DAT BIO How did you study?

[Futurepumpkinfarmer]

I've been taking very dense notes on major chapters, such as cell bio, physio, genetics, etc, using and comparing Feralis and AP cliffs, and it takes at least 5 hours per chapter. I was told by some people that I do not need to focus on every detail but know and understand the broad concept. Am I wasting my time? Or should I maintain the way I study?

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[GoGreenAndFloss]

I will offer you the way I have studied this summer; take it with a grain of salt of course. I did a very similar method of studying as you, so maybe my advice will really just reassure you of the process you are taking. So what I did was I spent the first 20ish days going through Cliff's. You need to be thorough. Obviously going way into detail on certain topics is too much, but for the DAT, Cliff's AP is not detailed ENOUGH. I wanted to make sure I knew cliff's cover to cover. I would read the chapter in full without taking notes then immediately after reading I would go through and take detailed notes on pretty much everything (I ended up with about 150 pages of notes after this), while going through cliff's I found it incredibly helpful to look up videos on youtube so that I could have a visual representation of how things look. So now when I get a question I see the actual image in my head of those things instead of recalling text. Some chapters like biological diversity took me 12 hours because I watched a youtube video on every single phylum and class. Then the next day I would go back through and reread the chapter. It takes a while to grind through this but after that you will not miss a single question that was covered in cliff's. Now I am going through Ferali's and relearning the stuff I forgot or was rusty on, and adding the new information. Destroyer Biology is wonderful too if you have time for 600 multiple choice questions and thorough review. Just for a reference point I have been averaging 23's on dat destroyer and Qvault, however don't be the person who gets wrapped up in your scores. You should be angry when you miss a question especially if you have already studied it. Bottom line you should be mercilessly beating biology into submission.

Best of luck to you in your studies!

 

[FeralisExtremum]

In my experience taking thorough notes from multiple resources is exhausting and very time consuming. Part of the reason I released my notes was so people could use them as a foundation and modify it as needed rather than going through the whole process again when most of the relevant bio info you'll need is already in there. I think a broader understanding should be your primary goal when first reviewing, and after you've got that down start trying to memorize the details in your second or third pass through your notes. I personally studied for bio by reading a chapter in Cliff's, then reading my condensed notes, then memorizing that chapter's notes. I would also try to go through previous chapter's notes to keep that material fresh in my head (it's very easy to forget the earlier stuff as you get further into it).

 

[Futurepumpkinfarmer]

I will offer you the way I have studied this summer; take it with a grain of salt of course. I did a very similar method of studying as you, so maybe my advice will really just reassure you of the process you are taking. So what I did was I spent the first 20ish days going through Cliff's. You need to be thorough. Obviously going way into detail on certain topics is too much, but for the DAT, Cliff's AP is not detailed ENOUGH. I wanted to make sure I knew cliff's cover to cover. I would read the chapter in full without taking notes then immediately after reading I would go through and take detailed notes on pretty much everything (I ended up with about 150 pages of notes after this), while going through cliff's I found it incredibly helpful to look up videos on youtube so that I could have a visual representation of how things look. So now when I get a question I see the actual image in my head of those things instead of recalling text. Some chapters like biological diversity took me 12 hours because I watched a youtube video on every single phylum and class. Then the next day I would go back through and reread the chapter. It takes a while to grind through this but after that you will not miss a single question that was covered in cliff's. Now I am going through Ferali's and relearning the stuff I forgot or was rusty on, and adding the new information. Destroyer Biology is wonderful too if you have time for 600 multiple choice questions and thorough review. Just for a reference point I have been averaging 23's on dat destroyer and Qvault, however don't be the person who gets wrapped up in your scores. You should be angry when you miss a question especially if you have already studied it. Bottom line you should be mercilessly beating biology into submission.

Best of luck to you in your studies!

Thank you! I just have one more question. When did you take DAT? I am applying next year and thinking of taking it in this winter or spring, depending on how well my studying goes.

 

[GoGreenAndFloss]

Thank you! I just have one more question. When did you take DAT? I am applying next year and thinking of taking it in this winter or spring, depending on how well my studying goes.

I still have not taken. My exam is this sunday however.

 

[Futurepumpkinfarmer]

In my experience taking thorough notes from multiple resources is exhausting and very time consuming. Part of the reason I released my notes was so people could use them as a foundation and modify it as needed rather than going through the whole process again when most of the relevant bio info you'll need is already in there. I think a broader understanding should be your primary goal when first reviewing, and after you've got that down start trying to memorize the details in your second or third pass through your notes. I personally studied for bio by reading a chapter in Cliff's, then reading my condensed notes, then memorizing that chapter's notes. I would also try to go through previous chapter's notes to keep that material fresh in my head (it's very easy to forget the earlier stuff as you get further into it).

Thank you very much for your notes! And yes, it is very time-consuming, but I am kind of stupid and cannot process things correctly when I passively read materials, so I've been literally copying and adding your notes on top of drawing diagrams from google images haha. I have one question. When did you take DAT and how long did you prepare it for? I am going to be a junior this year and I am thinking of taking it either during winter or spring, depending on how my studying goes.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Thank you very much for your notes! And yes, it is very time-consuming, but I am kind of stupid and cannot process things correctly when I passively read materials, so I've been literally copying and adding your notes on top of drawing diagrams from google images haha. I have one question. When did you take DAT and how long did you prepare it for? I am going to be a junior this year and I am thinking of taking it either during winter or spring, depending on how my studying goes.

I took the DAT 2 years ago (5 years after I'd finished college) and studied for around 5 months.