Chemistry is killing me. What am I doing wrong?

[alasra]

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I want to take my DAT in late May, but the gen. chem portion is killing me. I haven't taken a chemistry class in 5 years, so I've forgotten everything. I have watched Chad's videos like 3 times, taken extensive notes, but when I go to practice, I don't know anything. I feel like I understand the material, but apparently I don't know a thing. For example, I do 20 questions in the DAT destroyer, and get TWO QUESTIONS RIGHT. I decided to do the Destroyer with my notes, but even then I was getting like 5/20 questions right!

I don't know what to do. I'm seriously getting depressed, because I am not getting better. The real kick in the balls was last week when I retook DAT bootcamp's General Chemistry practice test 1. The first time I took it, I literally guessed on every question, and I got a 15. On the retake of the same test, I actually tried at got below a 13!

WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? Anyone have suggestions? I'm starting to completely lose hope and doubt myself.

 

[SDDDAT]

It's perfectly normal to get a bunch of problems wrong in Destroyer the first time through. What you have to do though is take notes and figure out what you did wrong. Maybe make flashcards that you can easily review every day. I would actually start with Chad's quizzes before going into Destroyer if you haven't already done that yet. They're usually much simpler and closer in terms of difficulty to the real test than Destroyer's problems.

 

[alasra]

It's perfectly normal to get a bunch of problems wrong in Destroyer the first time through. What you have to do though is take notes and figure out what you did wrong. Maybe make flashcards that you can easily review every day. I would actually start with Chad's quizzes before going into Destroyer if you haven't already done that yet. They're usually much simpler and closer in terms of difficulty to the real test than Destroyer's problems.

I did watch Chad's videos- multiple times actually. Destroyer goes over things Chad doesn't even mention. It's hard for me to even understand why the wrong questions are wrong, because I feel like I know nothing. I guess I need to take it even slower and google everything I don't understand. The flash cards are a great idea. Do you know of any pre-made cards? Similar to the Biology Anki cards?

 

[alasra]

Stick with the DAT Destroyer for now. Starting out, it's okay to get so many wrong. Learn from your mistakes, including why the other answer choices are incorrect, and you'll eventually find subsequent questions much easier to handle. Once you've finished Destroyer, move on to Bootcamp. The questions there should be a breeze.

I feel like I'm getting WAY more wrong than is normal. I mean.. 2 correct out of 20?! I guess I'll just have stick to it and go through the Destroyer multiple times. Thanks for the words of encouragement!

 

[dentalstudent2021]

understand the concepts more than memorizing the methods for a problem. I feel like you are going into panic mode and psyching yourself and just memorizing things out of panic ? but either way, try to understand the concepts and then practice it to solidify it....Destroyer is an awesome tool that covers all bases.

 

[rak173]

I did watch Chad's videos- multiple times actually. Destroyer goes over things Chad doesn't even mention. It's hard for me to even understand why the wrong questions are wrong, because I feel like I know nothing. I guess I need to take it even slower and google everything I don't understand. The flash cards are a great idea. Do you know of any pre-made cards? Similar to the Biology Anki cards?

Did you watch Chads videos from coursesaver.com or chadsvideos.com? His videos and quizzes are better in chadsvideos.com plus they are all free.

 

[alasra]

understand the concepts more than memorizing the methods for a problem. I feel like you are going into panic mode and psyching yourself and just memorizing things out of panic ? but either way, try to understand the concepts and then practice it to solidify it....Destroyer is an awesome tool that covers all bases.

I feel as though I understand it, but then I do the problems and it's all gibberish. I guess I am just psyching myself out. Thanks for the advice, though! I appreciate it

 

[alasra]

Did you watch Chads videos from coursesaver.com or chadsvideos.com? His videos and quizzes are better in chadsvideos.com plus they are all free.

From coursesaver. I went on chadsvideos.com, but felt that the videos were much longer. I'll definitely give the quizzes on chadsvideos.com a try. Thanks!

 

[rak173]

From coursesaver. I went on chadsvideos.com, but felt that the videos were much longer. I'll definitely give the quizzes on chadsvideos.com a try. Thanks!

Yeah, their quizzes are harder than on coursesaver plus chadsvideos.com has more quiz questions than on coursesaver.

 

[DentalLonghorn2014]

Listen to these smart pre-dents. I started Destroyer a few days ago and I was kinda bummed I was getting so many wrong. However, that's okay. It's used to expose you to different concepts and questions that is much harder than the real DAT. It is meant to DESTROY you. Don't fret! I've learned so much and it has also identified my problem areas.

What I do is instead of doing 30 questions at a time: I do 10 questions, take a 5 min break, and look at the solutions while working it out. I still miss a crap load of questions but it's starting to look up. Better to be destroyed now than on the day of the real DAT! 🙂

 

[alasra]

Listen to these smart pre-dents. I started Destroyer a few days ago and I was kinda bummed I was getting so many wrong. However, that's okay. It's used to expose you to different concepts and questions that is much harder than the real DAT. It is meant to DESTROY you. Don't fret! I've learned so much and it has also identified my problem areas.

What I do is instead of doing 30 questions at a time: I do 10 questions, take a 5 min break, and look at the solutions while working it out. I still miss a crap load of questions but it's starting to look up. Better to be destroyed now than on the day of the real DAT! 🙂

Great advice! I guess I'll start breaking it up more to give myself some time to handle the failures better, both mentally and emotionally haha. I haven't touched my Destroyer in days because I've been so bummed. But you've inspired me to try again, although more slowly. Gahh.. thanks again! Good luck to you!!!!

 

[DentalLonghorn2014]

Great advice! I guess I'll start breaking it up more to give myself some time to handle the failures better, both mentally and emotionally haha. I haven't touched my Destroyer in days because I've been so bummed. But you've inspired me to try again, although more slowly. Gahh.. thanks again! Good luck to you!!!!

Np! Continue to try, my friend! I believe we can persevere and the fruits of our labor will eventually be truly rewarding! 🙂

 

[Surf Prescription]

I was in the same boat. What ended up working for me was doing 30 new gen chem questions every day out of destroyer, then review the answers to all those questions. The following day I would do 30 more new questions, plus all of the questions I missed from the previous day. For any question you are still missing keep repeating the same question every day until you have it down. Keep track of all of the questions you miss out of Destroyer and then once every week, go back and attempt all of those problems again. This worked out well for me. Definitely won't work if you're short on time though.

 

[Freakoutfrank]

Just so you know you are not alone:

Its also been 5 years since I took Gen Chem. After going through Chad's Gen Chem Videos twice I started doing well on his quizzes and so I decided to dive into Destroyer this past Monday. So far its been extremely hard not to think of the worst. I try to do anywhere between 20-40 problems a day (some times more) and it takes me anywhere from 3 to 5 hours to finish answering all the questions while taking notes on the ones missed. I am not too sure if taking this long is normal but I find it hard to move on from the questions I dont know as well as I refuse to give up on questions I feel like I can figure out. Just today when I finished with problem #200, I counted the total amount of correct answers and yeah I pretty much got OWNED (I got 96 correct/200 total questions done). Im planning to finish the section by next week, study the notes taken from this first round then do the whole section again 2-3 days later after my review. I feel like because Im so weak at Gen Chem, studying for this section is pretty much all I have been doing for the last 3 weeks. I take my test in 3 months (Im also working and going to school) so currently Im not too sure if Id be able to cut it by then especially because Im just as weak on Math as I am with Gen Chem.

 

[rak173]

One thing that helped me was doing free online worksheets. Just google "xyz worksheet" where xyz is any gen chem section. If you do them, you'll feel confident doing the destroyer. Good luck.

 

[alasra]

Just so you know you are not alone:

Its also been 5 years since I took Gen Chem. After going through Chad's Gen Chem Videos twice I started doing well on his quizzes and so I decided to dive into Destroyer this past Monday. So far its been extremely hard not to think of the worst. I try to do anywhere between 20-40 problems a day (some times more) and it takes me anywhere from 3 to 5 hours to finish answering all the questions while taking notes on the ones missed. I am not too sure if taking this long is normal but I find it hard to move on from the questions I dont know as well as I refuse to give up on questions I feel like I can figure out. Just today when I finished with problem #200, I counted the total amount of correct answers and yeah I pretty much got OWNED (I got 96 correct/200 total questions done). Im planning to finish the section by next week, study the notes taken from this first round then do the whole section again 2-3 days later after my review. I feel like because Im so weak at Gen Chem, studying for this section is pretty much all I have been doing for the last 3 weeks. I take my test in 3 months (Im also working and going to school) so currently Im not too sure if Id be able to cut it by then especially because Im just as weak on Math as I am with Gen Chem.

WOW you did 200 questions in a week?! Way to persevere, buddy! Now I feel bad that I just gave up, haha. I think you're doing it right- I'm going to try to do that too along with all he other suggestions in the thread. I just need to take it slow and focus more on understanding than getting questions right. GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[alasra]

One thing that helped me was doing free online worksheets. Just google "xyz worksheet" where xyz is any gen chem section. If you do them, you'll feel confident doing the destroyer. Good luck.

That's a great idea. I've been doing something similar for Math, so I don't know why I didn't think of doing it for chemistry. Do you have any specific sites that helped a lot? Thanks for your reply!

 

[Freakoutfrank]

WOW you did 200 questions in a week?! Way to persevere, buddy! Now I feel bad that I just gave up, haha. I think you're doing it right- I'm going to try to do that too along with all he other suggestions in the thread. I just need to take it slow and focus more on understanding than getting questions right. GOOD LUCK!!!

Yeah take it slow. Like I said I did finish 200 problems but honestly the fact that Ive been doing terrible on them has really taken a toll on my confidence. Destroyer has made me reconsider my exam date (I want to reschedule for a later date). I feel like crap BUT the only thing that keeps me motivated is the slight hope of getting better with repetition. I want to finish going over the GC destroyer soon so that I can go over it many times. Take things day by day, do not think too much in advance.
Once you get closer to D-day evaluate your status and make a decision from there, at least that is what I continue to tell myself to stay sane.

 

[rak173]

That's a great idea. I've been doing something similar for Math, so I don't know why I didn't think of doing it for chemistry. Do you have any specific sites that helped a lot? Thanks for your reply!

I just type in worksheets for specific sections and there are lots of worksheets in pdfs and in word forms, some with or without answers. I only do the ones with answers though. Good luck!

 

[alasra]

Yeah take it slow. Like I said I did finish 200 problems but honestly the fact that Ive been doing terrible on them has really taken a toll on my confidence. Destroyer has made me reconsider my exam date (I want to reschedule for a later date). I feel like crap BUT the only thing that keeps me motivated is the slight hope of getting better with repetition. I want to finish going over the GC destroyer soon so that I can go over it many times. Take things day by day, do not think too much in advance.
Once you get closer to D-day evaluate your status and make a decision from there, at least that is what I continue to tell myself to stay sane.

I went through 21 problems in the Destroyer today, using my notes, and I did well! I took everyone's suggestions and just focused on understanding the questions and answers, rather than trying to get the problems right. It's helped a lot with my confidence! I agree with you, I'm looking forward to going through it a second time in the hopes that I do well without my notes.

I would definitely push back the date if you don't feel confident. Good luck, friend!!

 

[Freakoutfrank]

I went through 21 problems in the Destroyer today, using my notes, and I did well! I took everyone's suggestions and just focused on understanding the questions and answers, rather than trying to get the problems right. It's helped a lot with my confidence! I agree with you, I'm looking forward to going through it a second time in the hopes that I do well without my notes.

I would definitely push back the date if you don't feel confident. Good luck, friend!!

Awesome!! Now if you have been taking notes on stuff you missed try to go over those for at least 30 minutes before you start on your next set of questions. Im glad things are getting better (and they will continue to..) Just keep at it! We live to fight yet another day my friend youre not alone.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Awesome!! Now if you have been taking notes on stuff you missed try to go over those for at least 30 minutes before you start on your next set of questions. Im glad things are getting better (and they will continue to..) Just keep at it! We live to fight yet another day my friend youre not alone.

Great going..Keep up the fight you will need a lot of power to face the DAT Beast!

Nancy

 

[alasra]

Awesome!! Now if you have been taking notes on stuff you missed try to go over those for at least 30 minutes before you start on your next set of questions. Im glad things are getting better (and they will continue to..) Just keep at it! We live to fight yet another day my friend youre not alone.

You have inspired me so much! Seriously. I just did another 20 problems (which takes me like 2 hours), and I felt so much better just focusing on learning. Damn. Never though I'd feel this way about Chemistry, haha. Good luck! I look forward to your kick ass DAT breakdown 🙂

 

[jokersmiles]

What you need to do:
1) Chads videos: make sure you take notes on EVERYTHING he says, literally word for word write down everything he says. At the end of each video do all the problems for that video. For the answers you get wrong write down notes for why its wrong. Do this for all of Chads videos and then all you have to do is reread your notes and you never have to go back to the videos again cause you already wrote down everything he said. Make sure you read these notes until you feel like you have a good grasp of everything. Do not start DAT Destroyer until 90% of Chads videos is easy.

2) DAT Destroyer: time yourself (I forgot how long each section was and how many problems there was on the DAT for chemistry). but say if the actual chemistry section on the DAT is 1 hour with 30 problems, make sure you attempt all 30 problems in that 1 hour time span. See what score you get then go back and fix everything you got wrong. Keep doing this in sections until the entire DAT Destroyer is complete. Make sure to take notes on everything while you do this. Now redo every single problem on the DAT Destroyer 3 times and you will have mastered it. Trust me, the first time I went through the DAT Destroyer I was depressed at how much I didn't know, but after practice I scored near perfect scores on the DAT general and organic chem sections. The first time you go through Destroyer just finish all the problems at your own pace, but the 2nd and 3rd time make sure you time yourself!!

3) DAT Bootcamp: 2-3 weeks before your actual DAT, start DAT Bootcamp and again take notes on EVERYTHING that you struggle on. Finish all the problems and redo Bootcamp 2-3 times.

Make sure that you put your notes to use!! make sure you reread ALL of your notes (Chads, Destroyer, Bootcamp) every 2 or 3 days! this way everything you learned is not forgotten!
Also, make flash cards for organic chemistry molecules using the notes you took from Chads videos and those road maps on DAT Destroyer, practice those note cards every day! I know this is a lot to do and a huge struggle but this is what must be done in order to retain all of this information, you need to reread and repeat on a daily basis so that old info is not forgotten.

Good Luck! 🙂😉🙂

 

[fogorvostan]

If there is a certain topic that you are still not getting even after doing Chad's Videos slowly, I would check out Youtube and watch a couple of additional videos. Sometimes it just takes someone else explaining it for it to click.

 

[Freakoutfrank]

You have inspired me so much! Seriously. I just did another 20 problems (which takes me like 2 hours), and I felt so much better just focusing on learning. Damn. Never though I'd feel this way about Chemistry, haha. Good luck! I look forward to your kick ass DAT breakdown 🙂

I'm glad things are looking up! You'll get faster with GC eventually just be sure to not get comfortable and just like jokersmiles mentioned once you feel up for the challenge start timing yourself. I feel like DAT prep is all about building layers of information and the only way to do this is by continuously pushing yourself to get the most out of your studying journey. Just like people who weight lift: "you gotta throw more weight and continue to be sore to get them gainz " lol

Haha!
Idk about a breakdown later since I'm not even sure how well I'd do on the actual DAT. I've scheduled my test for Mid June and I've currently been studying for the DAT on and off due to my class schedule, work and other personal responsibilities that are keeping me from actually diving into DAT studying 100% . So far I've been focusing on gen Chem as I feel is my absolute weakest subject. I've also started chads QR, Ochem and read about half AP cliffs. I really feel like I'm gonna have to reschedule and this bums me to no limit cause if I do so I may not be able to apply this cycle so idk what else Id be doing on the lap year and half from this cycle to the next. I'm overwhelmed but because I'm trying to get over the learning curve on my weakest subjects (QR / GC) My hope is that once I'm out of school, I can start seeing prominent improvement. Sorry for the little rant but don't want for anyone to think that things are going all that well for me over here lol

 

[rak173]

I just finished Gen Chem in destroyer today and felt that the first half was much harder than the second half. So if you're struggling in the beginning, you will find it easier towards the 2nd half.

 

[Master Yoda]

I want to take my DAT in late May, but the gen. chem portion is killing me. I haven't taken a chemistry class in 5 years, so I've forgotten everything. I have watched Chad's videos like 3 times, taken extensive notes, but when I go to practice, I don't know anything. I feel like I understand the material, but apparently I don't know a thing. For example, I do 20 questions in the DAT destroyer, and get TWO QUESTIONS RIGHT. I decided to do the Destroyer with my notes, but even then I was getting like 5/20 questions right!

I don't know what to do. I'm seriously getting depressed, because I am not getting better. The real kick in the balls was last week when I retook DAT bootcamp's General Chemistry practice test 1. The first time I took it, I literally guessed on every question, and I got a 15. On the retake of the same test, I actually tried at got below a 13!

WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? Anyone have suggestions? I'm starting to completely lose hope and doubt myself.

If you are getting 5/20 question right using your notes you are likely to have problems when taking the test. DAT destroyer is hard. One question tests your knowlege on several different concepts. I would suggest you start with problems from the back of a textbook to get practice. Once you have done enough practice problems start on destroyer.
Also, it does not matter how many times you have watched chad's videos. Chad's videos give you a good foundation to work out problems, but you need to do a lot of practice problems to get good at solving Destroyer problems and acing your DAT.

Hope this helps.

 

[alasra]

If you are getting 5/20 question right using your notes you are likely to have problems when taking the test. DAT destroyer is hard. One question tests your knowlege on several different concepts. I would suggest you start with problems from the back of a textbook to get practice. Once you have done enough practice problems start on destroyer.
Also, it does not matter how many times you have watched chad's videos. Chad's videos give you a good foundation to work out problems, but you need to do a lot of practice problems to get good at solving Destroyer problems and acing your DAT.

Hope this helps.

I completely agree. I don't know where else to practice Chemistry questions, except Chad's video quizzes which were fine. Another user suggested using worksheets for concepts I don't understand, which I am starting to do. If that doesn't work out, I might just buy a textbook from Amazon or something. Right now, though, I'm getting a lot better with the Destroyer. I guess I just needed some confidence and stress less about getting questions right. My approach the past few days has been to first just think about how to solve the problem, look up equations or whatever information I need, and then do the problem. I focus strictly on learning, rather than getting questions right. This has been better because I'm getting questions right more often now, which is such a confidence booster, haha.

Thanks so much for your advice! I really appreciate!

 

[alasra]

I just finished Gen Chem in destroyer today and felt that the first half was much harder than the second half. So if you're struggling in the beginning, you will find it easier towards the 2nd half.

Oh God, I hope this is the case, haha. Honestly, I feel like questions are getting a little easier too! If only because I'm starting to see patterns more clearly, which is good. Good luck!!!!

 

[alasra]

I'm glad things are looking up! You'll get faster with GC eventually just be sure to not get comfortable and just like jokersmiles mentioned once you feel up for the challenge start timing yourself. I feel like DAT prep is all about building layers of information and the only way to do this is by continuously pushing yourself to get the most out of your studying journey. Just like people who weight lift: "you gotta throw more weight and continue to be sore to get them gainz " lol

Haha!
Idk about a breakdown later since I'm not even sure how well I'd do on the actual DAT. I've scheduled my test for Mid June and I've currently been studying for the DAT on and off due to my class schedule, work and other personal responsibilities that are keeping me from actually diving into DAT studying 100% . So far I've been focusing on gen Chem as I feel is my absolute weakest subject. I've also started chads QR, Ochem and read about half AP cliffs. I really feel like I'm gonna have to reschedule and this bums me to no limit cause if I do so I may not be able to apply this cycle so idk what else Id be doing on the lap year and half from this cycle to the next. I'm overwhelmed but because I'm trying to get over the learning curve on my weakest subjects (QR / GC) My hope is that once I'm out of school, I can start seeing prominent improvement. Sorry for the little rant but don't want for anyone to think that things are going all that well for me over here lol

It's okay if you have to push it back. It's also okay if you don't get in this year. The worst thing you can do is overwhelm yourself by stressing to apply ASAP. Try your best to destroy the DAT the first time. I used to stress and get so depressed because I thought I had to get in Dental school the first time, but once I gave myself time to just make my application stronger (even though it meant waiting), I feel more confident. Trust me, it'll click for you! It's been like a week since I posted this, but I already feel so much better. You've got this!! Don't stress 🙂 We all have it in us to kick ass on the DAT! With that, I'm going to try and go through 60 problems today. Good luck, friend!