Hi guys! I'm posting a breakdown but more of advice/things I would've done differently or what I think really worked for me. Reading everyone's breakdown really helped me with everything so I figured this would be a great way to give back! I feel like its gonna be long so sorry for advance.
A little background, I am a rising senior and studying biochemistry. I started studying on May 8th and my DAT date was June 28th. I decided to postpone the DAT just because I didn't feel as prepared as I wanted to and changed the date to July 17th. One of the best decisions I've ever made tbh.
AA/Bio/Chem/Ochem/QR/RC/PAT: 22/20/26/21/21/23/21/22
Materials I used: DAT Bootcamp (10/10), DAT Destroyer (9/10), Feralis (10/10), Cliffs, Coursesaver
Thanks to everyone who made these resources, I wouldn't have gotten these scores without y'all. **If you can't splurge, I would recommend DAT bootcamp just because it has everything and its amazing!
**One thing I wanted to say about Ari's study guide calendar was that I personally didn't like it because it didn't work for me/my study style. HOWEVER it might work for you, people have gotten amazing scores following it. The reason why I didn't like it was because I don't think destroyer would've been that helpful if I hadn't gone over ochem 2x (this was a weak section of mine). Also I needed to take full BC test earlier on to see what I needed to improve on and still have enough time to make an improvement and it was hard with that schedule.
Bio: I started with Cliffs, a chapter a day and read the Feralis chapter that corresponded. I had a really hard time with taxonomy and the body chapters so those took extra days. After, I did Destroyer 1x through and made flashcards for everything I didn't know. I feel like I had a strong grasp on bio compared to when I first started. BC score started out at a 16, highest was a 24, avg 20-21. The DAT really threw me off because I really studied the body stuff and I felt like I barely got any of those questions...so basically know a wide scope of everything.
Chem: Went through Chad's, he is great!! I focused on this section the least because my BC scores ranged from 19-24. The math was super simple and concepts are the main thing for this section.
Ochem: Went through Mike's first but I was getting BC 16-19 so I decided to do Chad's and then my score improved greatly 20-22. Definitely do all of DAT Destroyer it really hit helped get the concepts in my head by applying them. One of the things I think really helped was I wrote out the Roadmaps with blanks for the reagents and copied the pages and practice all of them everyday.
QR: I've always been good at math but I hadn't taken a math class in 4 years. I usually got 19s on BC and did 8-9 Math Destroyer tests. I sucked at QC and idk how I pulled a 23 but my best advice would be practice practice practice.
RC: My first BC score 16 and then another was less than 15 and I found a strategy that worked for me and stuck with it for the DAT. Read the title, read the first question then I would write 1-# of paragraphs there were and write a keyword or a couple about the paragraph. Answer the questions, skip thought questions that would require reading the whole passage.
PAT: I was averaging 18-19 on BC. For cube counting I would take it by level and instead of using the bootcamp method where you write 1-5 the put lines for each one i would right the number of sides like
5
43234
23424311
so that if a number was off I could easily check what could be wrong. For hole punching I used the grid method and pattern: look for unique shapes. I improved on TFE by going through all 150 problems on bootcamp and understanding each one. For keyhole, it's important to cross out answers you know are wrong and it's very detailed orientated.
Things I would've done differently:
Originally I wanted to follow Ari's 10 week guide cutting it down some but I felt that it was too slow for me. I think you should try to do Destroyer 2x, maybe that would've helped me get better scores. With Destroyer and Bootcamp you have a lot of stuff you can do, so you won't ever run out. Utilize everything but don't overwhelm yourself by buying a whole bunch of materials.
Advice:
I feel that you're ready to take the test when you don't feel nervous about the test. Obviously you aren't going to know the answer to every question and mentally prepare yourself for curveballs. You know yourself best, take the time you need, spend an extra money to change the DAT date if you aren't ready. If you made it all the way down here....make sure you read over your notes every couple of days, it helps. I wish I took the DAT a year before I decided to apply, having applied to a couple of schools before I took the DAT, I was stressed that I would get a bad score and the money I spent on apps would be a waste.
If you have any questions let me know!
A little background, I am a rising senior and studying biochemistry. I started studying on May 8th and my DAT date was June 28th. I decided to postpone the DAT just because I didn't feel as prepared as I wanted to and changed the date to July 17th. One of the best decisions I've ever made tbh.
AA/Bio/Chem/Ochem/QR/RC/PAT: 22/20/26/21/21/23/21/22
Materials I used: DAT Bootcamp (10/10), DAT Destroyer (9/10), Feralis (10/10), Cliffs, Coursesaver
Thanks to everyone who made these resources, I wouldn't have gotten these scores without y'all. **If you can't splurge, I would recommend DAT bootcamp just because it has everything and its amazing!
**One thing I wanted to say about Ari's study guide calendar was that I personally didn't like it because it didn't work for me/my study style. HOWEVER it might work for you, people have gotten amazing scores following it. The reason why I didn't like it was because I don't think destroyer would've been that helpful if I hadn't gone over ochem 2x (this was a weak section of mine). Also I needed to take full BC test earlier on to see what I needed to improve on and still have enough time to make an improvement and it was hard with that schedule.
Bio: I started with Cliffs, a chapter a day and read the Feralis chapter that corresponded. I had a really hard time with taxonomy and the body chapters so those took extra days. After, I did Destroyer 1x through and made flashcards for everything I didn't know. I feel like I had a strong grasp on bio compared to when I first started. BC score started out at a 16, highest was a 24, avg 20-21. The DAT really threw me off because I really studied the body stuff and I felt like I barely got any of those questions...so basically know a wide scope of everything.
Chem: Went through Chad's, he is great!! I focused on this section the least because my BC scores ranged from 19-24. The math was super simple and concepts are the main thing for this section.
Ochem: Went through Mike's first but I was getting BC 16-19 so I decided to do Chad's and then my score improved greatly 20-22. Definitely do all of DAT Destroyer it really hit helped get the concepts in my head by applying them. One of the things I think really helped was I wrote out the Roadmaps with blanks for the reagents and copied the pages and practice all of them everyday.
QR: I've always been good at math but I hadn't taken a math class in 4 years. I usually got 19s on BC and did 8-9 Math Destroyer tests. I sucked at QC and idk how I pulled a 23 but my best advice would be practice practice practice.
RC: My first BC score 16 and then another was less than 15 and I found a strategy that worked for me and stuck with it for the DAT. Read the title, read the first question then I would write 1-# of paragraphs there were and write a keyword or a couple about the paragraph. Answer the questions, skip thought questions that would require reading the whole passage.
PAT: I was averaging 18-19 on BC. For cube counting I would take it by level and instead of using the bootcamp method where you write 1-5 the put lines for each one i would right the number of sides like
5
43234
23424311
so that if a number was off I could easily check what could be wrong. For hole punching I used the grid method and pattern: look for unique shapes. I improved on TFE by going through all 150 problems on bootcamp and understanding each one. For keyhole, it's important to cross out answers you know are wrong and it's very detailed orientated.
Things I would've done differently:
Originally I wanted to follow Ari's 10 week guide cutting it down some but I felt that it was too slow for me. I think you should try to do Destroyer 2x, maybe that would've helped me get better scores. With Destroyer and Bootcamp you have a lot of stuff you can do, so you won't ever run out. Utilize everything but don't overwhelm yourself by buying a whole bunch of materials.
Advice:
I feel that you're ready to take the test when you don't feel nervous about the test. Obviously you aren't going to know the answer to every question and mentally prepare yourself for curveballs. You know yourself best, take the time you need, spend an extra money to change the DAT date if you aren't ready. If you made it all the way down here....make sure you read over your notes every couple of days, it helps. I wish I took the DAT a year before I decided to apply, having applied to a couple of schools before I took the DAT, I was stressed that I would get a bad score and the money I spent on apps would be a waste.
If you have any questions let me know!
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