Best prep for Bio and Orgo?

[rsm5s]

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I am considering on retaking my DAT in hope for improving my Bio and Orgo scores (18,17).

Any suggestions on study material? I used Kaplan but I feel like it was not comprehensive enough and did not have enough practice questions.

Thanks!

 

[RubDub]

especially does anyone know how Schaum's Outline for orgo is?

I also made the above post from my old SDN account and felt compelled to post using the account I currently use.

Thanks!

 

[mightyrat]

I am considering on retaking my DAT in hope for improving my Bio and Orgo scores (18,17).

Any suggestions on study material? I used Kaplan but I feel like it was not comprehensive enough and did not have enough practice questions.

Thanks!

For bio, i believe Cliffs AP is amazing as well as Barrons, you really cant go wrong with either of them, but i would go for cliffs because i feel its a bit more to the point. Something else you might want to look at is the flash cards provided by barrons, if you have those you dont need the book because its basically the book but just broken down into individual cards, i believe those are great sources for bio.

Schuams is a bit too complex for my taste, especially the big book they have. Its way too dry...no pictures...very little diagrams...and very hard level text. The smaller book they have is okay, except that it has some minor mistakes.

For orgo, it really depends on how solid you are with the subject. I personally went straight into the destroyer questions for orgo, because i felt confident enough to do the questions, but i know others who had a very hard time tackling destroyer orgo at first. If its not your thing, you might want to check out Chad's videos, which i hear are pretty good. But in the end, i believe the best source for both the chems is the destroyer, but you have to know how to use it. It is a STUDY guide, not just a bunch of random questions, the wealth of the knowledge are in the answers, and for reactions, nothing is better, in my opinion at least, than the roadmaps!!

Destroyer bio is also good, but it goes way too in depth, but its a good way to point out where your weaknesses are in bio, but dont lose hope if you dont get a lot right in the first time!!

Hope this helps 🙂

 

[RubDub]

thanks that helps a lot!

 

[sbdento]

I haven't taken the test yet, but it seems like the general consensus on sdn is chads videos for the chems, destroyer for the chems and bio-as a study guide, and memorize the roadmaps in destroyer too. For bio in addition to your intro bio textbook and cliffs I've also read a lot of buzz about alan's bio notes. Do a search for those. There are a couple of copies floating around on here, but the most complete copy I could find had 18 pages.

 

[Moonie87]

For organic chemistry CHAD's video's and Destroyer you can't go wrong with those two. And yes the roadmaps in Destroyer are very helpful. Also when watching Chad's video's make simple notes that you can go over every once in a while and before the exam, he also has lecture outlines you can print. Also it doesn't harm to do the quizzes with the videos.
The same for gen chem.

Bio, Barron's is a good guide, and if you find that there is something you are totally blank about, Campbell textbook is a good reference.

 

[mightyrat]

For organic chemistry CHAD's video's and Destroyer you can't go wrong with those two. And yes the roadmaps in Destroyer are very helpful. Also when watching Chad's video's make simple notes that you can go over every once in a while and before the exam, he also has lecture outlines you can print. Also it doesn't harm to do the quizzes with the videos.
The same for gen chem.

Bio, Barron's is a good guide, and if you find that there is something you are totally blank about, Campbell textbook is a good reference.

I dont know if this is just me, but when it comes to the chems...practice makes perfect. You can learn the material as much as you would like but if not aided with practice material then its a waste. So just to back up what you said, if you plan on using Chads, make sure to do the quizzes. Its one thing to know how to solve titrations, its a whole other thing to actually get the pH. But dont feel like you need chad, i believe destroyer is sufficient, assuming you have background information that is.

In bio, GOOD LUCK!!! As you read breakdowns, i want to so almost everyone will testify that the bio is extremely random, and just for the record, its not general bio that they are asking on the DAT...not general what so ever!! Campbell is great...providing that you have the time to invest and actually read everything in it.