Mady Nistal
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- Aug 23, 2023
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Hi! I just recently took my DAT on August 21, 2023 and thought it would be helpful to write a breakdown of how I studied! The only resource I used was DAT Bootcamp and I got a 24 AA.
PAT: 21
QR: 24
RC: 30
BIO: 22
GC: 22
OC: 22
TS: 22
AA: 24
I am currently going into my senior year of college studying behavioral neuroscience and chemistry! I started studying on June 1st and also worked part time all summer at a pediatric dental office. I honestly followed Ari’s 11ish week schedule to a T just because I didn’t really have any other idea of where I should start and it worked really well for me. I usually worked from 8am-12pm Monday-Thursday and on those days would come home and study from 1pm-5pm. The days I wouldn’t work I would study roughly from 9am-5pm but with a good break in the middle, and I would always take a day off (usually Sunday). I really heavily focused on not burning myself out and I literally cannot study at night or when my roommates would come home so I made sure to not be too hard on myself with doing like 8 hours a day every day because I knew that wasn’t realistic for me.
PAT: 21 (Bootcamp range 18-20)
I really did not place any emphasis on PAT and I rarely practiced besides when I would take the practice tests. I was just way more focused on the other sections and once I started scoring 20s on the tests I felt like I was going to be fine. Once I figured out what section to start with and how much time I should spend on each section I just kind of stopped focusing on it. I felt like the keyholes and hole punching on my actual test were easier than the Bootcamp practice tests which was nice (I know this isn’t always the case) but overall I felt pretty prepared after just the 10 practice tests and a few question banks.
QR: 24 (Bootcamp range 18-20)
This was a section that worried me the whole time I was studying. I have always been strong with math and the question banks were no big deal for me, but every time I would take a practice test I would score way lower than I thought I was going to! I have to say, I think I got lucky on my test and I just happened to not get questions on a few of the topics that I wasn’t very strong in, which really helped me out. I did probably half of the practice tests twice and reviewed every question as much as I could after. I made a few flashcards of equations and stuff which I think helped me too.
RC: 30 (Bootcamp range 22-30)
I’ve always been a strong reader and I think this is just a strong suit of mine that I didn’t really need to work on. I got pretty lucky and had minimal inference/author’s purpose questions but overall RC was a very comfortable section for me. I swear by the “vanilla method” and I would always read the passage in full, highlight important parts, and then answer the questions after!
BIO: 22 (Bootcamp range 15-19)
I was SHOCKED when I got a 22 on this section. I was so worried about bio just because of how much information there was and how little I felt I knew. I did exactly what Ari’s schedule told me to do and watched all of the videos one day, then the next day did bio bites and the question bank. I never took my own notes besides going through the slides with the video and maybe jotting a few things down. When I started practice tests I literally got a 16 the first time and thought I was doomed. After every test I would make flashcards of every question and I ended up taking each bio test twice to really hammer it in. The week before my test I turned to youtube and watched crash course/amoeba sisters to try and get the most simple and basic components of the systems/anatomy in my head because I was thinking too complex and needed to dumb it down a bit. On the actual DAT I saw a handful of familiar questions I had seen on practice tests which was really nice.
GC: 22 (Bootcamp range 17-20)
Again, was shocked by this score too. As I was taking my test I was scared because I got a lot of equations and math problems which freaked me out. I was bad at gen chem when I took it my freshman year so I was just overall scared for this section. I took all the practice tests twice and made flashcards after each test like I did for bio which I think really helped me. I also went through a lot of the question banks the last few weeks before my tests just to make sure I really knew the conceptual aspects of GC and that definitely helped me too.
OC: 22 (Bootcamp range 14-21)
And once again, I was shocked by my score on this section. I was getting repeat 18s every practice test. Just like GC and BIO I did every practice test twice, made flashcards, and I also did all of the reaction bites. I started getting better that last week before my test and just tried to review as much as possible. My actual test was really similar to all the practice tests I thought and felt pretty straightforward. Again I did exactly what Ari’s schedule told me to do and watched all of the videos and did all of the QBs and stuff.
My AA scores on Bootcamp after all 10 tests ranged from 18-21, so I went into the test really aiming for a 21 and not thinking I could exceed that. I struggled this summer a good amount with having minimal confidence in myself about this test and just not really believing in myself. I feel like Bootcamp was an excellent resource and I felt really pleased with my level of preparedness I realized I actually had as I was taking my DAT.
The most helpful thing for me was the practice tests!! I did the first 5 broken up by section (like it tells you to do in Ari’s schedule) and then I did the last 5 as full length tests. I was tempted to not do all 5 of them in true full length style, but I am really glad I did because I knew EXACTLY what I was walking in to on the day of my test, to the point where it could’ve just been another practice test. As draining as it may feel to sit at your computer for 5 hours on a Monday afternoon and take the full length test - do it!! You don’t want it to only be your 2nd or 3rd time taking the full length test on your actual test day. Like I said before, I retook every single BIO, GC, and OC practice test within the 4 days before my exam, which made a HUGE difference. All the questions were fresh in my head and I recognized so much more on my exam than I would’ve if I didn’t redo them.
Give yourself grace when studying for this test! I went on a few weekend trips, didn’t study at all around the Fourth of July, missed days, combined days, etc… and it all worked out just fine! I ended up doing a lot better on my actual test than I was doing on Bootcamp, I don’t know why - maybe I’m good under pressure, or I got an easier test, or maybe I was just doubting myself a lot - who knows! But overall I felt like Bootcamp was a perfect resource for this test, it was easy to work with, had TONS of questions, many different ways to practice, and was just such a good and all-encompassing resource for this test.
PAT: 21
QR: 24
RC: 30
BIO: 22
GC: 22
OC: 22
TS: 22
AA: 24
I am currently going into my senior year of college studying behavioral neuroscience and chemistry! I started studying on June 1st and also worked part time all summer at a pediatric dental office. I honestly followed Ari’s 11ish week schedule to a T just because I didn’t really have any other idea of where I should start and it worked really well for me. I usually worked from 8am-12pm Monday-Thursday and on those days would come home and study from 1pm-5pm. The days I wouldn’t work I would study roughly from 9am-5pm but with a good break in the middle, and I would always take a day off (usually Sunday). I really heavily focused on not burning myself out and I literally cannot study at night or when my roommates would come home so I made sure to not be too hard on myself with doing like 8 hours a day every day because I knew that wasn’t realistic for me.
PAT: 21 (Bootcamp range 18-20)
I really did not place any emphasis on PAT and I rarely practiced besides when I would take the practice tests. I was just way more focused on the other sections and once I started scoring 20s on the tests I felt like I was going to be fine. Once I figured out what section to start with and how much time I should spend on each section I just kind of stopped focusing on it. I felt like the keyholes and hole punching on my actual test were easier than the Bootcamp practice tests which was nice (I know this isn’t always the case) but overall I felt pretty prepared after just the 10 practice tests and a few question banks.
QR: 24 (Bootcamp range 18-20)
This was a section that worried me the whole time I was studying. I have always been strong with math and the question banks were no big deal for me, but every time I would take a practice test I would score way lower than I thought I was going to! I have to say, I think I got lucky on my test and I just happened to not get questions on a few of the topics that I wasn’t very strong in, which really helped me out. I did probably half of the practice tests twice and reviewed every question as much as I could after. I made a few flashcards of equations and stuff which I think helped me too.
RC: 30 (Bootcamp range 22-30)
I’ve always been a strong reader and I think this is just a strong suit of mine that I didn’t really need to work on. I got pretty lucky and had minimal inference/author’s purpose questions but overall RC was a very comfortable section for me. I swear by the “vanilla method” and I would always read the passage in full, highlight important parts, and then answer the questions after!
BIO: 22 (Bootcamp range 15-19)
I was SHOCKED when I got a 22 on this section. I was so worried about bio just because of how much information there was and how little I felt I knew. I did exactly what Ari’s schedule told me to do and watched all of the videos one day, then the next day did bio bites and the question bank. I never took my own notes besides going through the slides with the video and maybe jotting a few things down. When I started practice tests I literally got a 16 the first time and thought I was doomed. After every test I would make flashcards of every question and I ended up taking each bio test twice to really hammer it in. The week before my test I turned to youtube and watched crash course/amoeba sisters to try and get the most simple and basic components of the systems/anatomy in my head because I was thinking too complex and needed to dumb it down a bit. On the actual DAT I saw a handful of familiar questions I had seen on practice tests which was really nice.
GC: 22 (Bootcamp range 17-20)
Again, was shocked by this score too. As I was taking my test I was scared because I got a lot of equations and math problems which freaked me out. I was bad at gen chem when I took it my freshman year so I was just overall scared for this section. I took all the practice tests twice and made flashcards after each test like I did for bio which I think really helped me. I also went through a lot of the question banks the last few weeks before my tests just to make sure I really knew the conceptual aspects of GC and that definitely helped me too.
OC: 22 (Bootcamp range 14-21)
And once again, I was shocked by my score on this section. I was getting repeat 18s every practice test. Just like GC and BIO I did every practice test twice, made flashcards, and I also did all of the reaction bites. I started getting better that last week before my test and just tried to review as much as possible. My actual test was really similar to all the practice tests I thought and felt pretty straightforward. Again I did exactly what Ari’s schedule told me to do and watched all of the videos and did all of the QBs and stuff.
My AA scores on Bootcamp after all 10 tests ranged from 18-21, so I went into the test really aiming for a 21 and not thinking I could exceed that. I struggled this summer a good amount with having minimal confidence in myself about this test and just not really believing in myself. I feel like Bootcamp was an excellent resource and I felt really pleased with my level of preparedness I realized I actually had as I was taking my DAT.
The most helpful thing for me was the practice tests!! I did the first 5 broken up by section (like it tells you to do in Ari’s schedule) and then I did the last 5 as full length tests. I was tempted to not do all 5 of them in true full length style, but I am really glad I did because I knew EXACTLY what I was walking in to on the day of my test, to the point where it could’ve just been another practice test. As draining as it may feel to sit at your computer for 5 hours on a Monday afternoon and take the full length test - do it!! You don’t want it to only be your 2nd or 3rd time taking the full length test on your actual test day. Like I said before, I retook every single BIO, GC, and OC practice test within the 4 days before my exam, which made a HUGE difference. All the questions were fresh in my head and I recognized so much more on my exam than I would’ve if I didn’t redo them.
Give yourself grace when studying for this test! I went on a few weekend trips, didn’t study at all around the Fourth of July, missed days, combined days, etc… and it all worked out just fine! I ended up doing a lot better on my actual test than I was doing on Bootcamp, I don’t know why - maybe I’m good under pressure, or I got an easier test, or maybe I was just doubting myself a lot - who knows! But overall I felt like Bootcamp was a perfect resource for this test, it was easy to work with, had TONS of questions, many different ways to practice, and was just such a good and all-encompassing resource for this test.
