DAT Advice Needed

[dentalman231]

Hey guys! It's my first post here and I'm in need for advice. I signed up for the DAT and plan on taking it Jan 22, 2019. However, I needed advice to whether extend it or crunch everything in and take it on the original date (Jan 22)

The materials I have:
- DAT Bootcamp
- DAT Destroyer
- DAT Math Destroyer

So far, I have went through all of the content from DAT Bootcamp. I plan on reviewing all my notes I took for Biology, General Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry in the next three days just so I get a bit refresher. My only concern is that I haven't touched DAT Destroyer and DAT Math Destroyer and haven't taken any individual tests on DAT Bootcamp.

Do you guys think 3 weeks is enough to do both DAT Destroyers, all the individual tests for each subject on Bootcamp, and the 4 Practice Exams on Bootcamp? Or should I maybe extend my exam date? I plan on studying 8-10 hours everyday in those 3 weeks so any advice would greatly be appreciated! Thanks

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[ASPEN'S NIGHTMARE]

I take my DAT next week. I’ve given myself about 4 weeks to study in total and I’m doing pretty decent!

Scoring 19’s on BC on pretty much everything and I still have a week left to fine tune / improve a bit more! And honestly I just keep making simple mistakes on BC, I know almost all of it. Timing is what’s killing me

But don’t look at it like “I have x amount of time to go through and finish x,y,z material”. Cramming through destroyer and finishing it won’t guarantee you’ll do good. The most important thing is figuring out what you know and don’t know and going from there. Basically what I’m trying to say is don’t just focus on trying to get through everything, but focus more on understanding and learning everything, esp from Bootcamp! Destroy is really overkill when comparing the two imo.

My opinion: You got it man! 4 weeks is plenty of time if you hustle through it and have strong foundation!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[baszilion]

I will tell you right now that 3 weeks is not enough time to complete ALL of destroyer and bootcamp tests in an instructive way. Bombarding yourself with endless questions won't be helpful if you don't have time to learn from them and research each question somewhat deeply. Just seeing the right answer and head-nodding as if you know it is a good way to build false-confidence and hurt yourself. That said, it may not be necessary to do ALL of those problems to get a desirable score, anyway. In my case, I only used Bootcamp tests for practice and just focused on mastering all the material within them. I would start taking bootcamp tests as soon as possible to see where you are at score-wise. If you don't feel ready, you can reschedule the DAT up to 6 days before your test for $60 (5 or fewer days before and it costs $100). So, I would try your absolute hardest to take bootcamp tests and improve your scores in the next two weeks. Study AS IF you are taking the test Jan 22!! If you are not happy with the scores you are getting at that point, then reschedule! I'm not sure when you are applying but if its next cycle I don't think it matters if you take the DAT now or in a month or so. I don't want to be negative and it could totally be possible for you to achieve great scores with the time you have. But, at the same time you need to be realistic. If you're scoring 17's on Bootcamp it's unlikely you'll get 20+ on the real thing. Keep it up man, it'll all be worth it

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Hey guys! It's my first post here and I'm in need for advice. I signed up for the DAT and plan on taking it Jan 22, 2019. However, I needed advice to whether extend it or crunch everything in and take it on the original date (Jan 22)

The materials I have:
- DAT Bootcamp
- DAT Destroyer
- DAT Math Destroyer

So far, I have went through all of the content from DAT Bootcamp. I plan on reviewing all my notes I took for Biology, General Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry in the next three days just so I get a bit refresher. My only concern is that I haven't touched DAT Destroyer and DAT Math Destroyer and haven't taken any individual tests on DAT Bootcamp.

Do you guys think 3 weeks is enough to do both DAT Destroyers, all the individual tests for each subject on Bootcamp, and the 4 Practice Exams on Bootcamp? Or should I maybe extend my exam date? I plan on studying 8-10 hours everyday in those 3 weeks so any advice would greatly be appreciated! Thanks

For most students, this will not be nearly enough time, if you have a stellar science GPA from a great school with exceptional reading and comprehension abilities it might be possible. I have worked with a few students over the years that could accomplish the goal you have set for yourself, but very few.

But for such an important test why not reschedule? Do you have a deadline and have to take the DAT at that time? What's the rush?

You do not want to take the DAT exam a 2nd time if it can be avoided, it is a very stressful time and also costly to repeat.

Wishing you the best in whatever you decide.

Nancy

 

[zToothinator]

As others have said, I'd recommend rescheduling. There are hundreds of questions in DAT Destroyer. I recommend going through Destroyer at least twice and making notes for every question missed. In order to go through every question and learning all of the topics you're unsure of will take time. Then, to do the Bootcamp practice tests will take another 2 weeks. I recommend doing no more than 1 full practice test a day because each takes 4+ hours and then you'll want to make notes and review every question you got wrong. Make sure you pace yourself during the weeks to come because you don't want to arrive on test day and be mentally exhausted and then perform poorly.

 

[islanddrive]

Hey guys! It's my first post here and I'm in need for advice. I signed up for the DAT and plan on taking it Jan 22, 2019. However, I needed advice to whether extend it or crunch everything in and take it on the original date (Jan 22)

The materials I have:
- DAT Bootcamp
- DAT Destroyer
- DAT Math Destroyer

So far, I have went through all of the content from DAT Bootcamp. I plan on reviewing all my notes I took for Biology, General Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry in the next three days just so I get a bit refresher. My only concern is that I haven't touched DAT Destroyer and DAT Math Destroyer and haven't taken any individual tests on DAT Bootcamp.

Do you guys think 3 weeks is enough to do both DAT Destroyers, all the individual tests for each subject on Bootcamp, and the 4 Practice Exams on Bootcamp? Or should I maybe extend my exam date? I plan on studying 8-10 hours everyday in those 3 weeks so any advice would greatly be appreciated! Thanks

I would spend some time going over DATDestroyer, you're underestimating how valuable that is. I learned so much more going through Destroyer than bootcamp for gen chem and QR. With the left over time, go over bootcamp tests.

 

[dentalman231]

Thank you all for the response. You guys are right I shouldnt be in a rush, but I just want to take the DAT so I have enough time to get my extracurriculars, like shadowing and volunteering in.

Would you guys reccomend me to review all my notes that I already took and then go through destroyers and practice exams, or just go straight to the Destroyers and Practice Exams and improve on my weak points?

I also took a few individual tests on Bootcamp:
BC RC #1 - 20
BC PAT #1 - 17
BC PAT #2 - 18
BC Biology #1 - 17 (I didn't do any destroyer or review my notes at this point for this section)

 

[zToothinator]

I'd go straight to Destroyers and practice exams, identify your weak points, and study those. The day before your test, you can take a breather to casually review all of your notes.

 

[dentalman231]

I'd go straight to Destroyers and practice exams, identify your weak points, and study those. The day before your test, you can take a breather to casually review all of your notes.

Would you say Destroyer would also help me refresh some things or should I just use it solely for practice? My problem is that I've been exposed to all of the material, but I am not able to retain all of it which is why I was going to review all my notes again.

 

[zToothinator]

Would you say Destroyer would also help me refresh some things or should I just use it solely for practice? My problem is that I've been exposed to all of the material, but I am not able to retain all of it which is why I was going to review all my notes again.

Both? Use Destroyer to test how well you know the concepts but not as practice tests. Destroyer isn’t meant to be like the Bootcamp practice tests to get your timing down. It’s purely to do questions that both refresh concepts and challenge how well you really know something. You will get a lot wrong but don’t be discouraged. Learn what you get wrong.

How are you reviewing notes? Reading them over again? Flash cards? Being exposed to all the material is good but memorizing it all to regurgitate on the DAT is just as important. If you’ve been exposed to all of the material, I’d take a Bootcamp practice test to see where you are now to see how hard you need to work over the next couple weeks to get the score you want.

 

[Progeny]

Thank you all for the response. You guys are right I shouldnt be in a rush, but I just want to take the DAT so I have enough time to get my extracurriculars, like shadowing and volunteering in.

Would you guys reccomend me to review all my notes that I already took and then go through destroyers and practice exams, or just go straight to the Destroyers and Practice Exams and improve on my weak points?

I also took a few individual tests on Bootcamp:
BC RC #1 - 20
BC PAT #1 - 17
BC PAT #2 - 18
BC Biology #1 - 17 (I didn't do any destroyer or review my notes at this point for this section)

Strange, why would you do that many Bootcamp practice tests? That's a ridiculous amount of practice tests (70 hours) if you haven't even gone over all of the content. I would review Destroyer if you haven't done that yet and continue reviewing your notes.

 

[dentalman231]

Strange, why would you do that many Bootcamp practice tests? That's a ridiculous amount of practice tests (70 hours) if you haven't even gone over all of the content. I would review Destroyer if you haven't done that yet and continue reviewing your notes.

I took the individual tests not the full lengths. I just took those 4 just to see where I stand currently without Destroyers and reviewing my notes. I will probably take individual Math, Orgo, and Gen Chem individual tests too soon.

 

[dentalman231]

Both? Use Destroyer to test how well you know the concepts but not as practice tests. Destroyer isn’t meant to be like the Bootcamp practice tests to get your timing down. It’s purely to do questions that both refresh concepts and challenge how well you really know something. You will get a lot wrong but don’t be discouraged. Learn what you get wrong.

How are you reviewing notes? Reading them over again? Flash cards? Being exposed to all the material is good but memorizing it all to regurgitate on the DAT is just as important. If you’ve been exposed to all of the material, I’d take a Bootcamp practice test to see where you are now to see how hard you need to work over the next couple weeks to get the score you want.

I'm reviewing my notes and trying to understand everything instead of just memorizing, at least for Orgo and Gen Chem. For Bio, its primarily memorizing the bootcamp notes.