Bumped up my score from a 21 AA/20 TS to 24 AA / 22 TS
I had a decent score before, but I didn't get into my top choice last year. I know people might think I'm crazy, but because I'm financially concerned I only really wanted to go to my state school. I decided if I reapply this year and still don't get into my state school, I'd be willing to pay more and relocate, too, but it's worth trying one more time. Meanwhile, I really wanted to try to be the top of the game for everything - GPA, DAT, volunteer, etc.
Scores (practice scores from DAT Bootcamp):
PAT 21 (17, 19)
QR 24
RC 26
Bio 20 (20, 18, 18, 17, 19)
GC 27 (23, 19, 24, 21, 23)
OC 21 (20, 20, 18, 19, 18)
TS 22
AA 24
Total study time: 3 months, about 3 -5 hours/day, 5 days/week
I can't say much about the test itself because I don't remember questions and topics like other people seem to. I thought DAT bootcamp PAT was a little harder than the actual for TFE and Keyholes, but about the same for hole punching, cube counting, and angle ranking. QR felt easy and I had time to double-check. I feel like I got all reading questions correct as I was doing them. Bio was pretty random and detailed in some instances. I felt really confident while doing GC, and stereochemistry seemed important to know for OC.
I know 3 hours a day sounds like not enough for a lot of people. But I know myself very well and I stop studying if my mind starts to wander, and give myself a break - hit the gym or indulge in my hobbies. Then I come back in the afternoon or start again tomorrow. I think it's important to be able to study first thing in the morning. I believe in 100% focus even if it's for a shorter amount of time. This is also why I only took practice subject tests only, and never ran through a full practice test in one sitting. Keep in mind though, that I knew I wouldn't run out of time as I took the real DAT before.
Also, during the test, I think I took about 3 or 4 unauthorized bathroom breaks. Feel free to do this! During my 15 minute break, I walked outside - it was a beautiful day. It's important to not clam up and freak out. Your DAT day is just another day; believe you have done everything you can up to that day. Lots of sleep and a tiny bit of coffee in the morning helped me.
Recommended materials
DAT Bootcamp (Esp: GC, OC, Bio)
Chad's Videos (Esp: GC, OC, QR)
DAT Destroyer (Esp: GC, OC)
MATH Destroyer
Cliff's AP Bio (especially subject review tests)
Klein's Organic Chemistry as a Second Language I & II
I'm getting rid of these materials - and there will be a post in the classified section soon.
DAT Bootcamp
First off, I'm half writing this thread because I want to promote DAT Bootcamp. I ended up emailing Ari about 3 times and every single time, he responded the same day, and sometimes within 30 minutes. The set-up is great, and the quality of the practice tests are awesome, and prompt service is only icing on the cake. The only thing that would make DAT Bootcamp better is being able to save results. That being said, I came up with my own time-consuming way to compensate so it was all good in the end. I basically copied and pasted everything I got wrong for each section with the solution. When I re-took DAT bootcamp subject tests, I copied and pasted again. If I got something wrong twice, I knew that I really needed to review. I also made flashcards on quizlet for everything I got wrong.
Chad's Videos
Chad's videos were so helpful for GC and OC. I'm pretty good at math so I only really reviewed the QR sections I needed to. I think it's easy to feel compulsive about watching every single video, but if you think you know the topic, take the quiz first. If you score 100%, chances, are, you probably don't need to watch the video.
I needed a way to see which topics I needed to review the most, so I made a spreadsheet which I am including in this post. I recorded the date which I watched the video, quiz score for every subject test (besides bio), and a second quiz attempt date and score. If I think I did badly, I highlighted the excel square with a "bad" setting (red cell) and came back to it, retaking the quiz. Here's the example:
A blank copy is attached to this post if you'd like to use it as well.
DAT Destroyer
The first time I took the DAT, I was mad at Destroyer because I feel like it didn't help me at all. But back then, I was dumb and thought I could just do practice problems out of Destroyer and that would prepare me for the real thing. I didn't really take notes or review individual topics.
I knew that something had to change and that's why I used Chad's videos this time. I only opened Destroyer after I had already started and was well into Chad's subject videos, and this time, DAT Destroyer helped so much. I also recorded my wrong and correct answers using an Excel spreadsheet.
The spreadsheet is available on Ari's Study Schedule: http://datbootcamp.com/Ari'sStudySchedule.pdf
For every wrong question, I made a flashcard on quizlet. I went over these by subject when I felt like I didn't have total focus for studying or solving problems.
Cliff's AP Bio
Nothing really to say here that hasn't been said before. I used the 3rd edition I believe (whatever was recommended by DAT Bootcamp). Really helpful for remembering everything I learned 3 years ago.
Klein's OC As 2nd Language
I got a 19 OC on my last DAT. I was determined to pull that up, and I think Chad's videos was what helped me the most, but I felt like the quizzes weren't enough practice, and neither was DAT Destroyer because the questions are not sorted by subject. In Klein's questions are sorted by topic and by increasing difficulty. If I looked at my spreadsheet and saw that I was doing badly in one Chad's quiz, I could find more problems for myself in Kleins.
I had a decent score before, but I didn't get into my top choice last year. I know people might think I'm crazy, but because I'm financially concerned I only really wanted to go to my state school. I decided if I reapply this year and still don't get into my state school, I'd be willing to pay more and relocate, too, but it's worth trying one more time. Meanwhile, I really wanted to try to be the top of the game for everything - GPA, DAT, volunteer, etc.
Scores (practice scores from DAT Bootcamp):
PAT 21 (17, 19)
QR 24
RC 26
Bio 20 (20, 18, 18, 17, 19)
GC 27 (23, 19, 24, 21, 23)
OC 21 (20, 20, 18, 19, 18)
TS 22
AA 24
Total study time: 3 months, about 3 -5 hours/day, 5 days/week
I can't say much about the test itself because I don't remember questions and topics like other people seem to. I thought DAT bootcamp PAT was a little harder than the actual for TFE and Keyholes, but about the same for hole punching, cube counting, and angle ranking. QR felt easy and I had time to double-check. I feel like I got all reading questions correct as I was doing them. Bio was pretty random and detailed in some instances. I felt really confident while doing GC, and stereochemistry seemed important to know for OC.
I know 3 hours a day sounds like not enough for a lot of people. But I know myself very well and I stop studying if my mind starts to wander, and give myself a break - hit the gym or indulge in my hobbies. Then I come back in the afternoon or start again tomorrow. I think it's important to be able to study first thing in the morning. I believe in 100% focus even if it's for a shorter amount of time. This is also why I only took practice subject tests only, and never ran through a full practice test in one sitting. Keep in mind though, that I knew I wouldn't run out of time as I took the real DAT before.
Also, during the test, I think I took about 3 or 4 unauthorized bathroom breaks. Feel free to do this! During my 15 minute break, I walked outside - it was a beautiful day. It's important to not clam up and freak out. Your DAT day is just another day; believe you have done everything you can up to that day. Lots of sleep and a tiny bit of coffee in the morning helped me.
Recommended materials
DAT Bootcamp (Esp: GC, OC, Bio)
Chad's Videos (Esp: GC, OC, QR)
DAT Destroyer (Esp: GC, OC)
MATH Destroyer
Cliff's AP Bio (especially subject review tests)
Klein's Organic Chemistry as a Second Language I & II
I'm getting rid of these materials - and there will be a post in the classified section soon.
DAT Bootcamp
First off, I'm half writing this thread because I want to promote DAT Bootcamp. I ended up emailing Ari about 3 times and every single time, he responded the same day, and sometimes within 30 minutes. The set-up is great, and the quality of the practice tests are awesome, and prompt service is only icing on the cake. The only thing that would make DAT Bootcamp better is being able to save results. That being said, I came up with my own time-consuming way to compensate so it was all good in the end. I basically copied and pasted everything I got wrong for each section with the solution. When I re-took DAT bootcamp subject tests, I copied and pasted again. If I got something wrong twice, I knew that I really needed to review. I also made flashcards on quizlet for everything I got wrong.
Chad's Videos
Chad's videos were so helpful for GC and OC. I'm pretty good at math so I only really reviewed the QR sections I needed to. I think it's easy to feel compulsive about watching every single video, but if you think you know the topic, take the quiz first. If you score 100%, chances, are, you probably don't need to watch the video.
I needed a way to see which topics I needed to review the most, so I made a spreadsheet which I am including in this post. I recorded the date which I watched the video, quiz score for every subject test (besides bio), and a second quiz attempt date and score. If I think I did badly, I highlighted the excel square with a "bad" setting (red cell) and came back to it, retaking the quiz. Here's the example:
A blank copy is attached to this post if you'd like to use it as well.
DAT Destroyer
The first time I took the DAT, I was mad at Destroyer because I feel like it didn't help me at all. But back then, I was dumb and thought I could just do practice problems out of Destroyer and that would prepare me for the real thing. I didn't really take notes or review individual topics.
I knew that something had to change and that's why I used Chad's videos this time. I only opened Destroyer after I had already started and was well into Chad's subject videos, and this time, DAT Destroyer helped so much. I also recorded my wrong and correct answers using an Excel spreadsheet.
The spreadsheet is available on Ari's Study Schedule: http://datbootcamp.com/Ari'sStudySchedule.pdf
For every wrong question, I made a flashcard on quizlet. I went over these by subject when I felt like I didn't have total focus for studying or solving problems.
Cliff's AP Bio
Nothing really to say here that hasn't been said before. I used the 3rd edition I believe (whatever was recommended by DAT Bootcamp). Really helpful for remembering everything I learned 3 years ago.
Klein's OC As 2nd Language
I got a 19 OC on my last DAT. I was determined to pull that up, and I think Chad's videos was what helped me the most, but I felt like the quizzes weren't enough practice, and neither was DAT Destroyer because the questions are not sorted by subject. In Klein's questions are sorted by topic and by increasing difficulty. If I looked at my spreadsheet and saw that I was doing badly in one Chad's quiz, I could find more problems for myself in Kleins.
