. Essentially instead of making notes, I wrote it on a notecard. If you dont get something that is explained in the book, google or youtube right away! I can't begin to describe how many times I used youtube. It is free first of all and it has awesome videos on anything you need. I will talk about Bozemann and Craig Savage further down and how to incorporate it with the book. But after reading a chapter, read again, then memorize your notecards you made. Repeat until you finish the book. The book is also like $5 btw super cheap. Dont read the lab stuff in the back, not worth it. They do a great job in the microbiology section. The plants are a little too much to know but you should memorize what they write down in the book. The different systems of the body, not sufficient enough to understand it, and thats where youtube and Feralis notes come into play.

Feralis Notes (9/10) So this is another great resource except it is everything Cliffs covers but just adds more stuff. I suggest you do feralis after you read cliffs, that way feralis will be a little easier to read. It is very boring but it covers some great topics along with illustrations. Again, notecards on anything you don't know and read a chapter and compare your notes to the notes of cliffs to see what you missed. You should be 70% ready for the bio section once you finish this and cliffs in detail.

DAT destroyer 2012/2014 (10/10). My friend gave me the 2012 version before I started studying then I ended up buying the 2014 version like 1 month before my test. dont do that. buy the newest version right away. The two books are very similar. They just added like 100 questions which is key. If I were you, buy the latest version of destroyer. This is literally the HOLY BIBLE of the bio section. If you can understand everything and I mean everything in the bio section of destroyer, you are ready. The bio destroyer encompasses every question you might see on the DAT essentially and this book should be done after you do feralis, cliffs AP, and any other sorts of materials you use. It asks around 500 questions of random stuff and it prepares you very well. The KEY here is to do 50 questions at a time a day. Its not completely necessary to time yourself but you can if you wish. The point of destroyer isn't to be timed but to learn. Once you finish check your answers and by what I mean by checking your answers is to really read every single explanation in the answer key. I CANT stress this enough. You must read every answer and dissect each sentence. If you got something wrong, google it, youtube, then put the answer on the notecard. What I did was that after I completed feralis and cliffs, I would have stacks of notecards for each section. Also, dont just guess E all the time. Because they have a lot of all of the above stuff. If you got a question wrong in destroyer that pertains to a certain section for example like photosynthesis, I would write the question or term that is unfamiliar and then add it to my stack of cards that related to photosynthesis. That way when you are going through your flashcards for that section you will be forced to answer it again and memorize it. Another thing that a lot of people do not explain is that every time you answer a question on the bio destroyer that takes more than 10 seconds to do, mark it so you can make sure you get it. That little hesitation after 10 seconds just means you dont completely understand it. Even, if you end of guessing and get the right answer, mark it because I guarantee you that you don't know it fully. I went over Destroyer probably 8 times and yes its worth it. In order to do well you need to spend time going over it over and over. By the week prior to my test, I could literally tell you which part of the destroyer was that question. You need to know it cold. Keep doing 50 questions at a time until the end. Once you finish. Dont jsut start all over again. Do 50 marked questions a day, then review the notecards you made for that section, that way you really learn why it is wrong. Repeat for 8 cycles. Worth the money and time.

Chads MCAT videos (5/10): This was the 2014 MCAT videos that just got released and I messaged the people at coursesaver as to when they would be updating the bio section videos for the DAT but they said to just watch the mcat videos. Chad is godly in the chems but not so much in bio. I think you could use the money ($20/a month) on something else. I just had a spure of the moment thing where I wanted someone to teach me bio and he did a good job of summarizing topics just not going into a lot of detail. What I did like was that, after I completed a topic in cliffs, or feralis, I would watch the video of that section to really understand it better and it certainly helped. Again, good resource if you want some quick review and explanations but not the most important study tool.

Craig Savage (9/10): So these videos are free on youtube. Craig has videos on a lot of the topics covered on the DAT, he does an amazing job at explaining biological diversity and cellular respiration, photosythesis and stuff. Im more of a visual learned so it helped to see the animations he would do. I will tell you that he is really slow at talking, even when I had it at 2x speed it seemed like it was a normal speed hahha. But dude, this guy is so legit. It is one of the more underrated resources that people dont really use. Again, I would do a section on cliffs then go to him and watch the video to understand it better. Watch his videos over and over and pay close attention. He even says in his videos, dont be a passive learner. Take notes on what he says so you can turn it in a notecard after. Overall, Id say he was an amazing resource.

Bozemann Science (9/10): Another free set of videos on youtube. This guy is such a nice guy and you can tell he truely wants to make sure you understand the topic. I didnt give him a 10 because his videos don't go into too much detail, but he literally has videos on everything. I didn't use it for the chems but I did for Bio's especially. He has good animations and he is very straight forward to follow. Take notes, and rewatch and it will definitely help in improving your understanding the topics. Like I was completely lost on the immune system until he did a very good summary of the immune system in his video

Lastly, before i start going over the Chems, if you don't like making notecards, take copious amounts of notes and then take notes of your notes. Then you will have notes that are written by you that will be easy for you to understand. I think it is key to write while you learn because it truely makes you understand it. But man, writing 3000 notecards was a grind but so worth it.

Gen Chem
Materials used: DAT bootcamp, Dat destroyer, and Chads videos.


DAT BC: (10/10) Awesome resource to get your timing down and it asks many challenging questions that you might encounter on your test. I, personally feel like for my test, it was a little bit easier than the questions on BC but thats just me. Do the problems and understand them and you will do fine. Don't get caught up in your scores. If you get like a 15 on the first try. Who cares? its not the real thing? That just means you need to study more. don't give up!!!

Dat destroyer (10/10) Ok hands down the best practice for the gen chem section. Personally, I felt they asked very fair questions and it certainly isn't an over kill. There are questions that you are going to be like wtf but that happens. Mark it and move on and then come back to understand the answers in the back. Do what I said in Bio for gen chem except do like 30 questions a day. Mark everything that you feel hesitant on then come back those questions to see if you really understood it. Really understand Acid and bases, periodic trends and boiling point, melting point, balancing equations etc. If you need help with any question I am always available to help!

Chads Videos (10/10): THIS IS HANDS DOWN THE MOST IMPORTANT RESOURCE FOR YOUR CHEMS!!! Chad is the f'ing man. If i could kiss his bald head I would. He teaches in such a great way that it feels effortless to learn chem. I was a little rusty coming out of my chem class in the summer and he refreshed my memory on a lot of stuff along with the fact that he shows you tricks to save time. Make sure you take detailed notes on every word he says. Be a active learner while watching his videos. If he asks a question pretend like you are in his class and answer it. Go through his videos 3 times at least. Especially put it on 2x speed once you understand it the first time. Do his quizzes after you watch the video the first time, but afterwards before you watch videos for each topic, try to do the quizzes first to see if you remember it. Again, I made a pile of notecards for this section for stuff like trends and equations to know. Make notecards from the notes you made, especially on the sutff he emphasizes are important. Acids and Bases are tricky to most people, so try to get that down cold. I watched his videos maybe 5 times through. Do it and it will really help

Orgo: Ok I sucked so bad at orgo in undergrad. By means of sucking like almost a C. I didnt really understand anything but it ended up being one of my better scores on the DAT! DOnt give up! Know all the reactions covered in Chads, and every roadmap in destroyer and I promise you, you will be set for the DAT. Also, know NMR and IR and Lab techniques discussed in Chads. Orgo should be the easiest section to most on the DAT, since it is mostly reactions. If you can understand the general trend of whos attacking, whos leaving, yada yada yada. You should be very good. Also, if you are good at memorizing stuff, this section will be good for you. KNOW YOUR SN1,SN2, E1,E2 and EAS and Carbo Acid Deriv's especially. Trust me.

Materials used: Dat Bootcamp, DAT destroyer, Chads Videos

Dat Bootcamp (10/10): Asked very similar questions on the real thing and same format. It is hit or miss as to whether you will get a NMR question or IR question on your test. BC has some good questions but you want to understand the questions asked in destroyer more. Overal great resource for getting your timing down. They also have video explanations for some of the tests so that really helps! Thanks Ari!

Dat Destroyer(10/10): Again NOT an overkill. If you want to do will in this section, you need to do this section at least 5 times. Do 30-40 questions at a time, depending how much time you have. Check answers and repeat. Again notecards for anything you missed, even the reaction itself. The notecards I made were the reactants on the front side and the reagents used. The back side would be the product. Go over destroyer once you finished Chads, you will find it pretty easy, if not then you need to rewatch Chads on whichever section you sucked at. I watched Chad's Twice and memorized my notecards before starting Desttroyer and it definitely was not that bad. You can sometimes just guess what is going to happen and it shouldn't take you more than 30 seconds for each problem except maybe NMR. You might stumble upon weird reactions like Tollens, or Heck or something that you never saw in Chads, but learn it anyways. Put it on a Notecard so you remember it. Again, mark any problems you didn't get or hesitated with and then attack those again a week later to see if you understood it. If I didn't undertand a reaction or didn't see it before, I would google it. The questions are a bit harder but it really preps you for the real thing. You won't see like 5 step reactions like the destroyer though which is good.

Chad's Videos(10/10) Im not gonna say too much about these videos, but really he will save your score for Orgo! I would not have gotten this score that I did if it weren't for him. I promise you he is the single most important resource for Orgo. Take extremely detailed notes on everything he says, pause, rewind, and watch over. Do his quizzes and his practice tests at the end of watching all the videos to see if you got it. His quizzes are a little easier than the real thing but not by much. Trust me, know what he says.

Reading: Ok, so this section was my worst and I knew it coming into the test. I was never the best reader and English is my second language. All I can say is to just practice! I didn't do search and destroy. My strategy was to # my paper 1-15 (or as many paragraphs were in the passage) three times on the graph paper and then skim while I jot down points pertaining to the #'s in the paragraph. Example, if in paragraph 5 it talks about Einstein and his equation, write Einstein and what the equation is. Then move on to the next paragraph. You should find key words and dates and numbers and names. I would usually take 8 min tops jotting down the whole article, then use 12 min to answer the questions for that article. This strategy got me through so if that works for you then great! Other's use S&D, if that works for you then great. Find what works for you and don't switch strategies during the test. Stick to whatever you have been practicing. Lastly, READ EVERY ARTICLE LIKE YOU ARE INTERESTED. Take it as a learner tool and pretend like you are learning new stuff. It will make boring articles seem easier. Try to read at least 4 articles a day and pick out ones that interest you. It will deff bring up your reading speed.

Resources used: DAT Bootcamp and Random Articles on Science Journal.
BC: (9/10) Super hard but really preps you for the real thing. First time I did it, I couldnt get in the time frame. I even got a 16 on one of the tests, it was super degrading. But BC really preps you for timing wise and the first statement, second statement true or false thing. My articles on the real thing weren't as long as those either.


PAT: I love this section. Although my score was a little lower than what I hoped, I feel like I really got it down the week before the test. When people say it is only for people who can naturally get it, I wholeheartedly disagree with that. When i first started, i didnt really know what to do with like keyholes and tfe. I was like wtf. I first started using CDP and got used to what the goal of it was. But man, till this day after practicing so much with angles I still can't seem to get it all. I was getting like 2-3 right and spending way to much time to getting around 10-12 right on BC and CDP. After using CDP, I moved on to BC. I really think the key to doing well is to just practice and practice and practice. I was so bad at every section and then after a while of practicing, I got the timing down and the amount of correct just fell into place. BUT PRACTICE!!!! MAybe, even do like 10 generator questions from all of BC's generators before bed every night.

Resources Used: Crack DAT PAT, DAT Bootcamp

Crack DAT PAT (8/10): This is a great resource for people just starting out. I think it really gives you a baseline on what you should be doing. I started doing like little sections of each test at first and then I started doing full tests once I became more comfortable. I am fairly weak at keyholes but CDP's keyholes are too easy and the LINE COUNTING DOESN"T WORK on the real thing so don't even try it. It has great pattern folding and hole punching that is similar to the real thing. Keyholes: too easy. Angles: Harder. Cube Counting: way much harder. Don't be worried about counting like 40 cubes like what CDP does. Its good practice though. Overall I think you should get CDP mainly because it has 10 tests that you can save and look at your mistakes and shows which sections you're weak at. It doesn't have a generator like BC but deff worth the money, in my opinion.

DAT Bootcamp: (10/10) Here is where I got most of my practice in. BC provides you with 10 tests and most of them have explanations. They have amazing explanations for pattern folding and TFE. I think the most amazing thing about BC is the generator. They have unlimited practice for angles, pattern folding and cube counting. If you really want practice do those a lot. I did like generators everyday for practice until I felt comfortable doing the real tests. The tests on BC are very good and fairly representative of the real thing. Some are harder, some are easier. Overall spot on in terms of score. Their angles: harder, Keyholes: same, TFE: same Cube counting: Same Pattern folding: Same. BC's tests are harder than CDP's so if you are short on money and can't get both. I suggest BC's tests. It just makes you getting the timing down which is absolutely crucial for this test.

Strategy for PAT: Here is the strategy I used for each section (PLEASE VIEW PICTURE OF HOW I SET UP MY BOARD BELOW)
Keyholes: First part, I would take about 10-15 seconds tops on each question. Didn't know it? press mark right away. This was my weakest section so I tried to save time and just mark and pass. If you have keyholes down, answer quick and then move. I just tried to see which shapes fit which hole. BC shows you some small details that really help you zone in on the little wrong things.

TFE: One of my favorite sections. I think you just have to visualize how the overall image looks. Its hard to say which side you should look at. Sometimes, top might be the easiest. Sometimes front or right might be. It all depends on each question. Try to focus on what you can eliminate right away. You can usually eliminate at least 1 or 2 right away. If it comes down to it, just guess between the two you narrowed in on. Try to focus on the side that might help you the most.

Angles: Hard but doable. I used the laptop method where I would look at the angles like if it were a laptop on its side. HERE IS A HUGE TIP: As soon as the angles appear, take 5 seconds to figure out which angle stands out the most as being the biggest. If it is one of the answers try to zone in on those answers. DON'T look at the answers before you look at the angles because it will persuade you to maybe go in another direction than where you should be going. After you establish the biggest, what I did was I held a pen in my hand and would pretend to write biggest to smallest as I look at the answers to guide me. That way my brain will process the order right away and save time. I know a lot of people spend time crossing answers out and looking at the biggest and smallest. i think it wastes too much time. This section should take 10 min tops. This isn't the section to be staring at for minutes. Go with your gut, click then move on. I never even bothered to mark them because I felt that other sections were way better places I can gain points.

Keyholes: Favorite and Easiest section I think. I used this method. Use this and I promise you, you wont get any of them wrong. Use BC generator because thats the hardest you can see on real thing. Careful with half and third punches. PRACTICE! Again, this section should take 10 min tops.

Cube Counting: I used the method most people use. Draw a column and label 1,2,3,4,5 then just mark as you go. Count the WHOLE PICTURE. DOn't try to count whatever sides they ask you. Stupid idea. Again this section should be very quick. CDP is best for hardest practice

Pattern Folding: I sucked at this at first but then I got a lot better due to BC generator. Just keep practicing and you will be able to do it. Again, cross off anythng that looks completely different. I labeled my board as A,B,C,D and crossed out as I went. I think personally its the best way to go instead of remembering which one isn't right.

Quantitative Reasoning: LOL I hated this section. I spent probably a month studying this and was not really confident going into the exam because I hate word problems and probability. Fortunately, I had a pretty straightforward section and it ended up being my best score. Funny how that works. I think the key to doing well in math in general is to obviously to be exposed to as many types of problems as possible, Whether it is renting a fundamental math book from the library or even looking at your old SAT books and trying to do some problems it helps. PRACTICE! Everyone says timing is the worst on this section and I agree very much. When you practice with destroyer or BC or whatever, try to skip as much as possible on things that take more than 10 seconds to read. It is key to mark, GUESS ON AN ANSWER, and then move on. There might be an easy problem 2 problems down that you can easily get. I can't stress this enough. A lot of people screw up this section because they spend too much time thinking about a problem then ultimately getting it wrong. If it takes you more than 30 seconds TOPS to answer a question, mark, guess, then move on. Also, the calculator situation you get a simple calculator like the one built into your computer.

Resources Used: DAT Destroyer 2014, Math Destroyer 2012, CDP Math, DAT bootcamp, Chad's QR videos, Youtube

Chad's QR videos (7/10): Dont have much to say about this. Good for a refresher. He has quizzes that are ok but I think you're time can be utilized just practicing problems. It will come back to you.

Dat destroyer (9/10): These are the problems in the back of regular destroyer. These problems were more similar to my test than Math destroyer. Go over these questions as practice, not timed. Do it over like 3 times and really understand the word problems and probability because they will deff show up on the real thing.

Math Destroyer (10/10) Best prep for the wide variety of problems you will see on the test. I didn't time myself the first time through because I got absolutely destroyed especially on tests 10-13. SO HARD. But then after I got the hang of it and everything was coming back to me, I started to time myself and it got more easy. I went over the book maybe 5 times. DO IT it will pay off. Also do the problems you screw up over and over again. You might be lucky and get a very similar question on the real thing.

CDP Math (9/10) I actually really liked this resource and not many people use it. Sure some problems are super easy like 12x13 but who knows you might see that on your test. They have like 10 tests of practice. The more practice the better I think. I thought the problems were super challenging but others might disagree. So this is a resource that is a hit or miss. You can buy it if you want extra practice. Each question has a video explanation which is good.

Dat Bootcamp( 9/10) Don't have much to say. Super hard problems. Got 20 on each test. The questons are ridiculous but really good practice and for timing.
My study Schedule: I spent 3 months studying, avg 9-10 hrs each day and didn't really take any day off. Like I said, there is a lot to cover and I couldn't afford to lose valuable time. I created a spreadsheet of what my schedule would be when I first started studying but then I was like I don't like this so i just studied Bio in the morning, Gen Chem in early afternoon. then Orgo at night in this order. (because the test is like this). Next day I would do PAT in morning, then reading in afternoon, then math at night. I would alternate this starting 1 month and half before my test. The first couple of months I devoted a lot of my studying to biology and orgo. Try to attack your weaknesses and devote most of your studying to those. One regret is that I wish I studied Math earlier but then again it was my highest score so whatever lol. You will end up developing a study habit. I think it is really pointless when I see people ask what I should do to study and what their schedule was like so I can copy them. Everyone studies differently. Study at your own pace and find a schedule for yourself. Ignore what others tell you to do.

Full Practice Tests used: 2007, 2009 DAT test


I'm not gonna post my scores to 2007, 2009, BC or CDP because I dont have enough room to put it. Message me if u need to know

Final Thoughts: Study, study study. You are very smart, or else you wouldn't be studying for one of the hardest tests in the world. Just stay focused, concentrate. You got this !!!!!! I hope this helped and if there is any questions please don't hesitate to message me and I can even make time to give you a call or something if need may be. I hate typing lol. Anyways good luck. Ill be waiting for you on the other side :)))))

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congrats ! you deserved it

quick question, so you mentioned that the problems in the back of regular destroyer are more similar or at least on the bar of the real thing, My test is within 3 weeks and I think I'm just going to do those problems in the regular destroyer,, would that be enough to get 20 on this section ?
 
congrats ! you deserved it

quick question, so you mentioned that the problems in the back of regular destroyer are more similar or at least on the bar of the real thing, My test is within 3 weeks and I think I'm just going to do those problems in the regular destroyer,, would that be enough to get 20 on this section ?
Are you talking about the QR section? For me, those problems were more similar to the real thing but you might/ probably see questions conquerable to the Math destroyer. I think you should expose yourself to many types of questions especially with 3 weeks left
 
What an awesome break down!!! And great scores :) just about to start studying and this is perfect thank you
 
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I'm using the math destroyer for QR. I only did the first 5 tests without timing and i usually get 30/40 right. Do you think that's good enough or should I do the rest and time myself?
 
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I'm using the math destroyer for QR. I only did the first 5 tests without timing and i usually get 30/40 right. Do you think that's good enough or should I do the rest and time myself?
You should go over all the tests. First time, do it untimed and see how it goes. If you are getting 30/40 right, is it taking like 2 hours or close to 45 min. Do it again timed and focus on the problems you got wrong. Until you get every question right in the book, you should be good. Also, take a look at the QR section of destroyer
 
Thanks Ari! Couldn't have done it without BC. Hope this helps others who are freaking out !
 
Hey guys. I just finished taking my DAT a couple days ago and I cant believe that it is finally over. (actually I can lol) I really wanted to provide some knowledge and intuition into what it takes to do well on the test but also pay it forward for all the great help I have gotten. I have spent the past few days compiling some stuff on what is SUPER important to succeed! I have read many breakdowns during my time of studying and many of them helped me a lot, while others not so much. I think a lot of people write breakdowns but dont emphasize that every test is different, people are different. People study at different rates and have certain habits. Having said that, by no means do you need to follow what I did but this is just what I did that worked for me. This is a little long but please READ EVERYTHING carefully and understand what I said. I will be breaking down time frames of study, materials, section by section and overall important things to know during your time of study. If something isnt clear, please feel free to message me personally and i will do everything I can to help. My scores are not like godly but I think it is good enough and I am wicked proud of the results given the amount of time I put in.Time spent studying: 3 months avg 9 hrs a day. I know this might be a little excessive but if you read my background you will know why. Also, why wouldn't you put in this much time. Sure, people have work, bfs and gfs and sisters and brothers and dogs but isn't this your dream? Don't you want to take this once and get it over with? Put all of your effort into it and you will be so happy you did it. Sure your friends are going out and getting hammered and having a "life" but so? who cares. As you go through this journey focus on what is really important.


My results: Bio: 22 Gen Chem: 23 Orgo: 23 Reading: 19 QR: 24 PAT: 21 AA: 22 TS:22

Background: I graduated this year from a top 40 University but wasn't a straight A student. I am a Economics major, so I had to satisfy all those requirements along with pre dental stuff. That being said, I lacked upper biology courses like most people. This was one of the biggest fears I had going into studying because there was a lot of stuff I havent seen in undergrad. I only took like 2 upper level bio courses. So if you are reading this and have fear that you haven't taken enough upper bio courses for the bio section, DONT! This only means you just have to put in more effort into understanding biology. Trust me you will like to learn it, if not then you shouldn't be considering dentistry as a profession lol. But overall, what I am trying to prove is that ANYONE can do it. You dont need to be the top person in your class to do well on this test. You just gotta study and work hard and the results will come. I f"ed up my first two years at school but then I had to really assess whether I really wanted it or not so I took it upon myself to work hard the last two years of college and do well on the DAT. And here I am. Enough about me. Lets get down to the details!


Materials I used for each section: (not in order of helpfulness)
Before I start talking about the materials to use for the DAT, which seems to be a huge question for first time takers, I want to emphasize that DO NOT OVERDO IT. Find 5-10solidresources and stick with them the whole way through. I see many people asking about this and that and buying a bunch of crap. DONT. If you have the money to blow on a bunch of stuff then do it, but economically, stay with a few great stuff than a bunch of mediocre stuff. LESS IS MORE! Trust me I was in your situation at the beginning and was freaking out about what to use. You will begin to see while you study which stuff works and which stuff doesnt. If you need extra help studying the material, ask friends go on YOUTUBE and google everything you don't get. This is extremely IMPORTANT. I know you might be like oh I got this, ill remember it. In 15 min, i guarantee you will forget it. Write notes about what is wrong and why. I am gonna also emphasize that you don't take the Kaplan DAT course. I have friends who have taken it and said it isn't worth it. I actually signed up for it just before I started studying and then I was like hell no, I'm not shelling out this much money into a course where I can learn this all myself so I cancelled it. yea they give you a cool book and some online resources but who cares. dont need it. If you need a class to motivate you to study, then you might wanna look into a different profession. :) Also these resources worked for me and like I said you don't need to stick to it.

Biology: I used DAT bootcamp, Feralis Bio notes, Cliffs AP bio 3rd edition, DAT destroyer 2012/2014 and Chads MCAT biology videos, Craig Savage Bio videos Youtube and Bozemann Science. and regular note cards ( a ton of them ) I made over 3000 notecards.

So biology, like I said was one of the biggest weakness of mine. Ididnt have the upper level courses like most so I knew I had to step my game up on this one. I probably spent 3/4th of my study time on this section because the Bio is supposed to be the most broad and (is) the most broad section of the test. They can certainly ask you about anything so you have to be ready. It is just brute memorization. Sure, you need to understand what you are memorizing. KEY TO doing well on this is to write notecards for everything you messed up on or you don't know. If you don't know what enzyme did that write it down. If you got a question wrong in destroyer, write it down. If you haven't seen a word you know in BC, write it down. Forgot the equation for cardiac output? Write it on a notecard. That way you will keep it memorized and engrained in your head. Dont be a passive learner.

BC (10/10): Amazing resource ! Ari really saved my ass on this one. They ask very similar formatted questions on the real thing and the wording is very spot on. They have 5 amazing tests that are part of the whole subscription. It is so worth the $100 bucks. They provide great answer explanations and you want to get your timing down which is key. Mark your scores down on what you got for each test, and then come back and do the problems you got wrong a week later, to see if you really understood it. Once again, notecards, notecards, notecards on stuff you got wrong. Do Bootcamp after you studied cliffs and feralis. The tests should be started within id say 1 month to a 1month and half before your exam that way you will have time to learn the stuff you got wrong. The week before my test, I did all of the bio tests over and made sure I got a 30 in each one and i mean a 40/40.

Cliffs AP bio 3rd Edition (8/10): Great resource. This was the first resource I used to start studying for the bio section. It is easy to read and it condenses MOST of the bio for you that will show up on the DAT. Again, I made notecards for every term in that book. I would read while I wrote it down. Essentially instead of making notes, I wrote it on a notecard. If you dont get something that is explained in the book, google or youtube right away! I can't begin to describe how many times I used youtube. It is free first of all and it has awesome videos on anything you need. I will talk about Bozemann and Craig Savage further down and how to incorporate it with the book. But after reading a chapter, read again, then memorize your notecards you made. Repeat until you finish the book. The book is also like $5 btw super cheap. Dont read the lab stuff in the back, not worth it. They do a great job in the microbiology section. The plants are a little too much to know but you should memorize what they write down in the book. The different systems of the body, not sufficient enough to understand it, and thats where youtube and Feralis notes come into play.

Feralis Notes (9/10) So this is another great resource except it is everything Cliffs covers but just adds more stuff. I suggest you do feralis after you read cliffs, that way feralis will be a little easier to read. It is very boring but it covers some great topics along with illustrations. Again, notecards on anything you don't know and read a chapter and compare your notes to the notes of cliffs to see what you missed. You should be 70% ready for the bio section once you finish this and cliffs in detail.

DAT destroyer 2012/2014 (10/10). My friend gave me the 2012 version before I started studying then I ended up buying the 2014 version like 1 month before my test. dont do that. buy the newest version right away. The two books are very similar. They just added like 100 questions which is key. If I were you, buy the latest version of destroyer. This is literally the HOLY BIBLE of the bio section. If you can understand everything and I mean everything in the bio section of destroyer, you are ready. The bio destroyer encompasses every question you might see on the DAT essentially and this book should be done after you do feralis, cliffs AP, and any other sorts of materials you use. It asks around 500 questions of random stuff and it prepares you very well. The KEY here is to do 50 questions at a time a day. Its not completely necessary to time yourself but you can if you wish. The point of destroyer isn't to be timed but to learn. Once you finish check your answers and by what I mean by checking your answers is to really read every single explanation in the answer key. I CANT stress this enough. You must read every answer and dissect each sentence. If you got something wrong, google it, youtube, then put the answer on the notecard. What I did was that after I completed feralis and cliffs, I would have stacks of notecards for each section. Also, dont just guess E all the time. Because they have a lot of all of the above stuff. If you got a question wrong in destroyer that pertains to a certain section for example like photosynthesis, I would write the question or term that is unfamiliar and then add it to my stack of cards that related to photosynthesis. That way when you are going through your flashcards for that section you will be forced to answer it again and memorize it. Another thing that a lot of people do not explain is that every time you answer a question on the bio destroyer that takes more than 10 seconds to do, mark it so you can make sure you get it. That little hesitation after 10 seconds just means you dont completely understand it. Even, if you end of guessing and get the right answer, mark it because I guarantee you that you don't know it fully. I went over Destroyer probably 8 times and yes its worth it. In order to do well you need to spend time going over it over and over. By the week prior to my test, I could literally tell you which part of the destroyer was that question. You need to know it cold. Keep doing 50 questions at a time until the end. Once you finish. Dont jsut start all over again. Do 50 marked questions a day, then review the notecards you made for that section, that way you really learn why it is wrong. Repeat for 8 cycles. Worth the money and time.

Chads MCAT videos (5/10): This was the 2014 MCAT videos that just got released and I messaged the people at coursesaver as to when they would be updating the bio section videos for the DAT but they said to just watch the mcat videos. Chad is godly in the chems but not so much in bio. I think you could use the money ($20/a month) on something else. I just had a spure of the moment thing where I wanted someone to teach me bio and he did a good job of summarizing topics just not going into a lot of detail. What I did like was that, after I completed a topic in cliffs, or feralis, I would watch the video of that section to really understand it better and it certainly helped. Again, good resource if you want some quick review and explanations but not the most important study tool.

Craig Savage (9/10): So these videos are free on youtube. Craig has videos on a lot of the topics covered on the DAT, he does an amazing job at explaining biological diversity and cellular respiration, photosythesis and stuff. Im more of a visual learned so it helped to see the animations he would do. I will tell you that he is really slow at talking, even when I had it at 2x speed it seemed like it was a normal speed hahha. But dude, this guy is so legit. It is one of the more underrated resources that people dont really use. Again, I would do a section on cliffs then go to him and watch the video to understand it better. Watch his videos over and over and pay close attention. He even says in his videos, dont be a passive learner. Take notes on what he says so you can turn it in a notecard after. Overall, Id say he was an amazing resource.

Bozemann Science (9/10): Another free set of videos on youtube. This guy is such a nice guy and you can tell he truely wants to make sure you understand the topic. I didnt give him a 10 because his videos don't go into too much detail, but he literally has videos on everything. I didn't use it for the chems but I did for Bio's especially. He has good animations and he is very straight forward to follow. Take notes, and rewatch and it will definitely help in improving your understanding the topics. Like I was completely lost on the immune system until he did a very good summary of the immune system in his video

Lastly, before i start going over the Chems, if you don't like making notecards, take copious amounts of notes and then take notes of your notes. Then you will have notes that are written by you that will be easy for you to understand. I think it is key to write while you learn because it truely makes you understand it. But man, writing 3000 notecards was a grind but so worth it.

Gen Chem
Materials used: DAT bootcamp, Dat destroyer, and Chads videos.


DAT BC: (10/10) Awesome resource to get your timing down and it asks many challenging questions that you might encounter on your test. I, personally feel like for my test, it was a little bit easier than the questions on BC but thats just me. Do the problems and understand them and you will do fine. Don't get caught up in your scores. If you get like a 15 on the first try. Who cares? its not the real thing? That just means you need to study more. don't give up!!!

Dat destroyer (10/10) Ok hands down the best practice for the gen chem section. Personally, I felt they asked very fair questions and it certainly isn't an over kill. There are questions that you are going to be like wtf but that happens. Mark it and move on and then come back to understand the answers in the back. Do what I said in Bio for gen chem except do like 30 questions a day. Mark everything that you feel hesitant on then come back those questions to see if you really understood it. Really understand Acid and bases, periodic trends and boiling point, melting point, balancing equations etc. If you need help with any question I am always available to help!

Chads Videos (10/10): THIS IS HANDS DOWN THE MOST IMPORTANT RESOURCE FOR YOUR CHEMS!!! Chad is the f'ing man. If i could kiss his bald head I would. He teaches in such a great way that it feels effortless to learn chem. I was a little rusty coming out of my chem class in the summer and he refreshed my memory on a lot of stuff along with the fact that he shows you tricks to save time. Make sure you take detailed notes on every word he says. Be a active learner while watching his videos. If he asks a question pretend like you are in his class and answer it. Go through his videos 3 times at least. Especially put it on 2x speed once you understand it the first time. Do his quizzes after you watch the video the first time, but afterwards before you watch videos for each topic, try to do the quizzes first to see if you remember it. Again, I made a pile of notecards for this section for stuff like trends and equations to know. Make notecards from the notes you made, especially on the sutff he emphasizes are important. Acids and Bases are tricky to most people, so try to get that down cold. I watched his videos maybe 5 times through. Do it and it will really help

Orgo: Ok I sucked so bad at orgo in undergrad. By means of sucking like almost a C. I didnt really understand anything but it ended up being one of my better scores on the DAT! DOnt give up! Know all the reactions covered in Chads, and every roadmap in destroyer and I promise you, you will be set for the DAT. Also, know NMR and IR and Lab techniques discussed in Chads. Orgo should be the easiest section to most on the DAT, since it is mostly reactions. If you can understand the general trend of whos attacking, whos leaving, yada yada yada. You should be very good. Also, if you are good at memorizing stuff, this section will be good for you. KNOW YOUR SN1,SN2, E1,E2 and EAS and Carbo Acid Deriv's especially. Trust me.

Materials used: Dat Bootcamp, DAT destroyer, Chads Videos

Dat Bootcamp (10/10): Asked very similar questions on the real thing and same format. It is hit or miss as to whether you will get a NMR question or IR question on your test. BC has some good questions but you want to understand the questions asked in destroyer more. Overal great resource for getting your timing down. They also have video explanations for some of the tests so that really helps! Thanks Ari!

Dat Destroyer(10/10): Again NOT an overkill. If you want to do will in this section, you need to do this section at least 5 times. Do 30-40 questions at a time, depending how much time you have. Check answers and repeat. Again notecards for anything you missed, even the reaction itself. The notecards I made were the reactants on the front side and the reagents used. The back side would be the product. Go over destroyer once you finished Chads, you will find it pretty easy, if not then you need to rewatch Chads on whichever section you sucked at. I watched Chad's Twice and memorized my notecards before starting Desttroyer and it definitely was not that bad. You can sometimes just guess what is going to happen and it shouldn't take you more than 30 seconds for each problem except maybe NMR. You might stumble upon weird reactions like Tollens, or Heck or something that you never saw in Chads, but learn it anyways. Put it on a Notecard so you remember it. Again, mark any problems you didn't get or hesitated with and then attack those again a week later to see if you understood it. If I didn't undertand a reaction or didn't see it before, I would google it. The questions are a bit harder but it really preps you for the real thing. You won't see like 5 step reactions like the destroyer though which is good.

Chad's Videos(10/10) Im not gonna say too much about these videos, but really he will save your score for Orgo! I would not have gotten this score that I did if it weren't for him. I promise you he is the single most important resource for Orgo. Take extremely detailed notes on everything he says, pause, rewind, and watch over. Do his quizzes and his practice tests at the end of watching all the videos to see if you got it. His quizzes are a little easier than the real thing but not by much. Trust me, know what he says.

Reading: Ok, so this section was my worst and I knew it coming into the test. I was never the best reader and English is my second language. All I can say is to just practice! I didn't do search and destroy. My strategy was to # my paper 1-15 (or as many paragraphs were in the passage) three times on the graph paper and then skim while I jot down points pertaining to the #'s in the paragraph. Example, if in paragraph 5 it talks about Einstein and his equation, write Einstein and what the equation is. Then move on to the next paragraph. You should find key words and dates and numbers and names. I would usually take 8 min tops jotting down the whole article, then use 12 min to answer the questions for that article. This strategy got me through so if that works for you then great! Other's use S&D, if that works for you then great. Find what works for you and don't switch strategies during the test. Stick to whatever you have been practicing. Lastly, READ EVERY ARTICLE LIKE YOU ARE INTERESTED. Take it as a learner tool and pretend like you are learning new stuff. It will make boring articles seem easier. Try to read at least 4 articles a day and pick out ones that interest you. It will deff bring up your reading speed.

Resources used: DAT Bootcamp and Random Articles on Science Journal.
BC: (9/10) Super hard but really preps you for the real thing. First time I did it, I couldnt get in the time frame. I even got a 16 on one of the tests, it was super degrading. But BC really preps you for timing wise and the first statement, second statement true or false thing. My articles on the real thing weren't as long as those either.


PAT: I love this section. Although my score was a little lower than what I hoped, I feel like I really got it down the week before the test. When people say it is only for people who can naturally get it, I wholeheartedly disagree with that. When i first started, i didnt really know what to do with like keyholes and tfe. I was like wtf. I first started using CDP and got used to what the goal of it was. But man, till this day after practicing so much with angles I still can't seem to get it all. I was getting like 2-3 right and spending way to much time to getting around 10-12 right on BC and CDP. After using CDP, I moved on to BC. I really think the key to doing well is to just practice and practice and practice. I was so bad at every section and then after a while of practicing, I got the timing down and the amount of correct just fell into place. BUT PRACTICE!!!! MAybe, even do like 10 generator questions from all of BC's generators before bed every night.

Resources Used: Crack DAT PAT, DAT Bootcamp

Crack DAT PAT (8/10): This is a great resource for people just starting out. I think it really gives you a baseline on what you should be doing. I started doing like little sections of each test at first and then I started doing full tests once I became more comfortable. I am fairly weak at keyholes but CDP's keyholes are too easy and the LINE COUNTING DOESN"T WORK on the real thing so don't even try it. It has great pattern folding and hole punching that is similar to the real thing. Keyholes: too easy. Angles: Harder. Cube Counting: way much harder. Don't be worried about counting like 40 cubes like what CDP does. Its good practice though. Overall I think you should get CDP mainly because it has 10 tests that you can save and look at your mistakes and shows which sections you're weak at. It doesn't have a generator like BC but deff worth the money, in my opinion.

DAT Bootcamp: (10/10) Here is where I got most of my practice in. BC provides you with 10 tests and most of them have explanations. They have amazing explanations for pattern folding and TFE. I think the most amazing thing about BC is the generator. They have unlimited practice for angles, pattern folding and cube counting. If you really want practice do those a lot. I did like generators everyday for practice until I felt comfortable doing the real tests. The tests on BC are very good and fairly representative of the real thing. Some are harder, some are easier. Overall spot on in terms of score. Their angles: harder, Keyholes: same, TFE: same Cube counting: Same Pattern folding: Same. BC's tests are harder than CDP's so if you are short on money and can't get both. I suggest BC's tests. It just makes you getting the timing down which is absolutely crucial for this test.

Strategy for PAT: Here is the strategy I used for each section (PLEASE VIEW PICTURE OF HOW I SET UP MY BOARD BELOW)
Keyholes: First part, I would take about 10-15 seconds tops on each question. Didn't know it? press mark right away. This was my weakest section so I tried to save time and just mark and pass. If you have keyholes down, answer quick and then move. I just tried to see which shapes fit which hole. BC shows you some small details that really help you zone in on the little wrong things.

TFE: One of my favorite sections. I think you just have to visualize how the overall image looks. Its hard to say which side you should look at. Sometimes, top might be the easiest. Sometimes front or right might be. It all depends on each question. Try to focus on what you can eliminate right away. You can usually eliminate at least 1 or 2 right away. If it comes down to it, just guess between the two you narrowed in on. Try to focus on the side that might help you the most.

Angles: Hard but doable. I used the laptop method where I would look at the angles like if it were a laptop on its side. HERE IS A HUGE TIP: As soon as the angles appear, take 5 seconds to figure out which angle stands out the most as being the biggest. If it is one of the answers try to zone in on those answers. DON'T look at the answers before you look at the angles because it will persuade you to maybe go in another direction than where you should be going. After you establish the biggest, what I did was I held a pen in my hand and would pretend to write biggest to smallest as I look at the answers to guide me. That way my brain will process the order right away and save time. I know a lot of people spend time crossing answers out and looking at the biggest and smallest. i think it wastes too much time. This section should take 10 min tops. This isn't the section to be staring at for minutes. Go with your gut, click then move on. I never even bothered to mark them because I felt that other sections were way better places I can gain points.

Keyholes: Favorite and Easiest section I think. I used this method. Use this and I promise you, you wont get any of them wrong. Use BC generator because thats the hardest you can see on real thing. Careful with half and third punches. PRACTICE! Again, this section should take 10 min tops.

Cube Counting: I used the method most people use. Draw a column and label 1,2,3,4,5 then just mark as you go. Count the WHOLE PICTURE. DOn't try to count whatever sides they ask you. Stupid idea. Again this section should be very quick. CDP is best for hardest practice

Pattern Folding: I sucked at this at first but then I got a lot better due to BC generator. Just keep practicing and you will be able to do it. Again, cross off anythng that looks completely different. I labeled my board as A,B,C,D and crossed out as I went. I think personally its the best way to go instead of remembering which one isn't right.

Quantitative Reasoning: LOL I hated this section. I spent probably a month studying this and was not really confident going into the exam because I hate word problems and probability. Fortunately, I had a pretty straightforward section and it ended up being my best score. Funny how that works. I think the key to doing well in math in general is to obviously to be exposed to as many types of problems as possible, Whether it is renting a fundamental math book from the library or even looking at your old SAT books and trying to do some problems it helps. PRACTICE! Everyone says timing is the worst on this section and I agree very much. When you practice with destroyer or BC or whatever, try to skip as much as possible on things that take more than 10 seconds to read. It is key to mark, GUESS ON AN ANSWER, and then move on. There might be an easy problem 2 problems down that you can easily get. I can't stress this enough. A lot of people screw up this section because they spend too much time thinking about a problem then ultimately getting it wrong. If it takes you more than 30 seconds TOPS to answer a question, mark, guess, then move on. Also, the calculator situation you get a simple calculator like the one built into your computer.

Resources Used: DAT Destroyer 2014, Math Destroyer 2012, CDP Math, DAT bootcamp, Chad's QR videos, Youtube

Chad's QR videos (7/10): Dont have much to say about this. Good for a refresher. He has quizzes that are ok but I think you're time can be utilized just practicing problems. It will come back to you.

Dat destroyer (9/10): These are the problems in the back of regular destroyer. These problems were more similar to my test than Math destroyer. Go over these questions as practice, not timed. Do it over like 3 times and really understand the word problems and probability because they will deff show up on the real thing.

Math Destroyer (10/10) Best prep for the wide variety of problems you will see on the test. I didn't time myself the first time through because I got absolutely destroyed especially on tests 10-13. SO HARD. But then after I got the hang of it and everything was coming back to me, I started to time myself and it got more easy. I went over the book maybe 5 times. DO IT it will pay off. Also do the problems you screw up over and over again. You might be lucky and get a very similar question on the real thing.

CDP Math (9/10) I actually really liked this resource and not many people use it. Sure some problems are super easy like 12x13 but who knows you might see that on your test. They have like 10 tests of practice. The more practice the better I think. I thought the problems were super challenging but others might disagree. So this is a resource that is a hit or miss. You can buy it if you want extra practice. Each question has a video explanation which is good.

Dat Bootcamp( 9/10) Don't have much to say. Super hard problems. Got 20 on each test. The questons are ridiculous but really good practice and for timing.
My study Schedule: I spent 3 months studying, avg 9-10 hrs each day and didn't really take any day off. Like I said, there is a lot to cover and I couldn't afford to lose valuable time. I created a spreadsheet of what my schedule would be when I first started studying but then I was like I don't like this so i just studied Bio in the morning, Gen Chem in early afternoon. then Orgo at night in this order. (because the test is like this). Next day I would do PAT in morning, then reading in afternoon, then math at night. I would alternate this starting 1 month and half before my test. The first couple of months I devoted a lot of my studying to biology and orgo. Try to attack your weaknesses and devote most of your studying to those. One regret is that I wish I studied Math earlier but then again it was my highest score so whatever lol. You will end up developing a study habit. I think it is really pointless when I see people ask what I should do to study and what their schedule was like so I can copy them. Everyone studies differently. Study at your own pace and find a schedule for yourself. Ignore what others tell you to do.

Full Practice Tests used: 2007, 2009 DAT test


I'm not gonna post my scores to 2007, 2009, BC or CDP because I dont have enough room to put it. Message me if u need to know

Final Thoughts: Study, study study. You are very smart, or else you wouldn't be studying for one of the hardest tests in the world. Just stay focused, concentrate. You got this !!!!!! I hope this helped and if there is any questions please don't hesitate to message me and I can even make time to give you a call or something if need may be. I hate typing lol. Anyways good luck. Ill be waiting for you on the other side :)))))

amazing scores and great breakdown.

I am not sure if you have mentioned that in your breakdown but I would like to know your study habit.
you mentioned that you spend 9 hours daily for 3 months. how did you actually breakdown these 9 hours? were any day off such as weekends throughout your study journey?
 
amazing scores and great breakdown.

I am not sure if you have mentioned that in your breakdown but I would like to know your study habit.
you mentioned that you spend 9 hours daily for 3 months. how did you actually breakdown these 9 hours? were any day off such as weekends throughout your study journey?

I pretty much avg 9hrs a day for 3 months. I was mentally exhausted by the end but it is totally worth it. I didn't take weekends off. For the first month and a half I wouldn't go too crazy but the last couple months I would wake up at 5 in the morning, go work out, eat breakfast then just study all day non stop, take a break for lunch for like 30 min then just keep chugging. The latest I stayed up was about 2:30 and I don't recommend studying to late because you won't have enough energy for the next day. Good luck!
 
Hey, awesome breakdown. Quick question, during the exam when did you set up your board for the PAT? Because I was thinking, if you do it during the optional tutorial, you kind of need that space for the general chemistry section.
 
Hey, awesome breakdown. Quick question, during the exam when did you set up your board for the PAT? Because I was thinking, if you do it during the optional tutorial, you kind of need that space for the general chemistry section.

Some people have said you can set up your PAT during the tutorial, but it really depends on your testing center. Some have been told not to write anything, while others have been able to do it.

And they give you two sheets and you can use front and back on both. I would practice using 3/4 of the pages for gc and oc so you can leave the last page with your PAT setup alone
 
Some people have said you can set up your PAT during the tutorial, but it really depends on your testing center. Some have been told not to write anything, while others have been able to do it.

And they give you two sheets and you can use front and back on both. I would practice using 3/4 of the pages for gc and oc so you can leave the last page with your PAT setup alone

When you say "sheets" do you mean the white board or is it white papers and a pencil. How was the experience for you?
 
Hey, awesome breakdown. Quick question, during the exam when did you set up your board for the PAT? Because I was thinking, if you do it during the optional tutorial, you kind of need that space for the general chemistry section.
I set up mine during the tutorial. I didn't have a problem with space or anything. I also didn't have any problems with proctors getting mad at me. Some places are more lax than others. I don't see why it's a problem- I view a tutorial as part of the test. But whatever- only the opinions of the ADA and Prometic matter. I'd just try to feel it out the day of.
 
Hey, awesome breakdown. Quick question, during the exam when did you set up your board for the PAT? Because I was thinking, if you do it during the optional tutorial, you kind of need that space for the general chemistry section.
Hey so my exam center gave me 2 turqoise looking laminated boards. Luckily my markers were really good and were pointy instead of the dull ones. But it does depend on the testing center. Id recommend going there before your test to try out the board and markers they give you. My markers also stained if you smudge your hand on it so be careful to not stain your work with your hands. My center said I couldn't write anything during the tutorial so what I did was I quickly made my PAT stuff and formulas before I pressed start. Then the tutorial started. good luck
 
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I had fine-point markers too! I think those are the "better" markers that are being phased in. I like @eugpeng's idea about doing stuff before the tutorial since you technically haven't started yet :) Also, my hands were so smudged by the end that it took five entire minutes for the scanner to read my fingerprint. Couldn't get my score sheet for a while... haha.
 
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Thanks for the input everybody. I really appreciate it. For the bio section, I have almost completely memorized cliff ap bio and dat bootcamp. Is there any calculations like the hardy Weinberg problems? For heredity, is it straight up definitions or would they give you senarios like bootcamp? What would you say is the best resource for bio? Would I be ok for the bio section on the dat? For the orgo section, is it mostly reactions or is it an equal portion of reactions and other stuff( like which is the most acidic hydrogen) bootcamp has more of that than reactions. For the QR section, I have the DAT math destroyer memorized.( after repeatedly doing the questions). Should I be set for the QR section? Lastly for the GC section, is it more math or testing you more on the concepts? I have done both bootcamp and destroyer. After doing bootcamp, the destroyer became so much easier lol. Sorry this was a long reply.
 
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Thanks for the input everybody. I really appreciate it. For the bio section, I have almost completely memorized cliff ap bio and dat bootcamp. What would you say is the best resource for bio? Would I be ok for the bio section on the dat? For the orgo section, is it mostly reactions or is it an equal portion of reactions and other stuff( like which is the most acidic hydrogen) bootcamp has more of that than reactions. For the QR section, I have the DAT math destroyer memorized.( after repeatedly doing the questions). Should I be set for the QR section? Lastly for the GC section, is it more math or testing you more on the concepts? I have done both bootcamp and destroyer. After doing bootcamp, the destroyer became so much easier lol. Sorry this was a long reply.

The Math Destroyer has helped my students immensely and if you have done all that work you should be good to do. There are over 563 problems in our Bio section that cover a vast amount of information and if you can conquer all that work, knowing all the right choices as well and incorrect choices and carefully studying the explanations you should be set. Also there are many versions of the DAT and in regards to the GC section some versions are more math, some concepts, and Orgo again, many versions, some students feel some are easier than others. You must really prepare, no crystal ball to know exactly what will be on the DAT, better to be overpreapred than under. This is not a test you want to repeat if you can avoid it.

Wishing you the very best

Nancy
 
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I had fine-point markers too! I think those are the "better" markers that are being phased in. I like @eugpeng's idea about doing stuff before the tutorial since you technically haven't started yet :) Also, my hands were so smudged by the end that it took five entire minutes for the scanner to read my fingerprint. Couldn't get my score sheet for a while... haha.
i scrubbed for hours getting the marker off my hands haha
 
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Thanks for the input everybody. I really appreciate it. For the bio section, I have almost completely memorized cliff ap bio and dat bootcamp. Is there any calculations like the hardy Weinberg problems? For heredity, is it straight up definitions or would they give you senarios like bootcamp? What would you say is the best resource for bio? Would I be ok for the bio section on the dat? For the orgo section, is it mostly reactions or is it an equal portion of reactions and other stuff( like which is the most acidic hydrogen) bootcamp has more of that than reactions. For the QR section, I have the DAT math destroyer memorized.( after repeatedly doing the questions). Should I be set for the QR section? Lastly for the GC section, is it more math or testing you more on the concepts? I have done both bootcamp and destroyer. After doing bootcamp, the destroyer became so much easier lol. Sorry this was a long reply.
Everything you just asked is uncertain. Everyone has different stuff tested so it depends on if you're lucky or not. Dont just memorize but understand
 
i hope people are finding this useful. Laughed at myself when I came back to this page right now after its been 10 months
 
I would love to know if anyone who used my guide found it really helpful and did well on the test because of it!
 
Would you mind telling us how many schools did you apply for ?
Also , I wish you the best and YOU worked hard. I am sure you will get accepted.
I applied to 15 schools. and thanks! best of luck to you too
 
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OMG, How can I spend 9 hours/day when I'm working??????????
You don't have to. I did because I wanted to make sure I took it once and got it over with. You can just plan a schedule that works for you around work and try to stick with that.
 
Would you mind telling me with 2 days off and working 8 hours per day, how can I plan a schedule? I've taken Biochem last semester and I'm a food science major from Iran. The reason I shocked was because with spending 9 hours/day, it took you 3 months to finish. It's more than 3 months I'm trying to plan a schedule but I couldn't. I don't know how to start and am still confused about the sources. I really appreciate it if you could help me with that.
 
Congrats!! I still refer to this breakdown myself! Test is Dec 29 :) any suggestions for my last couple of weeks?
review stuff that you are still struggling at and keep going over your notes. Definitely try to use external resources on things you aren't understanding. Finally, be confident!! This is the final push and you are close to being done!! Don't study the night before by the way.
 
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review stuff that you are still struggling at and keep going over your notes. Definitely try to use external resources on things you aren't understanding. Finally, be confident!! This is the final push and you are close to being done!! Don't study the night before by the way.

Great! Thanks so much and again, congratulations on your acceptances!
 
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