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I remember when I started studying for the DAT, it felt like a nightmare. I resorted to SDN more times than I can count to gain some perspective. So to add to those breakdowns that helped me during these past six weeks, here's everything that helped me stay alive through that grueling test. PLEASE let me know if you have any questions.
Resources I used:
DAT Bootcamp
Chad's Videos
Math Destroyer
DAT destroyer for OChem
(I didn't use DAT destroyer for gen chem because honestly, it just made me cry)
Okay, I just want to start by saying that if I can do it, anyone can do it. I am by no means an above average student. My gpa is a 3.5, if that gives some perspective. I knew I only had these 6 weeks to study, so all I did during this time was take a summer class (art) and study for the DAT. I studied about 8-12 hours per day. During the last two weeks I only did the bc tests 1-5. I would take a test one day, and only review pat and rc. The next day I would review everything else from it, and then brush up on topics that were still giving me trouble.
I didn't use the 10 week schedule that Ari provides because I didn't have this time. So here's what I did for each subject:
Bio- 18 (my lowest score)
BOOTCAMP NOTES. I didn't read the AP bio book because when I started, it felt too broad and I knew I wouldn't retain it anyway. I jumped straight into the DAT Bootcamp bio notes and read them twice. I didn't take any notes until one week before my test, because I only wanted to spend time writing down what I was actually forgetting. I didn't make any flashcards or use ANKI/Quizlet. I just read and reread. For the bootcamp bio tests, I read every single explanation. They are SO helpful. That being said, this section really just depends on your luck come test day. I was great at the developmental questions however my test had a lot more taxonomy and lab techniques than I anticipated. The bootcamp tests are very helpful in ensuring you see every possible topic though. I highly recommend always reading the entire explanation for each question- whether you got it right or not. I didn't have a strong background in Biology, so this really helped me.
Gen Chem- 21
CHAD'S VIDEOS. That man will make sure you know everything you have to for the test. I watched all of his videos twice. I took the end of video quizzes three times, four for some of the topics that were challenging for me. Keep in mind, those quizzes are much simpler than the real DAT. But they do help ensure you have the basics down. After finishing his videos I went to bootcamp. I was terrible at gen chem when I took it, so I was most nervous for this section. Bootcamp is very similar in wording to the real test. Although the real test had a couple of complicated questions that I was not familiar with. If you have enough time then I would recommend using Destroyer, however if you're short on time like I was, you might be best without it. I tried a couple of questions but I felt like they were just going over my head and killing my confidence, which I did not have time for. So I skipped it and stuck to bootcamp. For tests 1-5, I watched Mike's videos in the answer explanations for everything. Even topics I was confident in.
OChem- 22
CHAD'S VIDEOS. I love Ochem. It's definitely my favorite class in undergrad so I wasn't too worried about this section. That being said, I've always been weak in stereochemistry. So for this I resorted to the Destroyer questions because they really really help for that topic. The reagent questions were a lot more challenging that anything you'll see on the real DAT though. I wrote down every reaction on the Ochem reaction sheet from bootcamp, at least three times per week. These were easy points that I did not want to miss. For the real DAT, I would say make sure you know your SN1/SN2 reactions. Know the rules for inversion, retention, rate laws- everything. It will show up. (Several times)
QR- 22
MATH DESTROYER. Made me cry. So many times. So worth it. I hadn't taken a math course in years, so I watched the Khan Academy videos before anything. Then I started math destroyer. I took nine tests, untimed. My first test took me over 2 hours, so don't let yourself feel discouraged. I reviewed the problems carefully and noticed my time get less with each test. Then I took the bootcamp tests. These were very helpful for the new QC questions. For my test, the real QC questions were much easier however the probability questions were harder than bootcamp. Make sure you know how to do combined work problems! And I had a conversion question, so I would brush up on those as well.
RC- 26
SEARCH AND DESTROYish. I had no strategy. I didn't read Scientific American. Although I do read a lot of novels, so I think that helped my timing. I didn't do all of the bootcamp tests. I did 6/10 of the bc tests, and just tried to notice what type of questions I was missing, so that I can improve on those. For tone questions, it helped me to just look for keywords in the passage rather than carefully reading the passage. The "strategy" I did use was carefully reading the first paragraph, skimming through the passage, and carefully reading the last paragraph. I didn't use mapping or the highlight feature. Just try to notice trends in what gives you trouble and you'll know what strategy you need to use. But the real test is nowhere near as challenging as bc tests 6-10. It's more on par with 1-5, so test yourself on those if you're short on time.
PAT- 22
BOOTCAMP. I didn't play the pat trainer game because I felt like it was wasting my time (personally). I know people say to play it while you're taking a break but if I'm taking a break, I don't want to do anything DAT related. I took all of the bootcamp tests. I did generators for one type of question every day. So like, monday I did 15 keyhole, tuesday I did 15 tfe, and so on. This really helped me because I wasn't rushed for time so I could review the generators for as long as I needed. For the full length tests, I reviewed every single answer. Right or wrong. I started off barely getting 5/15 for tfe, angle ranking, and pattern folding. But by the end I was getting about 11-13/15 for each. Practice practice practice. On the real test, I thought all of the angles looked the same. I would say that section as well as pattern folding is harder on the real test. But keyhole and tfe is much easier.
SO! SORRY THAT WAS SO LENGTHY! But I was searching for every thread for breakdowns before I took my test, so I tried to be thorough. Here are my bootcamp breakdowns for tests 1-5:
BIO: 22/17/16/18/20
GCHEM: 17/17/24/18/19
OCHEM: 18/18/19/19/20
RC: 18/19/24/x/20
QR: 18/19/18/17/19
PAT: 18/19/20/19/20
Here is my real test breakdown:
BIO: 18
GCHEM: 21
OCHEM: 22
RC: 26
QR: 22
PAT: 22
TS: 20
AA: 22
The day before my test I met with a friend for a few hours and then reviewed one hour for each subject (except pat and rc) before I went to sleep. The morning of the test, I looked over my bio notes and that was it! Don't lose hope! I lost track of how much I cried and how often I felt so defeated while studying for this. But try your hardest not to! You've seriously got this!!!
Resources I used:
DAT Bootcamp
Chad's Videos
Math Destroyer
DAT destroyer for OChem
(I didn't use DAT destroyer for gen chem because honestly, it just made me cry)
Okay, I just want to start by saying that if I can do it, anyone can do it. I am by no means an above average student. My gpa is a 3.5, if that gives some perspective. I knew I only had these 6 weeks to study, so all I did during this time was take a summer class (art) and study for the DAT. I studied about 8-12 hours per day. During the last two weeks I only did the bc tests 1-5. I would take a test one day, and only review pat and rc. The next day I would review everything else from it, and then brush up on topics that were still giving me trouble.
I didn't use the 10 week schedule that Ari provides because I didn't have this time. So here's what I did for each subject:
Bio- 18 (my lowest score)
BOOTCAMP NOTES. I didn't read the AP bio book because when I started, it felt too broad and I knew I wouldn't retain it anyway. I jumped straight into the DAT Bootcamp bio notes and read them twice. I didn't take any notes until one week before my test, because I only wanted to spend time writing down what I was actually forgetting. I didn't make any flashcards or use ANKI/Quizlet. I just read and reread. For the bootcamp bio tests, I read every single explanation. They are SO helpful. That being said, this section really just depends on your luck come test day. I was great at the developmental questions however my test had a lot more taxonomy and lab techniques than I anticipated. The bootcamp tests are very helpful in ensuring you see every possible topic though. I highly recommend always reading the entire explanation for each question- whether you got it right or not. I didn't have a strong background in Biology, so this really helped me.
Gen Chem- 21
CHAD'S VIDEOS. That man will make sure you know everything you have to for the test. I watched all of his videos twice. I took the end of video quizzes three times, four for some of the topics that were challenging for me. Keep in mind, those quizzes are much simpler than the real DAT. But they do help ensure you have the basics down. After finishing his videos I went to bootcamp. I was terrible at gen chem when I took it, so I was most nervous for this section. Bootcamp is very similar in wording to the real test. Although the real test had a couple of complicated questions that I was not familiar with. If you have enough time then I would recommend using Destroyer, however if you're short on time like I was, you might be best without it. I tried a couple of questions but I felt like they were just going over my head and killing my confidence, which I did not have time for. So I skipped it and stuck to bootcamp. For tests 1-5, I watched Mike's videos in the answer explanations for everything. Even topics I was confident in.
OChem- 22
CHAD'S VIDEOS. I love Ochem. It's definitely my favorite class in undergrad so I wasn't too worried about this section. That being said, I've always been weak in stereochemistry. So for this I resorted to the Destroyer questions because they really really help for that topic. The reagent questions were a lot more challenging that anything you'll see on the real DAT though. I wrote down every reaction on the Ochem reaction sheet from bootcamp, at least three times per week. These were easy points that I did not want to miss. For the real DAT, I would say make sure you know your SN1/SN2 reactions. Know the rules for inversion, retention, rate laws- everything. It will show up. (Several times)
QR- 22
MATH DESTROYER. Made me cry. So many times. So worth it. I hadn't taken a math course in years, so I watched the Khan Academy videos before anything. Then I started math destroyer. I took nine tests, untimed. My first test took me over 2 hours, so don't let yourself feel discouraged. I reviewed the problems carefully and noticed my time get less with each test. Then I took the bootcamp tests. These were very helpful for the new QC questions. For my test, the real QC questions were much easier however the probability questions were harder than bootcamp. Make sure you know how to do combined work problems! And I had a conversion question, so I would brush up on those as well.
RC- 26
SEARCH AND DESTROYish. I had no strategy. I didn't read Scientific American. Although I do read a lot of novels, so I think that helped my timing. I didn't do all of the bootcamp tests. I did 6/10 of the bc tests, and just tried to notice what type of questions I was missing, so that I can improve on those. For tone questions, it helped me to just look for keywords in the passage rather than carefully reading the passage. The "strategy" I did use was carefully reading the first paragraph, skimming through the passage, and carefully reading the last paragraph. I didn't use mapping or the highlight feature. Just try to notice trends in what gives you trouble and you'll know what strategy you need to use. But the real test is nowhere near as challenging as bc tests 6-10. It's more on par with 1-5, so test yourself on those if you're short on time.
PAT- 22
BOOTCAMP. I didn't play the pat trainer game because I felt like it was wasting my time (personally). I know people say to play it while you're taking a break but if I'm taking a break, I don't want to do anything DAT related. I took all of the bootcamp tests. I did generators for one type of question every day. So like, monday I did 15 keyhole, tuesday I did 15 tfe, and so on. This really helped me because I wasn't rushed for time so I could review the generators for as long as I needed. For the full length tests, I reviewed every single answer. Right or wrong. I started off barely getting 5/15 for tfe, angle ranking, and pattern folding. But by the end I was getting about 11-13/15 for each. Practice practice practice. On the real test, I thought all of the angles looked the same. I would say that section as well as pattern folding is harder on the real test. But keyhole and tfe is much easier.
SO! SORRY THAT WAS SO LENGTHY! But I was searching for every thread for breakdowns before I took my test, so I tried to be thorough. Here are my bootcamp breakdowns for tests 1-5:
BIO: 22/17/16/18/20
GCHEM: 17/17/24/18/19
OCHEM: 18/18/19/19/20
RC: 18/19/24/x/20
QR: 18/19/18/17/19
PAT: 18/19/20/19/20
Here is my real test breakdown:
BIO: 18
GCHEM: 21
OCHEM: 22
RC: 26
QR: 22
PAT: 22
TS: 20
AA: 22
The day before my test I met with a friend for a few hours and then reviewed one hour for each subject (except pat and rc) before I went to sleep. The morning of the test, I looked over my bio notes and that was it! Don't lose hope! I lost track of how much I cried and how often I felt so defeated while studying for this. But try your hardest not to! You've seriously got this!!!
