Hello members of the SDN, finished my DAT on July 6th and I thought it would be nice to share my experience with everyone. I hope this guide can help those who cannot or do not want to spend thousands of dollars on study material.
This is what I got:
PAT 21
QR 24
RC 23
Bio 20
GC 26
OC 24
TS 22
AA 23
Although I came to college knowing that I would be a dentist, yeah I slacked the first few years ending my freshman year with a solid GPA of 2.01 and almost got an academic probation, but decided to not give up and raise it for the next 3 years. If a slacker like me can get this score on the DAT, you all can.
I studied for about 5 weeks straight after graduation in late May to the test date.
The only study material I used was my past notes from college and the DATbootcamp which in total cost me about $250. So here it goes:
Week 0~1: I did not start off by doing any practice tests because I knew I wouldn't do well on them anyways. Instead, I started with the easiest topic to master: Gen chem. I watched about 4 chapters of Mike's videos per day, which took me around 4~5 hours to fully understand the material. In 3 days I finished all 13 chapters. On the 4th day I rewatched the entire 13 chapters to cement the knowledge in my brain. Then on the 5th day I did 5 Gen Chem practice tests (about 2.5h) and reviewed every single question I got wrong (another 2.5h). The 6th day I did the rest of the 5 practice tests and reviewed. The 7th day of the week, I re-did all 10 tests and wrote down the questions I was still getting wrong on a separate notebook. At this point, I knew almost all the types of questions that would appear on the real test.
Week 1~2.5: Time for Orgo. This part seemed daunting at first as I got a C/C+ in both orgo1 and 2 back in college. However, I followed the exact same schedule for GC and had pretty much every single reaction you need to know in my brain. I also put questions that I repeatedly got wrong on a separate notebook.
Week 2.5~4: It took me an extra 3 days to further master my Orgo reactions as I kept forgetting some over time. So mid-way into my 3rd week, I started bio. Apparently some awesome dude called "Feralis" posted bio notes back in 2013 which had all the material you needed to know for the DAT, so I downloaded the PDF (Free, it's on SDN). Good lord, this packet of notes was 80 pages with the smallest font you could possible write with and I felt like giving up. But every day I read about 20 pages and tried to memorize the major subjects (digestion, excretion, muscle, nervous etc.). In 4 days I was done and I did the same process for the chem sections: do 5 practice tests a day and write down the ones you get wrong. My biochem notes from college helped for sections such as glycolysis/krebs and stuff. Oh, and I got a D+ in Principles of biology II freshman year so I was not very fond of the material.
Week 4~5.5ish: Last 1.5 weeks of studying, I re-did all 30 practice tests for Bio/Chem/Orgo on DATBootcamp but I was still getting some questions wrong (35/40 for bio, 28/30 etc.). If I got a single question wrong on the practice test, I re-did the entire test until I got a perfect score. This took me about 5 days to get a perfect 40/40 for bio 30/30 for chem for all 30 practice tests. By this time, I had pretty much every single answer choice imprinted in my brain and knew why this was wrong/right. The next 2 days or so I watched some youtube videos on PAT and learned tricks like the tally method for box counting, the piece of cloth method for the hole punching. Angle ranking wasn't a big issue but I was weak in the keyhole/TFE/Paper folding. I did one practice test on the DATBootcamp and got a 16 on my first try. I noticed that I was taking too much time on the keyholes (had to guess the last 30 questions on my first try). I originally thought it was 90 mins for 60 questions but I was wrong the entire time. So yeah I just gave up on the PAT and didn't study at all, wishing God would help me. I don't recommend you do this but it worked for me. The remaining 4 days or so I did one RC practice test just to know that there were 3 passages and I had to use about 20 mins per passage. This section was very similar to the SAT I took in 2012 so I didn't study for RC either. Just read about tactics that Ari says (search and destroy) in DATBootcamp and wished God would help me one more time. The math section was really math you learn in high school and common sense for graphing questions so I just memorized the equation sheet on DATBootcamp. I had no clue that a yard was 3 foot, and that a mile was 1760 feet because I grew up using the SI system. On the second last day I re-did all 30 science practice tests just to refresh my memory (it took me about 7 mins to finish one practice test because I had the answers memorized).
Test day: My test was at 2:30pm so I got up around 8:00am. I reread all the questions that I had repeatedly got wrong. Then I reread it again. It was about 12:00pm when I was absolutely confident about the questions from DATBootcamp, I just relaxed for about 2 hours watching a movie. Then, I went to take the test and the answers lay in front of my eyes as I clicked "next."
Bio was the most challenging section because even though I thought I knew everything, some random questions would appear. This section I would say is based on luck unless you spend about 3 months learning every detail for bio. The Chem and Orgo were straightforward and many questions resembled the ones I had seen on DATBootcamp. I guess I made a few mistakes but I honestly have no clue where I made them.
The PAT was the part where I panicked. I drank too much water before the test and after finishing my science section, I was about to burst. As you know, there is no break between PAT and the science so I either had to use the bathroom/waste time or hold it in and do the PAT as quickly as possible. I chose the latter and I ended up skimming through most of the TFE questions and the paper folding. The most important part of the PAT is to not get any questions wrong for the hole punching and the box counting as you can easily get those correct. I finished the PAT in about 45 mins and rushed out to the bathroom. It was the best feeling.
The RC was very easy because most of my questions followed a chronological order and I did not need to jump around too much. I guess I was lucky here. The math was straightforward except one question that I had no clue was and guessed.
Conclusion: This schedule can be daunting at first, and yes it is rigorous as I studied about 6 hours per day for the full month and a half or so. But hey, if you want to be a dentist, harder things will come and the DAT will be one of the easiest tests you take in your career.
If you don't want to spend thousands on studying material, this schedule may be for you, it may also not be for you. It really depends on if you can learn something by re-doing tests. If you need more material to test your knowledge, then go ahead use more resources. I would say I was lucky for the RC and the PAT section, but this can't be trained if you are on a really tight schedule like me. I guess playing games from early in my life helped me do the PAT, but good luck. For me, this method worked. And remember, I am probably below average in terms of GPA or as a scholar in general. If someone like me can do it, you can too. Good luck to you all. Drink water. It helps.
This is what I got:
PAT 21
QR 24
RC 23
Bio 20
GC 26
OC 24
TS 22
AA 23
Although I came to college knowing that I would be a dentist, yeah I slacked the first few years ending my freshman year with a solid GPA of 2.01 and almost got an academic probation, but decided to not give up and raise it for the next 3 years. If a slacker like me can get this score on the DAT, you all can.
I studied for about 5 weeks straight after graduation in late May to the test date.
The only study material I used was my past notes from college and the DATbootcamp which in total cost me about $250. So here it goes:
Week 0~1: I did not start off by doing any practice tests because I knew I wouldn't do well on them anyways. Instead, I started with the easiest topic to master: Gen chem. I watched about 4 chapters of Mike's videos per day, which took me around 4~5 hours to fully understand the material. In 3 days I finished all 13 chapters. On the 4th day I rewatched the entire 13 chapters to cement the knowledge in my brain. Then on the 5th day I did 5 Gen Chem practice tests (about 2.5h) and reviewed every single question I got wrong (another 2.5h). The 6th day I did the rest of the 5 practice tests and reviewed. The 7th day of the week, I re-did all 10 tests and wrote down the questions I was still getting wrong on a separate notebook. At this point, I knew almost all the types of questions that would appear on the real test.
Week 1~2.5: Time for Orgo. This part seemed daunting at first as I got a C/C+ in both orgo1 and 2 back in college. However, I followed the exact same schedule for GC and had pretty much every single reaction you need to know in my brain. I also put questions that I repeatedly got wrong on a separate notebook.
Week 2.5~4: It took me an extra 3 days to further master my Orgo reactions as I kept forgetting some over time. So mid-way into my 3rd week, I started bio. Apparently some awesome dude called "Feralis" posted bio notes back in 2013 which had all the material you needed to know for the DAT, so I downloaded the PDF (Free, it's on SDN). Good lord, this packet of notes was 80 pages with the smallest font you could possible write with and I felt like giving up. But every day I read about 20 pages and tried to memorize the major subjects (digestion, excretion, muscle, nervous etc.). In 4 days I was done and I did the same process for the chem sections: do 5 practice tests a day and write down the ones you get wrong. My biochem notes from college helped for sections such as glycolysis/krebs and stuff. Oh, and I got a D+ in Principles of biology II freshman year so I was not very fond of the material.
Week 4~5.5ish: Last 1.5 weeks of studying, I re-did all 30 practice tests for Bio/Chem/Orgo on DATBootcamp but I was still getting some questions wrong (35/40 for bio, 28/30 etc.). If I got a single question wrong on the practice test, I re-did the entire test until I got a perfect score. This took me about 5 days to get a perfect 40/40 for bio 30/30 for chem for all 30 practice tests. By this time, I had pretty much every single answer choice imprinted in my brain and knew why this was wrong/right. The next 2 days or so I watched some youtube videos on PAT and learned tricks like the tally method for box counting, the piece of cloth method for the hole punching. Angle ranking wasn't a big issue but I was weak in the keyhole/TFE/Paper folding. I did one practice test on the DATBootcamp and got a 16 on my first try. I noticed that I was taking too much time on the keyholes (had to guess the last 30 questions on my first try). I originally thought it was 90 mins for 60 questions but I was wrong the entire time. So yeah I just gave up on the PAT and didn't study at all, wishing God would help me. I don't recommend you do this but it worked for me. The remaining 4 days or so I did one RC practice test just to know that there were 3 passages and I had to use about 20 mins per passage. This section was very similar to the SAT I took in 2012 so I didn't study for RC either. Just read about tactics that Ari says (search and destroy) in DATBootcamp and wished God would help me one more time. The math section was really math you learn in high school and common sense for graphing questions so I just memorized the equation sheet on DATBootcamp. I had no clue that a yard was 3 foot, and that a mile was 1760 feet because I grew up using the SI system. On the second last day I re-did all 30 science practice tests just to refresh my memory (it took me about 7 mins to finish one practice test because I had the answers memorized).
Test day: My test was at 2:30pm so I got up around 8:00am. I reread all the questions that I had repeatedly got wrong. Then I reread it again. It was about 12:00pm when I was absolutely confident about the questions from DATBootcamp, I just relaxed for about 2 hours watching a movie. Then, I went to take the test and the answers lay in front of my eyes as I clicked "next."
Bio was the most challenging section because even though I thought I knew everything, some random questions would appear. This section I would say is based on luck unless you spend about 3 months learning every detail for bio. The Chem and Orgo were straightforward and many questions resembled the ones I had seen on DATBootcamp. I guess I made a few mistakes but I honestly have no clue where I made them.
The PAT was the part where I panicked. I drank too much water before the test and after finishing my science section, I was about to burst. As you know, there is no break between PAT and the science so I either had to use the bathroom/waste time or hold it in and do the PAT as quickly as possible. I chose the latter and I ended up skimming through most of the TFE questions and the paper folding. The most important part of the PAT is to not get any questions wrong for the hole punching and the box counting as you can easily get those correct. I finished the PAT in about 45 mins and rushed out to the bathroom. It was the best feeling.
The RC was very easy because most of my questions followed a chronological order and I did not need to jump around too much. I guess I was lucky here. The math was straightforward except one question that I had no clue was and guessed.
Conclusion: This schedule can be daunting at first, and yes it is rigorous as I studied about 6 hours per day for the full month and a half or so. But hey, if you want to be a dentist, harder things will come and the DAT will be one of the easiest tests you take in your career.
If you don't want to spend thousands on studying material, this schedule may be for you, it may also not be for you. It really depends on if you can learn something by re-doing tests. If you need more material to test your knowledge, then go ahead use more resources. I would say I was lucky for the RC and the PAT section, but this can't be trained if you are on a really tight schedule like me. I guess playing games from early in my life helped me do the PAT, but good luck. For me, this method worked. And remember, I am probably below average in terms of GPA or as a scholar in general. If someone like me can do it, you can too. Good luck to you all. Drink water. It helps.
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