Last 2 weeks cramming study schedule - limited time - which practice tests?

Member 8586 · May 26, 2012

No work/school or anything...up by 6am to start at 7am and sleep by midnight - Hows my schedule look for the last 2 weeks...I know its pretty frikin intense and I hope I can get thru it without going crazy...otherwise I might have to cut out pieces or delay just a few days..idk....and since its so tight, how do you guys feel about removing the ADA 09 if anything? Is it worth it and indicative of your true score? I also have the KBB and ADA 07 exam if those may be a better substitute anywhere? or maybe I can just remove a Qvault day (Qvault days are Bio,GC,OC,RC,QR) for an extra day of review?

btw the Destroyer 1,1a etc is basically 1/3 of problems in each section will be done in 1, and 1a will be the next day review of those questions (did destroyer 3x so hopefully this 4th time will be quick)...if its too time consuming, ill just do quicker browsing through destroyer

should i cram like this to finish everything? or should i delay a few days maybe? my biggest gripes are missing an extra day of review and also i like to review qvault explanations twice (once on the same day of doing them and then a few days after (takes about 2 hrs second time) - which is probably what i will have to spare) ..I feel like I kinda want 2 days of other full review instead of the one day on 6/6 (and dont wanna spare the day off before the test i dont think - do most people cram the last day or take the last day off?..im usually a crammer but wanna try this method since im usually really nervous and high strung about these things)

i also prefer to take it sooner to try to get in the "first batch" of apps...plan to complete app by june 15 but if i delay my test a week or so, then app will probably be pushed to around june 22...is this a big difference?

5/25- Kaplan BIO review
5/26- Cliffs AP BIO review
5/27- GC/OC review
5/28- Qvault 4 (review CDP 4) + Destroyer 1
5/29- Qvault 5 w/ CDP 5 + Destroyer 1a
5/30- TopScore 1 (Devils/Kings Game 1)
5/31- Qvault 6 w/ CDP 6 + Destroyer 2
6/1- Qvault 7 w/ CDP 7 + Destroyer 2a
6/2- Topscore 2 w/ CDP 8 (Devils/Kings Game 2 + gf)
6/3- Qvault 8 w/ CDP 9 + Destroyer 3
6/4- ADA 09 + Destroyer 3a (Devils/Kings Game 3)
6/5- TopScore 3 w/ CDP 10 and any extra Qvault
6/6 – REVIEW (Devils/Kings Game 4)
6/7 – DAY OFF - movies and spa!

6/8 - TEST @ 130PM!!!

Member 8586 · May 26, 2012

ALTERNATE schedule if i take 6/12 instead? please give me opinions - this is driving me crazy! lol

5/25- Kaplan BIO review
5/26- Cliffs AP BIO review
5/27- GC/OC review
5/28- Qvault 4 + review CDP 4 + Destroyer 1
5/29- Qvault 5 w/ CDP 5 + Destroyer 1a
5/30- TopScore 1 + Review CDP 5 (Devils/Kings Game 1)
5/31- Qvault 6 w/ CDP 6 + Destroyer 2
6/1- Qvault 7 + Review CDP 6 + Destroyer 2a
6/2- Qvault 8 w/ CDP 7 (Devils/Kings Game 2 + gf)
6/3- Sleep in a little - Review CDP 7 & Review Qvault 4,5,6, and Topscore 1
6/4 - Topscore 2 w/ CDP 8 (Devils/Kings Game 3)
6/5 - Qvault 9 + Review CDP 8 + Destroyer 3
6/6 - CDP 9 *+ Destroyer 3a + Review Qvault 7,8, (Devils/Kings Game 4)
6/7 - ADA 09 + Review CDP 9 + Destroyer 4 + Review Qvault 9 & Topscore 2
6/8 - TopScore 3 w/ CDP 10 + Destroyer 4a
6/9 – REVIEW all Qvaults/TS saved questions and other review (Devils/Kings Game 5)
6/10 – REVIEW all bio tidbits, troubles solutions in notebook, notecards, etc
6/11 –DAY OFF – movies and spa! (Devils/Kings Game 6)
6/12- TEST

TheDentist16 · May 28, 2012

I would recommend the 6/12 schedule since you schedule more review time in there. Granted, the apps for ADEA are released in early June, delaying the sending out of your apps by a week or two won't harm your chances in getting those early interviews. I would personally suggest a break on 5/28, and not dive into your practice questions right away. If you give it a day, or even half of a day to sink in, you'll figure out where your weaknesses are so you can fine tune them for the exam. There's no point in rushing through material and taking a test right away, as you will be testing your short term memory, which won't serve you that well on your real DAT exam.

If you find that you're getting tired on a given day, I would stick with CDP and Destroyer reviews over Qvault. The only reason why I'm saying this is that I don't have much experience with Qvault exam questions, because last year when I used Qvault it only had Biology questions. Therefore, from personal experience, I can say that Destroyer and CDP review definitely helped me out quite a lot. I tended to forget the shortcuts for OChem and GChem, but doing that last week Destroyer review helped me nail them down. I would also simulate actual testing conditions for the TopScore exams 1-3, just so you can get in the mindset and help cope with the stress/pressure of the real DAT.

Other than that, I like the day off before the exam. This will definitely help you not stress out and freak out the night before. And, I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the ADA 07 or 09, as they seemed to be easier than the real DAT from my own experience. Another tip that I would give you is to be a bit cautious of your final reviews on 6/9 and 6/10. It can either, 1) make you feel super prepared, or 2) stress you out a lot because you feel like you forgot everything. My situation was the second scenario, and I freaked out a few days before my exam. I felt like I knew nothing, but I had to reassure myself that all of my summer preparation was going to help me do well. I don't want this to happen to you, so just giving you my two cents there. I'm positive your hard work will pay off!

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to give you some thoughts based on my own 2-week-before-DAT schedule. I hope you score well! Looks like you're on the right track!

Member 8586 · May 28, 2012

SLYgUy2098 said:
I would recommend the 6/12 schedule since you schedule more review time in there. Granted, the apps for ADEA are released in early June, delaying the sending out of your apps by a week or two won't harm your chances in getting those early interviews. I would personally suggest a break on 5/28, and not dive into your practice questions right away. If you give it a day, or even half of a day to sink in, you'll figure out where your weaknesses are so you can fine tune them for the exam. There's no point in rushing through material and taking a test right away, as you will be testing your short term memory, which won't serve you that well on your real DAT exam.

If you find that you're getting tired on a given day, I would stick with CDP and Destroyer reviews over Qvault. The only reason why I'm saying this is that I don't have much experience with Qvault exam questions, because last year when I used Qvault it only had Biology questions. Therefore, from personal experience, I can say that Destroyer and CDP review definitely helped me out quite a lot. I tended to forget the shortcuts for OChem and GChem, but doing that last week Destroyer review helped me nail them down. I would also simulate actual testing conditions for the TopScore exams 1-3, just so you can get in the mindset and help cope with the stress/pressure of the real DAT.

Other than that, I like the day off before the exam. This will definitely help you not stress out and freak out the night before. And, I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the ADA 07 or 09, as they seemed to be easier than the real DAT from my own experience. Another tip that I would give you is to be a bit cautious of your final reviews on 6/9 and 6/10. It can either, 1) make you feel super prepared, or 2) stress you out a lot because you feel like you forgot everything. My situation was the second scenario, and I freaked out a few days before my exam. I felt like I knew nothing, but I had to reassure myself that all of my summer preparation was going to help me do well. I don't want this to happen to you, so just giving you my two cents there. I'm positive your hard work will pay off!

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to give you some thoughts based on my own 2-week-before-DAT schedule. I hope you score well! Looks like you're on the right track!

thanks a lot for the reponse! it seems like the 6/8 isnt going to be totally possible unless i cut some stuff out ...probably going with the 6/12 unless my practice tests end up suddenly higher (which i doubt) lol

as for today 5/28...im not diving into qvault and will probably just be removing one day of qvault because i couldnt finish my orgo review yesterday and didnt want to rush through it since its the last time im going to be fully going through the notes...so im finishing up orgo review, going to review CDP 4 but deeply because i need to really work on TFE and hole punching, start on the first 1/4 of Destroyer and if i have time, some math review

also, for my destroyer review - i decided to do 1/4 of all questions, then the second 1/4 the next day, etc INSTEAD of 1/4 the first day and reviewing that 1/4 the next day....felt like i could possibly forget stuff in that first 1/4 since i wont have seen it for almost 2 weeks...this way ill be reviewing like a week after and get exposure to it all over again...hopefully works out better

for topscore 1-3, yea i was planning on full testing conditions which im definitely NOT looking forward to lol i like my breaks but i have to get used to it so ill suck it up....ADA 09 - i read some more about it last night and it doesnt seem like the best...i may just browse through the questions and solve them casually instead of like a test just to see how they were actually formatted on the actual DAT - i guess ill see how i feel that day

the review days- i feel like i need and wont feel comfortable without fully having seen everything that one last time...i hope i dont run into the scenario you mentioned lol

Last 2 weeks cramming study schedule - limited time - which practice tests?

Member 8586

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Member 8586

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TheDentist16

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Member 8586

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