Hey guys, Im due to take the DAT in about 2 weeks, and so far I'm scoring around 17-18 on BIO, 19s on both Chems, 19 PAT, 19 RC and 17 QR(which I think I can bring up). How do you think it looks? What would you advise? I don't want to push it back... 🙁
Bootcamp scores so far...
- Thread starter Tatu78
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What have you done to study? It is possible to bring it up but it’ll be a difficult 2 weeks. For every practice test you take, make sure to go through all of the solutions and taking notes of what you don’t know. I’d see how you feel at the end of the week and consider rescheduling if you’re not scoring higher
Thank you for the advice. Im currently in my 4th week of studying. First 2-3 weeks I went over Ochem and Gchem through Mike, made flashcards when necessary, and read bio destroyer notes. Im almost done with destroyer ochem, 1/3 done with gchem and 1/4 done bio destroyer.
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I think your best bang for your buck would be going completely through Bootcamp and skip Destroyer for now. Bootcamp is most similar to the actual exam and the questions are of similar difficulty. This week, I'd do/finish tests 6-10 in each of the sciences and math with a couple PAT and RC as you're able to. It's really important to review all of the information in the answers.
I personally think that RC on Bootcamp is much more difficult than the actual DAT. If you do some practice sporadically this week, you can gauge which subjects you need to spend studying the most next week.
PAT, while nice, isn't critical. 19 isn't fantastic but it's not bad either. Since PAT doesn't factor into your AA, as long as it's >18, I think you'll be fine for applications so you should focus time on getting your sciences up.
Bio, Gen Chem, and Orgo are pretty important so if you don't feel confident in these subjects next week, I'd gauge how much you can learn in one more final week or if you need to postpone the exam. If you gauge how well you feel 6 business days before your exam, you can save yourself $40 and reschedule as opposed to waiting 1-5 business days and paying the higher rescheduling fee.
If I were to prioritize studying the sciences to see the most rapid improvement, I would prioritize Gen Chem and Orgo because the types of questions asked are relatively repetitive compared to Biology. Biology is very broad and therefore questions come from all over the place.
While Destroyer is a great resource, the question difficulty is beyond what I saw on the DAT whereas Bootcamp was very accurate in the types of questions asked as well as their difficulties.
I personally think that RC on Bootcamp is much more difficult than the actual DAT. If you do some practice sporadically this week, you can gauge which subjects you need to spend studying the most next week.
PAT, while nice, isn't critical. 19 isn't fantastic but it's not bad either. Since PAT doesn't factor into your AA, as long as it's >18, I think you'll be fine for applications so you should focus time on getting your sciences up.
Bio, Gen Chem, and Orgo are pretty important so if you don't feel confident in these subjects next week, I'd gauge how much you can learn in one more final week or if you need to postpone the exam. If you gauge how well you feel 6 business days before your exam, you can save yourself $40 and reschedule as opposed to waiting 1-5 business days and paying the higher rescheduling fee.
If I were to prioritize studying the sciences to see the most rapid improvement, I would prioritize Gen Chem and Orgo because the types of questions asked are relatively repetitive compared to Biology. Biology is very broad and therefore questions come from all over the place.
While Destroyer is a great resource, the question difficulty is beyond what I saw on the DAT whereas Bootcamp was very accurate in the types of questions asked as well as their difficulties.
I appreciate the feedback! I'll get through 6-10 this week, and hopefully feel confident enough to not postpone. Wow, look at me. I was aiming for a 30 when I started and now I can't even pull a 20.
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Your scores seem similar to what mine were at 2 weeks out. I was consistently getting 17's on QR and managed to get a 21 on the DAT (Thank the Lord). I would keep your head in the books. Make sure to learn from your mistakes, bookmark questions, and review them often. Reviewing is one of the keys to learning in my opinion. If you want to see my score breakdown the link is in my signature. Best of luck.
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Stop stressing about your scores would be my advice. Easier said than done. Focus more on learning from your mistakes and understanding the material. Only you really know if you are ready for your exam or not. I was scoring in the 18-19 range AA/TS, but learned from my mistakes and felt that I was ready for the DAT. Ended up scoring 21, 21, 23, 18 (AA/TS/RC/PAT)
