charlieclark
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Reading DAT breakdowns helped me feel a lot more confident about what to expect on the DAT so I thought I'd put this together and help everyone out. Overall the DAT was substantially easier than I expected, especially in comparison to the DATBootcamp and DATBooster practice tests. If anybody has questions about the test itself or preparation for it feel free to leave them in the comments or PM me, I'd gladly help anybody out. It's a stressful experience to say the least.
Scores
Bio: 23
Chem: 28
Organic: 30
PAT: 24
RC: 23
QR: 21
Total Science: 26
Academic Average: 25
My test date got canceled twice throughout the summer due to COVID, so I had more than enough time to prepare. In total, I studied roughly 8-10 hours a day, at least 5 days a week for about 15 weeks up until my test. I took classes in May so I didn't get that much done during that period but I'd guess I studied ~500 hours.
As I was studying I felt better seeing people's practice test scores compared to how they did on the real thing, so I included a breakdown for each practice test I took below so y'all can try and gauge your performance.
Study Materials
DAT Bootcamp
This is a must-have resource. It organizes every piece of material you need to kill the test in a very clean interface. Tons of representative practice tests that will make you feel more than confident going into the test. Watch the videos over gen chem & organic, everything in them is fair game on the real thing. Keep in mind you're guaranteed to score a point or two higher than what you averaged on your practice tests. One plus about Bootcamp vs DAT Booster are their in-depth bio notes, but Booster is fixing to release Feralis Bio notes V2 which looked substantially better than the original Feralis notes.
**Make sure to review your test results multiple times and make flashcards for each question you miss/concepts that confused you**
Practice Test Scores (AA /Bio/Chem/OChem/PAT/RC/QR)
1: 20 /20/22/20/18/22/18
2: 20 /17/22/20/21/21/20
3. 21 /21/25/22/20/19/21
4: -
5: -
6: 21 /23/22/21/23/20/20
7: 23 /23/24/22/21/23/22
8: 20 /21/20/19/20/20/20
9: 21 /21/25/22/20/20/19
10: 21 /20/23/23/19/21/18
DAT Booster
My Bootcamp membership expired mid-July so I decided to get DATBooster after reading a couple of good reviews. It's almost the exact same layout and design as Bootcamp so I don't think it's necessary to have both, but if you're looking to have a ton of practice tests it's worth it. Their PAT videos, practice tests, and generators were much more like the real DAT than Bootcamps stuff, plus they had chapter by chapter notes over Gen chem that summed up the major principles well. I felt like their practice tests and especially the scoring was a lot more consistent with scoring on the DAT.
Practice Test Scores
Bio: 23/17/21/21/21/23/23/22
Chem: 19/26/22/19/21/24
OChem: 21/19/20/20/20/18/20
PAT: 22/24/24/20/21
QR: 17/21/20/21
DAT Destroyer & Dr. Romano's FB Study Group
If you're looking to score above a 23 in any section on the DAT, this is another must-have. Their questions are very thought-provoking and require you to really understand each concept they put on there. It's definitely overwhelming at first glance, so I recommend waiting until you have all of the material under your belt before going through each section. The most efficient way to get through this book was to use an excel sheet with a column for each section, go through about 50 problems at a time and record your answers in there, then go to the back and look through each solution. It'll go a lot quicker. Read through every solution even if you got it right, every concept will show up again later on which helps solidify it. On the excel sheet highlight problems you missed & ones that you thought were easy so when you go through a second time you know which problems to focus on. The study group has a ton of good resources and threads about the DAT, plus it's free.
Strategy and tips for each section
Bio
There's really no way to prepare for this section other than just reading through notes and making flashcards. The amount of material is ridiculous and no matter what you will see questions or words on the exam that will puzzle you. Make sure to start preparing for this section first, I probably spent 1/3 of my total time studying on Bio alone.
Feralis Notes - tough to read honestly, would save for last once you've read through the others. DATBooster is releasing a revamped version of these that honestly look really nice, tons of visuals and bright colors. They have a preview of them on their website.
Bootcamp Notes - the majority of what I used. Probably read through the shorter version 4 or 5 times. Much more fluid than feralis notes.
Dr. Romano's Notes (join their group) - tons of pictures and visuals that made it even easier than bootcamp's notes to read through. Didn't find these until a week or two before my exam, but if I found them earlier I would've used these just a lot more. 500 pages so it's got a ton of content, but everything with a star by it is a must know. Definitely had a few of these show up on my exam.
Chem
Watched Mike's videos on Bootcamp and took notes over each of them. Made flashcards for stuff I was unfamiliar with, and reviewed my notes every couple days. Definitely one of the easier sections to score in the upper twenties. DAT Destroyer covers every type of difficult problem you'll run into.
Organic
I had a great Organic professor at my University. Solid background in the subject, but I didn't score well at all on my practice tests so I was not expecting a 30. Orgoman has good videos on youtube for carbonyl reactions and NMR stuff that requires some reviewing. Once again the Destroyer will more than prepare you for anything bound to pop up on the real thing. Dr. Romano also has hundreds of videos on youtube that will help you understand any concept you could think of, definitely check it out.
PAT
Keyhole, TFE, and pattern folding were all frustrating for me. Don't really have any suggestions other repetitions and visualization. Keyhole and Cube Counting are the only two sections you can guarantee to get 13+/15 consistently. If you want to score 100% on hole punching you need to draw out 4x4 squares and track each hole punch for every problem, if you try to just visualize it and keep track of it in your head, you'll get tripped up when you gaze over the answers. For cube counting, I drew a table out and counted each cube for every problem. Once you finish counting the cubes on the bottom level draw a line next to all of your tick marks, and count the cubes on the lower level to make sure you have the correct amount of tick marks. Do this all the way up. t's definitely worth it to take your time and guarantee 15/15 on these 2 sections because you will never feel as confident on the other 4. DAT Booster is by far the best resource for the PAT, they started out as just 'PATbooster' and specialized in the PAT so their practice tests and generators are a lot more representative of the real exam.
Reading
Didn't do much for this section. Wouldn't recommend spending any more time on it other than when you're taking a full-length practice test.
QR
Math is usually my best subject, but this section is pretty hard. I started using the Math Destroyer about a week before my exam, got through 6 of the practice tests and averaged about 34/40. Their solutions definitely helped along with Dr. Romano's videos on youtube. Timing is everything so if you don't know how to do a problem initially just make your best guess and mark it to come back when you're finished. Make sure to review inequality and absolute value rules those concepts showed up a lot. Videos on bootcamp and booster were helpful too.
I hope this breakdown helps people in their preparation for the DAT. It's a long process but it'll all be worth it when you're done. Be confident going in and you'll perform well. Best of luck
Scores
Bio: 23
Chem: 28
Organic: 30
PAT: 24
RC: 23
QR: 21
Total Science: 26
Academic Average: 25
My test date got canceled twice throughout the summer due to COVID, so I had more than enough time to prepare. In total, I studied roughly 8-10 hours a day, at least 5 days a week for about 15 weeks up until my test. I took classes in May so I didn't get that much done during that period but I'd guess I studied ~500 hours.
As I was studying I felt better seeing people's practice test scores compared to how they did on the real thing, so I included a breakdown for each practice test I took below so y'all can try and gauge your performance.
Study Materials
DAT Bootcamp
This is a must-have resource. It organizes every piece of material you need to kill the test in a very clean interface. Tons of representative practice tests that will make you feel more than confident going into the test. Watch the videos over gen chem & organic, everything in them is fair game on the real thing. Keep in mind you're guaranteed to score a point or two higher than what you averaged on your practice tests. One plus about Bootcamp vs DAT Booster are their in-depth bio notes, but Booster is fixing to release Feralis Bio notes V2 which looked substantially better than the original Feralis notes.
**Make sure to review your test results multiple times and make flashcards for each question you miss/concepts that confused you**
Practice Test Scores (AA /Bio/Chem/OChem/PAT/RC/QR)
1: 20 /20/22/20/18/22/18
2: 20 /17/22/20/21/21/20
3. 21 /21/25/22/20/19/21
4: -
5: -
6: 21 /23/22/21/23/20/20
7: 23 /23/24/22/21/23/22
8: 20 /21/20/19/20/20/20
9: 21 /21/25/22/20/20/19
10: 21 /20/23/23/19/21/18
DAT Booster
My Bootcamp membership expired mid-July so I decided to get DATBooster after reading a couple of good reviews. It's almost the exact same layout and design as Bootcamp so I don't think it's necessary to have both, but if you're looking to have a ton of practice tests it's worth it. Their PAT videos, practice tests, and generators were much more like the real DAT than Bootcamps stuff, plus they had chapter by chapter notes over Gen chem that summed up the major principles well. I felt like their practice tests and especially the scoring was a lot more consistent with scoring on the DAT.
Practice Test Scores
Bio: 23/17/21/21/21/23/23/22
Chem: 19/26/22/19/21/24
OChem: 21/19/20/20/20/18/20
PAT: 22/24/24/20/21
QR: 17/21/20/21
DAT Destroyer & Dr. Romano's FB Study Group
If you're looking to score above a 23 in any section on the DAT, this is another must-have. Their questions are very thought-provoking and require you to really understand each concept they put on there. It's definitely overwhelming at first glance, so I recommend waiting until you have all of the material under your belt before going through each section. The most efficient way to get through this book was to use an excel sheet with a column for each section, go through about 50 problems at a time and record your answers in there, then go to the back and look through each solution. It'll go a lot quicker. Read through every solution even if you got it right, every concept will show up again later on which helps solidify it. On the excel sheet highlight problems you missed & ones that you thought were easy so when you go through a second time you know which problems to focus on. The study group has a ton of good resources and threads about the DAT, plus it's free.
Strategy and tips for each section
Bio
There's really no way to prepare for this section other than just reading through notes and making flashcards. The amount of material is ridiculous and no matter what you will see questions or words on the exam that will puzzle you. Make sure to start preparing for this section first, I probably spent 1/3 of my total time studying on Bio alone.
Feralis Notes - tough to read honestly, would save for last once you've read through the others. DATBooster is releasing a revamped version of these that honestly look really nice, tons of visuals and bright colors. They have a preview of them on their website.
Bootcamp Notes - the majority of what I used. Probably read through the shorter version 4 or 5 times. Much more fluid than feralis notes.
Dr. Romano's Notes (join their group) - tons of pictures and visuals that made it even easier than bootcamp's notes to read through. Didn't find these until a week or two before my exam, but if I found them earlier I would've used these just a lot more. 500 pages so it's got a ton of content, but everything with a star by it is a must know. Definitely had a few of these show up on my exam.
Chem
Watched Mike's videos on Bootcamp and took notes over each of them. Made flashcards for stuff I was unfamiliar with, and reviewed my notes every couple days. Definitely one of the easier sections to score in the upper twenties. DAT Destroyer covers every type of difficult problem you'll run into.
Organic
I had a great Organic professor at my University. Solid background in the subject, but I didn't score well at all on my practice tests so I was not expecting a 30. Orgoman has good videos on youtube for carbonyl reactions and NMR stuff that requires some reviewing. Once again the Destroyer will more than prepare you for anything bound to pop up on the real thing. Dr. Romano also has hundreds of videos on youtube that will help you understand any concept you could think of, definitely check it out.
PAT
Keyhole, TFE, and pattern folding were all frustrating for me. Don't really have any suggestions other repetitions and visualization. Keyhole and Cube Counting are the only two sections you can guarantee to get 13+/15 consistently. If you want to score 100% on hole punching you need to draw out 4x4 squares and track each hole punch for every problem, if you try to just visualize it and keep track of it in your head, you'll get tripped up when you gaze over the answers. For cube counting, I drew a table out and counted each cube for every problem. Once you finish counting the cubes on the bottom level draw a line next to all of your tick marks, and count the cubes on the lower level to make sure you have the correct amount of tick marks. Do this all the way up. t's definitely worth it to take your time and guarantee 15/15 on these 2 sections because you will never feel as confident on the other 4. DAT Booster is by far the best resource for the PAT, they started out as just 'PATbooster' and specialized in the PAT so their practice tests and generators are a lot more representative of the real exam.
Reading
Didn't do much for this section. Wouldn't recommend spending any more time on it other than when you're taking a full-length practice test.
QR
Math is usually my best subject, but this section is pretty hard. I started using the Math Destroyer about a week before my exam, got through 6 of the practice tests and averaged about 34/40. Their solutions definitely helped along with Dr. Romano's videos on youtube. Timing is everything so if you don't know how to do a problem initially just make your best guess and mark it to come back when you're finished. Make sure to review inequality and absolute value rules those concepts showed up a lot. Videos on bootcamp and booster were helpful too.
I hope this breakdown helps people in their preparation for the DAT. It's a long process but it'll all be worth it when you're done. Be confident going in and you'll perform well. Best of luck
Last edited by a moderator:
Congratulations! Excellent scores! DAT Beast Destroyed! Love those science scores and the 30 in Orgo! AA 23 TS 26 you should have no problem getting interviews at a lot of top schools...
