Hey everyone! I just took the DAT today and I am really happy with my scores.
I originally planned on start studying right when I finished the spring semester in the beginning of May, but with procrastination, I ended up starting sometime in June. Along with studying for the DAT, I also had a summer C class (biochemistry that I had to study for as well). I never studied for more than 7 hours a day. By that point, I was mentally exhausted and I didn't any point in studying any further. I would say that in total I put in around 3 or so weeks of studying averaging 5 hours of studying. The 3 weeks of studying were spread apart because of biochemistry. There would be periods of 5 days where I did not do any DAT studying, but I would just pick up right after my Biochem exam was over. Definitely, take breaks. The breaks are just as important. Also, don't just let your day be consumed by just studying. Always have something that will give your brain a break. For me, I liked to work out after my study sessions.
SCORES:
BIO / GC / OC / RC / QR / PAT / TS / AA
20 26 21 21 20 20 21 22
Study Materials:
DAT Bootcamp (10/10):
Bootcamp definitely was the reason why I received the score that I did. I learned everything that I needed to know for PAT, QR, and RC from bootcamp. For the sciences, bootcamp highlighted the specific sections that I should go over which was very helpful. The format is exactly the same that you will see on the real DAT. It seems like test 1-5 are easier than test 6-10. Also, the full-length test is based off test 1-5 of all the sections so if you want to take those, avoid taking test 1-5 until you take the full-length practice test. What I ended up doing since I took test 1-5 already was just take 6-10 of all the test in testing conditions
Chad's Videos (7/10):
These videos definitely gave me a good refresher over what I had forgotten from Gen Chem. Personally, for me, I am not auditory learner if that makes sense. I like to have all the information that I need to know on a piece of paper in which I can read for myself. I took notes during the videos of course but I felt that my notes definitely would have been much better and more organized if I had some sort of template to go off of. They provide you with a rough outline of what they are covering in the videos, but I still would have like some sort of organized transcript of some sort.
DAT Destroyer (2/10):
I did all the Gen Chem and Orgo problems. Didn't really do much for me. Most of the problems are much harder than they need to be and stressed me out.
Cliffs AP Biology Textbook (10/10):
This was the only book that I used to study for the biology section. It gave me everything that I needed to know for the DAT. I would say that it almost goes too much in depth in some sections, but it is still very concise and to the point. I printed out the PDF of the book and read it 2 times, then took notes, then read my notes over 3 times or so. I had Feralis notes on hand but I did not use them. I feel that making your own notes is much more useful.
Cracking the DAT (The Princeton Review) (8/10)
I used this to mostly review Gen Chem and a little bit for Orgo. The Chem section is basically Chads videos in print which is want I liked about it. I read over the Chem section 2-3 times. For Orgo, I read over the section once or twice, but personally, I had just finished taking the Organic Chemistry sequence so it was still pretty fresh in my head.
Bootcamp Practice Exam Scores:
Test day:
I ended up scheduling my exam at a Prometric test center 40 minutes away from my house at 1 PM. I got to the testing center 45 min early and was able to start early at 12:30. I was realllly nervous going into the test already thinking about when I should schedule my second test date for the retake. When you check in, they make you place all of your stuff in a locker, and then they take your fingerprints, flip all of your pockets inside out and then a metal detector scan. Definitely did not expect it to be that rigorous. Inside the testing room, they gave me two sheets of laminated paper with a dry erase marker. They said that the laminated paper was un-erasable, but it was actually. It takes a while for them to come replace your laminated sheets, so I just ended up erasing them with my hand to save time.
BIO (20):
Honestly, I figured this would be the score I got. In bootcamp, the last 5 practice Bio exams that I took, I got a 19 every time so I knew I would be around there. The biology section is not as in depth as you would think. As I have seen a lot of other people say, breadth before depth. They hit me with some questions that were concept based and really out there. I knew Cliffs AP bio inside and out, and all the questions that I saw I knew the information but in some questions, the way they word it/present it makes it tricky.
GC (26):
I was surprised with this score. In bootcamp, I was averaging around a 22 and never got above a 23. But it was very straight forward. There were no tricks to this section. If you know how to do the problems and the concepts, you will do fine. Crack DAT and Chads videos were what got me through this section
OC (21):
I was also surprised with this section. I was averaging around a 23 on Bootcamp and felt that this would be my best section. I had just taken the O Chem series the past 2 semesters and the information was very fresh in my head. I would say that the O chem section was on par with bootcamp / a little harder. It seems that most of the stuff that I was tested on came from Orgo 2 information with little stuff coming from orgo 1.
PAT (20):
All I did was bootcamp. The real DAT PAT sections was defintely easier, especially the angle ranking section. My first PAT test I scored below a 15 and was very discouraged. But gradually the more test you take the more accustomed you will get to the questions. I was generally surprised by this section. I average around 17 to 18 on Bootcamp (which I found harder than the real DAT) For me, TFE was the hardest section. I ended up just selecting C for 7 TFE questions because of pacing.
Tip for doing well:
Make sure you pace yourself. I gave myself 10 minutes per section and no more. If I did not finish a certain section within 10 minutes, I would just pick one answer choice and just put that for the rest remaining (which is what I ended up doing for TFE). For hole punching, what I found to help the most was to draw grids so that I could keep track of the dots. For angle ranking, I looked at the answer choices first to get a basis of which angles I should be looking at for the smallest/ largest.
BREAK:
I only took a 15-minute break. I used it to go to the bathroom, eat some snacks and rehydrate. I didn't want to use the full 30 minutes. Personally, If I take too long of a break it will get me out of my focused mindset. Also, don't think about the past sections. It's only gonna stress you out more and do you no use.
RC (21):
It really just depends on the passages they give you. It's not really something you can study for. I've scored as high as a 25 and as low as an 18 in bootcamp. For my test, they gave me 3 really boring scientific passages that I could not get myself interested in. I ended making like 6 questions in each passage. Also, make sure you pace yourself. I made sure that I spent no more than 10 minutes reading the passage and 10 minutes doing the questions. I would say I got really lucky.
QR (20):
This was by far the section that I had the most trouble with. I was averaging 17's in bootcamp and never finished in time which is what happened when I took the test. The real DAT was definitely easier than bootcamp especially in the quantitative comparisons. There also weren't that many quantitative comparison questions on my exam, maybe 4 or 5. I had a good amount of word problems and probability questions on my exam.
Some tips:
I scheduled my exam at 1 Pm in the afternoon. I did all of my studying for the DAT from around 12-6PM. I would say that this helped me a lot, By the time the test rolled around, it just felt like a normal study session I would be having at the library.
Don't stress your self out. I was freaking out in the days leading up to the exam. It definitely gave me doubts. But if you put in the work and are getting scores around 19 in boot camp, you will do fine. Bootcamp is harder than the actually DAT. Also, don't study the day before the DAT and the day of. It will just psych you out and make you feel like you forgot everything. Good luck to everyone studying for the DAT!
I originally planned on start studying right when I finished the spring semester in the beginning of May, but with procrastination, I ended up starting sometime in June. Along with studying for the DAT, I also had a summer C class (biochemistry that I had to study for as well). I never studied for more than 7 hours a day. By that point, I was mentally exhausted and I didn't any point in studying any further. I would say that in total I put in around 3 or so weeks of studying averaging 5 hours of studying. The 3 weeks of studying were spread apart because of biochemistry. There would be periods of 5 days where I did not do any DAT studying, but I would just pick up right after my Biochem exam was over. Definitely, take breaks. The breaks are just as important. Also, don't just let your day be consumed by just studying. Always have something that will give your brain a break. For me, I liked to work out after my study sessions.
SCORES:
BIO / GC / OC / RC / QR / PAT / TS / AA
20 26 21 21 20 20 21 22
Study Materials:
DAT Bootcamp (10/10):
Bootcamp definitely was the reason why I received the score that I did. I learned everything that I needed to know for PAT, QR, and RC from bootcamp. For the sciences, bootcamp highlighted the specific sections that I should go over which was very helpful. The format is exactly the same that you will see on the real DAT. It seems like test 1-5 are easier than test 6-10. Also, the full-length test is based off test 1-5 of all the sections so if you want to take those, avoid taking test 1-5 until you take the full-length practice test. What I ended up doing since I took test 1-5 already was just take 6-10 of all the test in testing conditions
Chad's Videos (7/10):
These videos definitely gave me a good refresher over what I had forgotten from Gen Chem. Personally, for me, I am not auditory learner if that makes sense. I like to have all the information that I need to know on a piece of paper in which I can read for myself. I took notes during the videos of course but I felt that my notes definitely would have been much better and more organized if I had some sort of template to go off of. They provide you with a rough outline of what they are covering in the videos, but I still would have like some sort of organized transcript of some sort.
DAT Destroyer (2/10):
I did all the Gen Chem and Orgo problems. Didn't really do much for me. Most of the problems are much harder than they need to be and stressed me out.
Cliffs AP Biology Textbook (10/10):
This was the only book that I used to study for the biology section. It gave me everything that I needed to know for the DAT. I would say that it almost goes too much in depth in some sections, but it is still very concise and to the point. I printed out the PDF of the book and read it 2 times, then took notes, then read my notes over 3 times or so. I had Feralis notes on hand but I did not use them. I feel that making your own notes is much more useful.
Cracking the DAT (The Princeton Review) (8/10)
I used this to mostly review Gen Chem and a little bit for Orgo. The Chem section is basically Chads videos in print which is want I liked about it. I read over the Chem section 2-3 times. For Orgo, I read over the section once or twice, but personally, I had just finished taking the Organic Chemistry sequence so it was still pretty fresh in my head.
Bootcamp Practice Exam Scores:
Test day:
I ended up scheduling my exam at a Prometric test center 40 minutes away from my house at 1 PM. I got to the testing center 45 min early and was able to start early at 12:30. I was realllly nervous going into the test already thinking about when I should schedule my second test date for the retake. When you check in, they make you place all of your stuff in a locker, and then they take your fingerprints, flip all of your pockets inside out and then a metal detector scan. Definitely did not expect it to be that rigorous. Inside the testing room, they gave me two sheets of laminated paper with a dry erase marker. They said that the laminated paper was un-erasable, but it was actually. It takes a while for them to come replace your laminated sheets, so I just ended up erasing them with my hand to save time.
BIO (20):
Honestly, I figured this would be the score I got. In bootcamp, the last 5 practice Bio exams that I took, I got a 19 every time so I knew I would be around there. The biology section is not as in depth as you would think. As I have seen a lot of other people say, breadth before depth. They hit me with some questions that were concept based and really out there. I knew Cliffs AP bio inside and out, and all the questions that I saw I knew the information but in some questions, the way they word it/present it makes it tricky.
GC (26):
I was surprised with this score. In bootcamp, I was averaging around a 22 and never got above a 23. But it was very straight forward. There were no tricks to this section. If you know how to do the problems and the concepts, you will do fine. Crack DAT and Chads videos were what got me through this section
OC (21):
I was also surprised with this section. I was averaging around a 23 on Bootcamp and felt that this would be my best section. I had just taken the O Chem series the past 2 semesters and the information was very fresh in my head. I would say that the O chem section was on par with bootcamp / a little harder. It seems that most of the stuff that I was tested on came from Orgo 2 information with little stuff coming from orgo 1.
PAT (20):
All I did was bootcamp. The real DAT PAT sections was defintely easier, especially the angle ranking section. My first PAT test I scored below a 15 and was very discouraged. But gradually the more test you take the more accustomed you will get to the questions. I was generally surprised by this section. I average around 17 to 18 on Bootcamp (which I found harder than the real DAT) For me, TFE was the hardest section. I ended up just selecting C for 7 TFE questions because of pacing.
Tip for doing well:
Make sure you pace yourself. I gave myself 10 minutes per section and no more. If I did not finish a certain section within 10 minutes, I would just pick one answer choice and just put that for the rest remaining (which is what I ended up doing for TFE). For hole punching, what I found to help the most was to draw grids so that I could keep track of the dots. For angle ranking, I looked at the answer choices first to get a basis of which angles I should be looking at for the smallest/ largest.
BREAK:
I only took a 15-minute break. I used it to go to the bathroom, eat some snacks and rehydrate. I didn't want to use the full 30 minutes. Personally, If I take too long of a break it will get me out of my focused mindset. Also, don't think about the past sections. It's only gonna stress you out more and do you no use.
RC (21):
It really just depends on the passages they give you. It's not really something you can study for. I've scored as high as a 25 and as low as an 18 in bootcamp. For my test, they gave me 3 really boring scientific passages that I could not get myself interested in. I ended making like 6 questions in each passage. Also, make sure you pace yourself. I made sure that I spent no more than 10 minutes reading the passage and 10 minutes doing the questions. I would say I got really lucky.
QR (20):
This was by far the section that I had the most trouble with. I was averaging 17's in bootcamp and never finished in time which is what happened when I took the test. The real DAT was definitely easier than bootcamp especially in the quantitative comparisons. There also weren't that many quantitative comparison questions on my exam, maybe 4 or 5. I had a good amount of word problems and probability questions on my exam.
Some tips:
I scheduled my exam at 1 Pm in the afternoon. I did all of my studying for the DAT from around 12-6PM. I would say that this helped me a lot, By the time the test rolled around, it just felt like a normal study session I would be having at the library.
Don't stress your self out. I was freaking out in the days leading up to the exam. It definitely gave me doubts. But if you put in the work and are getting scores around 19 in boot camp, you will do fine. Bootcamp is harder than the actually DAT. Also, don't study the day before the DAT and the day of. It will just psych you out and make you feel like you forgot everything. Good luck to everyone studying for the DAT!
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