Berke Tuncer
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2024
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
Hi, my name is Berke and here is my DAT Breakdown:
Scores:
QR - 26
PAT - 25
RC - 19
Bio - 21
GC - 23
OC - 25
TS - 23
AA - 23
Background:
Currently a junior with a 3.75~ GPA.
Materials Used (in order of helpfulness):
DAT Booster- This program was the most helpful program for me in terms of teaching the content efficiently. I thought that the videos were definetely the best way for me to learn the Total Science content because it kept me engaged for a long period of time, especially for the Bio section. The first time around when I got done with the videos, I was scoring well on Orgo, but my Genchem and Bio scores were around 17. I noticed that I was not absorbing all of the information that I can and I decided to rewatch the videos, this time taking notes on it. I noticed that it was a more arduous process, but at the end, it got me the results I wanted and I knew I was ready when I was scoring around 22s on my practice tests. For reading, the most important thing is that you need find yourself a reliable strategy that works for ALL passage types. I personally used the search and destroy method because all the other methods resulted in me running out of time. After I found my strategy, I just started doing practice passages and got really good with it. For the math section, I just watched the videos. I did have to learn a few things such as the statistics topics, but I thought most of the math section was similar to the SAT math section, which I did really well in, which resulted in me doing well in this too.
ANKI -This program was great for me to start getting a better foundation for the biology section. It did not, however, teach the main topics that you need to know. I think that this program is a great tool for student who have a general, fundamental understanding of all the topics, but have gaps in some of the specifics about these topics. Also, one more note about this program is that this is the absolute fastest way I have seen to learn a bunch of material.
Study Timeline:
SUMMER 2024
I sternly believe that the best way to prepare yourself for this exam is to make a study plan that works for you in a specific period of time, and fully commit yourself to it. Throughout my freshman and sophomore year, my approach to this was that I was planning on taking the test sometime around my junior year. Right before this summer (Summer of Sophomore year) one of my friends recommended that I start studying for the DAT and get it over with early, and I took his advice on that. After I got done with some of the shadowing work, I took one of the study plans that DAT Booster provided, and I fully committed to it. I think the way I did this is a little bit extra, and I fully advise other people to take breaks throughout their studying, but I was extremely determined to follow the study plan exactly the way it is without any days to myself unless the program indicated that it was a break day. A lot of other people who I talked to and got very well scores from this test were doing 5-days a week type plans, and although that may be very efficient, the best way I found myself to commit myself to this study schedule was to follow the program exactly.
I remember that I had a very gradual increase in my scores, I started with a 17AA, after a few weeks moved on up to 19AA, and was scoring around 20AA on the last few weeks of the program. I had competitive scores in all of my sections but the Bio section though, and this was affecting my confidence a lot. I tried doing 600 anki cards a day to try to fit as much information in my head as possible, but it didn’t work. I immediately contacted all the resources I had to try to fix my bio score, and one of the advisors from the Contact us section as well as my friend who was mentoring me throughout this entire process suggested I revisit the videos.
FALL 2024
I decided I then saw a slow but steady increase in my Bio score and realized that paying close attention to the videos and taking good notes was the best way to increase my Bio section score. I went through the videos of the sections I was weakest at (I think as an example I went through the embryology videos a least 3 times taking rigorous notes), and gradually brought my bio score up to an average of 20-21.
Day of Exam
Bio (21): I have completed all of the extra tests in Booster prep, and I think the bio section in my test was almost identical in terms of difficulty level in some of the earlier Booster Prep tests. The tests that the program offers get progressively harder in order to prepare you for the actual exam, and I think this gave me a lot of confidence considering I thought the last few tests were extremely difficult. The score felt incredibly good to look at considering how hard I worked to achieve it.
GC (23): I thought that the genchem section had tough calculations, but was also almost identical to the difficulty of the booster prep tests. I thought that this section was relatively straightforward, and the points I lost were due to calculation errors rather than gaps in knowledge
OC (25): This section was super straightforward for me. There were a few questions that felt unfamiliar first, but I think after I revisit I think I got those ones right. I think I got liek 3 acid ranking questions, and a lot of questions on aromaticity.
PAT (25): This section was one of the most challenging sections on the test for sure. The angle ranking was super tough for me because I thought I was ranking it the wrong way first. I did not get any rock keyhole questions and the rest of the sections were represented very similarly to the material on Booster.
RC (19): I used the search and destroy method, and I think it hurt me specifically for this test. I felt as the reading passages in the booster prep program were incrementally easier than the one I had this test because a lot of the questions on this section did not have word for word answers, you had to understand the meaning of each of the answer with context of the passage, and the fact that I got 2 extremely tough and scientific passages did not help. I think when I encountered a test like this, i just had to keep my cool and continue even if I skipped 7 questions leading into the second passage.
QR (26): This section actually felt way harder than the stuff on booster. I thought that some of the questions had way longer calculations and questions harder to interpret. What I mean by that is that some of the questions were not put as clearly as they are in booster and I thought they were harder to grasp.
Ending Advice:
I think the hardest thing to learn from this exam was the timing of the sections for sure. Anyways, the only way to get better at the things I have mentioned is repetition. The only way to do well at this exam and the only way to get better with timing is to invest a significant portion of the time you have and to remain efficient and consistent with your studying.
Scores:
QR - 26
PAT - 25
RC - 19
Bio - 21
GC - 23
OC - 25
TS - 23
AA - 23
Background:
Currently a junior with a 3.75~ GPA.
Materials Used (in order of helpfulness):
DAT Booster- This program was the most helpful program for me in terms of teaching the content efficiently. I thought that the videos were definetely the best way for me to learn the Total Science content because it kept me engaged for a long period of time, especially for the Bio section. The first time around when I got done with the videos, I was scoring well on Orgo, but my Genchem and Bio scores were around 17. I noticed that I was not absorbing all of the information that I can and I decided to rewatch the videos, this time taking notes on it. I noticed that it was a more arduous process, but at the end, it got me the results I wanted and I knew I was ready when I was scoring around 22s on my practice tests. For reading, the most important thing is that you need find yourself a reliable strategy that works for ALL passage types. I personally used the search and destroy method because all the other methods resulted in me running out of time. After I found my strategy, I just started doing practice passages and got really good with it. For the math section, I just watched the videos. I did have to learn a few things such as the statistics topics, but I thought most of the math section was similar to the SAT math section, which I did really well in, which resulted in me doing well in this too.
ANKI -This program was great for me to start getting a better foundation for the biology section. It did not, however, teach the main topics that you need to know. I think that this program is a great tool for student who have a general, fundamental understanding of all the topics, but have gaps in some of the specifics about these topics. Also, one more note about this program is that this is the absolute fastest way I have seen to learn a bunch of material.
Study Timeline:
SUMMER 2024
I sternly believe that the best way to prepare yourself for this exam is to make a study plan that works for you in a specific period of time, and fully commit yourself to it. Throughout my freshman and sophomore year, my approach to this was that I was planning on taking the test sometime around my junior year. Right before this summer (Summer of Sophomore year) one of my friends recommended that I start studying for the DAT and get it over with early, and I took his advice on that. After I got done with some of the shadowing work, I took one of the study plans that DAT Booster provided, and I fully committed to it. I think the way I did this is a little bit extra, and I fully advise other people to take breaks throughout their studying, but I was extremely determined to follow the study plan exactly the way it is without any days to myself unless the program indicated that it was a break day. A lot of other people who I talked to and got very well scores from this test were doing 5-days a week type plans, and although that may be very efficient, the best way I found myself to commit myself to this study schedule was to follow the program exactly.
I remember that I had a very gradual increase in my scores, I started with a 17AA, after a few weeks moved on up to 19AA, and was scoring around 20AA on the last few weeks of the program. I had competitive scores in all of my sections but the Bio section though, and this was affecting my confidence a lot. I tried doing 600 anki cards a day to try to fit as much information in my head as possible, but it didn’t work. I immediately contacted all the resources I had to try to fix my bio score, and one of the advisors from the Contact us section as well as my friend who was mentoring me throughout this entire process suggested I revisit the videos.
FALL 2024
I decided I then saw a slow but steady increase in my Bio score and realized that paying close attention to the videos and taking good notes was the best way to increase my Bio section score. I went through the videos of the sections I was weakest at (I think as an example I went through the embryology videos a least 3 times taking rigorous notes), and gradually brought my bio score up to an average of 20-21.
Day of Exam
Bio (21): I have completed all of the extra tests in Booster prep, and I think the bio section in my test was almost identical in terms of difficulty level in some of the earlier Booster Prep tests. The tests that the program offers get progressively harder in order to prepare you for the actual exam, and I think this gave me a lot of confidence considering I thought the last few tests were extremely difficult. The score felt incredibly good to look at considering how hard I worked to achieve it.
GC (23): I thought that the genchem section had tough calculations, but was also almost identical to the difficulty of the booster prep tests. I thought that this section was relatively straightforward, and the points I lost were due to calculation errors rather than gaps in knowledge
OC (25): This section was super straightforward for me. There were a few questions that felt unfamiliar first, but I think after I revisit I think I got those ones right. I think I got liek 3 acid ranking questions, and a lot of questions on aromaticity.
PAT (25): This section was one of the most challenging sections on the test for sure. The angle ranking was super tough for me because I thought I was ranking it the wrong way first. I did not get any rock keyhole questions and the rest of the sections were represented very similarly to the material on Booster.
RC (19): I used the search and destroy method, and I think it hurt me specifically for this test. I felt as the reading passages in the booster prep program were incrementally easier than the one I had this test because a lot of the questions on this section did not have word for word answers, you had to understand the meaning of each of the answer with context of the passage, and the fact that I got 2 extremely tough and scientific passages did not help. I think when I encountered a test like this, i just had to keep my cool and continue even if I skipped 7 questions leading into the second passage.
QR (26): This section actually felt way harder than the stuff on booster. I thought that some of the questions had way longer calculations and questions harder to interpret. What I mean by that is that some of the questions were not put as clearly as they are in booster and I thought they were harder to grasp.
Ending Advice:
I think the hardest thing to learn from this exam was the timing of the sections for sure. Anyways, the only way to get better at the things I have mentioned is repetition. The only way to do well at this exam and the only way to get better with timing is to invest a significant portion of the time you have and to remain efficient and consistent with your studying.
