0408do
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2023
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Hey guys! I’ve thought it would be nice to help others out by sharing how I studied bc these breakdowns helped me a lot when I was studying! Also, I want to note that I have ADHD, so my way of studying may be different from how others do it (but hopefully this is helpful for everyone!!).
Scores:
PAT - 22
QR - 23
RC - 24
Bio - 25
GC - 22
OC - 24
TS - 23
AA - 24
Background:
Tbh, i don’t have that much background but I'm an upcoming senior majoring in bio and psych.
My very first practice test was 13….
So really u got this!!
I used DAT booster THE most, then quizlet and anki just to help me memorize. I didn’t use anything else to help me study, I would google some random questions (like what’s mollusk, wittig rxn, etc. to look at pictures to help me memorize/visualize) but other than that, I strictly used booster.
Study timeline:
I studied for about 10 weeks, but I would only really count the last 5 weeks to be the time I really dived in on studying because that’s when I would study 6-8 hrs a day. I also recommend focusing on the quality of your studying rather than the quantity.
I started out using the 10 week planner DAT booster gave but for me following that schedule was overwhelming so I stopped midway. I was more focused on getting things done than learning the content. But I would still recommend it to ppl as a first step. I know it has been helpful for other people but for my neurodivergent brain I needed to figure something else out—which was doing a lot of practice questions instead of reading! I say that it was a really good first step because I was SO lost on how to study at all in the beginning and with the plan, I was able to figure out what worked for me the best. I will also add that the planner helped me so much with PAT and RC so at least for those two sections I say go for what they tell you to do.
How I studied each section & exam day opinion:
For every section: I REALLY think this helped me the most and I’m glad I did this for every section. After a full-length test/practice test, I would go over every question (even if I know why got them right) and every answer choice. I did this less for QR and chem math questions but for biology and orgo, this method helped me so much.
For example, for Q like ‘what is an enzyme that breaks down protein’ w answer choices pepsin, amylase, nuclease, and lipase. I would first learn that the answer is pepsin AND the details about pepsin (where it’s produced, what produces it, it’s the active state, what’s the inactive state, what changes it to an active state etc.). THEN I would go over what amylase does, where it is released etc etc. (which was easy to do bc booster had explanations on every answer choice for <90% of the questions). This really helped me understand how to take the test + understand the materials.
Bio (25): I hate reading the long chapters (boosters ch’s are great, I would recommend it for ppl who know they learn better with reading but I was never that person). Instead, booster had this thing called ‘cheat sheet’ on each chapter. I would read/take notes on those and dive straight into the q bank. Those cheat sheets were SO helpful (though they look rly short). They helped my brain to grasp the general idea of what I was studying and visualize. Obviously, I didn’t have enough information to answer every question, but I just took additional notes on further information I learned from getting the q banks right/wrong. If I was really confused I went to the long chapters and read only those portions. There are so many questions on booster q bank and I just used them as a different form of flashcards in a way. Also, I watched the developmental system and taxonomy videos which were so helpful. I wish I had watched the rest of them but I was being lazy. 4 weeks leading up to the exam, I took the practice test at the beginning of the week, went over it the same day, and did q bank according to what I got wrong. Last week before the exam, I just retook all 10 of the biology exam over and over again and learned what I did wrong. I realized what my weakness was and focused on memorizing those sections. I also did quizlets for an hour before I went to sleep for ~2 weeks before the exam. I genuinely saw very similar/same questions on the actual exam. Only 1 question threw me off because they prepared me so well.
GC (22): When I first started studying, I watched all the videos the booster told me to watch according to the study schedule and it really helped me build a foundation. I honestly didn’t focus on this section as much as I should have because biology and orgo was such a big worry for me. I just did the practice q’s over and over again but even till this day some stoich questions I don’t know how to do. Basically I’m trying to say that the math questions on the actual test are so much easier than the booster, focus on learning about the general rules and how to solve the questions more than trying to figure out the difficult math. I also created a cheat sheet with every formula, solubility rules, bond angles and shape, and more for every detail to organize all my thoughts. I also read over it before going to bed for a week. The actual exam was about the same level of difficulty for conceptual questions and easier mathematical questions.
OC (24): I had to relearn everything for this section because I do NOT like orgo whatsoever. The chapters are so well written and helpful but once again I hate reading long chapters so I only did that for sections I REALLY needed help on. Fundamentals, nomenclature and reactions are basically just memorization. I started off with doing the reaction q banks on booster and did all of them till I mastered all the general rules. Then I went off to the Q banks and tackled harder questions. I would say you should have acid ranking and carbocation/radical stability down for sure because those questions pop up EVERY single exam including the real exam. The booster exam and orgo were actually so similar to each other and if you know what you’re doing on the practice exams, you’ll be fine.
PAT (22): When I first started studying, I learned all the methods by watching the videos as these are so new to me. Then I started going onto doing the q bank and pat generator every day for the first 5 weeks of studying (following the boosters study plan). After that I started getting around 21-25 ish scores on the practice test so I got cocky and stopped doing it till the week before the exam. I really feel like PAT is the section that practice makes perfect so if you do 10ish questions for each section a day everyday you’ll be set. Try to understand why you got each question wrong but a lot of times I would get mad bc I will not see how the answer I picked could be wrong. Use the generator for angle (set it to 3 degrees after you’ve done it for a while), cube counting and pattern folding (hard) and q bank for keyhole, tfe and pattern folding (esp this!).
RC (24): I watched the first 2 or 3 videos they gave us for this section to look at all the methods you can try and tips and tricks. I tried all methods with one passage a day (using the practice passage) starting from day 3 ish of studying and stuck with half-read solve read rest method (that’s def not the real name but I can’t think rn). I REALLY recommend trying all the methods and finding what works for you early on or as soon as you can. On the exam, my first passage had about 12 paragraphs and was really easy to understand. Then the second passage hit me so hard with a difficult topic and 14 paragraphs, and the third was 8 paragraphs and pretty easy. I really recommend highlighting throughout it, skimming through the list (ex. these are the common symptoms a,b,c) and going back to the list if needed only. Also, try to confirm your answer with the passage every question.
QR (23): I didn’t study for this section at all… I memorized some formulas and log rules that I completely forgot about, but I only took 4 practice tests, and I couldn’t get myself to do more.
DAY OF THE EXAM:
I had SUCH a big problem with timing on the actual exam, even though I consistently had 5 extra minutes on every practice test, even after looking over my answer choices (and I had the delay setting on). So the timing issue really took a toll on me and I couldn’t go over my answer choices for ANY sections at all. The delay was about 4 seconds instead of 2 so that really shook me up. So I just want you to keep in mind that may happen.
Also, I genuinely believed that the real exam was going to be so much easier than the booster exams bc that’s all everyone would say but it really was about the same for all sections. All the tests were so representative so I really recommend going through them in detail and understand how to solve the questions (not just that question but the concept of the question) and you’ll do so amazing.
General advice:
Please take the numbers as a grain of salt sometimes. My scores fluctuated so much throughout my studying period and even when I got 16 on the practice exam 2 weeks before the exam I just lived in my delulu world and kept going on. What matters the most with the practice exam is that you learn from it not the actual scores.
Side note: I don’t know if everyone feels this way but when I first got my score I was unsure if it was good and I cried on the phone with my mom (I’m really dramatic and I didn’t see sunlight for a week bc I locked myself in the library 8am to 10pm everyday). I felt this way mainly because I would see 28, 29AA’s on here and I thought I was not competitive enough (I’m sorry for ik ppl hate when ppl say that). I honestly am still getting hit with the aftermath so I want to note that ppl on here are a SMALL sample size, not the population! But I REALLY want you to take care of yourself throughout your studying more than anything! I believe in you and most importantly believe in yourself!!!!
Scores:
PAT - 22
QR - 23
RC - 24
Bio - 25
GC - 22
OC - 24
TS - 23
AA - 24
Background:
Tbh, i don’t have that much background but I'm an upcoming senior majoring in bio and psych.
My very first practice test was 13….
So really u got this!!I used DAT booster THE most, then quizlet and anki just to help me memorize. I didn’t use anything else to help me study, I would google some random questions (like what’s mollusk, wittig rxn, etc. to look at pictures to help me memorize/visualize) but other than that, I strictly used booster.
Study timeline:
I studied for about 10 weeks, but I would only really count the last 5 weeks to be the time I really dived in on studying because that’s when I would study 6-8 hrs a day. I also recommend focusing on the quality of your studying rather than the quantity.
I started out using the 10 week planner DAT booster gave but for me following that schedule was overwhelming so I stopped midway. I was more focused on getting things done than learning the content. But I would still recommend it to ppl as a first step. I know it has been helpful for other people but for my neurodivergent brain I needed to figure something else out—which was doing a lot of practice questions instead of reading! I say that it was a really good first step because I was SO lost on how to study at all in the beginning and with the plan, I was able to figure out what worked for me the best. I will also add that the planner helped me so much with PAT and RC so at least for those two sections I say go for what they tell you to do.
How I studied each section & exam day opinion:
For every section: I REALLY think this helped me the most and I’m glad I did this for every section. After a full-length test/practice test, I would go over every question (even if I know why got them right) and every answer choice. I did this less for QR and chem math questions but for biology and orgo, this method helped me so much.
For example, for Q like ‘what is an enzyme that breaks down protein’ w answer choices pepsin, amylase, nuclease, and lipase. I would first learn that the answer is pepsin AND the details about pepsin (where it’s produced, what produces it, it’s the active state, what’s the inactive state, what changes it to an active state etc.). THEN I would go over what amylase does, where it is released etc etc. (which was easy to do bc booster had explanations on every answer choice for <90% of the questions). This really helped me understand how to take the test + understand the materials.
Bio (25): I hate reading the long chapters (boosters ch’s are great, I would recommend it for ppl who know they learn better with reading but I was never that person). Instead, booster had this thing called ‘cheat sheet’ on each chapter. I would read/take notes on those and dive straight into the q bank. Those cheat sheets were SO helpful (though they look rly short). They helped my brain to grasp the general idea of what I was studying and visualize. Obviously, I didn’t have enough information to answer every question, but I just took additional notes on further information I learned from getting the q banks right/wrong. If I was really confused I went to the long chapters and read only those portions. There are so many questions on booster q bank and I just used them as a different form of flashcards in a way. Also, I watched the developmental system and taxonomy videos which were so helpful. I wish I had watched the rest of them but I was being lazy. 4 weeks leading up to the exam, I took the practice test at the beginning of the week, went over it the same day, and did q bank according to what I got wrong. Last week before the exam, I just retook all 10 of the biology exam over and over again and learned what I did wrong. I realized what my weakness was and focused on memorizing those sections. I also did quizlets for an hour before I went to sleep for ~2 weeks before the exam. I genuinely saw very similar/same questions on the actual exam. Only 1 question threw me off because they prepared me so well.
GC (22): When I first started studying, I watched all the videos the booster told me to watch according to the study schedule and it really helped me build a foundation. I honestly didn’t focus on this section as much as I should have because biology and orgo was such a big worry for me. I just did the practice q’s over and over again but even till this day some stoich questions I don’t know how to do. Basically I’m trying to say that the math questions on the actual test are so much easier than the booster, focus on learning about the general rules and how to solve the questions more than trying to figure out the difficult math. I also created a cheat sheet with every formula, solubility rules, bond angles and shape, and more for every detail to organize all my thoughts. I also read over it before going to bed for a week. The actual exam was about the same level of difficulty for conceptual questions and easier mathematical questions.
OC (24): I had to relearn everything for this section because I do NOT like orgo whatsoever. The chapters are so well written and helpful but once again I hate reading long chapters so I only did that for sections I REALLY needed help on. Fundamentals, nomenclature and reactions are basically just memorization. I started off with doing the reaction q banks on booster and did all of them till I mastered all the general rules. Then I went off to the Q banks and tackled harder questions. I would say you should have acid ranking and carbocation/radical stability down for sure because those questions pop up EVERY single exam including the real exam. The booster exam and orgo were actually so similar to each other and if you know what you’re doing on the practice exams, you’ll be fine.
PAT (22): When I first started studying, I learned all the methods by watching the videos as these are so new to me. Then I started going onto doing the q bank and pat generator every day for the first 5 weeks of studying (following the boosters study plan). After that I started getting around 21-25 ish scores on the practice test so I got cocky and stopped doing it till the week before the exam. I really feel like PAT is the section that practice makes perfect so if you do 10ish questions for each section a day everyday you’ll be set. Try to understand why you got each question wrong but a lot of times I would get mad bc I will not see how the answer I picked could be wrong. Use the generator for angle (set it to 3 degrees after you’ve done it for a while), cube counting and pattern folding (hard) and q bank for keyhole, tfe and pattern folding (esp this!).
RC (24): I watched the first 2 or 3 videos they gave us for this section to look at all the methods you can try and tips and tricks. I tried all methods with one passage a day (using the practice passage) starting from day 3 ish of studying and stuck with half-read solve read rest method (that’s def not the real name but I can’t think rn). I REALLY recommend trying all the methods and finding what works for you early on or as soon as you can. On the exam, my first passage had about 12 paragraphs and was really easy to understand. Then the second passage hit me so hard with a difficult topic and 14 paragraphs, and the third was 8 paragraphs and pretty easy. I really recommend highlighting throughout it, skimming through the list (ex. these are the common symptoms a,b,c) and going back to the list if needed only. Also, try to confirm your answer with the passage every question.
QR (23): I didn’t study for this section at all… I memorized some formulas and log rules that I completely forgot about, but I only took 4 practice tests, and I couldn’t get myself to do more.
DAY OF THE EXAM:
I had SUCH a big problem with timing on the actual exam, even though I consistently had 5 extra minutes on every practice test, even after looking over my answer choices (and I had the delay setting on). So the timing issue really took a toll on me and I couldn’t go over my answer choices for ANY sections at all. The delay was about 4 seconds instead of 2 so that really shook me up. So I just want you to keep in mind that may happen.
Also, I genuinely believed that the real exam was going to be so much easier than the booster exams bc that’s all everyone would say but it really was about the same for all sections. All the tests were so representative so I really recommend going through them in detail and understand how to solve the questions (not just that question but the concept of the question) and you’ll do so amazing.
General advice:
Please take the numbers as a grain of salt sometimes. My scores fluctuated so much throughout my studying period and even when I got 16 on the practice exam 2 weeks before the exam I just lived in my delulu world and kept going on. What matters the most with the practice exam is that you learn from it not the actual scores.
Side note: I don’t know if everyone feels this way but when I first got my score I was unsure if it was good and I cried on the phone with my mom (I’m really dramatic and I didn’t see sunlight for a week bc I locked myself in the library 8am to 10pm everyday). I felt this way mainly because I would see 28, 29AA’s on here and I thought I was not competitive enough (I’m sorry for ik ppl hate when ppl say that). I honestly am still getting hit with the aftermath so I want to note that ppl on here are a SMALL sample size, not the population! But I REALLY want you to take care of yourself throughout your studying more than anything! I believe in you and most importantly believe in yourself!!!!
