Hello everyone! I just took DAT recently, and I am happy with my score! I was reading the breakdown everyday when I was preparing for the exam, and I thought it would be super helpful to post this to help more people like me
Here’s my score breakdown (Practice test avg):
AA 26 (23)
TS 27
Bio 24 (21)
GC 30 (22)
OC 27 (21)
QR 28 (24)
RC 23 (24)
PAT 23 (22)
Background:
Currently a senior with a 3.80+ GPA.
Materials Used (in order of helpfulness):
DAT Booster and Bootcamp - I mainly used Booster and Bootcamp, and both are representative. The questions are about the same for both sites regarding difficulty, clarity, and breadth. I like Booster more because it has a MUCH BETTER PAT section regarding difficulty and method explanation, which helped me a ton because my PAT section was super hard. Bootcamp sometimes had a better explanation for some questions, especially for the biology section, but there are also some overlaps between these two sites.
After all, I would say that I will purchase Booster since it has a better PAT section, and all the others are about the same between the 2 sites. (Booster is also cheaper)
Booster biology cheatsheet - in the last weeks leading up to my exam, I started to use all of the cheatsheets to do the final round of review of the biology section. The cheatsheet did a fantastic job summarizing all the information clearly and concisely. I would read the cheatsheet, recall anything I could about that section, review the questions I got wrong for that chapter, and repeat. It helped me a ton!!
Study Timeline:
I planned to prepare during the summer of 2023 but was too busy with my summer courses and shadowing, so I decided to postpone. During the fall semester, I finished most of the content review, and I utilized the entire month of January to finish everything left and practice exams.
In the last month, I have been studying every day for about 8-10 hours. But, to be honest, everyone is different, and you should have your own schedule to ensure you can retain as much information as possible.
Day of Exam
Bio (24): I was lucky enough that my questions were not super hard to answer or something I didn’t recognize at all. There are only one or two questions I wasn’t too sure of. Biology was my weakest section when I started preparing, so I also put the most effort into this part. I did not watch the videos, as I realized I didn’t retain much information after watching them, which were time-consuming. I think repeating question banks and practice tests are reading notes/cheatsheet is super super helpful.
GC (30): I was shocked when I got my score lol. There were a lot of conceptual questions in my exam, and all the calculations were easy. Make sure to understand the difference between some terms, like electronegativity and electron affinity! Booster has really good notes on GC.
OC (27): repetition is the key!! The reaction sheets on both sites were super helpful, and I was doing the reaction bites periodically just to make sure I wouldn’t forget them. Some concepts are also important to know, like acid/base, nucleophile/electrophile, etc, and how to rank them.
PAT (23): I felt like I was just unlucky on this part because my exam was sooo hard. I have several rocks in the keyhole section, and there were many weird shapes in TFE. I also got floating cube questions. I think Booster was more representative in terms of my exam. I recommend doing all the question banks on the Booster and practicing with the generator daily.
RC (23): I mainly used the search and destroy method and highlighted info while reading. My questions were more straightforward than the practice tests, but I had longer passages.
QR (28): I finished all the practice questions and reviewed what I missed before my practice exams every day. Don’t forget to drill in questions like data sufficiency, probability, and quantity comparison!! Sometimes, they can be super tricky in terms of negative numbers/repeats/wording.
Ending Advice:
If you have time, visit your test center several days before your exam. You will be less nervous when you actually take it since you have been there before. I went to my test center a week before my exam and found it super helpful because I got to find the parking lot and also got a chance to ask the staff some questions.
I know this exam is challenging, but you can do it if you make an effort! Before my exam, I was super nervous and felt like I didn’t know anything, but do not let anxiety beat you!! Take a deep breath and trust yourself.
Here’s my score breakdown (Practice test avg):
AA 26 (23)
TS 27
Bio 24 (21)
GC 30 (22)
OC 27 (21)
QR 28 (24)
RC 23 (24)
PAT 23 (22)
Background:
Currently a senior with a 3.80+ GPA.
Materials Used (in order of helpfulness):
DAT Booster and Bootcamp - I mainly used Booster and Bootcamp, and both are representative. The questions are about the same for both sites regarding difficulty, clarity, and breadth. I like Booster more because it has a MUCH BETTER PAT section regarding difficulty and method explanation, which helped me a ton because my PAT section was super hard. Bootcamp sometimes had a better explanation for some questions, especially for the biology section, but there are also some overlaps between these two sites.
After all, I would say that I will purchase Booster since it has a better PAT section, and all the others are about the same between the 2 sites. (Booster is also cheaper)
Booster biology cheatsheet - in the last weeks leading up to my exam, I started to use all of the cheatsheets to do the final round of review of the biology section. The cheatsheet did a fantastic job summarizing all the information clearly and concisely. I would read the cheatsheet, recall anything I could about that section, review the questions I got wrong for that chapter, and repeat. It helped me a ton!!
Study Timeline:
I planned to prepare during the summer of 2023 but was too busy with my summer courses and shadowing, so I decided to postpone. During the fall semester, I finished most of the content review, and I utilized the entire month of January to finish everything left and practice exams.
In the last month, I have been studying every day for about 8-10 hours. But, to be honest, everyone is different, and you should have your own schedule to ensure you can retain as much information as possible.
Day of Exam
Bio (24): I was lucky enough that my questions were not super hard to answer or something I didn’t recognize at all. There are only one or two questions I wasn’t too sure of. Biology was my weakest section when I started preparing, so I also put the most effort into this part. I did not watch the videos, as I realized I didn’t retain much information after watching them, which were time-consuming. I think repeating question banks and practice tests are reading notes/cheatsheet is super super helpful.
GC (30): I was shocked when I got my score lol. There were a lot of conceptual questions in my exam, and all the calculations were easy. Make sure to understand the difference between some terms, like electronegativity and electron affinity! Booster has really good notes on GC.
OC (27): repetition is the key!! The reaction sheets on both sites were super helpful, and I was doing the reaction bites periodically just to make sure I wouldn’t forget them. Some concepts are also important to know, like acid/base, nucleophile/electrophile, etc, and how to rank them.
PAT (23): I felt like I was just unlucky on this part because my exam was sooo hard. I have several rocks in the keyhole section, and there were many weird shapes in TFE. I also got floating cube questions. I think Booster was more representative in terms of my exam. I recommend doing all the question banks on the Booster and practicing with the generator daily.
RC (23): I mainly used the search and destroy method and highlighted info while reading. My questions were more straightforward than the practice tests, but I had longer passages.
QR (28): I finished all the practice questions and reviewed what I missed before my practice exams every day. Don’t forget to drill in questions like data sufficiency, probability, and quantity comparison!! Sometimes, they can be super tricky in terms of negative numbers/repeats/wording.
Ending Advice:
If you have time, visit your test center several days before your exam. You will be less nervous when you actually take it since you have been there before. I went to my test center a week before my exam and found it super helpful because I got to find the parking lot and also got a chance to ask the staff some questions.
I know this exam is challenging, but you can do it if you make an effort! Before my exam, I was super nervous and felt like I didn’t know anything, but do not let anxiety beat you!! Take a deep breath and trust yourself.
