I took the DAT for the first time on August 1, 2022. However, I will say that my study timeline and approach for this exam was unconventional as I only studied for five days.
Materials Used: DATBooster
This was the only prep material I utilized. I stumbled across DATBooster having the most positive and consistent reviews. It prepared me well in the sense that I did not get a question that I had not encountered that information somewhere in their prep materials.
With that being said, I will now expand on why my study timeline was unconventional. My original plan had been to study for two months, starting on June 1st. For a few days in June, I watched all the videos (on 2x, which probably doesn’t help much in fully grasping the content) in bio, OChem, and GChem on Booster. I took notes with the bio and GChem videos but grew tired of taking that much time during each video and stopped. I didn’t even completely finish the ochem videos. While the videos were easy to follow and definitely helped me make sense of things, I never reviewed my notes and I retained nothing. June came and went, and before I knew it, it was July 17. I told myself I would fully start studying then, and I took my first practice test with no review and got an 18AA. I let time pass until I was left with five days to study. I crammed as much as I could mentally take, and spent anywhere from 3-9 hours each day.
Prep:
I only took four full-length practice tests, and personally, they drained me a lot to the point I was rushing to get them done and learned nothing as I didn’t review the missed questions. However, I made the mistake of doing two in one day twice. I scored 16-18 AA on them. I changed my approach after that.
Bio (22): I skimmed over the Feralis notes. Most of it was review as I had encountered the majority of information in previous courses (except for anatomy and developmental bio). They were in-depth and covered a lot, but if that additional information wasn’t there, I feel as though some of the items would have been harder to study. I then went through the question banks and read the explanations. I also took all of the practice tests. I did not review the practice tests as I was in a serious time crunch. On the test, the questions were straightforward and I could’ve gotten more right if I had reviewed them because I remembered seeing the information in Booster.
Gen Chem(19): This was by far my weakest area. I read through a section of the study notes and then would do the question banks. I then went through the practice tests and reviewed five of them. My test was mainly mathematical, so make sure you know how to do the calculations.
OChem(21): I had the same study approach to it as GChem. Read the study notes and reaction sheet, then the question banks, followed by the practice tests (reviewed 7 of 10).
RC(24): I did not study for this outside of those four full lengths because I found it too time-consuming with my limited time. This section was pretty much the same as the articles I got on DATBooster.
QR(18): I also did not study for this. I rushed through the QR on practice tests and usually didn’t answer most of the questions. From what I saw on Booster, the questions were similar to the real test.
PAT(19): Angle-ranking, cube-counting, hole-punching, and pattern-folding were fairly easy for me to grasp. TFE was manageable once I read the strategies. KH was my weakest and they took me the longest. I only took the four practice tests that were in the full lengths, and I didn’t practice two days before the test because they were too time-consuming. On the real test, I started with angle-ranking and worked from there. I saw quite a few rock keyholes on my test, so it was a guess and go. Overall, the difficulty was about the same as Booster.
Overall, cramming in five days is, quite honestly, miserable. I would’ve eased up a bit had I seen other students that didn’t invest much time into studying and prepping, so hopefully, if anyone else is in a similar position, they will know it is possible to do well with little time. I regret not giving myself more time to truly try my best, but I do not regret enjoying my summer. Find a study plan and method that works for you, and don’t doubt yourself or feel guilty if you don’t invest as much time as some others do.
Materials Used: DATBooster
This was the only prep material I utilized. I stumbled across DATBooster having the most positive and consistent reviews. It prepared me well in the sense that I did not get a question that I had not encountered that information somewhere in their prep materials.
With that being said, I will now expand on why my study timeline was unconventional. My original plan had been to study for two months, starting on June 1st. For a few days in June, I watched all the videos (on 2x, which probably doesn’t help much in fully grasping the content) in bio, OChem, and GChem on Booster. I took notes with the bio and GChem videos but grew tired of taking that much time during each video and stopped. I didn’t even completely finish the ochem videos. While the videos were easy to follow and definitely helped me make sense of things, I never reviewed my notes and I retained nothing. June came and went, and before I knew it, it was July 17. I told myself I would fully start studying then, and I took my first practice test with no review and got an 18AA. I let time pass until I was left with five days to study. I crammed as much as I could mentally take, and spent anywhere from 3-9 hours each day.
Prep:
I only took four full-length practice tests, and personally, they drained me a lot to the point I was rushing to get them done and learned nothing as I didn’t review the missed questions. However, I made the mistake of doing two in one day twice. I scored 16-18 AA on them. I changed my approach after that.
Bio (22): I skimmed over the Feralis notes. Most of it was review as I had encountered the majority of information in previous courses (except for anatomy and developmental bio). They were in-depth and covered a lot, but if that additional information wasn’t there, I feel as though some of the items would have been harder to study. I then went through the question banks and read the explanations. I also took all of the practice tests. I did not review the practice tests as I was in a serious time crunch. On the test, the questions were straightforward and I could’ve gotten more right if I had reviewed them because I remembered seeing the information in Booster.
Gen Chem(19): This was by far my weakest area. I read through a section of the study notes and then would do the question banks. I then went through the practice tests and reviewed five of them. My test was mainly mathematical, so make sure you know how to do the calculations.
OChem(21): I had the same study approach to it as GChem. Read the study notes and reaction sheet, then the question banks, followed by the practice tests (reviewed 7 of 10).
RC(24): I did not study for this outside of those four full lengths because I found it too time-consuming with my limited time. This section was pretty much the same as the articles I got on DATBooster.
QR(18): I also did not study for this. I rushed through the QR on practice tests and usually didn’t answer most of the questions. From what I saw on Booster, the questions were similar to the real test.
PAT(19): Angle-ranking, cube-counting, hole-punching, and pattern-folding were fairly easy for me to grasp. TFE was manageable once I read the strategies. KH was my weakest and they took me the longest. I only took the four practice tests that were in the full lengths, and I didn’t practice two days before the test because they were too time-consuming. On the real test, I started with angle-ranking and worked from there. I saw quite a few rock keyholes on my test, so it was a guess and go. Overall, the difficulty was about the same as Booster.
Overall, cramming in five days is, quite honestly, miserable. I would’ve eased up a bit had I seen other students that didn’t invest much time into studying and prepping, so hopefully, if anyone else is in a similar position, they will know it is possible to do well with little time. I regret not giving myself more time to truly try my best, but I do not regret enjoying my summer. Find a study plan and method that works for you, and don’t doubt yourself or feel guilty if you don’t invest as much time as some others do.
