Biology portion of the DAT

[big-smiles]

Hi! I have heard a lot of mixed things as to what courses are sufficient in preparing you for the biology section of the DAT. Initially, I thought that the content of gen bio 1 & 2 would be enough to prepare me; however, I've heard that courses such as biochemistry, immunology, and anatomy are also necessary?

So far I've taken:
-gen bio 1 &2
-genetics
-cell biology

If you have already taken the DAT or are also preparing for it, it would be great to hear from you! Based on your experiences, what courses are necessary, and what courses aided you in preparing for this section? Thanks.

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[Likkriue]

Taking anatomy immunology and biochemistry will all help you on the dat.cliffs ap bio will cover most of the dat. But it won't be enough, you will need to use sources like The dat destroyer and feralis notes as well for studying.

 

[joelm]

Hello!

While having taken certain biology courses might be advantageous in giving you some background / a headstart, I wouldn't say any advanced biology courses are necessary for succeeding on DAT biology. I would try to focus your undergrad course selection on courses that you think you'll find interesting, will help you towards your credit requirements for your degree, and hopefully are compatible with you for attaining a high course grade.

There are tons of resources out there for learning bio in preparation for the DAT. I remember when I studied for the DAT I hadn't taken anatomy / physiology, but with some work I learned everything I needed to know (and funnily enough, studying for the DAT ended up helping me when I did take those courses). Check out Feralis notes and Ty Jacobs notes - both free biology study guides. Pair them with youtube videos, google searches, the SDN DAT forums, talking to peers etc, and you can fill in all the gaps. Cliff's AP biology is a common starting point for launching biology studying.

If you're not taking the DAT until next year, and are looking for courses that you might be interested in taking that will also help you for the DAT, I'd say physiology, genetics and cell biology (which you've taken), and biochemistry would be helpful. The issue with taking more advanced biology courses in pursuit of helping for the DAT is that there are diminishing returns on what you'll learn in the course and how much of that will be DAT scope / depth.

Hope this helps!