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2022 DAT BREAKDOWN (23 AA/24 TS/21 PAT)
Scores
Biology - 24
Gen chem - 26
Organic chem - 24
PAT - 21
RC - 17 (How badly will this affect me?)
QR - 24
Background
I am a rising senior, but kind of non-traditional! I went to community college my first two years and then transferred to Ohio State. I had a 4.00 at the community college and a 3.8 at Ohio State. I am a chemistry major so I would say I have a good science background.
Materials used
DATBooster, Chad’s Prep (gen chem), CrashCourse (bio), Bozeman Science (bio) and school notes. Honestly, DATBooster and those free YouTube videos are all you need. Basically, if there was something that I needed reinforcement with, I would look up a YouTube video on it.
Study process
I studied for about 3 months, starting in February and took it in May. I used DATBooster’s 10 week guide, but once I got to the 3rd phase, I just made my own schedule. That being said, I was studying for the DAT while taking a full load of classes. IF YOU CAN, STUDY FOR IT WHEN YOU HAVE NO COMMITMENTS. To be honest, taking classes and studying was so brutal. My schedule was pretty intense, but I did make it through and it was worth it. During school/finals I probably averaged 5-6 hours a day. I scheduled my exam 3 weeks after my finals ended. Once I finished finals, I was able to put in 8 hours/day leading up to the day before the exam. The only thing that kept me going was imagining myself on test day, seeing my scores, and feeling relieved that everything paid off.
Day of the DAT
The day before my exam, I did some light studying and drove to my testing center. My exam was at 7:30am, but it was 2 hours away from my house, so I got a hotel and stayed the night before. For breakfast I had a protein box from Starbucks and RX oatmeal. I looked for something high protein and low sugar to keep me going! For my break I packed a Kind bar. Make sure to not drink too much water before and on your break. You do not want to waste any time going to the bathroom during the test. Prometric was great, checked me in, made me feel comfortable. I did bring my own earplug, but they do offer you noise canceling headphones. I was happy I brought ear plugs because the headphones hurt my head. One thing you need to be aware of is the lag! On some computers (sadly mine) there’s a lag between each question. During the science section it wasn’t horrible, but it slowly got worse lol. My RC and QR had a lag of like 6-7 seconds. Even though it did lag for 6-7 seconds, the timer only went down 2-3 seconds. I know it sounds like it's not that bad, but the DAT is so time-sensitive so it really does eat up your time. I know it sucks, but prepare for it!
Bio - 24 (Practice tests: 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 19, 20, 25, 24, 24)
This is the section I probably studied the most for. With my early practice exams scoring low, I knew I had to do a heavy review. To study, I read Feralis notes and took more condensed notes on them. I also had a free crash course, so I used that for Biology II (the physiology portion). I loved DATBooster’s crash course. It helped me see how in depth I had to go with the material. I watched a lot of videos (especially Crash Course’s anatomy and physiology playlist) and used Anki. I know the Anki deck is intimidating, but I did them whenever I could and they really help with memorizing small things. My biggest advice is to make your own notes. After taking practice tests, I would use Notability and write things out.
Gen chem - 26 (Practice tests: 17, 17, 18, 21, 16, 22, 22, 25, 21, 22)
This was the section I was most nervous for! Even though I’m a chemistry major, I was really worried about the calculations. Multiplying and dividing by decimals can be really time consuming (especially calorimetry!). Thankfully, I barely had any calculations on mine. I’ve seen a lot of the other breakdowns and it looks like the tests have been a bit more conceptual lately! To study, I did all the question banks, watched DATBooster’s videos as well as Chad’s Prep. I also made my own notes on concepts I struggled on.
Organic chem - 24 (Practice tests: 20, 22, 20, 22, 18, 25, 20, 23, 23, 22)
This was the section I studied the least for. I was studying for the DAT while also taking organic chem 2. I did all the question banks, watched all the videos, and used the Anki deck. I honestly can’t remember, but I think the actual DAT didn’t have as many reaction questions.
PAT - 21 (Practice tests: 17, 20, 20, 21, 19, 20, 24, 22, 21, 20)
I skipped straight to angle ranking, then completed the questions in order, then jumped back to keyhole and TFE! In my opinion, the actual DAT was harder than DATBooster’s. I did the generators mostly everyday. The last week of studying I redid some of the practice tests as well. Overall, be fast with angle ranking, holepunching, and cube counting because pattern folding, keyhole, and TFE require more time.
RC - 17 (Practice tests: 18, 21, 18, 20, 19, 20, 18, 20, 18, 22)
I don’t know what happened here lol. I was surprised when I got my score back. My passages were shorter (like 8, 9, and 13 paragraphs) and I was able to review my marked questions too. My test had a lot of application questions and the lag was brutal here though. My strategy was the vanilla method, but I would read the question first and if the answer came up, I would answer it and move on.
About my score, did this happen to anyone else too? I don’t know how bad this will affect me. I would really appreciate some thoughts/advice.
QR - 24 (Practice tests: 13, 21, 17, 19, 18, 21, 17, 20, 20, 23)
A lot of people say that DATBooster’s practice exams are much harder than the real thing, but I would have to disagree! They were the same difficulty in my opinion, so I was surprised when taking the actual exam. I didn’t study that much for this since everyone was saying that the actual DAT is much easier. I would say I’m pretty good at math, so I did fine, but if you aren't, do not ignore this section!
Overall
Studying for the DAT is no joke. I think I literally studied everyday for the past 3 months. Even on the days I was traveling from school to home, I would play CrashCourse videos in the background. Mentally prepare yourself and be okay with giving up your social life. I did go out multiple times throughout my studying, but it was only after I had completed what I had to do for the day. Think of this time as investing in yourself! All that I sacrificed was so worth it. You can get through this!
Scores
Biology - 24
Gen chem - 26
Organic chem - 24
PAT - 21
RC - 17 (How badly will this affect me?)
QR - 24
Background
I am a rising senior, but kind of non-traditional! I went to community college my first two years and then transferred to Ohio State. I had a 4.00 at the community college and a 3.8 at Ohio State. I am a chemistry major so I would say I have a good science background.
Materials used
DATBooster, Chad’s Prep (gen chem), CrashCourse (bio), Bozeman Science (bio) and school notes. Honestly, DATBooster and those free YouTube videos are all you need. Basically, if there was something that I needed reinforcement with, I would look up a YouTube video on it.
Study process
I studied for about 3 months, starting in February and took it in May. I used DATBooster’s 10 week guide, but once I got to the 3rd phase, I just made my own schedule. That being said, I was studying for the DAT while taking a full load of classes. IF YOU CAN, STUDY FOR IT WHEN YOU HAVE NO COMMITMENTS. To be honest, taking classes and studying was so brutal. My schedule was pretty intense, but I did make it through and it was worth it. During school/finals I probably averaged 5-6 hours a day. I scheduled my exam 3 weeks after my finals ended. Once I finished finals, I was able to put in 8 hours/day leading up to the day before the exam. The only thing that kept me going was imagining myself on test day, seeing my scores, and feeling relieved that everything paid off.
Day of the DAT
The day before my exam, I did some light studying and drove to my testing center. My exam was at 7:30am, but it was 2 hours away from my house, so I got a hotel and stayed the night before. For breakfast I had a protein box from Starbucks and RX oatmeal. I looked for something high protein and low sugar to keep me going! For my break I packed a Kind bar. Make sure to not drink too much water before and on your break. You do not want to waste any time going to the bathroom during the test. Prometric was great, checked me in, made me feel comfortable. I did bring my own earplug, but they do offer you noise canceling headphones. I was happy I brought ear plugs because the headphones hurt my head. One thing you need to be aware of is the lag! On some computers (sadly mine) there’s a lag between each question. During the science section it wasn’t horrible, but it slowly got worse lol. My RC and QR had a lag of like 6-7 seconds. Even though it did lag for 6-7 seconds, the timer only went down 2-3 seconds. I know it sounds like it's not that bad, but the DAT is so time-sensitive so it really does eat up your time. I know it sucks, but prepare for it!
Bio - 24 (Practice tests: 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 19, 20, 25, 24, 24)
This is the section I probably studied the most for. With my early practice exams scoring low, I knew I had to do a heavy review. To study, I read Feralis notes and took more condensed notes on them. I also had a free crash course, so I used that for Biology II (the physiology portion). I loved DATBooster’s crash course. It helped me see how in depth I had to go with the material. I watched a lot of videos (especially Crash Course’s anatomy and physiology playlist) and used Anki. I know the Anki deck is intimidating, but I did them whenever I could and they really help with memorizing small things. My biggest advice is to make your own notes. After taking practice tests, I would use Notability and write things out.
Gen chem - 26 (Practice tests: 17, 17, 18, 21, 16, 22, 22, 25, 21, 22)
This was the section I was most nervous for! Even though I’m a chemistry major, I was really worried about the calculations. Multiplying and dividing by decimals can be really time consuming (especially calorimetry!). Thankfully, I barely had any calculations on mine. I’ve seen a lot of the other breakdowns and it looks like the tests have been a bit more conceptual lately! To study, I did all the question banks, watched DATBooster’s videos as well as Chad’s Prep. I also made my own notes on concepts I struggled on.
Organic chem - 24 (Practice tests: 20, 22, 20, 22, 18, 25, 20, 23, 23, 22)
This was the section I studied the least for. I was studying for the DAT while also taking organic chem 2. I did all the question banks, watched all the videos, and used the Anki deck. I honestly can’t remember, but I think the actual DAT didn’t have as many reaction questions.
PAT - 21 (Practice tests: 17, 20, 20, 21, 19, 20, 24, 22, 21, 20)
I skipped straight to angle ranking, then completed the questions in order, then jumped back to keyhole and TFE! In my opinion, the actual DAT was harder than DATBooster’s. I did the generators mostly everyday. The last week of studying I redid some of the practice tests as well. Overall, be fast with angle ranking, holepunching, and cube counting because pattern folding, keyhole, and TFE require more time.
RC - 17 (Practice tests: 18, 21, 18, 20, 19, 20, 18, 20, 18, 22)
I don’t know what happened here lol. I was surprised when I got my score back. My passages were shorter (like 8, 9, and 13 paragraphs) and I was able to review my marked questions too. My test had a lot of application questions and the lag was brutal here though. My strategy was the vanilla method, but I would read the question first and if the answer came up, I would answer it and move on.
About my score, did this happen to anyone else too? I don’t know how bad this will affect me. I would really appreciate some thoughts/advice.
QR - 24 (Practice tests: 13, 21, 17, 19, 18, 21, 17, 20, 20, 23)
A lot of people say that DATBooster’s practice exams are much harder than the real thing, but I would have to disagree! They were the same difficulty in my opinion, so I was surprised when taking the actual exam. I didn’t study that much for this since everyone was saying that the actual DAT is much easier. I would say I’m pretty good at math, so I did fine, but if you aren't, do not ignore this section!
Overall
Studying for the DAT is no joke. I think I literally studied everyday for the past 3 months. Even on the days I was traveling from school to home, I would play CrashCourse videos in the background. Mentally prepare yourself and be okay with giving up your social life. I did go out multiple times throughout my studying, but it was only after I had completed what I had to do for the day. Think of this time as investing in yourself! All that I sacrificed was so worth it. You can get through this!
