- Joined
- Aug 10, 2016
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 16
G’day fellow SDN’ers,
That’s right, I’m from the land Down Under, and last week I sat for the DAT and scored the following:
Biology 22
General Chemistry 22
Organic Chemistry 25
Perceptual Ability 19
Reading Comprehension 19
Quantitative Reasoning 18
TS 22
AA 21
I know, I know, not amazing, but not awful. I understand I’m in no position to gloat, but I will anyway; man I have a sweet accent.
On the real though, I did want to lend some advice and share my experience with those taking the 2017 DAT. SDN has been a terrific resource in helping me through this journey, and I can’t not give back to you all given what you've done for me. Also, since it’s 2017, I thought an updated DAT story-tell couldn’t hurt.
Pull up a chair matey.
I spent about 8 weeks studying for this bad boy, and though my scores don’t reflect it, I must say the DAT is honestly not that hard a test. I won’t say it's easy, but the questions are very straightforward. If you use the resources (listed below) correctly, even if at all, I promise you won’t come across a question you won’t know how to solve.
The real question is, can you answer it timed and under pressure? This was my greatest flaw during the exam.
Ah, before I begin, I want to make it known that there is a feature that lets you cross-out answers. I think it's as simple as right-clicking on the answer, and it strikes a solid black line through it. I didn't know that was a thing going in there, but it is. Yeah yeah laugh it up. I'm a little slow as you might see here in a sec.
- - - About Me, DAT Experience and Advice - - -
Biology (22)
About Me – I took the required 10 weeks of Biology back home when I was in grade 10, and all I remember was constructing a double helix DNA model out of paddlepop sticks and baby cotton balls. I’ve never been a biology guy, but up until about 2 months ago, something changed. Maybe Trump put something in the water. I don’t know, but I had detested biology for the most part of my academic career.
DAT Experience – Ahh, the Biology section. Or as I like to call it, Destination Fuaaaarked.
I marked maybe the first 10/15 questions. Ouch. Not that I was clueless, but I was on the fence between two answers a fair bit of the time, 70% confident to the answers I leaned toward. I had read a recent post from someone who took their DAT earlier this year and said they had a fair bit on embryology. This wasn’t covered too well in my class and so when I got to this section in Cliffs and Barron’s, I thought to myself, “bugger”. Kind of skipped around it the first time through; embryological development in frogs, bird and mammals etc. I eventually bit the bullet and studied it enough to where I felt ready to take on the exam.
In general, it wasn’t that the questions were too in-depth – but rather about application and integration of the concept - similar to many of the Bootcamp questions.
Advice – Listen to this broken record I found; Breadth over Depth. Not a bad tune, I reckon.
While studying, I’d receive emails from my Quora account about random questions that people ask. Strange things like, "What is an ants life purpose?" or "Why do I like the smell of my farts, but no one else does?" Incredible.
But every now and then, an interesting question popped up. This one was about 'How to be more efficient with study'. Brilliant, I thought. One lady responded with The Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule), where 80% of the results come from 20% of the causes - hold my beer while I grab my Layman dictionary:
Imagine you have an exam on Photosynthesis in 10 minutes. Think of a way to expend only 20% of your energy, while profiting by 80%. Would you focus on the small details, or concepts? Individual names of coenzymes? Or their general function?
My point is, and this especially helpful with biology, lay the foundation with your materials. Understand the concepts before the details. Doing this will give you 80% of the success, and the remaining 20% will be the finer details you can pick up during your review sessions or while sitting on the toilet.
Forest for the trees guys. Forest for the trees.
Materials: Biology
Barron’s AP Bio
Cliffs AP Bio (3rd ed.)
DAT Destroyer 2016
Feralis’ Biology Notes
DAT Bootcamp
Barron’s (9/10)
I used Barron’s to begin with. Awesome stuff. Gives you a nice review on concepts you may have forgotten or even missed while sleeping in class. In my case, we didn’t have time in the semester to go over the urinary system, but Barron’s (and Cliffs) broke it down beautifully.
Cliffs (8/10)
Since there was a free PDF online, I thought why not. When writing out notes, I coupled both Cliffs and Barron’s together. You’d be surprised how well these complement each other. For example, concepts that are too in-depth in Cliffs were usually easier to understand in Barron’s and vice versa. This was especially true for the Plants section in Cliffs. A drawback with Cliffs is that it can be quite wordy and sometimes too specific, and lacks some images that Barron’s has. Pictures are helpful in biology.
DAT Destroyer 2016 (8.5/10)
A lot of people tend to think this as overkill, and a lot of the questions generally are - hence the term ‘Destroyer’. But don't let that take you away from it's helpfulness. Dr. Romano and Ms. Nancy Steen mean business - like Pulp Fiction. No room for children here.
I reckon that each Destroyer question covers around 3 different concepts within a single, major concept. A wonderful tool, but my single best advice for using it is this: Please don’t be disheartened if you happen to get a few questions wrong. The DAT Destroyer is not a tool for scoring - and I think Dr. Romano has written that on the page one. A safer approach is to think of it as a tool for identifying strengths and weakness.
Feralis’ Biology Notes (9/10)
This guy killed the DAT. And to give out notes (that are constantly revised) so willingly - he's a top bloke in my book. Like many, I used Feralis' notes as a supplement and took what I needed, and when I needed it, it was there. I didn’t revise all the notes, but I can say what I used was more than handy. It’s like a mini DAT textbook. Thanks mate.
DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
Hands down the way to go when simulating the DAT, and this goes for all sections (maybe with exception of RC). For the biology section, I’d estimate that 30/40 of the questions on my DAT were identical to the ones on Bootcamp. I swear, at least 5 of the questions were on the Bootcamp practice tests. Kudos to you Ari and team.
General Chemistry (22)
About Me – I’m a chemistry major, but hadn’t taken these classes in a while. That's where Chad’s videos come in. Unreal. He covered everything that was on my exam, and he explains science in such a simple and humorous manner. Sticks like glue.
DAT Experience – Quite surprisingly, a very simple section. Questions were very basic and mostly conceptual. Perhaps 4-5 calculations at high-school level difficulty I reckon. There was one calculation to do with enthalpy (divulging this information is ok, right?) that I had to guesstimate and move on. Under the pump, I just couldn’t flip the equations and do the mole work in my head. But nevertheless, GC was a pretty simple section. To be honest, not sure how I ended with a 22. Felt like at least a 26. But nevertheless, a pretty simple section. And I know, I know, “Where’s the 30 you ask”. If I’m completely honest, I don’t bloody know. I think I got Rick-rolled.
Advice – Get quick with ALL types of chemistry calculations. Especially ones such as moles/stoich, colligative property q’s (wink wink nudge nudge) and STP gas q’s. For the most part, Bootcamp and DAT Destroyer = Holy Grail; Learn to get good and get fast with the basic calculations while studying with these.
Here’s why: I’m almost certain the DAT test-writers understand that people will be nervous and prone to making mistakes during the DAT. They aren’t monsters. They don’t want to see us fail, they just want to see us suffer, but gently. Of course, they have to weed-out the unfit, but I found that 90% of the exam questions were black and white – including the conceptual questions. I remember a question in the Destroyer asking which had the largest atomic radii. It boiled down to Sr2+ or S2-. Easy I thought. Sr2+. More shells + more elections = more boom baby. Checked out BOB and yep, wrong. Turned out to be one of those things in science. An anomaly as they say. But this is out of the scope of what they will ask. Even Chad said so. And Chad is the man.
Note: When I was doing some practice exams on Bootcamp, sometimes I’d be so wired-in with reading the question, I’d look at the answer, but forget to click it! Can you believe it! I’m the biggest buffoon if you’ve ever met one. But upon ‘Reviewing’ my answers, sometimes I’d leave 2-3 questions unanswered. A part of me wonders if I did this in the exam.
I didn’t have extra time to check them during the real DAT, because I'm a little slow...you know...not the brightest bulb on the chandelier kind of thing...But at least I'm on the chandelier! Yeeeew!
Organic Chemistry (25)
About Me – Favourite course during college. Took this baby over 2 years ago, so watching Chad’s videos helped a lot with jerking memory bank.
DAT Experience – I don’t know how I only managed a 25 here. A d**k-move for me to say that, I know, but take it in the sense that, like Bio and GC, this too was a straight-forward section.
I don’t recall a question I was at all puzzled with. I had maybe 2 synthesis questions (which sucked because this was my bread and butter). Perhaps 4 easy-as lab technique questions - and these were all covered in Chad’s videos. The style and structure of the remaining 20ish questions you will find on DAT Bootcamp. Again, I don’t want to say the DAT Destroyer is overkill, because I do think that roughly 80% of the questions are very useful, but in terms of difficulty, the real DAT was hands down easier than Bootcamp and DAT Destroyer. The reason for that was probably because of how hard Bootcamp and the Destroyer are in the first place!
Advice – In the exam, you may come across a reactant you’ve never seen before, and if/when this happens, look at the either the substrate (like benzene) or the solvent/catalyst and you should be able to predict what the product will be. Try not to focus on what you don't know. Focus on what you DO know, and go from there. Some advice that a sheila gave me one night. The relevance of this advice is undisclosed
I remember having a question - this was not on my DAT exam - similar in simplicity as: What is the product for the following reaction? And the reaction would be as simple as a bromination of a plain benzene ring. I remember thinking, “is this real life?” Again, this was not on my exam.
That’s just an example of how simple some questions can be on the DAT. Listen to the Breadth over Depth record if you need to.
Materials: General and Organic Chemistry
Chad’s Videos (10/10)
DAT Destroyer 2016 (9/10)
DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
I don’t need to say much here because it’s all be said before. Everyone who takes the DAT needs these resources at a minimum. There’s just no doubt about it. Just don’t let the Destroyer hurt your feelings. It’ll do that from time to time.
Reading Comprehension (19)
About Me – I suck at reading. Suck at comprehension. Literally suck. The suck of all sucks. Biggest suckster around. Born and raised in Sucktown, population: me.
DAT Experience – This section was after the 30-min break. The lady took 10 mins to get me back in the testing room and I was worried that my RC section had already started without me. Made it on-time, but a little overwhelmed. Need beer.
Ended up using the S&D method for my exam. I panicked quite badly after the first 14 questions because they were not S&D kinds of questions, to me anyway. Meanwhile the girl next to me starts barking like a dog (coughing). Literally. Out of no where. Like a Randy Orton RKO. I guess the saliva went down the wrong pipe. Thank God there were headphones.
Anyway, I think I guessed on 9 of the 17. Guessed as in, had zero evidence for my answers. Ouch baby...very ouch. Surprisingly, I had a lot of the, ‘The statement is correct but the reasoning is blah blah damnit’. I was beginning to think this was bollocks. I read at a 3rd grade level, can't comprehend for my life, and now I have to do both while the girl next to me is coughing up a lung. Talk about a kidney punch.
Won’t bother with the filling you in on the next two passages. Look at my Advice though…
Advice – Ok. I didn’t know this was a thing, but it sure as hell turned out to be. After the catastrophe in the first passage, I decided to take 10 seconds and do a hard-reset. At this point I felt tired, my mind exhausted and worked-up because I felt like this RC section was sodomizing me without consent. At least take me out to dinner first, am I right?
I took a breath, went to my happy place, and told myself that I wasn’t going to let 2 months of study be ruined in a hot second.
So for passage two, I read the first paragraph - genuinely read it - and looked ahead through the first couple of questions. Read the second paragraph, did the same thing, and I noticed something. Son of a gun. There is a God. I found that each question was ordered in the same order the passage read. Question 1 and 2 were in the first paragraph, and Q3 in the next, etc, etc. That was a blessing, and am so grateful I salvaged a 19 given the start I had.
Anyway. Point is, check to see if you passage is in order with the questions. It was literally word-for-word. And I mean that. Word-for-word. As if they took the question straight from the paragraph and said, "I'm right here baby. Fill in the blank." Mate, I'm tellin ya. It was as simple as that.
If you think a question will take more than a minute to find, move on. Trust me, you will see Q’s that require genuine understanding of the passage, but I think you can manage a 20+ here even if you answered only the S&D style of questions. Depends on the DAT exam you get dealt though... The point is, establish a method early in your DAT prep and practice the hell out of it it!
Also, I'm not sure how new a feature it is, but you can highlight text during the RC section (and every other section for that matter). Unfortunately, the highlighted portion stays on the page with the corresponding question. So if you highlight stuff while Q1 is up, the moment you click 'Next', pretty yellow highlighting disappears.
Perceptual Ability (19)
I won’t go into detail here. Don’t think I have the right to. But I used Bootcamp’s resources which were super helpful. In retrospect, I would like to have tried Crack DAT PAT. People rave about that stuff. But then again people rave about just about anything these days. That's right...I don't know you...
DAT Experience – Keyholes…Super surprised here. Had done well with them on Bootcamp. 13-15/15. But the first 7 keyholes on the real DAT, absolutely dazed. Couldn’t work those fellas whatsoever. Like feeding a vending machine with potato chips. And yes, I had about 3-4 rocks, as some call them. They looked like the Porygon Pokémon to me.
Advice – When/if you use Bootcamp, I know it takes that little bit extra, but I implore you take time and go over their solutions. Maybe not after a 5-hour practice exam, but the next day when you’re fresh. Ari and his team have some incredibly helpful shortcuts in ALL the sections. Especially pattern folding, and keyholes. I will say however, that the real DAT is easier than Bootcamp, which is understandable (they don’t call it Bootcamp for nothing), so if you’re not doing so hot in the practice Bootcamp exams, no worries.
Lastly, do a few of these a day. Not much, maybe 10 minutes a day. It can even be while watching TV or reading a Playboy mag. Regardless, every bit of practice helps your mind with being flexible with shapes in space.
Materials: PA
Bootcamp (8/10)
Quantitative Reasoning (18)
I don’t know what my deal is here. It just blows my mind. I consider myself to have a strong background in math, but seem to have an issue dealing with numbers under pressure.
Also, left-handed writers, beware of the smudge. During my exam, I had to swap my dry-erase markers for ones with a sharper tip. I couldn’t believe how blunt the other ones were. However, the sharp ones the lady gave me weren’t the normal dry-erase ones, so every time my palm moved over the ink, smudge. And they don’t erase nicely either, so be mindful of this. Wiping it will just leave a big blue smudge across the board. Illegible. It looked like I wiped out a village of Smurfs.
Though I didn’t do too hot on this section. I highly recommend Math Destroyer. Some of those babies are hard, some are real simple, but it’s the best type of practice for exposure. On the other hand, Bootcamp QR questions are analogous in the style/wording of the questions. Definitely not as many wordy-questions on my DAT, but the overall style is practically identical. Hmm, difficulty you ask? The real DAT is a tad easier than Bootcamp.
Materials: QR
Math Destroyer 2017 (8/10)
DAT Destroyer 2016 (9/10)
DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
Note: I also bought Kaplan’s DAT 2017-2018 book 2 weeks before my DAT. I wanted to see what they had to offer, mainly with the skeletal and integumentary sections since these weren’t really covered in Cliffs or Barron’s. But honestly, I wouldn’t recommend. Check out Feralis' Notes instead, and watch some vids on YouTube.
--- Parting Thoughts ---
If you took the time to read all that, I applaud you. I apologize for the excessive banter, but beer will make you do that. Before I logoff, I want to end on this final note:
Please do not make the DAT into a bigger deal than it is. I know it’s hard to do, but I promise you, no good will come of it. It is 100% possible to overstudy for this test. I don’t care what anyone says. I remember being a week out from my DAT, and for the first time throughout my longwinded study, I felt ready. I spent the next 3 days away from the books because I didn’t want to overdo it, and I wanted to let all that I had learnt ‘gel’ over the next few days and be fresh come my exam.
Unfortunately, a few days later, a part of me thought, “maybe I should go that extra mile and study some more”. Bad idea. I ended up reviewing all I knew already and muddled up some concepts. I confused some biology and general chemistry fundamentals by trying to imagine what types of questions I might get on my exam, and that led to utter confusion, and panic. 4 days out.
What made matters worse, was that I went to the Destroyer to keep ‘fresh’. Brillaint idea, said no one ever. Got a few of those wrong. Bye bye confidence. 3 days out, I forced myself to step away again. Went for a bike ride to clear the mind, gave my grandma back home the weekly catch-up call, and caught up with a couple mates; anything to take my mind off of the DAT.
I played on the college golf team here at UT during my first 2 years, but basically came out of the womb with a club in my hands. Between tournament days, I noticed I had my best mindset was when I didn’t think about golf. I would try to get my thoughts as far from the game as I could, and so that’s what I did for the days before my DAT. Bingo.
--- My best advice ---
*clears throat, takes podium, taps mic* When things goes awry - and at some point they will - go back to the basics. Go back to your instincts. I've come to realise that we are our own worst enemies. The only thing getting in the way of achieving greatness is you. I promise. It really is that simple.
*kid in the back chimes in* "But if it's that simple, why doesn't every one do it?"
*clears throat again, leans in and bends mic toward self* I'll share with you a nice piece of advice I read a few months back. "Anyone can can take some information and make it complicated. But it takes a true genius to make things simple." Now to me, that's sage. That's the kind of advice you can use anywhere and any-when.
I’m not saying this will happen to you, but I wanted to put that out there as a reminder to keep things in perspective. For me, it was just amazing to see how I went from feeling 100% to 30% by trying to do more work.
So, that is my caveat. Take it with a grain of salt, but one of the themes here (apart from going back to the basics) is to know the difference between feeling ready and feeling prepared. Another SDN'er had written this in his breakdown I think. And it is so true. You will never feel prepared for an exam like this. It’s too broad a scope. But if you’re ready, go bloody get it mate.
Anyway, time for another beer. This one's gone warm.
Let me know if you need help with anything guys. Cheers!
Chris
P.S. Thank you to Dr. Romano and Ms. Nancy Steen for the DAT destroyer books. And also to Ari and his Bootcamp team, my main man Chad and of course my fellow SDN'ers.
That’s right, I’m from the land Down Under, and last week I sat for the DAT and scored the following:
Biology 22
General Chemistry 22
Organic Chemistry 25
Perceptual Ability 19
Reading Comprehension 19
Quantitative Reasoning 18
TS 22
AA 21
I know, I know, not amazing, but not awful. I understand I’m in no position to gloat, but I will anyway; man I have a sweet accent.
On the real though, I did want to lend some advice and share my experience with those taking the 2017 DAT. SDN has been a terrific resource in helping me through this journey, and I can’t not give back to you all given what you've done for me. Also, since it’s 2017, I thought an updated DAT story-tell couldn’t hurt.
Pull up a chair matey.
I spent about 8 weeks studying for this bad boy, and though my scores don’t reflect it, I must say the DAT is honestly not that hard a test. I won’t say it's easy, but the questions are very straightforward. If you use the resources (listed below) correctly, even if at all, I promise you won’t come across a question you won’t know how to solve.
The real question is, can you answer it timed and under pressure? This was my greatest flaw during the exam.
Ah, before I begin, I want to make it known that there is a feature that lets you cross-out answers. I think it's as simple as right-clicking on the answer, and it strikes a solid black line through it. I didn't know that was a thing going in there, but it is. Yeah yeah laugh it up. I'm a little slow as you might see here in a sec.
- - - About Me, DAT Experience and Advice - - -
Biology (22)
About Me – I took the required 10 weeks of Biology back home when I was in grade 10, and all I remember was constructing a double helix DNA model out of paddlepop sticks and baby cotton balls. I’ve never been a biology guy, but up until about 2 months ago, something changed. Maybe Trump put something in the water. I don’t know, but I had detested biology for the most part of my academic career.
DAT Experience – Ahh, the Biology section. Or as I like to call it, Destination Fuaaaarked.
I marked maybe the first 10/15 questions. Ouch. Not that I was clueless, but I was on the fence between two answers a fair bit of the time, 70% confident to the answers I leaned toward. I had read a recent post from someone who took their DAT earlier this year and said they had a fair bit on embryology. This wasn’t covered too well in my class and so when I got to this section in Cliffs and Barron’s, I thought to myself, “bugger”. Kind of skipped around it the first time through; embryological development in frogs, bird and mammals etc. I eventually bit the bullet and studied it enough to where I felt ready to take on the exam.
In general, it wasn’t that the questions were too in-depth – but rather about application and integration of the concept - similar to many of the Bootcamp questions.
Advice – Listen to this broken record I found; Breadth over Depth. Not a bad tune, I reckon.
While studying, I’d receive emails from my Quora account about random questions that people ask. Strange things like, "What is an ants life purpose?" or "Why do I like the smell of my farts, but no one else does?" Incredible.
But every now and then, an interesting question popped up. This one was about 'How to be more efficient with study'. Brilliant, I thought. One lady responded with The Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule), where 80% of the results come from 20% of the causes - hold my beer while I grab my Layman dictionary:
Imagine you have an exam on Photosynthesis in 10 minutes. Think of a way to expend only 20% of your energy, while profiting by 80%. Would you focus on the small details, or concepts? Individual names of coenzymes? Or their general function?
My point is, and this especially helpful with biology, lay the foundation with your materials. Understand the concepts before the details. Doing this will give you 80% of the success, and the remaining 20% will be the finer details you can pick up during your review sessions or while sitting on the toilet.
Forest for the trees guys. Forest for the trees.
Materials: Biology
Barron’s AP Bio
Cliffs AP Bio (3rd ed.)
DAT Destroyer 2016
Feralis’ Biology Notes
DAT Bootcamp
Barron’s (9/10)
I used Barron’s to begin with. Awesome stuff. Gives you a nice review on concepts you may have forgotten or even missed while sleeping in class. In my case, we didn’t have time in the semester to go over the urinary system, but Barron’s (and Cliffs) broke it down beautifully.
Cliffs (8/10)
Since there was a free PDF online, I thought why not. When writing out notes, I coupled both Cliffs and Barron’s together. You’d be surprised how well these complement each other. For example, concepts that are too in-depth in Cliffs were usually easier to understand in Barron’s and vice versa. This was especially true for the Plants section in Cliffs. A drawback with Cliffs is that it can be quite wordy and sometimes too specific, and lacks some images that Barron’s has. Pictures are helpful in biology.
DAT Destroyer 2016 (8.5/10)
A lot of people tend to think this as overkill, and a lot of the questions generally are - hence the term ‘Destroyer’. But don't let that take you away from it's helpfulness. Dr. Romano and Ms. Nancy Steen mean business - like Pulp Fiction. No room for children here.
I reckon that each Destroyer question covers around 3 different concepts within a single, major concept. A wonderful tool, but my single best advice for using it is this: Please don’t be disheartened if you happen to get a few questions wrong. The DAT Destroyer is not a tool for scoring - and I think Dr. Romano has written that on the page one. A safer approach is to think of it as a tool for identifying strengths and weakness.
Feralis’ Biology Notes (9/10)
This guy killed the DAT. And to give out notes (that are constantly revised) so willingly - he's a top bloke in my book. Like many, I used Feralis' notes as a supplement and took what I needed, and when I needed it, it was there. I didn’t revise all the notes, but I can say what I used was more than handy. It’s like a mini DAT textbook. Thanks mate.
DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
Hands down the way to go when simulating the DAT, and this goes for all sections (maybe with exception of RC). For the biology section, I’d estimate that 30/40 of the questions on my DAT were identical to the ones on Bootcamp. I swear, at least 5 of the questions were on the Bootcamp practice tests. Kudos to you Ari and team.
General Chemistry (22)
About Me – I’m a chemistry major, but hadn’t taken these classes in a while. That's where Chad’s videos come in. Unreal. He covered everything that was on my exam, and he explains science in such a simple and humorous manner. Sticks like glue.
DAT Experience – Quite surprisingly, a very simple section. Questions were very basic and mostly conceptual. Perhaps 4-5 calculations at high-school level difficulty I reckon. There was one calculation to do with enthalpy (divulging this information is ok, right?) that I had to guesstimate and move on. Under the pump, I just couldn’t flip the equations and do the mole work in my head. But nevertheless, GC was a pretty simple section. To be honest, not sure how I ended with a 22. Felt like at least a 26. But nevertheless, a pretty simple section. And I know, I know, “Where’s the 30 you ask”. If I’m completely honest, I don’t bloody know. I think I got Rick-rolled.
Advice – Get quick with ALL types of chemistry calculations. Especially ones such as moles/stoich, colligative property q’s (wink wink nudge nudge) and STP gas q’s. For the most part, Bootcamp and DAT Destroyer = Holy Grail; Learn to get good and get fast with the basic calculations while studying with these.
Here’s why: I’m almost certain the DAT test-writers understand that people will be nervous and prone to making mistakes during the DAT. They aren’t monsters. They don’t want to see us fail, they just want to see us suffer, but gently. Of course, they have to weed-out the unfit, but I found that 90% of the exam questions were black and white – including the conceptual questions. I remember a question in the Destroyer asking which had the largest atomic radii. It boiled down to Sr2+ or S2-. Easy I thought. Sr2+. More shells + more elections = more boom baby. Checked out BOB and yep, wrong. Turned out to be one of those things in science. An anomaly as they say. But this is out of the scope of what they will ask. Even Chad said so. And Chad is the man.
Note: When I was doing some practice exams on Bootcamp, sometimes I’d be so wired-in with reading the question, I’d look at the answer, but forget to click it! Can you believe it! I’m the biggest buffoon if you’ve ever met one. But upon ‘Reviewing’ my answers, sometimes I’d leave 2-3 questions unanswered. A part of me wonders if I did this in the exam.
I didn’t have extra time to check them during the real DAT, because I'm a little slow...you know...not the brightest bulb on the chandelier kind of thing...But at least I'm on the chandelier! Yeeeew!
Organic Chemistry (25)
About Me – Favourite course during college. Took this baby over 2 years ago, so watching Chad’s videos helped a lot with jerking memory bank.
DAT Experience – I don’t know how I only managed a 25 here. A d**k-move for me to say that, I know, but take it in the sense that, like Bio and GC, this too was a straight-forward section.
I don’t recall a question I was at all puzzled with. I had maybe 2 synthesis questions (which sucked because this was my bread and butter). Perhaps 4 easy-as lab technique questions - and these were all covered in Chad’s videos. The style and structure of the remaining 20ish questions you will find on DAT Bootcamp. Again, I don’t want to say the DAT Destroyer is overkill, because I do think that roughly 80% of the questions are very useful, but in terms of difficulty, the real DAT was hands down easier than Bootcamp and DAT Destroyer. The reason for that was probably because of how hard Bootcamp and the Destroyer are in the first place!
Advice – In the exam, you may come across a reactant you’ve never seen before, and if/when this happens, look at the either the substrate (like benzene) or the solvent/catalyst and you should be able to predict what the product will be. Try not to focus on what you don't know. Focus on what you DO know, and go from there. Some advice that a sheila gave me one night. The relevance of this advice is undisclosed
I remember having a question - this was not on my DAT exam - similar in simplicity as: What is the product for the following reaction? And the reaction would be as simple as a bromination of a plain benzene ring. I remember thinking, “is this real life?” Again, this was not on my exam.
That’s just an example of how simple some questions can be on the DAT. Listen to the Breadth over Depth record if you need to.
Materials: General and Organic Chemistry
Chad’s Videos (10/10)
DAT Destroyer 2016 (9/10)
DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
I don’t need to say much here because it’s all be said before. Everyone who takes the DAT needs these resources at a minimum. There’s just no doubt about it. Just don’t let the Destroyer hurt your feelings. It’ll do that from time to time.
Reading Comprehension (19)
About Me – I suck at reading. Suck at comprehension. Literally suck. The suck of all sucks. Biggest suckster around. Born and raised in Sucktown, population: me.
DAT Experience – This section was after the 30-min break. The lady took 10 mins to get me back in the testing room and I was worried that my RC section had already started without me. Made it on-time, but a little overwhelmed. Need beer.
First passage: Oh my days. If this passage was a golf shot, it would be a snap-hook straight into the drink. I spent so long trying to ‘comprehend’ the passage. I also wasted time doing more 'searching' and less 'destroying'. It's like using one crutch for two broken legs. Don't do this. It will not be good for you.
Unfortunately, I never really established a good strategy for RC. I tried all the techniques they talk about and practiced using DAT Bootcamp, but for some reason I thought I could just wing it. I dunno, maybe it's the beer talking. But I take full responsibility for being so naive. Also beer talking.
Unfortunately, I never really established a good strategy for RC. I tried all the techniques they talk about and practiced using DAT Bootcamp, but for some reason I thought I could just wing it. I dunno, maybe it's the beer talking. But I take full responsibility for being so naive. Also beer talking.
Ended up using the S&D method for my exam. I panicked quite badly after the first 14 questions because they were not S&D kinds of questions, to me anyway. Meanwhile the girl next to me starts barking like a dog (coughing). Literally. Out of no where. Like a Randy Orton RKO. I guess the saliva went down the wrong pipe. Thank God there were headphones.
Anyway, I think I guessed on 9 of the 17. Guessed as in, had zero evidence for my answers. Ouch baby...very ouch. Surprisingly, I had a lot of the, ‘The statement is correct but the reasoning is blah blah damnit’. I was beginning to think this was bollocks. I read at a 3rd grade level, can't comprehend for my life, and now I have to do both while the girl next to me is coughing up a lung. Talk about a kidney punch.
Won’t bother with the filling you in on the next two passages. Look at my Advice though…
Advice – Ok. I didn’t know this was a thing, but it sure as hell turned out to be. After the catastrophe in the first passage, I decided to take 10 seconds and do a hard-reset. At this point I felt tired, my mind exhausted and worked-up because I felt like this RC section was sodomizing me without consent. At least take me out to dinner first, am I right?
I took a breath, went to my happy place, and told myself that I wasn’t going to let 2 months of study be ruined in a hot second.
So for passage two, I read the first paragraph - genuinely read it - and looked ahead through the first couple of questions. Read the second paragraph, did the same thing, and I noticed something. Son of a gun. There is a God. I found that each question was ordered in the same order the passage read. Question 1 and 2 were in the first paragraph, and Q3 in the next, etc, etc. That was a blessing, and am so grateful I salvaged a 19 given the start I had.
Anyway. Point is, check to see if you passage is in order with the questions. It was literally word-for-word. And I mean that. Word-for-word. As if they took the question straight from the paragraph and said, "I'm right here baby. Fill in the blank." Mate, I'm tellin ya. It was as simple as that.
If you think a question will take more than a minute to find, move on. Trust me, you will see Q’s that require genuine understanding of the passage, but I think you can manage a 20+ here even if you answered only the S&D style of questions. Depends on the DAT exam you get dealt though... The point is, establish a method early in your DAT prep and practice the hell out of it it!
Also, I'm not sure how new a feature it is, but you can highlight text during the RC section (and every other section for that matter). Unfortunately, the highlighted portion stays on the page with the corresponding question. So if you highlight stuff while Q1 is up, the moment you click 'Next', pretty yellow highlighting disappears.
Perceptual Ability (19)
I won’t go into detail here. Don’t think I have the right to. But I used Bootcamp’s resources which were super helpful. In retrospect, I would like to have tried Crack DAT PAT. People rave about that stuff. But then again people rave about just about anything these days. That's right...I don't know you...
DAT Experience – Keyholes…Super surprised here. Had done well with them on Bootcamp. 13-15/15. But the first 7 keyholes on the real DAT, absolutely dazed. Couldn’t work those fellas whatsoever. Like feeding a vending machine with potato chips. And yes, I had about 3-4 rocks, as some call them. They looked like the Porygon Pokémon to me.
Advice – When/if you use Bootcamp, I know it takes that little bit extra, but I implore you take time and go over their solutions. Maybe not after a 5-hour practice exam, but the next day when you’re fresh. Ari and his team have some incredibly helpful shortcuts in ALL the sections. Especially pattern folding, and keyholes. I will say however, that the real DAT is easier than Bootcamp, which is understandable (they don’t call it Bootcamp for nothing), so if you’re not doing so hot in the practice Bootcamp exams, no worries.
Lastly, do a few of these a day. Not much, maybe 10 minutes a day. It can even be while watching TV or reading a Playboy mag. Regardless, every bit of practice helps your mind with being flexible with shapes in space.
Materials: PA
Bootcamp (8/10)
Quantitative Reasoning (18)
I don’t know what my deal is here. It just blows my mind. I consider myself to have a strong background in math, but seem to have an issue dealing with numbers under pressure.
Also, left-handed writers, beware of the smudge. During my exam, I had to swap my dry-erase markers for ones with a sharper tip. I couldn’t believe how blunt the other ones were. However, the sharp ones the lady gave me weren’t the normal dry-erase ones, so every time my palm moved over the ink, smudge. And they don’t erase nicely either, so be mindful of this. Wiping it will just leave a big blue smudge across the board. Illegible. It looked like I wiped out a village of Smurfs.
Though I didn’t do too hot on this section. I highly recommend Math Destroyer. Some of those babies are hard, some are real simple, but it’s the best type of practice for exposure. On the other hand, Bootcamp QR questions are analogous in the style/wording of the questions. Definitely not as many wordy-questions on my DAT, but the overall style is practically identical. Hmm, difficulty you ask? The real DAT is a tad easier than Bootcamp.
Materials: QR
Math Destroyer 2017 (8/10)
DAT Destroyer 2016 (9/10)
DAT Bootcamp (10/10)
Note: I also bought Kaplan’s DAT 2017-2018 book 2 weeks before my DAT. I wanted to see what they had to offer, mainly with the skeletal and integumentary sections since these weren’t really covered in Cliffs or Barron’s. But honestly, I wouldn’t recommend. Check out Feralis' Notes instead, and watch some vids on YouTube.
--- Parting Thoughts ---
If you took the time to read all that, I applaud you. I apologize for the excessive banter, but beer will make you do that. Before I logoff, I want to end on this final note:
Please do not make the DAT into a bigger deal than it is. I know it’s hard to do, but I promise you, no good will come of it. It is 100% possible to overstudy for this test. I don’t care what anyone says. I remember being a week out from my DAT, and for the first time throughout my longwinded study, I felt ready. I spent the next 3 days away from the books because I didn’t want to overdo it, and I wanted to let all that I had learnt ‘gel’ over the next few days and be fresh come my exam.
Unfortunately, a few days later, a part of me thought, “maybe I should go that extra mile and study some more”. Bad idea. I ended up reviewing all I knew already and muddled up some concepts. I confused some biology and general chemistry fundamentals by trying to imagine what types of questions I might get on my exam, and that led to utter confusion, and panic. 4 days out.
What made matters worse, was that I went to the Destroyer to keep ‘fresh’. Brillaint idea, said no one ever. Got a few of those wrong. Bye bye confidence. 3 days out, I forced myself to step away again. Went for a bike ride to clear the mind, gave my grandma back home the weekly catch-up call, and caught up with a couple mates; anything to take my mind off of the DAT.
I played on the college golf team here at UT during my first 2 years, but basically came out of the womb with a club in my hands. Between tournament days, I noticed I had my best mindset was when I didn’t think about golf. I would try to get my thoughts as far from the game as I could, and so that’s what I did for the days before my DAT. Bingo.
--- My best advice ---
*clears throat, takes podium, taps mic* When things goes awry - and at some point they will - go back to the basics. Go back to your instincts. I've come to realise that we are our own worst enemies. The only thing getting in the way of achieving greatness is you. I promise. It really is that simple.
*kid in the back chimes in* "But if it's that simple, why doesn't every one do it?"
*clears throat again, leans in and bends mic toward self* I'll share with you a nice piece of advice I read a few months back. "Anyone can can take some information and make it complicated. But it takes a true genius to make things simple." Now to me, that's sage. That's the kind of advice you can use anywhere and any-when.
I’m not saying this will happen to you, but I wanted to put that out there as a reminder to keep things in perspective. For me, it was just amazing to see how I went from feeling 100% to 30% by trying to do more work.
So, that is my caveat. Take it with a grain of salt, but one of the themes here (apart from going back to the basics) is to know the difference between feeling ready and feeling prepared. Another SDN'er had written this in his breakdown I think. And it is so true. You will never feel prepared for an exam like this. It’s too broad a scope. But if you’re ready, go bloody get it mate.
Anyway, time for another beer. This one's gone warm.
Let me know if you need help with anything guys. Cheers!
Chris
P.S. Thank you to Dr. Romano and Ms. Nancy Steen for the DAT destroyer books. And also to Ari and his Bootcamp team, my main man Chad and of course my fellow SDN'ers.
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Congrats on your scores.
