twinkie1234
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2022
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 1
Hi everyone! I just took my DAT yesterday and wanted to share my thoughts and experience. I’ve seen several of these breakdowns and thought they were helpful, so I wanted to do the same for others.
Scores:
PAT - 20
QR - 20
RC - 22
Bio - 21
GC - 22
OC - 23
TS - 22
AA - 22
Studying
I studied for my DAT during the fall semester along with a 15 hour course load and other school activities. If I could go back, I wish that I had studied during the summer instead. Since I knew I was studying during a busy period of time, I made sure to make a schedule of what I was going to do each day. I used the DAT Booster 10 week schedule as reference and made my own schedule since I knew I had less time to study due to school. I found it extremely overwhelming since I also had to worry about my classes. I took my DAT during the winter break.
I only used DAT Booster to study for my DAT. I’ve heard of DAT Bootcamp and other resources, but DAT Booster was much cheaper and I have heard that the questions were much more representative. I believe DAT Booster is all you need for preparing for the DAT. It is constantly updated with more representative material, a team member is always quick to respond, and they offer discounts throughout the year.
PAT (20)
DAT Booster has many resources when it comes to studying for this section, including videos, generators, practice questions, and analyzers. I always dreaded this section, but I am happy with my score. I would recommend practicing a few questions every day to improve. One thing that threw me off was that at the beginning of each section (TFE, Keyholes, etc..), there was a page on an example problem and instructions that pop up after each section WHILE your time is still going down.
QR (20)
I was pretty disappointed in my score for this section. I completed all the practice questions, studied all the equations, and was only missing one or two questions on the practice tests. I think the main reason I received the score I did was due to time. On test day, I had two sheets of laminated paper with expo markers. Since you have to ask for more paper once you are done, I found myself more stressed. I also was not used to writing with an expo marker as I used pen and paper for my practice tests. The markers were also pretty bad. I would keep this in mind and try to practice with these materials. I have seen some on amazon.
RC (22)
I received a lower score than what I am used to in this section. One thing that threw me off was the different font that was used for the reading passages. I was so used to a certain font that was pretty readable on the Booster practice tests. So when I saw the font on the real test, I found it hard to read and this led me to spending way more time on the first passage than I am used to. Regarding the questions, most were very straightforward with some tone/author’s thoughts questions.
Bio (21)
The Bio section is known to be very very dense. There is a lot of material that you are expected to know without knowing what you will be tested on. I felt very prepared for this section, as I watched every video, reviewed all notes, and completed all the practice questions. However, based on my experience, the DAT surprised me with some questions that threw me off. I did not have many questions regarding anatomy or bodily systems, as most of my questions were based on evolution and ecology. However, there were two questions that were almost word for word the same as the practice questions on Booster.
GC (22)
I do not remember anything that stood out when it came to this section. When it comes to preparing for this section, I’ve heard that Chad’s videos were extremely helpful. I had many questions that required calculations, which took up the majority of my time and space on the laminated paper.
OC (23)
I have a strong background in Ochem, so I did not spend too much time studying for this section. I still watched all the videos and solved all the practice questions on Booster to prepare. There were some questions that I have never seen before. I do not know if it is because I took it at the end of the year (Dec 30) and they were adding new questions. One thing I did notice was that for the NMR questions, the H NMR was not clear and looked like squiggles; I could not depict whether it was displaying a triplet or a quartet and etc.
Overall Thoughts
At first, I was pretty devastated with my DAT score, knowing that I have worked so hard. The score I received was the score of my first practice test before my scores started to improve. However, I am relieved that I no longer have to worry about it. I decided not to retake this test as studying for it is pretty draining. I wanted to point out the things that popped up on my exam that I did not expect to try and help others out so they are not caught off guard. Sometimes, things do not go the way you want them to, but don’t let that discourage you. Overall, studying for the DAT can be stressful, but you got this!!
Scores:
PAT - 20
QR - 20
RC - 22
Bio - 21
GC - 22
OC - 23
TS - 22
AA - 22
Studying
I studied for my DAT during the fall semester along with a 15 hour course load and other school activities. If I could go back, I wish that I had studied during the summer instead. Since I knew I was studying during a busy period of time, I made sure to make a schedule of what I was going to do each day. I used the DAT Booster 10 week schedule as reference and made my own schedule since I knew I had less time to study due to school. I found it extremely overwhelming since I also had to worry about my classes. I took my DAT during the winter break.
I only used DAT Booster to study for my DAT. I’ve heard of DAT Bootcamp and other resources, but DAT Booster was much cheaper and I have heard that the questions were much more representative. I believe DAT Booster is all you need for preparing for the DAT. It is constantly updated with more representative material, a team member is always quick to respond, and they offer discounts throughout the year.
PAT (20)
DAT Booster has many resources when it comes to studying for this section, including videos, generators, practice questions, and analyzers. I always dreaded this section, but I am happy with my score. I would recommend practicing a few questions every day to improve. One thing that threw me off was that at the beginning of each section (TFE, Keyholes, etc..), there was a page on an example problem and instructions that pop up after each section WHILE your time is still going down.
QR (20)
I was pretty disappointed in my score for this section. I completed all the practice questions, studied all the equations, and was only missing one or two questions on the practice tests. I think the main reason I received the score I did was due to time. On test day, I had two sheets of laminated paper with expo markers. Since you have to ask for more paper once you are done, I found myself more stressed. I also was not used to writing with an expo marker as I used pen and paper for my practice tests. The markers were also pretty bad. I would keep this in mind and try to practice with these materials. I have seen some on amazon.
RC (22)
I received a lower score than what I am used to in this section. One thing that threw me off was the different font that was used for the reading passages. I was so used to a certain font that was pretty readable on the Booster practice tests. So when I saw the font on the real test, I found it hard to read and this led me to spending way more time on the first passage than I am used to. Regarding the questions, most were very straightforward with some tone/author’s thoughts questions.
Bio (21)
The Bio section is known to be very very dense. There is a lot of material that you are expected to know without knowing what you will be tested on. I felt very prepared for this section, as I watched every video, reviewed all notes, and completed all the practice questions. However, based on my experience, the DAT surprised me with some questions that threw me off. I did not have many questions regarding anatomy or bodily systems, as most of my questions were based on evolution and ecology. However, there were two questions that were almost word for word the same as the practice questions on Booster.
GC (22)
I do not remember anything that stood out when it came to this section. When it comes to preparing for this section, I’ve heard that Chad’s videos were extremely helpful. I had many questions that required calculations, which took up the majority of my time and space on the laminated paper.
OC (23)
I have a strong background in Ochem, so I did not spend too much time studying for this section. I still watched all the videos and solved all the practice questions on Booster to prepare. There were some questions that I have never seen before. I do not know if it is because I took it at the end of the year (Dec 30) and they were adding new questions. One thing I did notice was that for the NMR questions, the H NMR was not clear and looked like squiggles; I could not depict whether it was displaying a triplet or a quartet and etc.
Overall Thoughts
At first, I was pretty devastated with my DAT score, knowing that I have worked so hard. The score I received was the score of my first practice test before my scores started to improve. However, I am relieved that I no longer have to worry about it. I decided not to retake this test as studying for it is pretty draining. I wanted to point out the things that popped up on my exam that I did not expect to try and help others out so they are not caught off guard. Sometimes, things do not go the way you want them to, but don’t let that discourage you. Overall, studying for the DAT can be stressful, but you got this!!
