Hey guys! When I was studying, seeing breakdowns helped motivate me and helped me know how to study a little so I hope this is helpful. Reach out if you have any questions I’m happy to help.
FOR REFERENCE:
-I studied for 8 weeks using DAT Booster. From what I’ve seen, Bootcamp is also an amazing resource and is essentially the same thing. I think it’s more important to not get spread thin by doing two separate programs unless you have months and months. I started following the schedule, but ended up changing it to spend more time on sections I was weak on, like GC and Bio, and less on Ochem and math since I already had a good background in those.
-I am a Spanish major-- 3.6 cgpa, 3.2 sgpa
OFFICIAL SCORE BREAKDOWN:
AA: 24
TS: 22
PAT: 25
On practice tests I was scoring
AA:19-21
TS: 20-21
PAT: 20-24
SECTIONS BREAKDOWN:
PAT: Practice, practice, practice!!! The techniques in Booster are all I used, but PAT is a section that is a skill that you can develop. I tried to do 15 of each type of question each day, and just got better over time. Also, make sure in the last 2 weeks you start taking full tests to get a feel for the timing and make an overall strategy. I found TFE and Hole Punching to be the hardest sections for me, so I would start and skip right to #30(angle ranking) and go through 90 and leave my hardest sections for last. Every point is weighed the same, so get all the ones easiest for you first. On the real test, I felt the TFE was easier than on Booster, but everything else was very similar. I would also draw out the grids for HP and t charts for CC on the sheet during the last 5 minutes of science which saved a couple minutes.(see picture) Bonus: draw a couple extras just in case you mess up on one
QR: Honestly none of the math is hard, it just can be tricky how they word things. Highest yield thing for me was doing practice problems and reviewing them, watching videos on how to do ones I struggled with, making flashcards for formulas, and repeat. NOTE: on booster practice tests I was finishing with 3-5 minutes to spare, but on the real test I had to blind guess on 2 due to time. Real test felt very similar, but just took a little longer.
RC: I used the ‘vanilla method’ where I would just read as fast as possible and highlight anything that felt like a probable question, or info that would help me know what the paragraph said at a glance. All the answers are in the text, but some are way harder than others. Don’t be afraid to skip some questions to come back to. This will be a theme in my breakdown, but all questions are weighed the same, so make sure to not let one hard question make you not have enough time to answer the 3 easy ones at the end. For pacing I aimed for 18 minutes a passage to have some cushion to go back for hard ones.
Bio:This section is a beast. It really is breadth over depth. The Anki deck is incredible, but only do it if you are committed to doing 500+ cards a day for all the time you study. I got through about a third of it, but decided to stop because I only had 2 more weeks of studying, and I needed to cover more ground. What helped me the most was taking practice tests, and then going back and learning the concept for each question, and what each of the possible answers were. The video solutions on Booster were great, and if I needed more background I headed to youtube. The key with this is to make a flash card for each thing you didn’t know. I am a fan of ANKI for this, but whatever you are most comfortable with will be best.
GC: This was my weakest section. Most helpful thing for me was to do practice tests, and review them, learning to apply formulas and terms like ‘isoelectronic series.’ I also made ANKI cards for each formula or term I didn’t know. Chad’s videos on youtube were very helpful.
OC: I just finished taking ochem over the last 2 semesters, so I honestly studied very little for this section, but I wish I did a little more. Going back I would also focus on getting the basics and jumping onto practice tests and make image occlusion flash cards for any unfamiliar reactions. Chad's videos are also great for Ochem as well.
LAST TIPS/THOUGHTS:
- If you didn't get this from the sections above-- doing practice problems, reviewing all answer choices, learning what everything is, and then making flashcards for new info was BY FAR the highest yield thing I did. That being said, I did that for the last 2 weeks, and I do think you need to watch the videos and get a basic knowledge to build on for this strategy to work well.
- This test is both mental and emotional. Every practice test, and even on the real test, I would feel like I bombed the Bio and GC sections. It was good to take a couple full-length tests to practice shaking off the feeling and focusing on the moment. You have worked hard, and know more than you think! I think it’s inevitable to worry about past sections or questions while taking it, but worrying about them won’t make you do better on what is in front of you
. -Good luck you guys are gonna kill it!
