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- May 14, 2014
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Just finished taking the DAT today! I know that when I was studying the past couple months, reading other people's breakdown really helped me, so I wanted to do my part and share my thoughts and my study materials on the DAT.
DAT scores:
PAT 20
QR 20
RC 25
Bio 20
GC 26
OC 25
TS 23
AA 23
Time spent studying:
11 weeks for 5-7 hours per day. I think the most important thing is that you have to set a goal for yourself everyday. I know I'm the type of person that can't study all day everyday. I know that a lot of people would study 10 hours a day. I definitely can't do that
. Find your own pace! Also, schedule your test early on! This way you force yourself NOT to procrastinate. Make a timeline. I can't stress enough how important time management is. I didn't work, so for 11 weeks, my schedule every single day was to study. Basically didn't have any social life these two months. You need to stay focused! For me, I stuck to Ari's schedule religiously. I loved having a schedule that told me exactly what to do everyday, it really helped me stay focused, and bring everything together at the end.
Materials used:
DAT Bootcamp, DAT Destroyer 2017, Math Destroyer 2017, Khan Academy QR Videos, Chad's Videos for GC, Mike's Videos for OC, Feralis Notes, Cliff's AP Bio 3rd Edition, 2009 ADA practice exam, and of course, SDN!
Ari's Schedule:
I honestly think it's the best schedule out there. It is extremely detailed. It tells you exactly what problems to do everyday, how to space out your time, when to take a rest day, which videos to watch, and it also incorporates the DAT destroyer and Math Destroyer twice! I think that if you follow his schedule religiously, you're almost guaranteed at least a 20. Although the schedule is set for 10 weeks, I gave myself an extra week just in case I got left behind. The material may not seem a lot at first, but it gets really hard to keep up at the end. Thus, I recommend giving yourself at least 11 weeks to study. Of course, you can tweak around the schedule to fit your own schedule.
DAT Bootcamp:
AN ABSOLUTE MUST! Do yourself a favor and get this. This is probably the most representative practice material out there in every section. Some sections are slightly harder than the real exam (for ex: RC and PAT). The best thing about DAT Bootcamp, though, is their PAT prep. I loved how detailed the solutions were, how exactly you should solve each problem. They also have a PAT generator, I would just do 15 mins of every PAT section each day. (keyholes, TFE, hole punching, angle ranking, cube counting, and pattern folding). There really is no trick to the PAT, it's just practice practice practice. I seriously recommend going through every DAT Bootcamp practice exams if you have the time. So when it comes to test day, you'll feel like you're just taking another Bootcamp practice exam. Another awesome thing about Bootcamp is that if you have any questions regarding any topics, Ari would reply back that same day. Ari also included quantitative comparison questions in the QR practice exams, which is helpful because this is a new topic and the earlier you expose yourself to these types of questions, the better.
Mike's OC Videos:
This came with my Bootcamp subscription. I was hesitant about using Mike's videos at first, because it's relatively new. Everyone has been using Chad's videos. I decided to give Mike's videos a try. I ended up loving it. The videos are much shorter than Chad's and it covers a little more material. I also think it's more organized than Chad's videos. But I think the best thing about Mike's videos is the quizzes at the end of each chapter. The quizzes are pretty difficult and really require you to think, and there are step-by-step video solutions to each question! It may seem time consuming, but it's really worth it. Dr. Mike also has a reaction packet, which is really helpful!
Chad's GC Videos:
Chad is all you need for this section. Every question that I encountered on the real DAT was covered by Chad. His chapter quizzes are also great. Make sure you do every question, and whichever question you get wrong, make a flashcard on it. Also, even though Chad has outlines, but I recommend writing your own notes and studying from it. I reviewed my notes everyday. Another thing I liked about Chad's videos was that it was DAT specific. He would tell you which material you should pay attention to and which material you don't have to worry about for the DAT (more efficient studying)
Khan Academy QR Videos:
This was also part of Ari's schedule. The videos were very elementary...nothing exceptional. If you have a solid background in math, I don't think you have to watch all of them (there're like 80 videos, but they're only ~7 mins long). If you haven't had any math classes in a long time and need a review, watching them definitely won't hurt.
Cliff's AP Bio 3rd Edition:
Ari recommends getting the 3rd edition because the 4th edition leaves out important topics that are covered on the DAT. It's very concise and general. Breadth over depth. Keep exposing yourself to new biology facts every day (DAT Destroyer does this very well). Since it's very general, this is why I would recommend downloading Feralis notes (available on Bootcamp) and reviewing it along with corresponding Cliff section. I made Anki cards for every chapter in Cliff, and would review it everyday until I memorized everything. Use the cloze function and image occlusion in Anki, it's extremely helpful for memorizing tables and content. I would also do all the questions at the end of each chapter, this is just to ensure you understand what you learned and that you can apply the concepts to real questions. For the questions that I got wrong, I would also make Anki cards on them.
Feralis Bio Notes:
Extremely detailed but VERY WORTH IT. Definitely review everyday with Cliff notes. Biology is probably the hardest section to study for because it is just so broad. You can be asked any question from any topic. Therefore, even though Feralis is so painful to read through, you'll be thanking yourself when you remember a little detail on test day.
DAT Destroyer:
Also an absolute must! All the previous materials I mentioned only really helped with reviewing content, but DAT destroyer (and Bootcamp exams) is really what puts your knowledge to the test! DAT Destroyer is very hard and can be extremely discouraging at first (my first time taking it, I was only getting ~65% right), but that's COMPLETELY OK. Do NOT get discouraged, trust me. Instead, learn from your mistakes. Read the solutions. Do Destroyer questions twice. The first time, do it untimed and try to get the question right for accuracy. Then review the questions that you got wrong. After a few days, do it a second time, but time yourself! Also, there are organic chemistry roadmaps which is also really helpful. I would get a blank piece of paper and test myself by drawing each reaction's reactant and products. Many people think Destroyer is overkill, but seriously, nothing is overkill. You won't regret studying so much when you receive a high score.
Math Destroyer:
I bought Math Destroyer along with DAT Destroyer. I didn't do the QR questions in the back of DAT Destroyer, I solely used Math Destroyer. Again, it's very difficult and can be discouraging, but that's ok. I would be getting only 50% of the questions right and it would take me so long to finish a test (way longer than 45 minutes). I also did each test twice (timing myself the second time). The problems in Math Destroyer will cover about every type of question that you will encounter on the DAT (besides quantitative comparison). If you mastered the type of questions in Math Destroyer, you'll do extremely well on the QR section. Make sure you time yourself when doing these questions the second time, because QR is definitely the most time consuming section. I would always finish within the last couple of seconds. The formula sheet in Math Destroyer is definitely worth committing to memory.
2009 ADA Practice Exam:
I only did the PAT/OC/GC/Bio sections of this exam. It was ok, but I would save this for the last couple of days to do to assess if you're ready to take the exam or need to postpone. Make sure you get the hard copy of the exam, because apparently the online version doesn't show you the answers and you can't go back to check.
DAT Bootcamp Practice Exam Scores:
PAT: 17/19/19/18/20/20
QR: 19/20/18/19/22/20/19/18/20
RC: 18/19/22/24
Bio: 18/19/18/20/22/21/19/20/20
GC: 22/21/22/19/19/26/30/23/24
OC: 22/22/21/20/19/21/26/24/25
Test Day:
Arrive there EARLY (30 minutes earlier) for check-in. Bring a jacket, it gets pretty chilly after sitting for 4 hours. You are given two pieces of scratch paper (front and back) and two markers. If you need more, just go out and ask for more. I didn't raise my hand because I didn't want to waste time. Also, you're not allowed to prepare your PAT section (for the hole punching section) on your scratch paper during the 15 minute tutorial. What I did was I set up my grids for the PAT section during my natural sciences section, because I had 10 minutes to spare. This way, you don't have to waste precious time during the PAT section!
Bio: To be honest, I thought I would score higher than a 20, but there were definitely 3-4 questions where I never even heard of the things mentioned in the question. This just shows how broad biology can be, and it really kind of depends on luck, you may get questions where the topics are ones that you've never studied. But other than the weird questions, majority of the questions were typical biology questions, all covered in Cliffs and Bootcamp exams.
GC: Slightly easier than Bootcamp and definitely easier than DAT Destroyer. The style and format are very similar to Bootcamp. Just keep practicing with Bootcamp and you'll be fine.
OC: Easier than DAT Destroyer, and around the same difficulty as Bootcamp. DAT Destroyer questions prepares you well! Keep practicing! Make flashcards on all of the reactions!
PAT: Ok, I expected this to be slightly easier than Bootcamp. But...it was harder! Especially keyholes..I got like 5 rock questions...I was out of luck. I've always had trouble with time on the PAT section, so I basically finished within the last couple of seconds.
Optional 30 minute break: I didn't take advantage of this, because I felt like I was in the zone. I didn't want to distract myself, so I figured, "wth, just power through."
RC: This is also one of those sections that depend on luck...I feel like I was lucky and I got three interesting passages. The questions were also easier than Bootcamp RC exams. I didn't get a lot of tone questions. Mainly just search and destroy! However, I didn't use the search and destroy method. I first read the entire passage word for word (I guess it helps being a fast reader), and then highlighted (USE THE HIGHLIGHT FUNCTION) important keywords that you think would pop up in a question. Then I just answered each question. This method may not work for everyone, especially if you're not a fast reader. Find the method that works for you! Don't neglect the RC practice exams. PRACTICE!
QR: By this point, I was pretty tired and hungry. Entire section was like a blur to me. In terms of difficulty, it was about the same as Bootcamp, or maybe even slightly harder. I actually had quite a few of the quantitative comparison questions (around 6).
Most important tip: BE CONFIDENT! DON'T BE NERVOUS. Just keep telling yourself you can do this! If you really don't feel ready, postpone your test! Definitely don't go into the DAT thinking you're just gonna "try it and see."
DAT scores:
PAT 20
QR 20
RC 25
Bio 20
GC 26
OC 25
TS 23
AA 23
Time spent studying:
11 weeks for 5-7 hours per day. I think the most important thing is that you have to set a goal for yourself everyday. I know I'm the type of person that can't study all day everyday. I know that a lot of people would study 10 hours a day. I definitely can't do that
. Find your own pace! Also, schedule your test early on! This way you force yourself NOT to procrastinate. Make a timeline. I can't stress enough how important time management is. I didn't work, so for 11 weeks, my schedule every single day was to study. Basically didn't have any social life these two months. You need to stay focused! For me, I stuck to Ari's schedule religiously. I loved having a schedule that told me exactly what to do everyday, it really helped me stay focused, and bring everything together at the end. Materials used:
DAT Bootcamp, DAT Destroyer 2017, Math Destroyer 2017, Khan Academy QR Videos, Chad's Videos for GC, Mike's Videos for OC, Feralis Notes, Cliff's AP Bio 3rd Edition, 2009 ADA practice exam, and of course, SDN
!Ari's Schedule:
I honestly think it's the best schedule out there. It is extremely detailed. It tells you exactly what problems to do everyday, how to space out your time, when to take a rest day, which videos to watch, and it also incorporates the DAT destroyer and Math Destroyer twice! I think that if you follow his schedule religiously, you're almost guaranteed at least a 20. Although the schedule is set for 10 weeks, I gave myself an extra week just in case I got left behind. The material may not seem a lot at first, but it gets really hard to keep up at the end. Thus, I recommend giving yourself at least 11 weeks to study. Of course, you can tweak around the schedule to fit your own schedule.
DAT Bootcamp:
AN ABSOLUTE MUST! Do yourself a favor and get this. This is probably the most representative practice material out there in every section. Some sections are slightly harder than the real exam (for ex: RC and PAT). The best thing about DAT Bootcamp, though, is their PAT prep. I loved how detailed the solutions were, how exactly you should solve each problem. They also have a PAT generator, I would just do 15 mins of every PAT section each day. (keyholes, TFE, hole punching, angle ranking, cube counting, and pattern folding). There really is no trick to the PAT, it's just practice practice practice. I seriously recommend going through every DAT Bootcamp practice exams if you have the time. So when it comes to test day, you'll feel like you're just taking another Bootcamp practice exam. Another awesome thing about Bootcamp is that if you have any questions regarding any topics, Ari would reply back that same day. Ari also included quantitative comparison questions in the QR practice exams, which is helpful because this is a new topic and the earlier you expose yourself to these types of questions, the better.
Mike's OC Videos:
This came with my Bootcamp subscription. I was hesitant about using Mike's videos at first, because it's relatively new. Everyone has been using Chad's videos. I decided to give Mike's videos a try. I ended up loving it. The videos are much shorter than Chad's and it covers a little more material. I also think it's more organized than Chad's videos. But I think the best thing about Mike's videos is the quizzes at the end of each chapter. The quizzes are pretty difficult and really require you to think, and there are step-by-step video solutions to each question! It may seem time consuming, but it's really worth it. Dr. Mike also has a reaction packet, which is really helpful!
Chad's GC Videos:
Chad is all you need for this section. Every question that I encountered on the real DAT was covered by Chad. His chapter quizzes are also great. Make sure you do every question, and whichever question you get wrong, make a flashcard on it. Also, even though Chad has outlines, but I recommend writing your own notes and studying from it. I reviewed my notes everyday. Another thing I liked about Chad's videos was that it was DAT specific. He would tell you which material you should pay attention to and which material you don't have to worry about for the DAT (more efficient studying
)Khan Academy QR Videos:
This was also part of Ari's schedule. The videos were very elementary...nothing exceptional. If you have a solid background in math, I don't think you have to watch all of them (there're like 80 videos, but they're only ~7 mins long). If you haven't had any math classes in a long time and need a review, watching them definitely won't hurt.
Cliff's AP Bio 3rd Edition:
Ari recommends getting the 3rd edition because the 4th edition leaves out important topics that are covered on the DAT. It's very concise and general. Breadth over depth. Keep exposing yourself to new biology facts every day (DAT Destroyer does this very well). Since it's very general, this is why I would recommend downloading Feralis notes (available on Bootcamp) and reviewing it along with corresponding Cliff section. I made Anki cards for every chapter in Cliff, and would review it everyday until I memorized everything. Use the cloze function and image occlusion in Anki, it's extremely helpful for memorizing tables and content. I would also do all the questions at the end of each chapter, this is just to ensure you understand what you learned and that you can apply the concepts to real questions. For the questions that I got wrong, I would also make Anki cards on them.
Feralis Bio Notes:
Extremely detailed but VERY WORTH IT. Definitely review everyday with Cliff notes. Biology is probably the hardest section to study for because it is just so broad. You can be asked any question from any topic. Therefore, even though Feralis is so painful to read through, you'll be thanking yourself when you remember a little detail on test day.
DAT Destroyer:
Also an absolute must! All the previous materials I mentioned only really helped with reviewing content, but DAT destroyer (and Bootcamp exams) is really what puts your knowledge to the test! DAT Destroyer is very hard and can be extremely discouraging at first (my first time taking it, I was only getting ~65% right), but that's COMPLETELY OK. Do NOT get discouraged, trust me. Instead, learn from your mistakes. Read the solutions. Do Destroyer questions twice. The first time, do it untimed and try to get the question right for accuracy. Then review the questions that you got wrong. After a few days, do it a second time, but time yourself! Also, there are organic chemistry roadmaps which is also really helpful. I would get a blank piece of paper and test myself by drawing each reaction's reactant and products. Many people think Destroyer is overkill, but seriously, nothing is overkill. You won't regret studying so much when you receive a high score.
Math Destroyer:
I bought Math Destroyer along with DAT Destroyer. I didn't do the QR questions in the back of DAT Destroyer, I solely used Math Destroyer. Again, it's very difficult and can be discouraging, but that's ok. I would be getting only 50% of the questions right and it would take me so long to finish a test (way longer than 45 minutes
). I also did each test twice (timing myself the second time). The problems in Math Destroyer will cover about every type of question that you will encounter on the DAT (besides quantitative comparison). If you mastered the type of questions in Math Destroyer, you'll do extremely well on the QR section. Make sure you time yourself when doing these questions the second time, because QR is definitely the most time consuming section. I would always finish within the last couple of seconds. The formula sheet in Math Destroyer is definitely worth committing to memory.2009 ADA Practice Exam:
I only did the PAT/OC/GC/Bio sections of this exam. It was ok, but I would save this for the last couple of days to do to assess if you're ready to take the exam or need to postpone. Make sure you get the hard copy of the exam, because apparently the online version doesn't show you the answers and you can't go back to check.
DAT Bootcamp Practice Exam Scores:
PAT: 17/19/19/18/20/20
QR: 19/20/18/19/22/20/19/18/20
RC: 18/19/22/24
Bio: 18/19/18/20/22/21/19/20/20
GC: 22/21/22/19/19/26/30/23/24
OC: 22/22/21/20/19/21/26/24/25
Test Day:
Arrive there EARLY (30 minutes earlier) for check-in. Bring a jacket, it gets pretty chilly after sitting for 4 hours. You are given two pieces of scratch paper (front and back) and two markers. If you need more, just go out and ask for more. I didn't raise my hand because I didn't want to waste time. Also, you're not allowed to prepare your PAT section (for the hole punching section) on your scratch paper during the 15 minute tutorial. What I did was I set up my grids for the PAT section during my natural sciences section, because I had 10 minutes to spare. This way, you don't have to waste precious time during the PAT section!
Bio: To be honest, I thought I would score higher than a 20, but there were definitely 3-4 questions where I never even heard of the things mentioned in the question
. This just shows how broad biology can be, and it really kind of depends on luck, you may get questions where the topics are ones that you've never studied. But other than the weird questions, majority of the questions were typical biology questions, all covered in Cliffs and Bootcamp exams.GC: Slightly easier than Bootcamp and definitely easier than DAT Destroyer. The style and format are very similar to Bootcamp. Just keep practicing with Bootcamp and you'll be fine.
OC: Easier than DAT Destroyer, and around the same difficulty as Bootcamp. DAT Destroyer questions prepares you well! Keep practicing! Make flashcards on all of the reactions!
PAT: Ok, I expected this to be slightly easier than Bootcamp. But...it was harder! Especially keyholes..I got like 5 rock questions
...I was out of luck. I've always had trouble with time on the PAT section, so I basically finished within the last couple of seconds. Optional 30 minute break: I didn't take advantage of this, because I felt like I was in the zone. I didn't want to distract myself, so I figured, "wth, just power through."
RC: This is also one of those sections that depend on luck...I feel like I was lucky and I got three interesting passages. The questions were also easier than Bootcamp RC exams. I didn't get a lot of tone questions. Mainly just search and destroy! However, I didn't use the search and destroy method. I first read the entire passage word for word (I guess it helps being a fast reader), and then highlighted (USE THE HIGHLIGHT FUNCTION) important keywords that you think would pop up in a question. Then I just answered each question. This method may not work for everyone, especially if you're not a fast reader. Find the method that works for you! Don't neglect the RC practice exams. PRACTICE!
QR: By this point, I was pretty tired and hungry. Entire section was like a blur to me. In terms of difficulty, it was about the same as Bootcamp, or maybe even slightly harder. I actually had quite a few of the quantitative comparison questions (around 6).
Most important tip: BE CONFIDENT! DON'T BE NERVOUS. Just keep telling yourself you can do this! If you really don't feel ready, postpone your test! Definitely don't go into the DAT thinking you're just gonna "try it and see."
