DAT Biology Studying

[[DDS] Samer]

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Hello everyone:

The reason I am posting is because I plan on writing the Canadian DAT in November which is still some time away however, I start school in September so I am trying to study as much as I can now so that come September I am not learning a lot of new material and simply reviewing. I started studying for the biology section using Cliffs AP Biology and Kaplan Blue Book. My goal was to first cover Cliffs AP Bio and Kaplan Blue Book. I am not really sure how I should go about studying for this section. Should I just read it? Should I make notes as I read? Should I read it first and make notes aftwards?


I tried reading cliffs AP Bio and made notes as I read but I felt like pretty much everything was important since each chapter is 10 pages or less. It is basically a "review" book that contains all the essential information and I felt that by summarizing what I read by making notes, I would be leaving out essential information.

I also printed off all of feralis notes to use in the future. I was thinking maybe I should read all the chapters in Cliffs AP Biology and Review Feralis notes after im done each chapter.

What do you guys think? I hope you understand where I am coming from. I am also working full-time in a research lab from 8am-4pm Monday-Friday which leaves about 5 hrs a day to study on the weekdays and 8-10 hrs a day on the weekend. So I am trying to do as much as I can now so I do not fall behind. If you can recommend any study tips I would really appreciate it. Thanks. 🙂

 

[mardr2b]

I'm doing Cliffs and Feralis at the same time and I make index cards for every term. I also have a few cards with detailed systems written out. Usually do one chapter a day. Now that I'm almost done I guess keep reviewing and practice tests.

 

[[DDS] Samer]

I'm doing Cliffs and Feralis at the same time and I make index cards for every term. I also have a few cards with detailed systems written out. Usually do one chapter a day. Now that I'm almost done I guess keep reviewing and practice tests.

Alright. Cliffs is about 15 chapters right? So basically you'll have the book finished within 15-20 days and then review?

 

[mardr2b]

yes you have to keep it fresh bio is on of those that you forget easily.
download quizlet to your phone and get feralis notes flashcards. read them every chance you get.

 

[[DDS] Samer]

Excellent. Thanks a lot. If anyone has more input please feel free to post below, I am open to any kind of advice I can get!

 

[quackwhacker]

anki anki anki, been using it since 09 in undergrad. They have apps where you can take ur "index cards" with you wherever you go. If u got questions ab it or need help with it msg me.

 

[Meat Gyver]

Excellent. Thanks a lot. If anyone has more input please feel free to post below, I am open to any kind of advice I can get!

How I studied for Bio:
1. Read over Cliffs/Barrons multiple times (mostly Cliffs)
2. I used Campbells to fully understand concepts I didn't fully grasp from Cliffs, and then wrote down extensive notes on those topics in a notebook.
3. I went over the notebook as many times to fully understand the material.

Early into my studying I fell into the mistake of constantly reading chapters I already knew, only to get lazy on the ones I disliked (taxonomy/plants/ecology). In all reality I probably should have went over Cells once, Cellular respiration/Genetics a few times, and use the extra time to really go over the chapters that were relatively new to me.

Also I never used Flashcards in school, so I just stuck with what worked for me in my Bio classes. If you like flashcards, by all means use em.

Good luck