12 days before the DAT(help!)

[Chris004]

I went over all of mike's ochem and gen chem videos, all of kaplan's biology notes, PAT videos on bootcamp and test 1 on bootcamp. I don't feel ready, and I can only push it back two more days. Is it even worth it to push it back two days? So far I'm getting
TEST 1
Bio 21
Chem 17
Ochem 18
PAT 21
Reading Comp 21
QR 18

What should I do? I took biology test 2 and I didn't do too well, like 16. So I think I just got lucky. What should I do? I have destroyer, but not sure if I have time to go over it in 12 days+bootcamp tests I still need to do.
Should I go over feralis notes? I barely studied for biology because I have taken a lot of biology classes, I'm really strong in molecular and ecology, not so much on taxonomy and anatomy.

For ochem, should I write out the reaction sheet on bootcamp several times or should I do the roadmaps+25 reactions in destroyer? Or both(but that's a lot of time consumption with 12 days left).

I didn't study for QR(hadn't taken math in like 6 years) or reading. But I think I can just take the tests for those to improve because the mistakes I made were probability based, since I didn't know how to do those.

EDIT: I went through all of kaplan, not just biology notes, also went through ochem gchem quizzes on bootcamp.

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[jLaws]

Why can you only push it back two more days? You get out what you put in, and it doesn't seem like you've put in much of anything yet. If you absolutely have to take it, I would read all of Ferralis, do all of bootcamp, and do ochem and gchem in destroyer as well.. But why are you doing this to yourself?

 

[Chris004]

2 days because that's the last date I can take it from prometric. I also have accessibility if that matters at all. I actually studied a lot, but I'm really bad at chemistry/ochem, I basically had to relearn everything from scratch. I did all of bootcamp quizzes for chemistry also. O chem is probably my worst. I went through kaplan's course and it was kind of worthless. Moved to bootcamp and had to buckle down and so far that's what I've done.

Basically, I got like a 12 on chemistry when I first took it. I bumped it up to a 17.

 

[Veni vidi vicii]

Try to take all 10 exams and going through each solution will help. But since you're 10 days off, you will be cutting it close. For me personally it takes obviously 90 minutes to do the full length science portion then I end it right there and review each explanation in each question I get right and wrong. For biology it takes up a lot of time because as I'm reviewing I search topics on the internet and notes and there explanations are lengthy(read the critical and the other explanation too because it's review and you learn as you go). Total it takes me no more than 6 to take the science exams and go through each solutions, but no less than 4 hours. I go OVER EVERYTHING.

Yeah it takes a lot time, but you see improvements day by day. My sciences are always above a 22 now, and you know how the last 5 BC tests are tougher than the 1st 5? Well, I'm actually doing better on the last 5 because I reviewed my mistakes and kept grinding. However, that being said I did treat my content review phase seriously and I did do a decent amount of destroyer problems before doing the BC tests to get the concepts down and my initial 5 BC tests were above 19-20. I think the first couple tests you'll be doing poorly, but once you get used to the questions, especially in GC, you'll start noticing improvement by just being exposed to the types of questions. Then keep grinding problems see which ones you suck at, review your notes, and try again. Recipe for success.

Just do all 10 exams, review them, and you should be set for the DAT. If you're going to extend it by just 2 days that would be a waste of money. Can't you set a date that's no later than the 1st week of August? If not just grind out all the BC exams. I would say do destroyer, but you're limited on time so BC will suit you just fine. There are threads on SDN of people only using BC and they scored mid 20's. So, if you can't extend it to August, just start doing all the practice exams, review questions, bookmark questions you get wrong and review them daily, and you should be alright come test day.

To answer your above question. Write out the ochem reactions of bootcamp and one's you come across in your notes on flashcards and review them often. It will probably take you less than 5 hours to make them and they facilitate the learning. That's what I did and I usually don't get reaction questions wrong on the tests.

 

[Chris004]

The accessibility I have only extends to the 19th of July. So it would actually give me 14 days if I pushed it back vs 12. I would need to spend another 500 dollars to reschedule. So, should I go over feralis? I can spend 5 hours brushing over it or should I focus on ochem reactions?

So far I've done the first test and reviewed all the answers, so 9 more in 12 days, 3 days to fit other things into or work on the tests more.

I also did the 100 pages of quizzes for gchem on bootcamp, but I think I forgot most of them(or at least they are rusty) when studying for ochem.

 

[Veni vidi vicii]

I don't think it cost $500 to reschedule. I think $60 or $100 if you do it before 6 business days of your test. Just do as many practice tests you can and review the questions to keep learning.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

This is stated in the 2018 DAT Study guide, Hope this helps..Nancy

Rescheduling fees are as follows:

Number of Days Prior to Testing Appointment
Reschedule Fee
1 to 5 business days* prior to the testing appointment, and at least 24 hours before the appointment is scheduled to begin.
$100
6 to 30 business days prior to the testing appointment.
$60
31 or more business days prior to the testing appointment.
$25
*Saturdays and Sundays are NOT business days

 

[Chris004]

I don't think it cost $500 to reschedule. I think $60 or $100 if you do it before 6 business days of your test. Just do as many practice tests you can and review the questions to keep learning.

Thank you! I will. It's 500 dollars because I have eligibility to take the test until 7/19 when I applied for accessibility. So if I wanted to push it to august, I'd need to pay for eligibility again and that would take longer than a month. I did it early because I was told it takes awhile, but I might have done it too early(before I even studied) back in January. So, I would need to reapply for accessibility with a doctor's note+pay again for the DAT eligibility.

I've been trying what you told me to do, doing the test then looking at the solutions while ctrl+F to look back at feralis and bootcamp notes on another monitor to read through everything relevant and it has been helping. I think I'm retaining more because I understand the big picture(which I've learned before but mostly forgotten).

 

[tiper15]

For biology study off of BC. Go through the answers of the practice exams and just thoroughly read each explanation of why each answer is correct or incorrect, PLUS the background info that they give. I studied for biology based on my own biology background (which was just basic science biologics you have to take for Biochem) so I didn't know anything about anatomy, physiologu, embryology, ecology, or stuff like that. Bootcamp was a great representation of the actual test and similar questions actually appeared. Of course, with this tactic I didn't do super amazing, but I was able to pull a 20 on it.
For gen chem, a lot of it is more theory and memorization. I'd say this is more just practice for those calc questions. Go through BC and kaplan quizzes, and thoroughly look at solutions to see where you went wrong. Honestly to a certain point for the calculation questions just know how to do it, even if you don't understand why.
For orgo, I will say writing out reactions should help. I can't say much on this one because it's my strongest section and one I didn't really study for.
For RC, Kaplan's section on it is muchhhhhhh more representative. The BC one was so much harder than the one I got on my actual DAT. also the way Kaplan does the practice test is much more similar to the one you'll get on your actual test - the computer layout is the same.
Now for QC, you are right it's mostly practice. The types of questions they ask are pretty well represented in both Kaplan and BC, so go through those. ALSO the biggest trick that helped me for probability is to know when to add vs multiply probabilities. After that it becomes much easier. I used to get almost every question wrong in probability haha.
Overall, you're at a point where I think you should start mainly doing full length practice tests to get used to it. After doing each one, spend hours going through the results and answers, even if you got them right, and go over to yourself why they are wrong and right and fill bavk in gaps of your knowledge and notes or strengthen the ones you already knew. IIRC BC has a total of 6 practice ones. You can maybe do one a day, leaving some days for a general review or something .
Good luck !