Resources: Booster (Main) and Bootcamp Practice Test + Mike's Notes
These breakdowns have always helped me so I decided to write down! I’m a biochemistry major but it’s been a while since I took organic chem + chemistry and I haven’t taken biology since high school so it was a little rough studying. I started studying late May but effectively started studying in mid June (little less than 2 months of studying). I mainly used Booster and used Bootcamp for Gen Chem notes but did all the practice tests on both. I shadowed around 4x a week and on the days I didn't have shadowing I would just go to the gym in the morning and then just lock myself in my room to study all day. Of course take care of your mental health and give yourself breaks whenever you can, I wish I spent more time taking breaks because I got burnt out towards the end. There were some days where I just couldn’t study or focus and I don't learn / retain anything if I'm not in the mood to study. During the last two weeks I spent many hours reviewing my practice test and took around 4 full length exams to build up my stamina. I think this is very important because if you keep taking individual practice exams, you won’t be as prepared for a full length one where you take it back to back. Also make sure you take as many practice exams as you can and don't get discouraged from those scores!
For the DAT I didn’t really study the traditional way because for me I get anxiety by not knowing what the test is going to look like so I did a few of the science tests in the beginning with little knowledge and I think I averaged around like 16-17 for majority of it. It allowed me to know what type of questions were gonna be asked and what to expect. That’s what worked for me. I know other people like to know the material first and then get in but in the beginning I was very overwhelmed with all the information so I just thought looking at those specific questions would help and being able to recognize the questions because you start to see patterns.
Biology (22) - Bio was very overwhelming when I first started. It actually made me so emo cause I thought I never had to relearn plants and ecology. When I first started I spent a lot of time just rewriting every single detail and I realized it just wasn’t working for me. The question banks for booster / bc was nice for recall but it goes way more in depth than what you need to know. After taking the practice test you tend to notice the trend of questions they ask and how it’s better to understand every topic then understanding every little detail. The best advice is to focus on the overall concept and being able to recognize certain words in the question. I used Booster's quizlets which helped out a lot and then the practice exams to see what types of questions to expect. Towards the last two weeks I made sure I understood the answer choices in the practice exams. I really do recommend a booster for this part cus I think this is what made me do well. If I could do things differently, I would prioritize the cheat sheets. I got a few questions that I had to mark cause they were pretty low yield but overall it wasn’t bad!
Organic Chemistry (22) - I had the hardest time understanding the enolate reaction and aldol stuff and I think after sitting down and actually understanding the mechanism helped a lot. My test had a lot of NMR and concept questions being oxidized. Make sure you also understand acid ranking(CARDIO). Overall it was very straightforward and nothing there to trick you. Make sure to know about substitution / elimination and the test reactions for little points. I think BOTH Booster and BC were representative of this and I recommend memorizing the reaction sheet and being able to recognize the names of the reactions. I used Booster's and BC's question banked for extra questions which were a bit harder but made sure you understood the concepts.
Chem (23) - This was very conceptual based but there were some thinking questions I got. I got one weird calculation question where I simply just struggled on because they were not divisible. However, I did finish faster than I usually do and had time to review. I think the best thing that allowed me to get an understanding of everything was Mike's outline and then practicing all the question banks and proceeding to the exams. I think BC was a bit more representative in the ways they asked their question. I didn’t get a lot of questions that I expected though like naming, acid-base, boiling point, etc. But make sure to know your formulas, especially the basics!
Perceptual (21) - I tried to force myself into thinking perceptual was a fun game and it kinda worked lol. Honestly not much to say besides just practicing and picking up the techniques to use to finalize your answer. Booster was more representative and honestly everything felt the same but hole punching and TFE were a little easier. I say start this section early so you just practice and know what to expect ahead of time because it’ll be hard to cram that portion last week. This part isn’t the best advice but if I didn't know or if I knew I was gonna take too long I would choose B because I remember that was what one of my older Dentist did back then haha. I struggled with doing all the questions in time and after practicing, I was able to pick up my speed.
Reading (16) - Honestly I scored a lot higher on the practice exams and I felt that the practice was much easier. I usually used the search and destroy method but it didn’t help much this time because not everything was straightforward. I went to the bathroom midway cause I had to pee lol and I regret going cause I lost a lot of time. Honestly I might have just gotten unlucky but it’s okay! Just be able to read fast and understand and you’ll be okay!
Math (21) - This section had a lot of comparing questions and many basic algebra questions (especially inequality ones). Booster was more representative and I did not run out of time like I usually do. I was scared about this section because I was trying to memorize the formulas and equations for geometry and ended up not needing it except for the square + circle one. I would prioritize statistics and algebra. Doing all the practice tests helped, I didn’t do anything else for it (started the QB but ended up not completing it).
Overall if you're in a time crunch, just prioritize all the practice exams and you’ll be okay! Good luck everyone studying for the DAT and remember to give yourself breaks! It’s a hard exam but at the end it’ll be worth it!
These breakdowns have always helped me so I decided to write down! I’m a biochemistry major but it’s been a while since I took organic chem + chemistry and I haven’t taken biology since high school so it was a little rough studying. I started studying late May but effectively started studying in mid June (little less than 2 months of studying). I mainly used Booster and used Bootcamp for Gen Chem notes but did all the practice tests on both. I shadowed around 4x a week and on the days I didn't have shadowing I would just go to the gym in the morning and then just lock myself in my room to study all day. Of course take care of your mental health and give yourself breaks whenever you can, I wish I spent more time taking breaks because I got burnt out towards the end. There were some days where I just couldn’t study or focus and I don't learn / retain anything if I'm not in the mood to study. During the last two weeks I spent many hours reviewing my practice test and took around 4 full length exams to build up my stamina. I think this is very important because if you keep taking individual practice exams, you won’t be as prepared for a full length one where you take it back to back. Also make sure you take as many practice exams as you can and don't get discouraged from those scores!
For the DAT I didn’t really study the traditional way because for me I get anxiety by not knowing what the test is going to look like so I did a few of the science tests in the beginning with little knowledge and I think I averaged around like 16-17 for majority of it. It allowed me to know what type of questions were gonna be asked and what to expect. That’s what worked for me. I know other people like to know the material first and then get in but in the beginning I was very overwhelmed with all the information so I just thought looking at those specific questions would help and being able to recognize the questions because you start to see patterns.
Biology (22) - Bio was very overwhelming when I first started. It actually made me so emo cause I thought I never had to relearn plants and ecology. When I first started I spent a lot of time just rewriting every single detail and I realized it just wasn’t working for me. The question banks for booster / bc was nice for recall but it goes way more in depth than what you need to know. After taking the practice test you tend to notice the trend of questions they ask and how it’s better to understand every topic then understanding every little detail. The best advice is to focus on the overall concept and being able to recognize certain words in the question. I used Booster's quizlets which helped out a lot and then the practice exams to see what types of questions to expect. Towards the last two weeks I made sure I understood the answer choices in the practice exams. I really do recommend a booster for this part cus I think this is what made me do well. If I could do things differently, I would prioritize the cheat sheets. I got a few questions that I had to mark cause they were pretty low yield but overall it wasn’t bad!
Organic Chemistry (22) - I had the hardest time understanding the enolate reaction and aldol stuff and I think after sitting down and actually understanding the mechanism helped a lot. My test had a lot of NMR and concept questions being oxidized. Make sure you also understand acid ranking(CARDIO). Overall it was very straightforward and nothing there to trick you. Make sure to know about substitution / elimination and the test reactions for little points. I think BOTH Booster and BC were representative of this and I recommend memorizing the reaction sheet and being able to recognize the names of the reactions. I used Booster's and BC's question banked for extra questions which were a bit harder but made sure you understood the concepts.
Chem (23) - This was very conceptual based but there were some thinking questions I got. I got one weird calculation question where I simply just struggled on because they were not divisible. However, I did finish faster than I usually do and had time to review. I think the best thing that allowed me to get an understanding of everything was Mike's outline and then practicing all the question banks and proceeding to the exams. I think BC was a bit more representative in the ways they asked their question. I didn’t get a lot of questions that I expected though like naming, acid-base, boiling point, etc. But make sure to know your formulas, especially the basics!
Perceptual (21) - I tried to force myself into thinking perceptual was a fun game and it kinda worked lol. Honestly not much to say besides just practicing and picking up the techniques to use to finalize your answer. Booster was more representative and honestly everything felt the same but hole punching and TFE were a little easier. I say start this section early so you just practice and know what to expect ahead of time because it’ll be hard to cram that portion last week. This part isn’t the best advice but if I didn't know or if I knew I was gonna take too long I would choose B because I remember that was what one of my older Dentist did back then haha. I struggled with doing all the questions in time and after practicing, I was able to pick up my speed.
Reading (16) - Honestly I scored a lot higher on the practice exams and I felt that the practice was much easier. I usually used the search and destroy method but it didn’t help much this time because not everything was straightforward. I went to the bathroom midway cause I had to pee lol and I regret going cause I lost a lot of time. Honestly I might have just gotten unlucky but it’s okay! Just be able to read fast and understand and you’ll be okay!
Math (21) - This section had a lot of comparing questions and many basic algebra questions (especially inequality ones). Booster was more representative and I did not run out of time like I usually do. I was scared about this section because I was trying to memorize the formulas and equations for geometry and ended up not needing it except for the square + circle one. I would prioritize statistics and algebra. Doing all the practice tests helped, I didn’t do anything else for it (started the QB but ended up not completing it).
Overall if you're in a time crunch, just prioritize all the practice exams and you’ll be okay! Good luck everyone studying for the DAT and remember to give yourself breaks! It’s a hard exam but at the end it’ll be worth it!
