Heeseung814
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DAT Bootcamp Breakdown
Hi everyone,
Happy New Year!
This breakdown is broken into 4 sections: Actual Scores, Background, Studying Process (4-month breakdown),overall.
1. Actual Scores
PAT: 20
QR: 20
RC: 22
Bio: 21
GC: 22
OC: 23
Total Science: 22
AA: 22
2. Background: I started studying for DAT in August. For context, I graduated with the degree of Nursing and minor on Biology. I didn’t touch any science materials for a whole year, and I only took prerequisite courses in under graduate program so I do not have a strong science background. To make things more complicated I have a full-time job working as a Registered Nurse doing 36-48hr/week while trying to study for this exam. (Not a good idea, but if you must… it’s doable) If you have the option to study full time, please do so. You will stress less and probably live longer. J
3. Studying Process:
Studying for the DAT was mentally exhausting for me. I knew that I had less time to study for this exam than my liking. So, I had to think of efficient ways to study for this exam.
I studied basically for 4 hours a day on workdays and 6-8 hrs a day on days that I didn’t work to make up my study times for 7 days a week. I started with taking Full length test 1 to assess where I was in terms of knowing the materials. (Trust me, it was humbling…) But instead of focusing on horrific scores, I focused on what I need study so that I wouldn’t get those questions wrong next time. I used practice tests as learning opportunities not a tool to compare myself to others. After learning what I need to study, I would then listen to videos and read the notes to study those materials. I would alternate practice questions (bio, chem and organic practice test) one day and doreviews the next day. (I didn’t do full length test often since these practice tests combined are literally the same material as full-length tests.) I also incorporate at least one practice test of either PAT, QC, or RC so that I don’t neglect other portion of the exam. On the last month of my studies, I got Booster subscription to do additional biol, chem, and Orgo sections as well. I recommend Booster. I DON’T KNOW WHY but whoever wrote Booster questions are magicians and they need promotions.
If I could study full time again, I would do 1 month of content review and 2-3 month to do questions and review materials.
Bio: I mainly used Bio High Yields Notes on DAT bootcamp for studying the material, but I liked booster questions to solve bio questions. After I completed practice test, I would go on each answer choices and reasoned each answer choices. I did like booster questions better since booster questions gave me confidence that I could get 20+ on the exam. By dissecting each question, I was able to learn more than just the answers. On the day of actual DAT, I switched 6 questions on the last minute before submitting. PLEASE GO WITH YOUR GUT. I was nervous and wasn’t thinking straight. On bootcamp I was getting 19-20, and booster 20-24.
PAT: I should have focused on doing PAT daily. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to study. I would recommend at least 10 questions a day for each section to familiarize PAT questions. TFE, hole punching, and cube counting made sense to me, so I focused on doing well on those. During the actual test, I spent like 15 min on Keyhole… I wanted to give up and was crying internally because I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish 90 questions on time. But I didn’t give up. I solved those questions like my next meal depended on it. Lol. You are capable more than you think! I was able to finish it in time and still had 3 minutes to spare. I was getting 19-20 on bootcamp.
GC/OC: I enjoy listening to Dr. Mike. I wish I went to the school he teaches. There were a lot of questions about acid/ base, good leaving group, C,H NMR, oxidation and reduction rnx, etc. booster or bootcamp will prepare you well for it. On the actual DAT GC, there were a lot of periodic trends, isoelectric questions, Molarity, Molality, ideal gas law etc. what helped me was looking at GC equations sheet in bootcamp and understand the relationships of each components. Don’t just solve questions. Understand why you got the question wrong during practice tests! Quality over quantity. high yield concepts get redundant overtime. I was getting 18-22 on GC and OC on bootcamp and 17-25 on Booster.
RC: English is my second language and the fact that I didn’t like to read much when I was little did not help. I gave myself maximum of 20 min each passage to read and solve 16-17 questions. (Depends on how much paragraph you have each section). For me, I was able to comprehend 6 paragraphs in first 5 minutes. (Trial and error) I used this time to read and think what the author is trying to convey in this essay. While I was reading, I was able to highlight key words and get main idea for each paragraph. If I didn’t read about the possible answer to the questions, I would continue to read while trying to find the main idea for each passage. I know each of us has different strategies but, for me this method allowed me to get a good grasp on the paragraphs and I was able to locate the paragraph the answer would be in. Thankfully, this allowed me to finish RC with 6 min left to move on to QR. I was getting 19-21 on bootcamp.
QR: By this point I was burnt out. Even simple algebra I was second guessing myself. If you are stuck on a question, please mark it and move on. Please don’t waste time like I did. I was averaging 20-22 on DAT bootcamp and 22-25 on booster.
Overall, I do think that studying for DAT is hard and expensive but rewarding. I do believe that everyone has different path to get into dentistry so we should not compare oneself to another. Should you have more questions or feeling burnt out. Please feel free to contact me. I would love encourage you so that we can apply to this coming cycle together!
Hi everyone,
Happy New Year!
This breakdown is broken into 4 sections: Actual Scores, Background, Studying Process (4-month breakdown),overall.
1. Actual Scores
PAT: 20
QR: 20
RC: 22
Bio: 21
GC: 22
OC: 23
Total Science: 22
AA: 22
2. Background: I started studying for DAT in August. For context, I graduated with the degree of Nursing and minor on Biology. I didn’t touch any science materials for a whole year, and I only took prerequisite courses in under graduate program so I do not have a strong science background. To make things more complicated I have a full-time job working as a Registered Nurse doing 36-48hr/week while trying to study for this exam. (Not a good idea, but if you must… it’s doable) If you have the option to study full time, please do so. You will stress less and probably live longer. J
3. Studying Process:
Studying for the DAT was mentally exhausting for me. I knew that I had less time to study for this exam than my liking. So, I had to think of efficient ways to study for this exam.
I studied basically for 4 hours a day on workdays and 6-8 hrs a day on days that I didn’t work to make up my study times for 7 days a week. I started with taking Full length test 1 to assess where I was in terms of knowing the materials. (Trust me, it was humbling…) But instead of focusing on horrific scores, I focused on what I need study so that I wouldn’t get those questions wrong next time. I used practice tests as learning opportunities not a tool to compare myself to others. After learning what I need to study, I would then listen to videos and read the notes to study those materials. I would alternate practice questions (bio, chem and organic practice test) one day and doreviews the next day. (I didn’t do full length test often since these practice tests combined are literally the same material as full-length tests.) I also incorporate at least one practice test of either PAT, QC, or RC so that I don’t neglect other portion of the exam. On the last month of my studies, I got Booster subscription to do additional biol, chem, and Orgo sections as well. I recommend Booster. I DON’T KNOW WHY but whoever wrote Booster questions are magicians and they need promotions.
If I could study full time again, I would do 1 month of content review and 2-3 month to do questions and review materials.
Bio: I mainly used Bio High Yields Notes on DAT bootcamp for studying the material, but I liked booster questions to solve bio questions. After I completed practice test, I would go on each answer choices and reasoned each answer choices. I did like booster questions better since booster questions gave me confidence that I could get 20+ on the exam. By dissecting each question, I was able to learn more than just the answers. On the day of actual DAT, I switched 6 questions on the last minute before submitting. PLEASE GO WITH YOUR GUT. I was nervous and wasn’t thinking straight. On bootcamp I was getting 19-20, and booster 20-24.
PAT: I should have focused on doing PAT daily. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to study. I would recommend at least 10 questions a day for each section to familiarize PAT questions. TFE, hole punching, and cube counting made sense to me, so I focused on doing well on those. During the actual test, I spent like 15 min on Keyhole… I wanted to give up and was crying internally because I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish 90 questions on time. But I didn’t give up. I solved those questions like my next meal depended on it. Lol. You are capable more than you think! I was able to finish it in time and still had 3 minutes to spare. I was getting 19-20 on bootcamp.
GC/OC: I enjoy listening to Dr. Mike. I wish I went to the school he teaches. There were a lot of questions about acid/ base, good leaving group, C,H NMR, oxidation and reduction rnx, etc. booster or bootcamp will prepare you well for it. On the actual DAT GC, there were a lot of periodic trends, isoelectric questions, Molarity, Molality, ideal gas law etc. what helped me was looking at GC equations sheet in bootcamp and understand the relationships of each components. Don’t just solve questions. Understand why you got the question wrong during practice tests! Quality over quantity. high yield concepts get redundant overtime. I was getting 18-22 on GC and OC on bootcamp and 17-25 on Booster.
RC: English is my second language and the fact that I didn’t like to read much when I was little did not help. I gave myself maximum of 20 min each passage to read and solve 16-17 questions. (Depends on how much paragraph you have each section). For me, I was able to comprehend 6 paragraphs in first 5 minutes. (Trial and error) I used this time to read and think what the author is trying to convey in this essay. While I was reading, I was able to highlight key words and get main idea for each paragraph. If I didn’t read about the possible answer to the questions, I would continue to read while trying to find the main idea for each passage. I know each of us has different strategies but, for me this method allowed me to get a good grasp on the paragraphs and I was able to locate the paragraph the answer would be in. Thankfully, this allowed me to finish RC with 6 min left to move on to QR. I was getting 19-21 on bootcamp.
QR: By this point I was burnt out. Even simple algebra I was second guessing myself. If you are stuck on a question, please mark it and move on. Please don’t waste time like I did. I was averaging 20-22 on DAT bootcamp and 22-25 on booster.
Overall, I do think that studying for DAT is hard and expensive but rewarding. I do believe that everyone has different path to get into dentistry so we should not compare oneself to another. Should you have more questions or feeling burnt out. Please feel free to contact me. I would love encourage you so that we can apply to this coming cycle together!
