byang0103
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Hello sdn, before I took my DAT on 7/2, I was really anxious and read posts, especially these breakdowns, from here every day. Some of them helped me a lot in preparing for the test mentally, so I've always wanted to write one as well to help future test-takers. As I finally submitted all my applications for this cycle last week, I figure it is now a good time to share some of my thoughts and experience in preparing for one of the most difficult exams of my life. This turns out to be a fairly long article, so sit through and hope you find something valuable!
First, I want to share some of my backgrounds. I came from China to the United States for undergraduate study six years ago and graduated from college in 2020. Right now, I am attending the dental hygiene program at a dental school. My stats: 3.73 oGPA, 3.88 sGPA. My DAT score: 29AA/29TS/26BIO/30GC/30OC/30QR/27RC/25PAT.
General Info
My prep time was roughly 2.5 months, and I studied for about 7-10 hours a day. I didn't follow any specific schedules but created my own instead. I believe this is a more efficient method, because people have different strengths and weaknesses and should aim to spend more time in areas they are not good at. It is also important to make adjustments to your schedule all the time to account for changes in your knowledge and skills. In fact, I didn't even have a "physical schedule", because actually making and modifying the schedule seemed like a waste of time to me. Instead, I just set up a mental plan each day about what to go over in the next few days based on my own feedback and asked myself if this plan would allow me to cover everything before the test day. In this way, I had a constantly changing schedule that best suited my strengths and weaknesses. In terms of prep materials, I only used BC and DAT Booster. I think both of them are wonderful resources and the mastery of these will give you a good score. That being said, I believe you should also check other breakdowns for suggestions on prep materials, because many of those have better inclusions of available resources. If I had more time, I would probably also go over the Destroyer questions. In terms of my strategy, I spent most my time studying for the science sections, especially biology. I wouldn't spend a day without reading at least some biology. It is also EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you keep practicing PAT on a daily bases since the very beginning of your test prep. This is one of the biggest mistakes I made, and it stressed me out before the test day. In general, I think good efficiency of test prep comes from utilizing the time when you are "doing nothing" (such as waiting in lines) and adopting methods that save you time. Lastly, as a side note, I found the computers at my testing center very slow and hard to use, so controlling your timing during the actual test is important.
BIO
There's really no trick for this. Memorize as much as you can! I went over the BC 500-page note about 3-4 times, and I also checked the Feralis' note for information not present in the BC note. Biology is difficult, and it was harder for me because I took my DAT one year after graduating from college. At first, I went over the 500-page note once completely. During this first take, I attempted to understand every concept rather than trying to memorize everything (there is a lot, and it is impossible to memorize all by just going over it once). If I encountered something I couldn't understand, I would go to Wiki, YouTube, and Khan Academy. After that, I did the "bio bites" on BC by chapters and read the explanation for every question (these explanations together cover all the texts in the note, so you basically read it a second time by doing this, but in a more active manner). I then read the note completely a third time, and this time, I tried to memorize all of it. Lastly, I attempted the practice tests on BC and would go back to the chapters where I found myself weak at. I also used the practice tests on Booster as a supplement, as it contains concepts not covered on BC. It is important to note that the practice tests on both BC and Booster contain things not covered in the note, so make sure you read the explanations! One week before my DAT, I went over the Feralis' note for missing information, but I didn't finish it (I read about 2/3). To be honest, I found that the Feralis' note contains a lot of details and is too compact to read for someone who doesn't already have a good foundation in bio. I'm not sure if some of these details are relevant, but I found them really hard to memorize. I've read several posts about whether the BC note is enough and how the Feralis' note covers everything. But I found that to be very dependent upon individuals. Personally, I partially agree with the notion of "breadth over depth", and I think some people misunderstand it. It is crucial to know as much as you can for DAT bio, but you still have to master the concepts to a certain degree. Breadth should be built upon a basic level of depth. Some details and numbers are not that relevant, but being able to understand the reasons, mechanisms and processes behind the concepts is very important. For this reason, I think the BC 500-page note is a great place to start, since it covers most of the basics and gives you good explanations for everything. As you build up your understanding of the bio topics covered in the DAT, other resources, including the Feralis' and extra questions, become good supplement to fill in additional details. That being said, trying to memorize these compact notes from the very beginning is not an efficient way to study in my opinion, and the actual test questions were much more straightforward from my experience (less details).
GC & OC
These two sections are similar in terms of test prep in my opinion, so I'll just group them together here. Mike's videos are all I used to prepare, and I think they contain everything you need to know. Make sure to print the notes from BC beforehand, and take your own notes (such as exceptions to reactions) on them while watching the videos. I didn't do this initially and had to re-watch the videos later. There's a YouTube channel called jOeCHEM that you can check out. It contains detailed explanations on some reactions, and I watched some of them for clarification (Diels-Alder in particular). I didn't get many complex calculation questions for GC on the actual thing, and the reaction questions for OC were very basic and straightforward. Therefore, I would focus on UNDERSTANDING the principles and methods for GC and memorizing the OC reaction sheet from front to back. Do practice questions, especially for GC, to identify areas of weakness and familiarize yourself with how to approach calculation questions (ICE table, stoichiometry, etc.).
QR
I didn't really spend too much time for this section, as I survived from high school maths in China. From my experience, the single best way to get better at maths is to know the principles and do tons of practice. The QR section on the DAT is time-intensive and requires you to be familiar with how to approach different types of questions. The one type of questions that I find most difficult is the data sufficiency problems, as I tend to spend too much time on them. I usually first try to determine if either one of the statements is enough so that I can effectively eliminate several choices. I would also try not to focus on figuring out the exact answer but rather on determining what information I need to solve the problem. In this way, you can get to the correct choice faster.
RC
I am not a native speaker, so I was really happy to score a 27 on this section. I didn't do much practice but developed my own method for approaching the passages. I always first quickly glimpse through the passages and highlight any numbers, definitions, and details along the way. I wouldn't spend time on trying to understand these details. Instead, I just need to know what these are roughly about (this saves a lot of time). At the same time, I always try to understand the structures the passages, especially what each paragraph is talking about. Then, as I try to do the questions, I go back to relevant paragraphs and look for answers in my highlights. I find this to be an effective method, and the only skill it requires is the ability to "guess" what details the questions will ask you about. I also suggest practicing your reading speed and ability to locate important information while reading your biology notes, since this is efficient and most RC passages are biology-related.
PAT
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, and PRACTICE! You should do each type of questions every day to improve your skills and speed. But don't do this in a passive way. You should start to develop your own methods of approaching these types of problems. I've read about various techniques for the PAT, but I don't think there exist any really effective techniques that could save you from practice. I was really worried about the PAT before taking the actual test, but the questions turned out to be significantly easier than those from the practice tests, especially keyholes and TFE. That being said, you should still practice with hard questions to get better at it. Timing is very crucial here. It is helpful to know what sections are more time-consuming for you. I always aim to finish keyholes and TFE with 12 mins each. Angle ranking and cube counting shouldn't take too much time and will make up for the extra time spent on keyholes and TFE. Hole punching and pattern folding usually cost me about 10 mins each. I will also list some of the techniques that I actually find helpful here (in general, always glimpse through the answer choices first):
Keyholes: Look at the choices first and try to eliminate absolutely impossible ones. Then group the remaining choices based on similar shapes, and eliminate wrong ones from each group. If you still have several possibilities, then look at proportions of adjacent lines and shapes.
TFE: Look at the choices first and try to group them based on one or two differences. Focus on one of these aspects and go back to the views to figure out what is more likely to be true (line counting works in certain cases). If you can't single out one choice in this way, then you can try to construct a mental representation of the object. However, I frequently find that it is not necessary.
Angle ranking: This is a multiple choice exam, so you should learn to use the answer choices to your advantage. I always first look at what are indicated as the largest/smallest angles in the choices and try to compare two angles at a time to eliminate wrong choices. Then I would compare the next point of difference. You can use the different methods (such as laptop and slope), but I don't find these too helpful. I believe they only help you to neglect the relative lengths of lines. However, there is not much to say about this section, and practice makes a difference.
Hole punching: I always draw the 4 by 4 grid and trace back from each fold. You can also draw a line a symmetry for each fold and put a hole on each side of the line. But be mindful of when there is no paper underneath and only one hole results.
Cube counting: I list 0 to 5 on paper before counting and put check marks next to these numbers as I count up the whole objects. As you practice you more, you will kind of remember the characteristics of each type of cubes (with different numbers of surface painted).
Pattern folding: For irregular objects, I try to find a surface that can differentiate the answer choices. For objects with surface characteristics (such as a dice), I look at two to three adjacent surfaces at a time and try to determine how these will look like after folding.
Final Thoughts
This is my first ever post on the forum, and I hope you find some value in it. DAT is difficult, but with proper preparation, it definitely can be aced. English is not my first language, but I still managed to score well. So study hard and trust yourself! I believe you can do well! If you have any specific questions or comments, please let me know and I'll try to reply to each of them. Finally, for those of you who are applying this cycle, I hope you all can get accepted to your dream schools.
First, I want to share some of my backgrounds. I came from China to the United States for undergraduate study six years ago and graduated from college in 2020. Right now, I am attending the dental hygiene program at a dental school. My stats: 3.73 oGPA, 3.88 sGPA. My DAT score: 29AA/29TS/26BIO/30GC/30OC/30QR/27RC/25PAT.
General Info
My prep time was roughly 2.5 months, and I studied for about 7-10 hours a day. I didn't follow any specific schedules but created my own instead. I believe this is a more efficient method, because people have different strengths and weaknesses and should aim to spend more time in areas they are not good at. It is also important to make adjustments to your schedule all the time to account for changes in your knowledge and skills. In fact, I didn't even have a "physical schedule", because actually making and modifying the schedule seemed like a waste of time to me. Instead, I just set up a mental plan each day about what to go over in the next few days based on my own feedback and asked myself if this plan would allow me to cover everything before the test day. In this way, I had a constantly changing schedule that best suited my strengths and weaknesses. In terms of prep materials, I only used BC and DAT Booster. I think both of them are wonderful resources and the mastery of these will give you a good score. That being said, I believe you should also check other breakdowns for suggestions on prep materials, because many of those have better inclusions of available resources. If I had more time, I would probably also go over the Destroyer questions. In terms of my strategy, I spent most my time studying for the science sections, especially biology. I wouldn't spend a day without reading at least some biology. It is also EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you keep practicing PAT on a daily bases since the very beginning of your test prep. This is one of the biggest mistakes I made, and it stressed me out before the test day. In general, I think good efficiency of test prep comes from utilizing the time when you are "doing nothing" (such as waiting in lines) and adopting methods that save you time. Lastly, as a side note, I found the computers at my testing center very slow and hard to use, so controlling your timing during the actual test is important.
BIO
There's really no trick for this. Memorize as much as you can! I went over the BC 500-page note about 3-4 times, and I also checked the Feralis' note for information not present in the BC note. Biology is difficult, and it was harder for me because I took my DAT one year after graduating from college. At first, I went over the 500-page note once completely. During this first take, I attempted to understand every concept rather than trying to memorize everything (there is a lot, and it is impossible to memorize all by just going over it once). If I encountered something I couldn't understand, I would go to Wiki, YouTube, and Khan Academy. After that, I did the "bio bites" on BC by chapters and read the explanation for every question (these explanations together cover all the texts in the note, so you basically read it a second time by doing this, but in a more active manner). I then read the note completely a third time, and this time, I tried to memorize all of it. Lastly, I attempted the practice tests on BC and would go back to the chapters where I found myself weak at. I also used the practice tests on Booster as a supplement, as it contains concepts not covered on BC. It is important to note that the practice tests on both BC and Booster contain things not covered in the note, so make sure you read the explanations! One week before my DAT, I went over the Feralis' note for missing information, but I didn't finish it (I read about 2/3). To be honest, I found that the Feralis' note contains a lot of details and is too compact to read for someone who doesn't already have a good foundation in bio. I'm not sure if some of these details are relevant, but I found them really hard to memorize. I've read several posts about whether the BC note is enough and how the Feralis' note covers everything. But I found that to be very dependent upon individuals. Personally, I partially agree with the notion of "breadth over depth", and I think some people misunderstand it. It is crucial to know as much as you can for DAT bio, but you still have to master the concepts to a certain degree. Breadth should be built upon a basic level of depth. Some details and numbers are not that relevant, but being able to understand the reasons, mechanisms and processes behind the concepts is very important. For this reason, I think the BC 500-page note is a great place to start, since it covers most of the basics and gives you good explanations for everything. As you build up your understanding of the bio topics covered in the DAT, other resources, including the Feralis' and extra questions, become good supplement to fill in additional details. That being said, trying to memorize these compact notes from the very beginning is not an efficient way to study in my opinion, and the actual test questions were much more straightforward from my experience (less details).
GC & OC
These two sections are similar in terms of test prep in my opinion, so I'll just group them together here. Mike's videos are all I used to prepare, and I think they contain everything you need to know. Make sure to print the notes from BC beforehand, and take your own notes (such as exceptions to reactions) on them while watching the videos. I didn't do this initially and had to re-watch the videos later. There's a YouTube channel called jOeCHEM that you can check out. It contains detailed explanations on some reactions, and I watched some of them for clarification (Diels-Alder in particular). I didn't get many complex calculation questions for GC on the actual thing, and the reaction questions for OC were very basic and straightforward. Therefore, I would focus on UNDERSTANDING the principles and methods for GC and memorizing the OC reaction sheet from front to back. Do practice questions, especially for GC, to identify areas of weakness and familiarize yourself with how to approach calculation questions (ICE table, stoichiometry, etc.).
QR
I didn't really spend too much time for this section, as I survived from high school maths in China. From my experience, the single best way to get better at maths is to know the principles and do tons of practice. The QR section on the DAT is time-intensive and requires you to be familiar with how to approach different types of questions. The one type of questions that I find most difficult is the data sufficiency problems, as I tend to spend too much time on them. I usually first try to determine if either one of the statements is enough so that I can effectively eliminate several choices. I would also try not to focus on figuring out the exact answer but rather on determining what information I need to solve the problem. In this way, you can get to the correct choice faster.
RC
I am not a native speaker, so I was really happy to score a 27 on this section. I didn't do much practice but developed my own method for approaching the passages. I always first quickly glimpse through the passages and highlight any numbers, definitions, and details along the way. I wouldn't spend time on trying to understand these details. Instead, I just need to know what these are roughly about (this saves a lot of time). At the same time, I always try to understand the structures the passages, especially what each paragraph is talking about. Then, as I try to do the questions, I go back to relevant paragraphs and look for answers in my highlights. I find this to be an effective method, and the only skill it requires is the ability to "guess" what details the questions will ask you about. I also suggest practicing your reading speed and ability to locate important information while reading your biology notes, since this is efficient and most RC passages are biology-related.
PAT
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, and PRACTICE! You should do each type of questions every day to improve your skills and speed. But don't do this in a passive way. You should start to develop your own methods of approaching these types of problems. I've read about various techniques for the PAT, but I don't think there exist any really effective techniques that could save you from practice. I was really worried about the PAT before taking the actual test, but the questions turned out to be significantly easier than those from the practice tests, especially keyholes and TFE. That being said, you should still practice with hard questions to get better at it. Timing is very crucial here. It is helpful to know what sections are more time-consuming for you. I always aim to finish keyholes and TFE with 12 mins each. Angle ranking and cube counting shouldn't take too much time and will make up for the extra time spent on keyholes and TFE. Hole punching and pattern folding usually cost me about 10 mins each. I will also list some of the techniques that I actually find helpful here (in general, always glimpse through the answer choices first):
Keyholes: Look at the choices first and try to eliminate absolutely impossible ones. Then group the remaining choices based on similar shapes, and eliminate wrong ones from each group. If you still have several possibilities, then look at proportions of adjacent lines and shapes.
TFE: Look at the choices first and try to group them based on one or two differences. Focus on one of these aspects and go back to the views to figure out what is more likely to be true (line counting works in certain cases). If you can't single out one choice in this way, then you can try to construct a mental representation of the object. However, I frequently find that it is not necessary.
Angle ranking: This is a multiple choice exam, so you should learn to use the answer choices to your advantage. I always first look at what are indicated as the largest/smallest angles in the choices and try to compare two angles at a time to eliminate wrong choices. Then I would compare the next point of difference. You can use the different methods (such as laptop and slope), but I don't find these too helpful. I believe they only help you to neglect the relative lengths of lines. However, there is not much to say about this section, and practice makes a difference.
Hole punching: I always draw the 4 by 4 grid and trace back from each fold. You can also draw a line a symmetry for each fold and put a hole on each side of the line. But be mindful of when there is no paper underneath and only one hole results.
Cube counting: I list 0 to 5 on paper before counting and put check marks next to these numbers as I count up the whole objects. As you practice you more, you will kind of remember the characteristics of each type of cubes (with different numbers of surface painted).
Pattern folding: For irregular objects, I try to find a surface that can differentiate the answer choices. For objects with surface characteristics (such as a dice), I look at two to three adjacent surfaces at a time and try to determine how these will look like after folding.
Final Thoughts
This is my first ever post on the forum, and I hope you find some value in it. DAT is difficult, but with proper preparation, it definitely can be aced. English is not my first language, but I still managed to score well. So study hard and trust yourself! I believe you can do well! If you have any specific questions or comments, please let me know and I'll try to reply to each of them. Finally, for those of you who are applying this cycle, I hope you all can get accepted to your dream schools.
