**Background:** Took the DAT’s in 2018, applied did not get in. Currently doing a health science master’s program. DAT retaken in 2022.
**Materials used:**
DAT booster: As mentioned in a lot of other breakdowns, this program is THE most representative of the actual exam. The practice exams were very similar in terms of difficulty and the muscle memory you gain from the timed practice exams is invaluable for your actual exam. Their Anki decks were also very helpful and you a lot of time from making your own. They had very useful 8,10,12 week schedules that made it easy to space out the vast amount of information that this test demands. Very helpful if you don’t know where to start. My only complaint is that some questions do not have great explanations, and some don’t have explanations at all but I would attribute that to it being a low yield question or a newer question that they haven’t gotten around to explaining yet. It definitely covers all the high yield questions.
DAT destroyer: I did not focus too much on the destroyer books as it was overkill. I used it as a secondary resource for the DAT booster and just a way to get more questions for extra practice after I finished all the science practice questions that DAT Booster had.
**Study timeline:**
I finished my second semester of the master’s program in May 2021 and started studying then. I took 3 months total to study for my exam. I studied for about 4 hours per day, loosely following DAT booster’s 12 week schedule. I skipped sections like QR and Reading comprehension as I felt like I had a good foundation in those sections. I used their Anki decks to review Orgo mostly, some biology whenever I had free time, commuting for example. The most important thing was to set aside time only for studying for the DAT. No other distractions.
**Scores by section:**
Bio (17->23): I felt like the biggest difference between my bio section scores comes from the classes that I took in my master’s program. I took a biochemistry class and cell biology class that covered a lot of what the DAT likes to ask. I completely ignored plant biology as I read that some people did not get any plant questions on the exam and I figured it was not worth the time and effort to learn plants when it was low yield. Unfortunately, on exam day, I believe got 3 plant questions that I did not study for and I just made my best guesses. Don’t make the same mistake!
GC (18->25): My biggest improvement since my first exam. My best advice for this section is the pay attention to units and stoichiometry. As long as you can cancel out units correctly and carefully you’ll do fine in this section.
OC (17->19): My weakest subject. It always has been my weakest subject. Did not do great in Orgo in undergrad and still didn’t do great on the DAT.
PAT (20->18): Went down from a 20. My biggest regret about this DAT was not practice the PAT as much as I should have. I should have spent a lot more time doing DAT Booster’s questions and generations. I skipped practicing this section because I wanted to focus more on the science sections. This section was the only section that I actually ran out of time on during the actual exam. I recommend practicing at least some PAT questions every day in order to build up muscle memory and speed.
QR (29->24): I did a couple of DAT booster’s QR practice exams mainly to get the correct pace for each questions. I feel like I had a pretty strong background in math so I did not study much here. My biggest weakness was probability questions and I focused on that. As for the point drop, I think I was just careless and got a question wrong that I shouldn’t have.
RC (29-30): I’ve historically always done well in reading comprehension exams throughout my life and the DAT was no different. I don’t really have much advice for this section. I didn’t really study or practice this section at all for both times I took the DAT. I didn’t use any highlighting/note taking methods. I skip straight to the questions and scan the passage for the relevant paragraph and then answer the question. Everything that you need for this section is within the passage.
**Hindsight:**
Looking back, I am very happy with my scores this time around. The biggest difference for me was keeping a schedule and setting aside a few hours every day to complete what was due that day according the DAT booster schedule. When I took the DAT the first time, there was a lot of reading notes instead of actively practicing questions, and going back to the questions that I got wrong. The master’s program helped immensely as a lot of what was covered in class was on the DAT.
**Materials used:**
DAT booster: As mentioned in a lot of other breakdowns, this program is THE most representative of the actual exam. The practice exams were very similar in terms of difficulty and the muscle memory you gain from the timed practice exams is invaluable for your actual exam. Their Anki decks were also very helpful and you a lot of time from making your own. They had very useful 8,10,12 week schedules that made it easy to space out the vast amount of information that this test demands. Very helpful if you don’t know where to start. My only complaint is that some questions do not have great explanations, and some don’t have explanations at all but I would attribute that to it being a low yield question or a newer question that they haven’t gotten around to explaining yet. It definitely covers all the high yield questions.
DAT destroyer: I did not focus too much on the destroyer books as it was overkill. I used it as a secondary resource for the DAT booster and just a way to get more questions for extra practice after I finished all the science practice questions that DAT Booster had.
**Study timeline:**
I finished my second semester of the master’s program in May 2021 and started studying then. I took 3 months total to study for my exam. I studied for about 4 hours per day, loosely following DAT booster’s 12 week schedule. I skipped sections like QR and Reading comprehension as I felt like I had a good foundation in those sections. I used their Anki decks to review Orgo mostly, some biology whenever I had free time, commuting for example. The most important thing was to set aside time only for studying for the DAT. No other distractions.
**Scores by section:**
Bio (17->23): I felt like the biggest difference between my bio section scores comes from the classes that I took in my master’s program. I took a biochemistry class and cell biology class that covered a lot of what the DAT likes to ask. I completely ignored plant biology as I read that some people did not get any plant questions on the exam and I figured it was not worth the time and effort to learn plants when it was low yield. Unfortunately, on exam day, I believe got 3 plant questions that I did not study for and I just made my best guesses. Don’t make the same mistake!
GC (18->25): My biggest improvement since my first exam. My best advice for this section is the pay attention to units and stoichiometry. As long as you can cancel out units correctly and carefully you’ll do fine in this section.
OC (17->19): My weakest subject. It always has been my weakest subject. Did not do great in Orgo in undergrad and still didn’t do great on the DAT.
PAT (20->18): Went down from a 20. My biggest regret about this DAT was not practice the PAT as much as I should have. I should have spent a lot more time doing DAT Booster’s questions and generations. I skipped practicing this section because I wanted to focus more on the science sections. This section was the only section that I actually ran out of time on during the actual exam. I recommend practicing at least some PAT questions every day in order to build up muscle memory and speed.
QR (29->24): I did a couple of DAT booster’s QR practice exams mainly to get the correct pace for each questions. I feel like I had a pretty strong background in math so I did not study much here. My biggest weakness was probability questions and I focused on that. As for the point drop, I think I was just careless and got a question wrong that I shouldn’t have.
RC (29-30): I’ve historically always done well in reading comprehension exams throughout my life and the DAT was no different. I don’t really have much advice for this section. I didn’t really study or practice this section at all for both times I took the DAT. I didn’t use any highlighting/note taking methods. I skip straight to the questions and scan the passage for the relevant paragraph and then answer the question. Everything that you need for this section is within the passage.
**Hindsight:**
Looking back, I am very happy with my scores this time around. The biggest difference for me was keeping a schedule and setting aside a few hours every day to complete what was due that day according the DAT booster schedule. When I took the DAT the first time, there was a lot of reading notes instead of actively practicing questions, and going back to the questions that I got wrong. The master’s program helped immensely as a lot of what was covered in class was on the DAT.
