2 months - study plan?

[enfuego]

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I gave myself about 3.5 months to study for the DAT and had a schedule and everything, but due to an illness, I haven't been able to do much. I've been reading through and taking notes from Kaplan (still not finished with that), but I'm not sure how much I've absorbed (my health problems result in cognitive/memory impairments). I have taken the courses very recently, so I am familiar with the topics, but I definitely need to review.

Since I've been getting better treatment, I would like to try to take the DAT. I have exactly 8 weeks (2 months) left. To me, that doesn't seem like enough time, and I'm getting really stressed about it because I need a good score (20+). For those who have taken it or are in the process of studying in a short amount of time - What was your study plan? What was your schedule like each day? How did you go through all the subjects, etc? What strategies did you use? How did you manage your time? Particularly for Chem, Orgo, and QR - I feel those would be my weakest areas.

I really would just like to see what you had to do in order to be prepared for the DAT in 2 months. (1) I'd like some ideas to help me adjust my own plan, (2) I need to judge if I can handle the work given my current state before I register, (3) I'd really just like to ease some of my tension by knowing other people have done it and been successful!

Yes, I know everyone learns/studies differently and that everyone begins with different levels of familiarity with the material. Please don't lecture me. I'm just looking for ideas and suggestions, to see how others have done it. I'm not applying for this current cycle either. Thank you!

 

[2PacClone23]

Two months is PLENTY of time. That's what I'm doing. Just get the resources you'll need BEFORE hand.

 

[PrivateJoker]

If you put in the hours you will be set. I have about 5 weeks. Should be plenty of time if I put in the work.

 

[Emmie]

use destroyer

two days @ subjects

i.e. GC

day 1: do all the GC questions once, and twice for the ones you got wrong
day 2: same as day 1

day 3 and 4: OC

it just me tho

 

[ZzZzSleepyhead]

Emmie, that seems pretty intense! If you do all the problems like that(within a few days), how many times did you end up doing them?

 

[Emmie]

ZZZZ: I'll probably go over the entire destroyer about 3 times and I'll use the rest of time do EK (I have OC and GC 1001) and read Journals/Magazine, do SAT math problems, CDP etc. What about you?

 

[predental1187]

I'm taking about a total of two months to study also...I've already been studying for about a month, and have a month more and a few weeks left to go til test day. I'm just starting to really crack down now though. I'm taking the Kaplan class and using all the course material...and then planning to get Destroyer and Crack DAT PAT and QR once I'm done with Kaplan.

Which version of Destroyer does everyone recommend? Is it only useful for science or is the the Destroyer QR helpful too?

 

[ZzZzSleepyhead]

Hey Emmie,
I guess I'm kinda doing the same thing as you minus the EK (since I dont have that) and adding more focus on PAT. Do you actually retain alot of the stuff if you're running through all destroyer problems for a subject in 1 day? I'm thinking of giving myself 2 days to finish a section. Maybe I'll knock it down to 1 day as my test date gets closer. When are you taking your test?

 

[Emmie]

ZZZZ: actually the first time I go over the destroyer is very slow, probably takes about 2 days or even 3 days for all the problems. I wiki those that I'm unsure about and why I don't get that right. And then the second and the third time will take me about a day to go over all the problems, more like to memorize the concepts. Make sure you take notes of everything you study and review it before you go to bed

I'm taking it on http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=641396

 

[enfuego]

use destroyer

two days @ subjects

i.e. GC

day 1: do all the GC questions once, and twice for the ones you got wrong
day 2: same as day 1

day 3 and 4: OC

it just me tho

Did you read over some other material (like Kaplan or something) to review before you started doing destroyer problems?

 

[enfuego]

Two months is PLENTY of time. That's what I'm doing. Just get the resources you'll need BEFORE hand.

Yep, I have all the books I need. What's your general plan?

 

[Emmie]

Did you read over some other material (like Kaplan or something) to review before you started doing destroyer problems?

for sure

 

[MTD52]

I have Destroyer, Kaplan BB, Cliffs Bio, and Barron's AP Bio.

What I did was read through the whole Kaplan BB and took notes. I did that 3-5 hours a day 6 days/week. When I finished that, I went back through it quicker, reviewing all the notes I wrote. Then I went through the destroyer doing all the problems. If you have a solid background, you can actually time yourself doing them to get a good feel, but if not, you'll need to go slow and read through the answers are you're doing them. I think that even going slow is effective, so don't worry. The road maps will be your best friend 🙂

Then I started taking topscore practice tests and studying what I got wrong. I literally just looked through Cliffs and Barron's yesterday because I didn't get a chance to go through them. If you do have that time, I recommend it. I've come across a bunch of Bio problems in my practice tests with information that I've never seen before, and when I skim through Cliffs/Barron's, it's all there. Nothing I can do now. This was over about 6 weeks, so with 8 weeks, I suggest reading through Cliffs or Barron's Bio.

Kaplan, Destroyer, and Cliffs/Barron, Topscore. That's what I think should treat you well. Unless you need more PAT practice, than maybe CDPAT, but I never used that.

Now that I'm done, my test is tomorrow 😀 so if I do well in about 6 weeks of studying, you'll know that you should be fine. One thing I will say is that in hindsight, I would have made sure to study consistently 5-6 hours a day, instead of leaving it at 3. And maybe more when it got closer. However, that's just me, and I'm a longgg way out of most these classes, so the information is stuff that I had a while ago. None of it is fresh in my head, not to mention that I have a terrible memory. So don't take those exact study hours as what YOU need to do, but I'm just saying that I should have done more to begin with.

What I'm trying to say with this huge story (sorry by the way), is that you have plenty of time. Just go through and make sure you take it all in.

 

[enfuego]

What I'm trying to say with this huge story (sorry by the way), is that you have plenty of time. Just go through and make sure you take it all in.

No, you helped a lot! Thanks for taking the time to write that out . Good luck on the test!

 

[MTD52]

No, you helped a lot! Thanks for taking the time to write that out . Good luck on the test!

Thanks a lot. I don't think I'm as nervous as I should be lol, but maybe that will change when I get there. We'll see.

 

[ZzZzSleepyhead]

Good luck MTD! Looking forward to hearing your great results 👍

 

[sw1sschez]

Not to be a grinch. But how is this thread really useful to anyone? No one mentions the amount of hours per day. No one mentions what results they got based on their study schedule. Heck I work 10 hour days and spend about 2-3 hours each night studying.....so I am lucky to finish 1 section of Destroyer/week. If I was really good, I'd be able to do all the problems and do the problems 2-3 times by the weeks end. But I include reading BlueBook as well as doing Destroyer.

Anyway, I fail to see how any of the posts posted is of any help when hours arent taken into consideration. You can study for 3 weeks, 8 hours per day and get more done than 3 months and 2 hours/day in a shorter time period.

Furthermore, what good is it if no results are posted? A guy can half ass study for 6 months and get a 17 on the DAT. Is that what you want? Sure it looks good, wow he studied 6 months. But he may have just spent a total of 80 hours doing actual studying.

I dont know mebbe it is just me with the numbers. All you guys have proved is that you are slapping each other in the back without a solid plan of attack or can glean any useful info from people who have already taken the DAT and show you what their study routine was and how many hours that they put into studying for the DAT. Until, then it's like watching a bunch of people giving each other the early attaboys. I hope after my post, someone will actually provide a study schedule that they actually implemented with clear results on an actual DAT test. 😕

Fox example, Drpepper got great results but spent 11 weeks studying. He didnt mention hours but at least he got something to show for it.

 

[printer21]

I spent 2 months 10 days, and i have exact # of hours i studied (I counted each day lol).. I'll post the info and my DAT scores after I take it tomorrow 🙂

 

[Emmie]

Good luck 👍

I spent 2 months 10 days, and i have exact # of hours i studied (I counted each day lol).. I'll post the info and my DAT scores after I take it tomorrow 🙂

 

[MTD52]

Not to be a grinch. But how is this thread really useful to anyone? No one mentions the amount of hours per day. No one mentions what results they got based on their study schedule. Heck I work 10 hour days and spend about 2-3 hours each night studying.....so I am lucky to finish 1 section of Destroyer/week. If I was really good, I'd be able to do all the problems and do the problems 2-3 times by the weeks end. But I include reading BlueBook as well as doing Destroyer.

Anyway, I fail to see how any of the posts posted is of any help when hours arent taken into consideration. You can study for 3 weeks, 8 hours per day and get more done than 3 months and 2 hours/day in a shorter time period.

Furthermore, what good is it if no results are posted? A guy can half ass study for 6 months and get a 17 on the DAT. Is that what you want? Sure it looks good, wow he studied 6 months. But he may have just spent a total of 80 hours doing actual studying.

I dont know mebbe it is just me with the numbers. All you guys have proved is that you are slapping each other in the back without a solid plan of attack or can glean any useful info from people who have already taken the DAT and show you what their study routine was and how many hours that they put into studying for the DAT. Until, then it's like watching a bunch of people giving each other the early attaboys. I hope after my post, someone will actually provide a study schedule that they actually implemented with clear results on an actual DAT test. 😕

Fox example, Drpepper got great results but spent 11 weeks studying. He didnt mention hours but at least he got something to show for it.

Okay well I already posted exactly what I did and how I studied, so I'm failing to see where you drew the conclusion that "no one mentions the amount of hours per day". And here's what I got, today...

PAT 21
QR 18 (much harder than anything I had taken)
RC 23
Bio 22
GC 20
Orgo 21
TS 21
AA 21

Does that make you feel any better about this thread?