Hey guys, I recently took my DAT and I wanted to share my experience because I thought it was super helpful reading the breakdowns!
A little background information of myself:
I took my genchem, ochem, and biology classes 2-3 years ago, and I did not feel confident with these at all. I forgot most of the materials which made me start everything from the beginning.
I studied for about 4 months (started in January). I wasted my first month because I would just listen to Chad's videos and not review....which was the greatest mistake that I have made. So starting from February, I studied for 4-5 days, 8-10 hours. Around this time, I purchased Bootcamp and took Mike's video which was great. I personally think that Bootcamp does a fantastic job of building your foundation of all science subjects, and Booster is great for having more practice!
PAT (30): Honestly, I was not expecting to score this high for PAT. The real exam was similar to Bootcamp, maybe slightly easier. I felt that practice is the key for PAT. I did 5 problems for each part every single day, which I really recommend. It will make you comfortable with getting weird problems (especially for keyhole and TFE). I had like 3 rock keyhole questions, but I was able to eliminate the wrong answers! A week before my exam, I could not see the angles which made me panic😂 So I solved 20 problems each day to get a grasp of the feeling. I think both Booster and Bootcamp give good practice for this.
QR (26): I would say the practice is the key for this too. QR was one of my confident subjects so I did not stress myself too much on listening to the lectures/videos. I solved math destroyer, which I think is great. I would really recommend solving at least 20 problems per day (If you don't feel good with QR, solving more would help too). My real exam didn't feel easier than Bootcamp or Booster, I think they were pretty similar.
RC (18): My worst subject. Reading...is really hard for me. My best score in the practice exam would be 24, but I always scored somewhere between 17-20. I tried to read science articles and solve at least one passage of reading. The real test was not easy for me. I had 13, 7, 13 paragraphs. The second passage was really straight forward but the first and third paragraphs were really hard. My strategy was to write the keywords for every passage and read the first three paragraphs, and do search and destroy for the remaining paragraphs. I heard many comments that the real test was easy enough to stick with the search and destroy method, but I think having a second method would be better because my version of the test would not work with search and destroy 😢 I think booster practice exams were similar to the real thing (like how the questions are asked/length and difficulty of the passage).
BIO (25): I used the Bootcamp academy notes to study! I would look at the condensed notes for review, but I don't think condensed notes are enough if you want to have a better understanding of biology. Biology was one of my weakest subjects and it was stressing me until the day before my exam. After going over all of the bio notes, I still felt like I did not know anything, and this was a month away from my test. I started to read the bio notes from chapter 1 again, and this time, I recorded myself giving my own lecture on the topic that I was shakey on. I thought this was a great idea because it relieves your anxiety when you feel like you forgot the topic, especially when your exam date is coming near 😂 I listened to my recordings the day before my exam which really really helped!
I think Booster gives you great practice for this, and it is more representative of the real test! I solved the Booster practice exam twice and all of the extra questions which really helped!
GC (28): I think Mikes's videos are the best. For GC, knowing your materials is really important. I read the notes for GC like 5 times (going over and over). The real exam had almost no calculations (just setting up the equations) and heavily concept-based! Booster and Bootcamp are enough for this section! I don't think destroyer is necessary, but it would be good practice.
OC (30): Again, Mike's videos. I think memorizing the reactions/ knowing your concepts are enough for this section. I went through my notes like 5-6 times for this too, reading over and over again. I really loved Bootcamp ochem question banks because it has videos for every problem! This helped me learn better. After this, solving the Booster practice exam helped too for more practice. I think the real exam is more concept-based so definitely be comfortable with that!
Overall: Please don't give up on studying because it feels overwhelming/impossible to get through. In January, I was feeling this way because I had to start studying from the very beginning for all science sections 😂 (quite embarrassing but I did not know what ether/esters were... I literally forgot all of the materials😂) I know everyone can do this, and it is totally possible. Please feel free to ask me any questions if you have one, and good luck for everyone!!☺️
A little background information of myself:
I took my genchem, ochem, and biology classes 2-3 years ago, and I did not feel confident with these at all. I forgot most of the materials which made me start everything from the beginning.
I studied for about 4 months (started in January). I wasted my first month because I would just listen to Chad's videos and not review....which was the greatest mistake that I have made. So starting from February, I studied for 4-5 days, 8-10 hours. Around this time, I purchased Bootcamp and took Mike's video which was great. I personally think that Bootcamp does a fantastic job of building your foundation of all science subjects, and Booster is great for having more practice!
PAT (30): Honestly, I was not expecting to score this high for PAT. The real exam was similar to Bootcamp, maybe slightly easier. I felt that practice is the key for PAT. I did 5 problems for each part every single day, which I really recommend. It will make you comfortable with getting weird problems (especially for keyhole and TFE). I had like 3 rock keyhole questions, but I was able to eliminate the wrong answers! A week before my exam, I could not see the angles which made me panic😂 So I solved 20 problems each day to get a grasp of the feeling. I think both Booster and Bootcamp give good practice for this.
QR (26): I would say the practice is the key for this too. QR was one of my confident subjects so I did not stress myself too much on listening to the lectures/videos. I solved math destroyer, which I think is great. I would really recommend solving at least 20 problems per day (If you don't feel good with QR, solving more would help too). My real exam didn't feel easier than Bootcamp or Booster, I think they were pretty similar.
RC (18): My worst subject. Reading...is really hard for me. My best score in the practice exam would be 24, but I always scored somewhere between 17-20. I tried to read science articles and solve at least one passage of reading. The real test was not easy for me. I had 13, 7, 13 paragraphs. The second passage was really straight forward but the first and third paragraphs were really hard. My strategy was to write the keywords for every passage and read the first three paragraphs, and do search and destroy for the remaining paragraphs. I heard many comments that the real test was easy enough to stick with the search and destroy method, but I think having a second method would be better because my version of the test would not work with search and destroy 😢 I think booster practice exams were similar to the real thing (like how the questions are asked/length and difficulty of the passage).
BIO (25): I used the Bootcamp academy notes to study! I would look at the condensed notes for review, but I don't think condensed notes are enough if you want to have a better understanding of biology. Biology was one of my weakest subjects and it was stressing me until the day before my exam. After going over all of the bio notes, I still felt like I did not know anything, and this was a month away from my test. I started to read the bio notes from chapter 1 again, and this time, I recorded myself giving my own lecture on the topic that I was shakey on. I thought this was a great idea because it relieves your anxiety when you feel like you forgot the topic, especially when your exam date is coming near 😂 I listened to my recordings the day before my exam which really really helped!
I think Booster gives you great practice for this, and it is more representative of the real test! I solved the Booster practice exam twice and all of the extra questions which really helped!
GC (28): I think Mikes's videos are the best. For GC, knowing your materials is really important. I read the notes for GC like 5 times (going over and over). The real exam had almost no calculations (just setting up the equations) and heavily concept-based! Booster and Bootcamp are enough for this section! I don't think destroyer is necessary, but it would be good practice.
OC (30): Again, Mike's videos. I think memorizing the reactions/ knowing your concepts are enough for this section. I went through my notes like 5-6 times for this too, reading over and over again. I really loved Bootcamp ochem question banks because it has videos for every problem! This helped me learn better. After this, solving the Booster practice exam helped too for more practice. I think the real exam is more concept-based so definitely be comfortable with that!
Overall: Please don't give up on studying because it feels overwhelming/impossible to get through. In January, I was feeling this way because I had to start studying from the very beginning for all science sections 😂 (quite embarrassing but I did not know what ether/esters were... I literally forgot all of the materials😂) I know everyone can do this, and it is totally possible. Please feel free to ask me any questions if you have one, and good luck for everyone!!☺️
