I'm finally free! Since I benefitted so much from reading others' breakdowns, I thought I would post my own. I want to preface this by saying my scores are by no means extraordinary, especially compared to others who post on here. But, I had 3 weeks to study so my goal was never a 25 or 26AA; I aimed for a 22 and I got just that! This probably isn't the thread for those shooting for higher, there are plenty of brilliant minds on here who can tell you how they achieved those scores.
Scores: 22AA/21TS/19Bio(boo)/21GC/24OC/25RC/23QR/21PAT
With that being said, here's my background. I finished the last of my science prereqs 2+ years ago and I did not do well in those classes at all. I went from a 3.0 avg in my prereqs (no ups or downs. Literally just 3.0's one after another, was putting in no effort) to a 4.0 sci avg the past two years, leaving my sciGPA at exactly 3.5. I originally signed up to take the DAT in late March, but that date was canceled due to COVID... and then it got canceled again... and again. I'd been studying for 2 months and it was taking an immense mental toll on me. I had way too much going on with classes and my non-profit the next quarter, so I decided to just let it go. Literally, I let the material leave my brain. Stupid idea? Probably. But realistically, I couldn't keep up.
That left me 3 weeks from when I finished up my other obligations to a reasonable date to submit my apps. Could I have done better if I studied longer? Maybe. But I just didn't have the mental stamina to push past that. So, here's how it went:
Materials used:
DAT Bootcamp
Literally nothing else
I did a "dopamine fast" where I got rid of everything that can give me pleasure quickly (besides food) (and yes, we all know you can't prevent all dopamine). The idea is, remove all sources of pleasure and make the only viable source of pleasure be having a topic finally make sense. Texted all my friends to not reply to me, deleted all social media, and ghosted everyone I was entertaining.
PAT: 21
I honestly don't know how this happened. The highest I ever got on BC was a 20 (but only once) and I never finished with enough time to actually look at TFE or keyholes. On the real thing, I had time for both with a minute to spare. I despised TFE, and because I never got to it in my practice tests, I literally learned how to do it during the actual test. I started studying for PAT during my first round of studying and I did not practice at all my second round. This time, I did BC test 1 for PAT and I also took full-length test #7, and that was it. So, when I tell you I was expecting a 17, I mean it. Anyways, I didn't feel the questions were easier than BC at all. I skipped to question 31 to start at AR and leave keyholes/TFE for last. Angles had never been a problem for me on BC, but they were significantly harder on the real thing; I didn't have any of those "obvious" angles people talk about on here. Lots of obtuse and weirdly oriented angles. I did have some rock keyholes, which I never learned how to do. Took my best guess and moved on. I think the main reason for the jump in my score was the pressure making me time myself more effectively and actually being able to get to all the problems. I really can't offer much advice for this section as I went in genuinely expecting a 17.
QR: 23
Another section where the highest I scored on BC was a 19 or 20. I got pretty lucky here. I didn't memorize any of the formulae (didn't have the time) and I didn't get any problems that required formula memorization. One thing I did differently than during practice was guess-and-check. There were a couple of problems I had no idea how to approach, so I just plugged in the answers and found the correct one. The #1 thing I can advise here is timing. I always ran out of time here in BC but I had 8 minutes to spare on the real thing. The second question I got seemed very complex, so I marked it and moved on before it could throw off my timing and make me anxious the rest of the time. When I came back at the end, it turned out to be really simple.
RC: 25
Same score I was getting on BC, but I was surprised it wasn't higher because my passages were all really simple. I got a 35 on ACT reading and used the same search-and-destroy method here (for reference I also got a 28 on ACT science, shows where my strengths lie lol) which left me with 20 minutes to spare. The questions were much easier, too, and they usually came in the order of the passage. I can postulate that the points I missed came from 3 questions that presented a graph and required you to interpret it in terms of the passage. Hadn't seen anything like that on BC, reminded me of ACT science (grr). There were also some GRE-esque vocab questions which I thought was strange. The key here: don't read the passage the first round. I had enough time to go back and read all three passages at the end purely out of interest because they were interesting passages and I didn't want to start QR. If you don't read the passage the first round through, you'll have enough time to come back and read the ones you're shaky on.
Bio: 19 🙁
Can't say I didn't see it coming. My scores in BC started to fall from a 22 to a 19 in the last week of studying as I shifted all my attention to my severely lacking orgo score. I knew I couldn't possibly learn everything here in 3 weeks, so my technique was recency over mastery. Probably the worst advice you'll ever receive, but I spent the two days before my test, right up to the hour I was parked outside of Prometric, cramming the BC condensed notes. I was able to answer most of the questions I saw on the test thanks to those last two days. There were 8 questions I was unsure of and I must have missed them all lol. But, they weren't things that weren't covered in BC notes, I just couldn't decide between two choices and I clearly made the wrong choice each time. Don't get me wrong though, I did go through all the chapters in detail during week 2 of my 3 weeks. I just forgot everything. The key here: REVIEW BIO EVERY DAY OR YOU WILL HAVE LEARNED IT FOR NOTHING. "Finishing" a chapter doesn't mean you're done with it for good.
GC: 21
This score surprised me the most. I was scoring 24-26 in BC. Didn't see anything crazy. Probably attributable to the failure of my recency over mastery technique, with the last time I reviewed GC being a 4 days before. When you're just cramming the material, that's more than enough time to forget. I literally forgot P1V1/T1 = P2V2/T2 (embarrassing: I couldn't remember what went in the numerator and what went in the denominator) which cost me a question on the real thing. Mike's vids covered everything I saw. I went through them all at 2x speed in the first of my 3 weeks and then rewatched at 3x speed in the last week (download the chrome extension Speed Controller). That helped to refresh my memory and solidify my understanding, mostly of Ksp, which I didn't even encounter.
OC: 24
Actually, I take it back. This one surprised me the most. If you saw my post a week ago, I was scoring 14's in BC. Completely neglected it until the last week because I hate orgo. Posted on here about my mental breakdown about it lol. Then I got my **** together and watched all of Mike's conceptual vids on 3x speed until 6 am. Printed out the reaction sheets on BC and covered up the products, sat down, and wrote out what I thought the mechanism would be for each reaction. Even if I didn't have to know it. I knew I wouldn't have enough time to memorize them, and I suck at memorizing things, anyway (as indicated by my bio score). So I just learned what attacks what and was able to figure it out on the test. You have to become obsessed with the material. This goes for all sections. In the days leading up to the test, I would look at the corner of the ceiling and see a tertiary carbocation intermediate. That's how obsessed you have to be. I think OC being my highest score is honestly attributable to the fact that it was the most recent topic I'd studied in-depth.
Finished sciences with ~25 mins left. Used them to go over marked questions in bio (clearly to no avail) and set up my hole punch grids.
I honestly don't know if I'm missing a section, at this point my brain is mush. The cleaning products they use to clean the stations at Prometric are extremely pungent and left me with a migraine, and I'm not even someone who gets migraines. If your center is anything like mine, I'd suggest bringing Advil to take if you need it during the break! I've never been so happy to be done with something. I know my scores aren't stellar, but they make the last three weeks of social isolation (and by that, I mean letting my phone die and literally just not charging it) worth it. Would not suggest a 3-week schedule if you have the mental strength to last longer than that. With an extra week, I probably could have gotten to some destroyer questions, which seem to be the recipe for a 23+ score. However, I'm content with a 22 if it means keeping my sanity. Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be happy to help!
A big thanks to Ari and his team for extending my subscription when my test got canceled and to my family and friends who are surprisingly still cool with me after I ghosted them for almost a month. Now stop procrastinating and get back to studying!
Scores: 22AA/21TS/19Bio(boo)/21GC/24OC/25RC/23QR/21PAT
With that being said, here's my background. I finished the last of my science prereqs 2+ years ago and I did not do well in those classes at all. I went from a 3.0 avg in my prereqs (no ups or downs. Literally just 3.0's one after another, was putting in no effort) to a 4.0 sci avg the past two years, leaving my sciGPA at exactly 3.5. I originally signed up to take the DAT in late March, but that date was canceled due to COVID... and then it got canceled again... and again. I'd been studying for 2 months and it was taking an immense mental toll on me. I had way too much going on with classes and my non-profit the next quarter, so I decided to just let it go. Literally, I let the material leave my brain. Stupid idea? Probably. But realistically, I couldn't keep up.
That left me 3 weeks from when I finished up my other obligations to a reasonable date to submit my apps. Could I have done better if I studied longer? Maybe. But I just didn't have the mental stamina to push past that. So, here's how it went:
Materials used:
DAT Bootcamp
Literally nothing else
I did a "dopamine fast" where I got rid of everything that can give me pleasure quickly (besides food) (and yes, we all know you can't prevent all dopamine). The idea is, remove all sources of pleasure and make the only viable source of pleasure be having a topic finally make sense. Texted all my friends to not reply to me, deleted all social media, and ghosted everyone I was entertaining.
PAT: 21
I honestly don't know how this happened. The highest I ever got on BC was a 20 (but only once) and I never finished with enough time to actually look at TFE or keyholes. On the real thing, I had time for both with a minute to spare. I despised TFE, and because I never got to it in my practice tests, I literally learned how to do it during the actual test. I started studying for PAT during my first round of studying and I did not practice at all my second round. This time, I did BC test 1 for PAT and I also took full-length test #7, and that was it. So, when I tell you I was expecting a 17, I mean it. Anyways, I didn't feel the questions were easier than BC at all. I skipped to question 31 to start at AR and leave keyholes/TFE for last. Angles had never been a problem for me on BC, but they were significantly harder on the real thing; I didn't have any of those "obvious" angles people talk about on here. Lots of obtuse and weirdly oriented angles. I did have some rock keyholes, which I never learned how to do. Took my best guess and moved on. I think the main reason for the jump in my score was the pressure making me time myself more effectively and actually being able to get to all the problems. I really can't offer much advice for this section as I went in genuinely expecting a 17.
QR: 23
Another section where the highest I scored on BC was a 19 or 20. I got pretty lucky here. I didn't memorize any of the formulae (didn't have the time) and I didn't get any problems that required formula memorization. One thing I did differently than during practice was guess-and-check. There were a couple of problems I had no idea how to approach, so I just plugged in the answers and found the correct one. The #1 thing I can advise here is timing. I always ran out of time here in BC but I had 8 minutes to spare on the real thing. The second question I got seemed very complex, so I marked it and moved on before it could throw off my timing and make me anxious the rest of the time. When I came back at the end, it turned out to be really simple.
RC: 25
Same score I was getting on BC, but I was surprised it wasn't higher because my passages were all really simple. I got a 35 on ACT reading and used the same search-and-destroy method here (for reference I also got a 28 on ACT science, shows where my strengths lie lol) which left me with 20 minutes to spare. The questions were much easier, too, and they usually came in the order of the passage. I can postulate that the points I missed came from 3 questions that presented a graph and required you to interpret it in terms of the passage. Hadn't seen anything like that on BC, reminded me of ACT science (grr). There were also some GRE-esque vocab questions which I thought was strange. The key here: don't read the passage the first round. I had enough time to go back and read all three passages at the end purely out of interest because they were interesting passages and I didn't want to start QR. If you don't read the passage the first round through, you'll have enough time to come back and read the ones you're shaky on.
Bio: 19 🙁
Can't say I didn't see it coming. My scores in BC started to fall from a 22 to a 19 in the last week of studying as I shifted all my attention to my severely lacking orgo score. I knew I couldn't possibly learn everything here in 3 weeks, so my technique was recency over mastery. Probably the worst advice you'll ever receive, but I spent the two days before my test, right up to the hour I was parked outside of Prometric, cramming the BC condensed notes. I was able to answer most of the questions I saw on the test thanks to those last two days. There were 8 questions I was unsure of and I must have missed them all lol. But, they weren't things that weren't covered in BC notes, I just couldn't decide between two choices and I clearly made the wrong choice each time. Don't get me wrong though, I did go through all the chapters in detail during week 2 of my 3 weeks. I just forgot everything. The key here: REVIEW BIO EVERY DAY OR YOU WILL HAVE LEARNED IT FOR NOTHING. "Finishing" a chapter doesn't mean you're done with it for good.
GC: 21
This score surprised me the most. I was scoring 24-26 in BC. Didn't see anything crazy. Probably attributable to the failure of my recency over mastery technique, with the last time I reviewed GC being a 4 days before. When you're just cramming the material, that's more than enough time to forget. I literally forgot P1V1/T1 = P2V2/T2 (embarrassing: I couldn't remember what went in the numerator and what went in the denominator) which cost me a question on the real thing. Mike's vids covered everything I saw. I went through them all at 2x speed in the first of my 3 weeks and then rewatched at 3x speed in the last week (download the chrome extension Speed Controller). That helped to refresh my memory and solidify my understanding, mostly of Ksp, which I didn't even encounter.
OC: 24
Actually, I take it back. This one surprised me the most. If you saw my post a week ago, I was scoring 14's in BC. Completely neglected it until the last week because I hate orgo. Posted on here about my mental breakdown about it lol. Then I got my **** together and watched all of Mike's conceptual vids on 3x speed until 6 am. Printed out the reaction sheets on BC and covered up the products, sat down, and wrote out what I thought the mechanism would be for each reaction. Even if I didn't have to know it. I knew I wouldn't have enough time to memorize them, and I suck at memorizing things, anyway (as indicated by my bio score). So I just learned what attacks what and was able to figure it out on the test. You have to become obsessed with the material. This goes for all sections. In the days leading up to the test, I would look at the corner of the ceiling and see a tertiary carbocation intermediate. That's how obsessed you have to be. I think OC being my highest score is honestly attributable to the fact that it was the most recent topic I'd studied in-depth.
Finished sciences with ~25 mins left. Used them to go over marked questions in bio (clearly to no avail) and set up my hole punch grids.
I honestly don't know if I'm missing a section, at this point my brain is mush. The cleaning products they use to clean the stations at Prometric are extremely pungent and left me with a migraine, and I'm not even someone who gets migraines. If your center is anything like mine, I'd suggest bringing Advil to take if you need it during the break! I've never been so happy to be done with something. I know my scores aren't stellar, but they make the last three weeks of social isolation (and by that, I mean letting my phone die and literally just not charging it) worth it. Would not suggest a 3-week schedule if you have the mental strength to last longer than that. With an extra week, I probably could have gotten to some destroyer questions, which seem to be the recipe for a 23+ score. However, I'm content with a 22 if it means keeping my sanity. Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be happy to help!
A big thanks to Ari and his team for extending my subscription when my test got canceled and to my family and friends who are surprisingly still cool with me after I ghosted them for almost a month. Now stop procrastinating and get back to studying!
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