Chill out

[Predent519]

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This message is for anyone who has felt comfortable with their studying habits then after reading this forum felt doomed to fail because everyone claims to study seven hours a day months ahead of time. Don't take too many of those posts seriously. Everyone is different and has their own method of studying. I can't concentrate for that long so I studied only 2 or three hours a day for a little less then a month and did fine (21aa 27pa). Everyone is different, don't feel like you have to buy 15 different study materials b/c everyone on sdn enjoys bragging about their collection of prep books and practice exams. You know how much you need to study more than any troll on the forum so relax and don't worry about them. Practice test are a pretty fair assessment of how prepared you are!

 

[nydentist32]

That's real talk right there. Reliefing some of my stress...big ups kid big ups

 

[mh0000]

lol, I can completely agree with your statement. I've been studying for about 4 weeks, but only like 4 hours a day (maybe 3 hours of productive studying). When I started seeing some of the crazy scores and study behavior, I became a little more worried. I think many of us just need to put things into perspective and realize some on this forum are just gifted with their abilities, and the rest of us just need to put in a little more time. We also don't need 22+ to get in either. This fact helps alleviate some of my stress (a little bit.... 🙂 )

 

[PooyaH]

Last year I did a Masters program in which I was taking the same classes as D1 students. It was funny how every person had a different study method. Some studied less and some studied more, and on average they both ended up with decent scores. So I definitely agree with what you're saying and a very interesting fact some of my classmates and I found out was that a lot of people BS about their scores, so don't take them too seriously.

 

[Teeths]

Good post! At the end of the day, we're all different.. in our study habits, retention amount lol, etc. Just do what you can do that there's nothing else to it 😛

 

[herkulease]

I think that at this point in one's college career, heck life, people would realize that everyone is different. What works for some might not work for others.

I've never seen anyone brag about their collection of prep material before. Score sure. but test prep material. that's a new one for me.

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

I've never seen anyone brag about their collection of prep material before. Score sure. but test prep material. that's a new one for me.

Seriously.

I have more study material than you!! take that!!

There is pretty much an unlimited amount of study material available.
Only the rare breed can study for 12 hours a day for 2 months. Only then can you finish all of the material available. You have to balance out how much study material to buy with how much you can realistically finish.

 

[mh0000]

I think that at this point in one's college career, heck life, people would realize that everyone is different. What works for some might not work for others.

I've never seen anyone brag about their collection of prep material before. Score sure. but test prep material. that's a new one for me.

Pft, I bought three copies of every prep book, subscriptions to all chemistry and biology journals and enrolled in kaplan's course twice at the same time sucka!!!! 😀 There, bragging accomplished!

(now watch me get a 16AA or something pathetic...)

 

[KrimsonKitsu]

Man, thank you for posting this. I take my DAT tomorrow and I was kind of freaking out. I really appreciate hearing this.

 

[radmazindds]

I went to sleep one night after being on this forum--incidentally, it was also my first week of intense DAT prep, and woke up with nightmares!! I kept dreaming about getting low scores, etc., and I had to remind myself that I hadn't even taken the test yet. This forum definitely plays with my psyche.

Perhaps this is illegal-- but I share with you Vonnegut and his wisdom:

"Trout wrote a novel one time which he called How You Doin'? and it was about national averages for this and that. An advertising agency on another planet had a successful campaign for the local equivalent of Earthling peanut butter. The eye-catching part of each ad was the statement of some sort of average--the average number of children, the average size of the male sex organ on that particular planet...and so on. The ads invited the readers to discover whether they were superior or inferior to the majority, in this respect or that one--whatever the respect was for the particular ad.
"The ad went on to say that superior and inferior people alike ate such and such brand of peanut butter. Except that it wasn't really peanut butter on that planet. It was Shazzbutter.
"And so on.
"And the peanut butter eaters on Earth were preparing to conquer the shazzbutter-eaters on the planet in the book by Kilgore Trout. By this time the Earthlings hadn't just demolished West Virginia and Southeast Asia. They had demolished everything. So they were ready to go pioneering again.
"They studied the shazzbutter-eaters by means of electronic snooping, and determined that they were too numerous and proud and resourceful ever to allow themselves to be pioneered.
"So the Earthlings infiltrated the ad agency which had the shazzbutter account, and they buggered the statistics in the ads. They made the average for everything so high that everybody on the planet felt inferior to the majority in every respect.
"And then the Earthling armored space ships came in and discovered the planet. Only token resistance was offered here and there because the natives felt so below average. And the pioneering began."
--Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions

Do not let yourself be pioneered, fellow shazzbutter-eaters.

Thank you for this post, Predent519.

 

[kingjaxn2013]

I went to sleep one night after being on this forum--incidentally, it was also my first week of intense DAT prep, and woke up with nightmares!! I kept dreaming about getting low scores, etc., and I had to remind myself that I hadn't even taken the test yet. This forum definitely plays with my psyche.

Perhaps this is illegal-- but I share with you Vonnegut and his wisdom:

"Trout wrote a novel one time which he called How You Doin'? and it was about national averages for this and that. An advertising agency on another planet had a successful campaign for the local equivalent of Earthling peanut butter. The eye-catching part of each ad was the statement of some sort of average--the average number of children, the average size of the male sex organ on that particular planet...and so on. The ads invited the readers to discover whether they were superior or inferior to the majority, in this respect or that one--whatever the respect was for the particular ad.
"The ad went on to say that superior and inferior people alike ate such and such brand of peanut butter. Except that it wasn't really peanut butter on that planet. It was Shazzbutter.
"And so on.
"And the peanut butter eaters on Earth were preparing to conquer the shazzbutter-eaters on the planet in the book by Kilgore Trout. By this time the Earthlings hadn't just demolished West Virginia and Southeast Asia. They had demolished everything. So they were ready to go pioneering again.
"They studied the shazzbutter-eaters by means of electronic snooping, and determined that they were too numerous and proud and resourceful ever to allow themselves to be pioneered.
"So the Earthlings infiltrated the ad agency which had the shazzbutter account, and they buggered the statistics in the ads. They made the average for everything so high that everybody on the planet felt inferior to the majority in every respect.
"And then the Earthling armored space ships came in and discovered the planet. Only token resistance was offered here and there because the natives felt so below average. And the pioneering began."
--Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions

Do not let yourself be pioneered, fellow shazzbutter-eaters.

Thank you for this post, Predent519.

Beautiful.
Its good to take more breaks from the DAT Discussion forum than study breaks from the actual DAT. Nothing is more defeating and frustrating than comparing /contrasting your hypothetical future scores with someone else's 25AA(after them having studied only 3 weeks for 14 hr sessions and not having taken orgo/gen chem in 7 years lol)

 

[flin5845]

My personal thoughts are that you (the op) have to be fairly gifted when it comes to academics. I agree that everyone has different study habits, but your saying you put in around 120 hours of studying and scored in the 95th percentile and 100th percentile for PAT. You are talented. However a lot of the people that I have seen post their scores have sub-par GPA and are trying to ace the DAT to be competitive.

But I agree... It's quality versus quantity with studying. And it is reassuring that you can do well on the test without stressing to death about it

 

[Bereno]

Sticky?

 

[LetsGo2DSchool]

LOL, this thread sounds like a bunch of people justifying their lack of preparation.

I highly doubt that the people who only study a few hours a day will perform as well as the ones who put in 8-12 hours a day. I'm sure there are a few exceptions but they probably have 180+ IQ's and are nuclear biophysics/biochem majors.

Simply, there is just too much information one needs to know. 6 subjects in total. I remember reading threads of the 22-24 DAT scorers who went thru Destroyer 5x's and Math Destroyer 3x's, not to mention similar repetition with Cliffs AP Bio and Chad's videos. That takes a lot of time and commitment to accomplish.

Unless you have a photographic memory, I don't think you can get everything down studying only a few hours a day IMHO. But everyone is different, so what do I know.

 

[IronJeff]

lol, this thread sounds like a bunch of people justifying their lack of preparation.

i highly doubt that the people who only study a few hours a day will perform as well as the ones who put in 8-12 hours a day. I'm sure there are a few exceptions but they probably have 180+ iq's and are nuclear biophysics/biochem majors.

Simply, there is just too much information one needs to know. 6 subjects in total. I remember reading threads of the 22-24 dat scorers who went thru destroyer 5x's and math destroyer 3x's, not to mention similar repetition with cliffs ap bio and chad's videos. That takes a lot of time and commitment to accomplish.

Unless you have a photographic memory, i don't think you can get everything down studying only a few hours a day imho. But everyone is different, so what do i know.

whyyy

 

[JustwantDDS]

LOL, this thread sounds like a bunch of people justifying their lack of preparation.

I highly doubt that the people who only study a few hours a day will perform as well as the ones who put in 8-12 hours a day. I'm sure there are a few exceptions but they probably have 180+ IQ's and are nuclear biophysics/biochem majors.

Simply, there is just too much information one needs to know. 6 subjects in total. I remember reading threads of the 22-24 DAT scorers who went thru Destroyer 5x's and Math Destroyer 3x's, not to mention similar repetition with Cliffs AP Bio and Chad's videos. That takes a lot of time and commitment to accomplish.

Unless you have a photographic memory, I don't think you can get everything down studying only a few hours a day IMHO. But everyone is different, so what do I know.

this site does mess with ur head. that i can totally agree with. but i think letsgo has a point here
i studied ALOT maybe it wasnt the best - and i did alot of freaking out and still landed 18/18/19 last cycle and didnt get in.
so, it depends on the person. im not sure what to think anymore....😱

 

[Ghostface17]

Everyone retains knowledge at different speeds. If someone can study a few hours a day for little less than a month then more props to you. Everyone has their own way of studying and they themselves should know by now (after however many yrs of college) what your limitations and capabilities are when it comes to studying. I use this site as a motivator when I feel like giving up. Everyones high scores get me pumped to do the same. I hate losing so I use this site as such.

 

[PooyaH]

LOL, this thread sounds like a bunch of people justifying their lack of preparation.

I highly doubt that the people who only study a few hours a day will perform as well as the ones who put in 8-12 hours a day. I'm sure there are a few exceptions but they probably have 180+ IQ's and are nuclear biophysics/biochem majors.

Simply, there is just too much information one needs to know. 6 subjects in total. I remember reading threads of the 22-24 DAT scorers who went thru Destroyer 5x's and Math Destroyer 3x's, not to mention similar repetition with Cliffs AP Bio and Chad's videos. That takes a lot of time and commitment to accomplish.

Unless you have a photographic memory, I don't think you can get everything down studying only a few hours a day IMHO. But everyone is different, so what do I know.

I have to agree with you. I don't agree with studying just a couple of hours a day when this could be one the most important tests of your life. Unless, as you said, your IQ is super high. There's so much info that can't be absorbed with just couple of hours of studying a day. And without doubt, the more you study and go over the materials, and the more you're focused, the better you will perform on the test.
However, saying that people are justifying their lack of prep on here, is not a very educated statement to make.

 

[MAdental]

whyyy

That pic made me laugh.

 

[olive6]

i did like 2 hours a day...but dragged it out for 5 months! everyone's different.... the key is to know yourself... and to stay away from this site for a while haha

 

[Clancyp]

Thank you for this. I have a job and a mental block to study for 7+ hours a day (half of which i doubt your brain retains). I know the material and have 2.5 weeks left, these posts have been scaring the **** out of me about 10 hours a day for two months etc.. Again, this is exactly what I needed to hear.. thank you.