2022 DAT Breakdown (21AA/22TS/20PAT)
Hey y’all, just took the DAT for the first time yesterday afternoon 08/13 and wanted to provide my insight. Hopefully it can be of some help to those still in the studying process.
BACKGROUND: incoming 3rd yr (T20) BIO Major 3.5 GPA
Resources:
DAT BOOSTER PREMIUM: GREAT resource (will talk about it more later)
ANKI: Didn’t work too well for me. Understanding the processes and mechanisms was much more useful for committing info to memory.
DAT BOOTCAMP: used free bio notes
QR- 20. PRACTICE makes PERFECT bc TIMING is your ENEMY. If you’ve graduated high-school, I promise you have seen every type of problem before, it’s all about sharpening your skills and KEEPING them sharp up till your exam. I made the mistake of not doing all the timed practice tests (I only did 5). The comparing value A to B type questions were always a time sink for me. If you struggle with speed I would mark these types of questions and come back to it last. TAKE ALL THE PRACTICE TESTS TIMED and you’ll do great!
RC- 19
Honestly I can’t really provide much insight on this section. I only did one timed practice test, and it was the night b4 my exam. I did well and got overconfident, so I didn’t have a game plan going into the actual exam which was a HUGE MISTAKE. I spent 25min on the first passage and ended up guessing on all the questions in the last passage. I know that with bio and all the other sections that RC may seem insignificant, but you can easily improve your AA by doing well in this section. I felt like the questions and passages are easier than on the SAT/ACT. Develop a strategy and get through all the questions! Pretty much all my answers were straight from the passage.
ORGO- 21
Orgo and I have a love hate relationship. This was my worst class in uni B-/B. I always felt like I had put in the effort memorizing the reactants and products but wasn’t seeing any results bc stereo-centers and possible enantiomers were tripping me up. Once I understood resonance and partial electron-density, everything just clicked. Grab a white board, draw resonance structures, determine you partial electron-densities, and the mechanism will come naturally!
CHEM- 25
This was by far my favorite section! There are only so many type of questions they can ask you so this section IMO is the easiest way to improve your score. Complete all the practice test questions, commit the formulas and geometries to memory and you will be set!
BIO-22
I studied the most for this section. I took every crash course, which I highly recommend! I saw some word for word questions on my DAT from the booster crash course Q’s. For bio, quality over quantity of studying matters the most. Because so much content is covered, it really is too time consuming to read all the notes. I’d say completely skip over the notes, start by taking a practice test, identify your weaknesses and then go back to the notes or watch a video for that topic. DONT JUST MEMORIZE the answer. Personifying biological processes and lecturing them to inanimate objects( or a pet) really helped me to commit a lot of the complex bio systems to memory! Feralis notes: I was not the biggest fan. It was too detailed and there was something about the writing style or formatting that I found made getting through the notes difficult. I found both the notes/condensed notes on DAT bootcamp were much more organized and easier too follow.
However, the DAT booster videos were extremely helpful and i really wish they had videos out on all the topics before my exam (but they’re constantly updating so hopefully there will be more videos up for y’all)
** my bio practice test scores were significantly lower than my actual. So don’t get discouraged. The practice tests are more detailed (which is great for solidifying concepts) but the actual is much more straight forward
PAT- 20
There’s not too much I can say about this section that has not already been said by other posters so just do as much practice as you can. For cube counting, aim to get full points. Tally up the number for all the different types of faces before answering the questions. I promise this is faster and more accurate than searching for specific faces. I skipped to question 31, completed the questions and then went back to TFE and Keyholes( I really struggled with these). I noticed during my practice tests, as long as felt solid during 31-90, I could guess in the majority of TFE and Keyhole and still get 19-20.
STUDYING
I studied for 2 months but didn’t study seriously until the last 2 weeks. Personally for me, there is diminishing returns the longer I give myself to study. I could’ve given myself a year, but I know that I really wouldn’t feel committed until I felt the time pressure. As terrible as it sounds, being stressed makes me a more efficient learner (I don’t recommend this method for everyone).
I never took a full length practice test. I remember when I studied for the sat/act that doing back to back tests of the same subject was more beneficial. For example, I would take a chem test, go over my mistakes, and then take another test immediately after and correct my mistakes, and then repeat it again. I would do up to 3 of the same subject tests in the day.
TEST DAY
Go into the test confident! Know that your hard work will be worth it!
If you don’t do well, it’s okay! It’s not the end of the world!
Stay level headed, maintain your physical and mental health, and know that I am here rooting for you!
Best of luck!
Hey y’all, just took the DAT for the first time yesterday afternoon 08/13 and wanted to provide my insight. Hopefully it can be of some help to those still in the studying process.
BACKGROUND: incoming 3rd yr (T20) BIO Major 3.5 GPA
Resources:
DAT BOOSTER PREMIUM: GREAT resource (will talk about it more later)
ANKI: Didn’t work too well for me. Understanding the processes and mechanisms was much more useful for committing info to memory.
DAT BOOTCAMP: used free bio notes
QR- 20. PRACTICE makes PERFECT bc TIMING is your ENEMY. If you’ve graduated high-school, I promise you have seen every type of problem before, it’s all about sharpening your skills and KEEPING them sharp up till your exam. I made the mistake of not doing all the timed practice tests (I only did 5). The comparing value A to B type questions were always a time sink for me. If you struggle with speed I would mark these types of questions and come back to it last. TAKE ALL THE PRACTICE TESTS TIMED and you’ll do great!
RC- 19
Honestly I can’t really provide much insight on this section. I only did one timed practice test, and it was the night b4 my exam. I did well and got overconfident, so I didn’t have a game plan going into the actual exam which was a HUGE MISTAKE. I spent 25min on the first passage and ended up guessing on all the questions in the last passage. I know that with bio and all the other sections that RC may seem insignificant, but you can easily improve your AA by doing well in this section. I felt like the questions and passages are easier than on the SAT/ACT. Develop a strategy and get through all the questions! Pretty much all my answers were straight from the passage.
ORGO- 21
Orgo and I have a love hate relationship. This was my worst class in uni B-/B. I always felt like I had put in the effort memorizing the reactants and products but wasn’t seeing any results bc stereo-centers and possible enantiomers were tripping me up. Once I understood resonance and partial electron-density, everything just clicked. Grab a white board, draw resonance structures, determine you partial electron-densities, and the mechanism will come naturally!
CHEM- 25
This was by far my favorite section! There are only so many type of questions they can ask you so this section IMO is the easiest way to improve your score. Complete all the practice test questions, commit the formulas and geometries to memory and you will be set!
BIO-22
I studied the most for this section. I took every crash course, which I highly recommend! I saw some word for word questions on my DAT from the booster crash course Q’s. For bio, quality over quantity of studying matters the most. Because so much content is covered, it really is too time consuming to read all the notes. I’d say completely skip over the notes, start by taking a practice test, identify your weaknesses and then go back to the notes or watch a video for that topic. DONT JUST MEMORIZE the answer. Personifying biological processes and lecturing them to inanimate objects( or a pet) really helped me to commit a lot of the complex bio systems to memory! Feralis notes: I was not the biggest fan. It was too detailed and there was something about the writing style or formatting that I found made getting through the notes difficult. I found both the notes/condensed notes on DAT bootcamp were much more organized and easier too follow.
However, the DAT booster videos were extremely helpful and i really wish they had videos out on all the topics before my exam (but they’re constantly updating so hopefully there will be more videos up for y’all)
** my bio practice test scores were significantly lower than my actual. So don’t get discouraged. The practice tests are more detailed (which is great for solidifying concepts) but the actual is much more straight forward
PAT- 20
There’s not too much I can say about this section that has not already been said by other posters so just do as much practice as you can. For cube counting, aim to get full points. Tally up the number for all the different types of faces before answering the questions. I promise this is faster and more accurate than searching for specific faces. I skipped to question 31, completed the questions and then went back to TFE and Keyholes( I really struggled with these). I noticed during my practice tests, as long as felt solid during 31-90, I could guess in the majority of TFE and Keyhole and still get 19-20.
STUDYING
I studied for 2 months but didn’t study seriously until the last 2 weeks. Personally for me, there is diminishing returns the longer I give myself to study. I could’ve given myself a year, but I know that I really wouldn’t feel committed until I felt the time pressure. As terrible as it sounds, being stressed makes me a more efficient learner (I don’t recommend this method for everyone).
I never took a full length practice test. I remember when I studied for the sat/act that doing back to back tests of the same subject was more beneficial. For example, I would take a chem test, go over my mistakes, and then take another test immediately after and correct my mistakes, and then repeat it again. I would do up to 3 of the same subject tests in the day.
TEST DAY
Go into the test confident! Know that your hard work will be worth it!
If you don’t do well, it’s okay! It’s not the end of the world!
Stay level headed, maintain your physical and mental health, and know that I am here rooting for you!
Best of luck!
