- Joined
- Feb 11, 2015
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- 13
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EDIT: I meant to write 2/16/15 above. Why do I still think its 2014? =_=
Hi everyone,
I just finished taking my DAT a few days ago, and I'm happy with how it went! Here are my opinions on study methods and materials, if anybody is interested. I would also be pleased to offer any additional advice or answer questions you might have!
Some background info: I'm a junior science major at a "competitive" university. I started studying for the exam (very, very lightly) my fall semester. I had already completed two semesters of introductory biology & a semester of lab (cell/developmental biology; physiology) and finished general chemistry and organic chemistry. I've also taken upper level biology courses, including biochemistry, human anatomy and physiology, human biology and evolution, and infectious disease ecology. My overall GPA is around a 3.8.
I decided to begin my preparation with familiarizing myself w/ the PAT portion. I knew from the very beginning that this section would be the most challenging for me... even origami instructions have confused me in the past
Studying became a bit more intensive in late November (this is when I started to watch Chad's videos), but I needed to take a complete break from DAT material in early December to study for finals. After finals, I finished Chad's videos. The order I watched them was general chemistry, then organic chemistry. I highly recommend watching them on double speed if you are short on time, or watch once on normal speed, and a second time on double speed a few days/weeks later.
When I finished w/ all videos, I ordered DAT destroyer and math destroyer. I did problems from the general chemistry section and organic chemistry section on alternate days. Some days I would do problems from both sections. I finished around 20-30 problems per section per day, and reviewed answers THOROUGHLY. I wrote down little facts or reactions that I did not know on a piece of paper and stuck it in a giant binder dedicated to all things DAT. I did not time myself. I finished the ochem/gchem destroyer questions around the second week of January.
NEXT came biology. I sort of neglected to spend sufficient time on this section because I thought it would be relatively easy to prepare for, given my strong background in biology. I got a surprising number of questions on the real exam that I did not know the answers to.. but they were very random (like.. very very random) & there was no way I would have covered these topics even if I had extra time to study. I read the entire Cliff's notes 3rd edition (except for the laboratory review and full practice exams), and did the multiple choice questions following each chapter (I actually did not take AP bio in high school). I just read the answers for the essay questions to make sure I understood them. I briefly reviewed Ferrali's notes afterwards.
At the same time, I was constantly reviewing PAT with CDP. I bought the 10 test version. I started out by doing a test from one section each day (for example, keyholes monday, TFE tuesday, etc...) and would allow myself 20 minutes to finish it. It usually took around 15 minutes to finish each section. I did this for the first three tests. For the fourth test, I still did each section separately but decreased the timing to 12 minutes. Finally, for the remaining six tests, I took them entirely in the one hour limit.
Two weeks before my test, I got Bootcamp. I found the difficulty of the questions to be on par with the real test (except for math.. my math section was easier than any on bootcamp or math destroyer). I was back at school for spring semester, so I had to find time after class to do DAT stuff. The first two tests, I took it section by section, split among a few days. I reviewed all answers after taking each section. The last three tests, I took back to back. The very first full test I took, I got SO tired halfway through. I think it was partly because I sat through a day's worth of lecture as well. But trust me, it gets more manageable the more full practice tests you take!
Um.. um.. I think I'm running out of space so I'll just say that I also took the 2007 and 2009 official DAT. The science sections were easy compared to the real test. PAT was around the same level. Math on 2009 was WAY too challenging for me 😵
Final scores:
PAT 21 (around the same I've been getting with Bootcamp)
QR 24 (higher than I've received on most Bootcamp scores)
RC 26 (higher than I've received on most Bootcamp scores.. I think I lucked out cause the articles were topics that interested me very much!)
Bio 22 (lower)
GC 26 (higher)
OChem 23 (around the same.. my scores for ochem fluctuated from low 20's to high 20's on Bootcamp)
Total science 23
AA 24
I would love to answer any of your questions!
Hi everyone,
I just finished taking my DAT a few days ago, and I'm happy with how it went! Here are my opinions on study methods and materials, if anybody is interested. I would also be pleased to offer any additional advice or answer questions you might have!
Some background info: I'm a junior science major at a "competitive" university. I started studying for the exam (very, very lightly) my fall semester. I had already completed two semesters of introductory biology & a semester of lab (cell/developmental biology; physiology) and finished general chemistry and organic chemistry. I've also taken upper level biology courses, including biochemistry, human anatomy and physiology, human biology and evolution, and infectious disease ecology. My overall GPA is around a 3.8.
I decided to begin my preparation with familiarizing myself w/ the PAT portion. I knew from the very beginning that this section would be the most challenging for me... even origami instructions have confused me in the past
Studying became a bit more intensive in late November (this is when I started to watch Chad's videos), but I needed to take a complete break from DAT material in early December to study for finals. After finals, I finished Chad's videos. The order I watched them was general chemistry, then organic chemistry. I highly recommend watching them on double speed if you are short on time, or watch once on normal speed, and a second time on double speed a few days/weeks later.When I finished w/ all videos, I ordered DAT destroyer and math destroyer. I did problems from the general chemistry section and organic chemistry section on alternate days. Some days I would do problems from both sections. I finished around 20-30 problems per section per day, and reviewed answers THOROUGHLY. I wrote down little facts or reactions that I did not know on a piece of paper and stuck it in a giant binder dedicated to all things DAT. I did not time myself. I finished the ochem/gchem destroyer questions around the second week of January.
NEXT came biology. I sort of neglected to spend sufficient time on this section because I thought it would be relatively easy to prepare for, given my strong background in biology. I got a surprising number of questions on the real exam that I did not know the answers to.. but they were very random (like.. very very random) & there was no way I would have covered these topics even if I had extra time to study. I read the entire Cliff's notes 3rd edition (except for the laboratory review and full practice exams), and did the multiple choice questions following each chapter (I actually did not take AP bio in high school). I just read the answers for the essay questions to make sure I understood them. I briefly reviewed Ferrali's notes afterwards.
At the same time, I was constantly reviewing PAT with CDP. I bought the 10 test version. I started out by doing a test from one section each day (for example, keyholes monday, TFE tuesday, etc...) and would allow myself 20 minutes to finish it. It usually took around 15 minutes to finish each section. I did this for the first three tests. For the fourth test, I still did each section separately but decreased the timing to 12 minutes. Finally, for the remaining six tests, I took them entirely in the one hour limit.
Two weeks before my test, I got Bootcamp. I found the difficulty of the questions to be on par with the real test (except for math.. my math section was easier than any on bootcamp or math destroyer). I was back at school for spring semester, so I had to find time after class to do DAT stuff. The first two tests, I took it section by section, split among a few days. I reviewed all answers after taking each section. The last three tests, I took back to back. The very first full test I took, I got SO tired halfway through. I think it was partly because I sat through a day's worth of lecture as well. But trust me, it gets more manageable the more full practice tests you take!
Um.. um.. I think I'm running out of space so I'll just say that I also took the 2007 and 2009 official DAT. The science sections were easy compared to the real test. PAT was around the same level. Math on 2009 was WAY too challenging for me 😵
Final scores:
PAT 21 (around the same I've been getting with Bootcamp)
QR 24 (higher than I've received on most Bootcamp scores)
RC 26 (higher than I've received on most Bootcamp scores.. I think I lucked out cause the articles were topics that interested me very much!)
Bio 22 (lower)
GC 26 (higher)
OChem 23 (around the same.. my scores for ochem fluctuated from low 20's to high 20's on Bootcamp)
Total science 23
AA 24
I would love to answer any of your questions!
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