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- Feb 1, 2017
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Hey guys, I took the DAT a few hours ago and thought I would make a breakdown to give back to the amazing people of SDN. Here it goes!
Scores:
PAT: 20
QR: 28
RC: 23
Bio: 20
GC: 23
OC: 23
TS: 22
AA: 23
Resources used: DAT Bootcamp, Chad's Videos for GC and OC, Cliff's AP Biology 3rd Edition, DAT Destroyer (2016 Edition), Math Destroyer (2016 Edition).
PAT (20): I pretty much used Bootcamp as my sole resource for this section. Man the Keyhole section was super difficult, but I felt like the TFE section was a lot easier than Bootcamp! Angle Ranking/Hole Punching/Cube counting/Pattern Folding is pretty spot on to Bootcamp. As for strategy, I skipped Keyholes/TFE (clicked 30 times to skip them lol) and ended up doing Angle Ranking first, then Hole Punching, Cube Counting, Pattern Folding and then used the "Review All" button to jump back to Keyholes and TFE. I felt this was a good way to give adequate time for Pattern Folding and be able to leave my weaknesses to the end!
Bootcamp Scores: 17/20/19/19/19/x/x/x/x/x
QR (28): I watched all of Chad's videos for QR but didn't really find them too useful. I did 5 exams in the 2016 Math Destroyer and then proceeded to Bootcamp QR exams. Oh man I thought the QR section on the real DAT was SO EASY compared to Bootcamps!!! I think Math Destroyer helped prepare me for strange questions that popped up on the exam but I ended up getting 8-10 quantitative comparison questions that Bootcamp QR prepared me well for. The quantitative comparison questions on Bootcamp were also a lot more difficult than the real DAT.
Bootcamp Scores: 19/20/19/19/20/20/19/30/x/x
RC (23): I also used Bootcamp as my sole resource for RC. The biggest biggest biggest piece of advice I have for RC is to tell yourself "this is the best damn passage about ____ I've ever read in my life" as you read the passage. As for strategy, I read about 10 paragraphs of the passage and then proceeded to use S&D to tackle each question. I felt like this allowed me to answer any tone/inference questions they threw at me (which they did).
Bootcamp Scores: 20/19/21/25/x/x/x/x/x/x
Bio (20): I started out by reading all of Cliff's AP Biology 3rd edition. I just took Immunology, Physiology, and an Aquatic Ecology course at school so I felt good on those topics. I focused primarily on more difficult topics like plants/taxonomy/embryology. I then proceeded to DAT Destroyer and did about 3/4 of the Biology section. I did about 50 at a time and recorded all mistakes/questions I guessed on into a small notebook. I started taking Bootcamp exams for Biology as I was edging on question #200? of DAT Destroyer Biology. I ended up reading over my mistakes on DAT Destroyer on the day of the exam and actually got a few of those questions on my exam, so I'm really glad that I took a look over them, I highly recommend looking through Destroyer once or twice.
Bootcamp Scores: 21/21/19/20/20/19/23/20/20/x
OC (23): Chad's Videos are a literal godsend for OC and GC. I watched the videos and took notes religiously for OC. Reviewed them two times (once the day before my exams). After watching Chad's Videos, I moved onto DAT Destroyer and did about 3/4 of the questions. I recorded my mistakes in a notebook (25 at a time) and reviewed them. I then moved onto DAT Bootcamp to simulate the timing of the real test. I also looked over Dr. Romano's Roadmaps + Baby Roadmaps (super super super helpful) from the DAT Destroyer book on the day of the exam.
Bootcamp Scores: 17/19/19/23/19/22/22/20/20/x
GC (23): Pretty much followed the same strategy as OC!
Bootcamp Scores: 20/19/22/19/22/23/22/22/19/x
Extra Comments: I studied for about 5-6 hours a day (with breaks throughout the day) every day (no full day breaks) for eight weeks. But... I also took like two full weeks of not studying haha (so I guess that totals to 6 weeks of studying?). I also took the 2009 DAT one week before my real test with real test parameters (even made my mom and little brother simulate an eye check and fingerprint scan in LOL). I reviewed all my mistakes. I also took the 2007 DAT two days before my exam to boost my confidence because I heard the 2007 version was much easier than the real DAT.
Extra extra comment: I tried studying for the DAT last summer with only the Kaplan Bluebook and DAT Destroyer but found KBB super super super unhelpful/would get every question from Destroyer wrong... I think I just learned a lot better by watching Chad's Videos, highly recommend them!
Thank you so much SDN, Dr. Jim Romano, DAT Bootcamp, and Chad! I literally could not have done this without you guys.
Scores:
PAT: 20
QR: 28
RC: 23
Bio: 20
GC: 23
OC: 23
TS: 22
AA: 23
Resources used: DAT Bootcamp, Chad's Videos for GC and OC, Cliff's AP Biology 3rd Edition, DAT Destroyer (2016 Edition), Math Destroyer (2016 Edition).
PAT (20): I pretty much used Bootcamp as my sole resource for this section. Man the Keyhole section was super difficult, but I felt like the TFE section was a lot easier than Bootcamp! Angle Ranking/Hole Punching/Cube counting/Pattern Folding is pretty spot on to Bootcamp. As for strategy, I skipped Keyholes/TFE (clicked 30 times to skip them lol) and ended up doing Angle Ranking first, then Hole Punching, Cube Counting, Pattern Folding and then used the "Review All" button to jump back to Keyholes and TFE. I felt this was a good way to give adequate time for Pattern Folding and be able to leave my weaknesses to the end!
Bootcamp Scores: 17/20/19/19/19/x/x/x/x/x
QR (28): I watched all of Chad's videos for QR but didn't really find them too useful. I did 5 exams in the 2016 Math Destroyer and then proceeded to Bootcamp QR exams. Oh man I thought the QR section on the real DAT was SO EASY compared to Bootcamps!!! I think Math Destroyer helped prepare me for strange questions that popped up on the exam but I ended up getting 8-10 quantitative comparison questions that Bootcamp QR prepared me well for. The quantitative comparison questions on Bootcamp were also a lot more difficult than the real DAT.
Bootcamp Scores: 19/20/19/19/20/20/19/30/x/x
RC (23): I also used Bootcamp as my sole resource for RC. The biggest biggest biggest piece of advice I have for RC is to tell yourself "this is the best damn passage about ____ I've ever read in my life" as you read the passage. As for strategy, I read about 10 paragraphs of the passage and then proceeded to use S&D to tackle each question. I felt like this allowed me to answer any tone/inference questions they threw at me (which they did).
Bootcamp Scores: 20/19/21/25/x/x/x/x/x/x
Bio (20): I started out by reading all of Cliff's AP Biology 3rd edition. I just took Immunology, Physiology, and an Aquatic Ecology course at school so I felt good on those topics. I focused primarily on more difficult topics like plants/taxonomy/embryology. I then proceeded to DAT Destroyer and did about 3/4 of the Biology section. I did about 50 at a time and recorded all mistakes/questions I guessed on into a small notebook. I started taking Bootcamp exams for Biology as I was edging on question #200? of DAT Destroyer Biology. I ended up reading over my mistakes on DAT Destroyer on the day of the exam and actually got a few of those questions on my exam, so I'm really glad that I took a look over them, I highly recommend looking through Destroyer once or twice.
Bootcamp Scores: 21/21/19/20/20/19/23/20/20/x
OC (23): Chad's Videos are a literal godsend for OC and GC. I watched the videos and took notes religiously for OC. Reviewed them two times (once the day before my exams). After watching Chad's Videos, I moved onto DAT Destroyer and did about 3/4 of the questions. I recorded my mistakes in a notebook (25 at a time) and reviewed them. I then moved onto DAT Bootcamp to simulate the timing of the real test. I also looked over Dr. Romano's Roadmaps + Baby Roadmaps (super super super helpful) from the DAT Destroyer book on the day of the exam.
Bootcamp Scores: 17/19/19/23/19/22/22/20/20/x
GC (23): Pretty much followed the same strategy as OC!
Bootcamp Scores: 20/19/22/19/22/23/22/22/19/x
Extra Comments: I studied for about 5-6 hours a day (with breaks throughout the day) every day (no full day breaks) for eight weeks. But... I also took like two full weeks of not studying haha (so I guess that totals to 6 weeks of studying?). I also took the 2009 DAT one week before my real test with real test parameters (even made my mom and little brother simulate an eye check and fingerprint scan in LOL). I reviewed all my mistakes. I also took the 2007 DAT two days before my exam to boost my confidence because I heard the 2007 version was much easier than the real DAT.
Extra extra comment: I tried studying for the DAT last summer with only the Kaplan Bluebook and DAT Destroyer but found KBB super super super unhelpful/would get every question from Destroyer wrong... I think I just learned a lot better by watching Chad's Videos, highly recommend them!
Thank you so much SDN, Dr. Jim Romano, DAT Bootcamp, and Chad! I literally could not have done this without you guys.
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