benjamin.folz
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2023
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
Scores + advice
If you are reading this breakdown you might be anxious about the effectiveness of the way you are preparing for the DAT. I constantly stressed about my practice test scores, but in my case, those scores were not indicative of how I performed on the DAT. At the end of my prep I was consistently scoring 25+ in RC and QR and between 19-21 on all science sections on dat booster and dat bootcamp. However my real scores are:
My general advice is to worry about the next thing on your to-do list and realize when you are improving and when you have peaked. I personally moved my test scores up by two weeks after I realized my scores were stagnant. You will never feel totally confident for the DAT, but there was a point in my prep where I knew I was as ready as I’ll ever be.
Overview of Resources
I used booster, bootcamp, and the booster crash courses for math and biology. For content review I used bootcamp for gen chem and orgo, booster for bio, booster for QR, both for learning PAT, and did nothing for RC. If you have the money get both, but if you don’t follow this advice. If you want to prioritize being taught the subject matter on the DAT because you feel like your exposure to science or math was poor during your undergrad, go with bootcamp. Bootcamp (especially Dr. Mike for chemistry) far exceeded booster in its ability to teach. One caveat to this is booster’s bio. Booster’s creator is pumping out amazing biology videos that he hopes will soon replace the need to read any biology notes which would be a game changer, but he is not quite there. So keep an eye out for that. Go with booster if you have a solid understanding of science and math because its practice questions and explanations are more representative, to the point, and helpful. You have to know the gist of the different subjects tested on the DAT, but the most important way to improve your score is practice questions because they help you improve your problem solving and narrow your studying. For me personally, booster was a far better resource because I came into the test with a good grasp of science in math.
Schedule
I used a merged schedule of Ari’s guide and booster’s guide. I followed it religiously for content review. I then threw it in the trash for my ‘testing and revision’ phase because I found it inefficient.
For content review, don’t get stressed out if you aren’t getting everything. Just read the notes or listen to the videos and do the associated practice problems and chill. For the ‘testing and revision phase’ I first completed 20 practice tests (10 from each company) and put any missed questions into anki and reviewed them periodically. This process was extremely efficient because I just took a screenshot of the question and solution and slapped them into anki. If I was feeling extra studious, I added extra notes and mnemonics to my cards. I then redid all the practice questions for orgo, gen chem, and math (there were just too many for biology to review all of them). I made anki cards for these too.
PAT
PAT is kind of its own monster. Start early and practice daily. Don’t forget youtube is also your friend here. I found that my best strategy was to focus on angle ranking, hole punching, cube counting, and pattern folding and throw out (guess on) front-top-end and keyhole. This isn’t the best advice for everyone, but it's what worked for me. For cube counting I think this video is the best strategy: (use the strategy where you draw out the entire shape). For pattern folding I think booster’s videos are very helpful. For hole punch, I think dat bootcamp is the best because they teach what are called ‘false holes’ in a way that makes the most sense. However, if you went with booster, mental dental on youtube has an okay video on hole punch that explains false holes too. Other than that, just find what works best for you.
Crash courses
The math course was totally worth the cost. The teacher shows you numerous short cuts that I used on my actual DAT. The bio course I took was good, but not worth the hefty price. If you are loaded, do it. If not, make anki cards from the bio cheat sheets and you will have covered 90% of the information covered on the bio crash course. I’ve heard from friends the organic booster crash course is trash, the gen chem booster crash course is alright, and the booster PAT crash course is alright. I’ve heard nothing but bad things for all the bootcamp crash courses so don’t waste your time.
Miscellaneous
My first practice test score after the content review was a 16 which devastated me. If this happens to you know that the score inflation you are hoping for happens about ⅔ of the way through the process. Scores don’t usually reflect the information you have obtained in the first half of your prep, so keep your head down and do the next thing on your to-do list. Getting on a daily schedule is very important because you want to take the ‘decision’ of studying out of the equation. After you are done with all the tasks for the day, do what makes you happy and never do more than what you planned for the day because your happiness is more important than this test. Hang in there, the scores will come!
If you are reading this breakdown you might be anxious about the effectiveness of the way you are preparing for the DAT. I constantly stressed about my practice test scores, but in my case, those scores were not indicative of how I performed on the DAT. At the end of my prep I was consistently scoring 25+ in RC and QR and between 19-21 on all science sections on dat booster and dat bootcamp. However my real scores are:
My general advice is to worry about the next thing on your to-do list and realize when you are improving and when you have peaked. I personally moved my test scores up by two weeks after I realized my scores were stagnant. You will never feel totally confident for the DAT, but there was a point in my prep where I knew I was as ready as I’ll ever be.
Overview of Resources
I used booster, bootcamp, and the booster crash courses for math and biology. For content review I used bootcamp for gen chem and orgo, booster for bio, booster for QR, both for learning PAT, and did nothing for RC. If you have the money get both, but if you don’t follow this advice. If you want to prioritize being taught the subject matter on the DAT because you feel like your exposure to science or math was poor during your undergrad, go with bootcamp. Bootcamp (especially Dr. Mike for chemistry) far exceeded booster in its ability to teach. One caveat to this is booster’s bio. Booster’s creator is pumping out amazing biology videos that he hopes will soon replace the need to read any biology notes which would be a game changer, but he is not quite there. So keep an eye out for that. Go with booster if you have a solid understanding of science and math because its practice questions and explanations are more representative, to the point, and helpful. You have to know the gist of the different subjects tested on the DAT, but the most important way to improve your score is practice questions because they help you improve your problem solving and narrow your studying. For me personally, booster was a far better resource because I came into the test with a good grasp of science in math.
Schedule
I used a merged schedule of Ari’s guide and booster’s guide. I followed it religiously for content review. I then threw it in the trash for my ‘testing and revision’ phase because I found it inefficient.
For content review, don’t get stressed out if you aren’t getting everything. Just read the notes or listen to the videos and do the associated practice problems and chill. For the ‘testing and revision phase’ I first completed 20 practice tests (10 from each company) and put any missed questions into anki and reviewed them periodically. This process was extremely efficient because I just took a screenshot of the question and solution and slapped them into anki. If I was feeling extra studious, I added extra notes and mnemonics to my cards. I then redid all the practice questions for orgo, gen chem, and math (there were just too many for biology to review all of them). I made anki cards for these too.
PAT
PAT is kind of its own monster. Start early and practice daily. Don’t forget youtube is also your friend here. I found that my best strategy was to focus on angle ranking, hole punching, cube counting, and pattern folding and throw out (guess on) front-top-end and keyhole. This isn’t the best advice for everyone, but it's what worked for me. For cube counting I think this video is the best strategy: (use the strategy where you draw out the entire shape). For pattern folding I think booster’s videos are very helpful. For hole punch, I think dat bootcamp is the best because they teach what are called ‘false holes’ in a way that makes the most sense. However, if you went with booster, mental dental on youtube has an okay video on hole punch that explains false holes too. Other than that, just find what works best for you.
Crash courses
The math course was totally worth the cost. The teacher shows you numerous short cuts that I used on my actual DAT. The bio course I took was good, but not worth the hefty price. If you are loaded, do it. If not, make anki cards from the bio cheat sheets and you will have covered 90% of the information covered on the bio crash course. I’ve heard from friends the organic booster crash course is trash, the gen chem booster crash course is alright, and the booster PAT crash course is alright. I’ve heard nothing but bad things for all the bootcamp crash courses so don’t waste your time.
Miscellaneous
- For orgo, download the bootcamp reaction deck and start studying it early on.
- I got lucky with taxonomy on my DAT because I only had one question. Here is my opinion though, if you are going for a 24+ study taxonomy. If not, watch the videos on 2x speed and learn from the practice questions on the full length test. Overall, your time is better spent focusing on physiology, cell cycle/genetics, biochem or ecology.
- If premade anki decks work for you, go ahead, but I think they are a waste of time. I think it is far better to quickly make your own with the screenshot method I outlined early in this post.
My first practice test score after the content review was a 16 which devastated me. If this happens to you know that the score inflation you are hoping for happens about ⅔ of the way through the process. Scores don’t usually reflect the information you have obtained in the first half of your prep, so keep your head down and do the next thing on your to-do list. Getting on a daily schedule is very important because you want to take the ‘decision’ of studying out of the equation. After you are done with all the tasks for the day, do what makes you happy and never do more than what you planned for the day because your happiness is more important than this test. Hang in there, the scores will come!
