MarbleOak
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- Jan 10, 2024
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Hi everyone! I just took my DAT this January and I wanted to share how I prepared for the exam, what worked for me, and what I would’ve done differently.
Scores:
PAT - 21
QR - 23
RC - 22
Bio - 25
GC - 26
OC - 24
TS - 25
AA - 24
Background:
Graduated Co’23 with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Materials Used:
Study Plan (10 Weeks)
Because I had graduated and moved back home, I was able to spend 10 weeks studying for the exam full-time. I tried to follow the 10-week study plan provided by DAT Booster, but I stopped following it after the learning phase (the first 39 days). For the learning phase, I completed all the non-optional tasks, and there were days where I fell behind (days with bio, oc, pat). I pushed to catch up on the lighter days (gc, qr, and rc). After the learning phase, I stopped following the plan but kept the days where practice tests were scheduled because I liked having the dates planned out for me as well as the frequency of test-taking increasing as the day got closer to the real exam. Towards the last two weeks, I was mainly doing anki, practice tests, and reviewing my missed questions.
Bio: For the learning phase, I watched the videos and took notes, but after a couple weeks, I stopped taking notes and instead listened to all the videos to gain exposure to the topics and then reinforce them later on with anki. I didn’t read the Feralis-Booster notes because I felt like I was spending a lot of time with the videos, nor did I go over the cheat sheets that were provided. I improve best with practice questions and repetition, so I focused on active recall instead of the readings. Throughout the plan, I struggled specifically with the renal system, embryology/developmental biology, and immunology, as I didn’t have much exposure throughout my undergrad, so I did some bio bits to help reinforce these concepts.
GC: I watched the videos by Professor Dave (I didn’t watch any of Chad’s videos) for each section, and while I was familiar with most of the topics from undergrad, I still took notes to retain the information. The extra questions were helpful for me to reinforce the video content, so after completing these questions, I was still able to practice active recall with anki.
OC: I took ochem during COVID, so I retained almost nothing from undergrad. I knew this section would be my weakest, so I made sure to focus on this section over the others for the first couple weeks. I followed along with the organic chemistry chapter notes, and after taking notes, I would try to answer the ochem extra questions. I fell behind on completing the extra questions, so I caught up on the questions I didn’t answer after the learning phase. Again, after re-learning the topics, I memorized the reactions with anki. If I had more time, I would’ve spent more time understanding the mechanism behind the reactions so I wouldn’t have to memorize them as much. Also, I wasn’t aware of the reaction bank questions until the last two weeks, but they were helpful for identifying my strengths and weaknesses to guide my studying towards the end.
PAT: I watched the videos for each PAT section, and these were extremely helpful for me as they helped me understand how each section worked and strategies for each. The grid and T-table techniques for the hole-punching and cube-counting sections, respectively, were the best because they helped me ace these sections for some practice tests. I didn’t structurally practice the PAT throughout the plan, and because of this, I wasn’t able to improve on the sections without explicit strategies like keyhole, TFE, angle-ranking, and pattern-folding. I only did the extra questions for TFE, and those did help me become more familiar but not confident in this section as I only did up to 150 of the extra questions.
RC: I didn’t focus on studying in this section too much because I did decent on the practice tests, but I wish I had done more practice with the prometric delay because that was a struggle for me during the real test. From watching all the video content, I think the most helpful content were the strategies provided.
QR: I watched all the videos for this section and did the extra questions. I skipped the extra questions from the algebra section but did it for the rest of the topics. I struggled with the word problems, but once I understood that it was just algebra, I was able to improve going forward. I also used anki here to memorize the equations so that I could move faster during this section because I’d always run out of time here during the practice tests. Here, I also wish I had practiced with the prometric delay more because here I ran out of time on the real exam as well.
Day of Exam
Give yourself plenty of time to study, and trust your gut! I got anxious as the exam date creeped up, and I was worried that I’d choke on the real exam. I reminded myself that my hard work will pay off, and ultimately it did. Give it your all and you’ll do great!
Scores:
PAT - 21
QR - 23
RC - 22
Bio - 25
GC - 26
OC - 24
TS - 25
AA - 24
Background:
Graduated Co’23 with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
Materials Used:
- DAT Booster: I’ve only heard of DAT Bootcamp as another DAT study program, but I ultimately chose this program because I heard DAT Booster was comprehensive, cheaper, and more challenging than the real exam. The content provided was organized and easy to follow. I valued all the extra practice questions there were for each subject, as well as having a PAT generator. I completed the extra questions mainly for ochem, qr, and gc. For bio, I felt overwhelmed by the quantity of bio bit questions, so I focused on using the anki flashcards provided. The marked question feature is great for reviewing missed questions; however, I didn’t use this until the last week of studying, so I’d highly recommend starting this early!
- Anki: I absolutely love this program! I spent the majority of my time on anki after completing the extra questions from DAT Booster. I used the decks provided from DAT Booster for bio, gc, oc, and qr, and while they were comprehensive, I had to fill in some missing content from gc (difference between Lewis and Bronsted-Lowry acid/bases), oc (lab techniques and tests), and qr (probability, statistics, and certain triangle rules). I could’ve been more structured with studying the flashcards as I answered the questions whenever it was convenient, and if I was more organized, I could’ve finished the decks sooner and spent more time reinforcing my understanding of the subjects.
- This Biology Review Video: I had trouble memorizing everything within bio due to the vast range of topics, so having a video that could do a comprehensive review (although it doesn’t go over the tree of life or ecology) helped me visualize the breadth of the subject. I believe DAT Booster has a crash course series to “cram” subjects, but I didn’t want to pay an extra cost on top of that for the program.
Study Plan (10 Weeks)
Because I had graduated and moved back home, I was able to spend 10 weeks studying for the exam full-time. I tried to follow the 10-week study plan provided by DAT Booster, but I stopped following it after the learning phase (the first 39 days). For the learning phase, I completed all the non-optional tasks, and there were days where I fell behind (days with bio, oc, pat). I pushed to catch up on the lighter days (gc, qr, and rc). After the learning phase, I stopped following the plan but kept the days where practice tests were scheduled because I liked having the dates planned out for me as well as the frequency of test-taking increasing as the day got closer to the real exam. Towards the last two weeks, I was mainly doing anki, practice tests, and reviewing my missed questions.
Bio: For the learning phase, I watched the videos and took notes, but after a couple weeks, I stopped taking notes and instead listened to all the videos to gain exposure to the topics and then reinforce them later on with anki. I didn’t read the Feralis-Booster notes because I felt like I was spending a lot of time with the videos, nor did I go over the cheat sheets that were provided. I improve best with practice questions and repetition, so I focused on active recall instead of the readings. Throughout the plan, I struggled specifically with the renal system, embryology/developmental biology, and immunology, as I didn’t have much exposure throughout my undergrad, so I did some bio bits to help reinforce these concepts.
GC: I watched the videos by Professor Dave (I didn’t watch any of Chad’s videos) for each section, and while I was familiar with most of the topics from undergrad, I still took notes to retain the information. The extra questions were helpful for me to reinforce the video content, so after completing these questions, I was still able to practice active recall with anki.
OC: I took ochem during COVID, so I retained almost nothing from undergrad. I knew this section would be my weakest, so I made sure to focus on this section over the others for the first couple weeks. I followed along with the organic chemistry chapter notes, and after taking notes, I would try to answer the ochem extra questions. I fell behind on completing the extra questions, so I caught up on the questions I didn’t answer after the learning phase. Again, after re-learning the topics, I memorized the reactions with anki. If I had more time, I would’ve spent more time understanding the mechanism behind the reactions so I wouldn’t have to memorize them as much. Also, I wasn’t aware of the reaction bank questions until the last two weeks, but they were helpful for identifying my strengths and weaknesses to guide my studying towards the end.
PAT: I watched the videos for each PAT section, and these were extremely helpful for me as they helped me understand how each section worked and strategies for each. The grid and T-table techniques for the hole-punching and cube-counting sections, respectively, were the best because they helped me ace these sections for some practice tests. I didn’t structurally practice the PAT throughout the plan, and because of this, I wasn’t able to improve on the sections without explicit strategies like keyhole, TFE, angle-ranking, and pattern-folding. I only did the extra questions for TFE, and those did help me become more familiar but not confident in this section as I only did up to 150 of the extra questions.
RC: I didn’t focus on studying in this section too much because I did decent on the practice tests, but I wish I had done more practice with the prometric delay because that was a struggle for me during the real test. From watching all the video content, I think the most helpful content were the strategies provided.
QR: I watched all the videos for this section and did the extra questions. I skipped the extra questions from the algebra section but did it for the rest of the topics. I struggled with the word problems, but once I understood that it was just algebra, I was able to improve going forward. I also used anki here to memorize the equations so that I could move faster during this section because I’d always run out of time here during the practice tests. Here, I also wish I had practiced with the prometric delay more because here I ran out of time on the real exam as well.
Day of Exam
- Bio (25): The questions were straightforward, and all the questions were represented on DAT Booster. There were a couple questions I marked and had to go back to due to forgetting the difference between certain terms (habituation vs. classical conditioning). Focusing on breadth over depth would definitely be recommended because there is so much content here. The sections I felt confident in from studying weren’t in my exam, but since I covered all the topics, I wasn’t completely lost over the questions I struggled with.
- GC (26): This section had more calculations than theoretical questions for me, so I would make sure to understand how to go about each calculation, specifically thermodynamics and heat transfer.
- OC (24): Anki was helpful here for memorizing the various reactions here. Memorizing/understanding the reagents and products is a must here. Acid strength and alkene/radical stability are key questions here, so make sure to understand these concepts and their associated rankings.
- PAT (21): My strategy: 1) Angle ranking 2) Hole Punch 3) Cube Count 4) Pattern folding 5) TFE 6) Keyhole. I was able to draw my grids and T-tables during the natural science section due to my extra time, but double check with your proctor because I heard some proctors didn’t allow this.
- RC (23): During this time, I was losing steam, so I struggled with memorizing where certain pieces of information were. My strategy was to read the whole passage first, then answer questions, because that worked for me during the practice tests. However, it cost me time as I wasn’t familiar with the prometric delay going between questions. I’d say the questions were more difficult compared to the practice in terms of inferring information between different paragraphs, like a question that asks along the lines of “Is this thing mentioned in paragraph X an example of this other thing mentioned in paragraph Y?"
- QR (22): Most of the questions were algebraic, probability, and rate, speed, and age word problems. I’d recommend getting comfortable with the word problems and being able to convert them to algebraic expressions quickly. I always run out of time here and only have 5 minutes to go over the questions I marked, so being able to go through each question quickly would be helpful. Again, practicing the prometric delay would help with developing your pace here.
- ETC: For my test center, I received a physical calculator, so if your test center also provides one, I’d recommend getting used to it beforehand because I lost some time due to messing up some calculations.
Give yourself plenty of time to study, and trust your gut! I got anxious as the exam date creeped up, and I was worried that I’d choke on the real exam. I reminded myself that my hard work will pay off, and ultimately it did. Give it your all and you’ll do great!
