Hey everyone! I took my DAT in July and I scored a 25 AA. I am really happy with my score and wanted to let you guys know that BOOTCAMP WORKS!
Score Breakdown:
AA: 25
TS: 23
Biology: 22
General Chemistry: 23
Organic Chemistry: 30
Percetual Ability: 21
Quantattive Reasoning: 22
Reading Comprehension: 26
General Advice/Study Plan: I purchased the DAT Bootcamp 180 day program and I studied full-time for 2 months for approximately 8-10+ hours everyday with one rest day a week. However, I did do anki biology flashcards from Bootcamp sporadically two months before my hardcore studying, which I do think helped a lot. I did 5 weeks of content review and 3 weeks of test-taking. Bootcamp’s practice tests are harder than the actual exam by a LOT, in my opinion. I was very relieved when I was taking the real exam, as I felt like it was the easiest test I’ve took as compared to Bootcamp’s practice tests. I would say that you can expect a 1-2 point increase on the real exam if you do all of Bootcamp’s exams.
Biology: I expected to score higher on the biology section because I put the most time and effort into biology. I definitely saw very similar questions on the real exam as compared to Bootcamp’s practice questions. It is very important to have a good fundamental understanding of biology to do well on the test. I would make sure not to focus too much on one section, but instead SPREAD YOURSELF THIN. There is so much biology content, so it is important to know the concepts that is most tested on.
General Chemistry: I thought gen chem on the exam was definitely easier than Bootcamp’s practice tests. I personally dislike gen chem the most out of all the sciences. I did not focus on general chemistry that much in my studying, but I wish I devoted more time because I feel like I could have scored even higher. It is very possible to do very well on the gen chem section on the DAT, because it is less subjective than biology.
Organic Chemistry: I attribute my perfect score on orgo to one man and one man only - Dr. Mike. Dr. Mike is an AMAZING teacher. I watched all of his organic chemistry videos. For the topics I struggled with, I watched those videos 3-4 times each on 2x speed. It is most important to be able to THINK ORGO - not just memorization. If you can think ORGO, which Dr. Mike can teach you how to do, you will do very good on this section. Very similar to the practice test questions.
PAT: I was very relieved when I opened the real exam. It was definitely easier than Bootcamp’s practice tests. I would regularly run out of time on Bootcamp’s PAT sections and regularly score 19-20. On the real exam, I ended with 10 minutes extra. If I could go back in time, I would make sure to devote 30 minutes to practice everyday for the PAT, even if it does feel daunting at first.
QR: Make sure you know how to do probability questions. If you have a fundamental understanding of math and know how to do the specific problems that Bootcamp tells you how to do, you will be fine. I only studied for this section through doing practice tests, which was similar.
RC: Similar difficulty level to Bootcamp’s tests. I only studied for this section through doing practice tests, which was similar. Make sure you have a strategy to read the passages before going into the test!
Overall: Bootcamp WORKS. You do not need any other resource to do well on the DAT. If you are on a time crunch, take all of Bootcamps practice tests and LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES. Make sure that you give yourself a break once in a while. Good luck to everyone!
Score Breakdown:
AA: 25
TS: 23
Biology: 22
General Chemistry: 23
Organic Chemistry: 30
Percetual Ability: 21
Quantattive Reasoning: 22
Reading Comprehension: 26
General Advice/Study Plan: I purchased the DAT Bootcamp 180 day program and I studied full-time for 2 months for approximately 8-10+ hours everyday with one rest day a week. However, I did do anki biology flashcards from Bootcamp sporadically two months before my hardcore studying, which I do think helped a lot. I did 5 weeks of content review and 3 weeks of test-taking. Bootcamp’s practice tests are harder than the actual exam by a LOT, in my opinion. I was very relieved when I was taking the real exam, as I felt like it was the easiest test I’ve took as compared to Bootcamp’s practice tests. I would say that you can expect a 1-2 point increase on the real exam if you do all of Bootcamp’s exams.
Biology: I expected to score higher on the biology section because I put the most time and effort into biology. I definitely saw very similar questions on the real exam as compared to Bootcamp’s practice questions. It is very important to have a good fundamental understanding of biology to do well on the test. I would make sure not to focus too much on one section, but instead SPREAD YOURSELF THIN. There is so much biology content, so it is important to know the concepts that is most tested on.
General Chemistry: I thought gen chem on the exam was definitely easier than Bootcamp’s practice tests. I personally dislike gen chem the most out of all the sciences. I did not focus on general chemistry that much in my studying, but I wish I devoted more time because I feel like I could have scored even higher. It is very possible to do very well on the gen chem section on the DAT, because it is less subjective than biology.
Organic Chemistry: I attribute my perfect score on orgo to one man and one man only - Dr. Mike. Dr. Mike is an AMAZING teacher. I watched all of his organic chemistry videos. For the topics I struggled with, I watched those videos 3-4 times each on 2x speed. It is most important to be able to THINK ORGO - not just memorization. If you can think ORGO, which Dr. Mike can teach you how to do, you will do very good on this section. Very similar to the practice test questions.
PAT: I was very relieved when I opened the real exam. It was definitely easier than Bootcamp’s practice tests. I would regularly run out of time on Bootcamp’s PAT sections and regularly score 19-20. On the real exam, I ended with 10 minutes extra. If I could go back in time, I would make sure to devote 30 minutes to practice everyday for the PAT, even if it does feel daunting at first.
QR: Make sure you know how to do probability questions. If you have a fundamental understanding of math and know how to do the specific problems that Bootcamp tells you how to do, you will be fine. I only studied for this section through doing practice tests, which was similar.
RC: Similar difficulty level to Bootcamp’s tests. I only studied for this section through doing practice tests, which was similar. Make sure you have a strategy to read the passages before going into the test!
Overall: Bootcamp WORKS. You do not need any other resource to do well on the DAT. If you are on a time crunch, take all of Bootcamps practice tests and LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES. Make sure that you give yourself a break once in a while. Good luck to everyone!
