Hi everyone, I took my DAT a few weeks ago. I will try to keep my breakdown as concise as possible. First, here are my scores…
PAT: 26
QR: 27
RC: 26
BIO: 30
GC: 26
OC: 22
TS: 26
AA: 26
Background
Before taking the DAT, I just finished organic chemistry, finished general chemistry two years before and biology three years before. Needless to say, there was a lot of content I had to review and even learn for the first time. I am a strong student and have done well in these subjects before, but the time I spent studying for the DAT helped me go from good scores to great scores.
DAT Bootcamp
I studied for three months and primarily used DAT Bootcamp while following Dr. Ari’s schedule. Based on my background, I have found Bootcamp to be particularly useful for the BIO and GC sections, but Bootcamp still has all of the necessary resources to do well in any of the sections. A lot of hard work has gone into making it a great program and I am glad that I chose it as my main study resource.
PAT
After watching the videos explaining the rules on Bootcamp, I mainly practiced for the PAT section through the practice tests. Through this I was able to drastically improve my pacing. For angle ranking, I would suggest trying out different visualization tricks (e.g. imagining the angles as slopes) until you find one that works effectively. Whatever trick you may use, make sure you are not spending any more than eight minutes on the angle ranking section. On hole punching, I wanted to save time so rather than using the grid method, I hovered my mouse over the locations of the holes and worked backwards.
QR
I have a strong math background but I had to learn some probability concepts for the DAT. My main advice would be to familiarize yourself with all possible question types. Compared to typical math classes, the QR section contains quite peculiar question types that need to be read carefully. I can not stress this enough; the majority of practice test questions I got wrong were due to insufficient understanding of the question or the answers. Question wording can be very tricky.
RC
For previous standardized tests I was used to using the Vanilla Method, but I still tried out other strategies shown on Bootcamp for the RC section. Needless to say, the Vanilla Method still worked the best and I was able to have high scores right off the bat on the practice tests. Along with the PAT section, I think the RC section requires the most focus compared to the other sections. Right before you return from your break, make sure you clear your mind and get ready to immerse yourself in the passages you are going to read. Try your best to be interested in the passages because it will help you catch important details and think about it critically.
BIO
My advice for the BIO section is all about preparation. The catalog of content for the BIO section on Bootcamp can seem daunting, but you should try your best to come up with a schedule where you can cover it all. I had to learn a lot of new information, but the questions on the DAT are so simple that even brief exposure to the information allowed me to get questions right. After you have gone through all of the content, come up with your own study guide that includes the most important concepts from each topic in a concise form (e.g. acronyms).
GC
In my opinion, the GC section has the least amount of content to cover compared to the BIO and OC sections. With that being said, a strong understanding of fundamental concepts (e.g. gas laws, equilibrium, and thermochemistry) is necessary to get a good score. Dr. Mike’s videos on Bootcamp do an excellent job of covering useful content in a short amount of time.
OC
Although I got a good score on the OC section, I should have studied for it more since I believe I could have done better. Having taken it so recently, I had a lot of confidence and really only focused on studying the content I had to learn. A great way to study organic chemistry is by creating spider diagrams where you come up with all of the possible reactions a molecule could undergo and what products this would lead to. I learned this from my professor and it gave me my confidence in organic chemistry in the first place.
Conclusion
Hopefully you have found at least one of my tidbits potentially useful. Again, I suggest using DAT Bootcamp. I wish all of you the best of luck as you study for the DAT.
PAT: 26
QR: 27
RC: 26
BIO: 30
GC: 26
OC: 22
TS: 26
AA: 26
Background
Before taking the DAT, I just finished organic chemistry, finished general chemistry two years before and biology three years before. Needless to say, there was a lot of content I had to review and even learn for the first time. I am a strong student and have done well in these subjects before, but the time I spent studying for the DAT helped me go from good scores to great scores.
DAT Bootcamp
I studied for three months and primarily used DAT Bootcamp while following Dr. Ari’s schedule. Based on my background, I have found Bootcamp to be particularly useful for the BIO and GC sections, but Bootcamp still has all of the necessary resources to do well in any of the sections. A lot of hard work has gone into making it a great program and I am glad that I chose it as my main study resource.
PAT
After watching the videos explaining the rules on Bootcamp, I mainly practiced for the PAT section through the practice tests. Through this I was able to drastically improve my pacing. For angle ranking, I would suggest trying out different visualization tricks (e.g. imagining the angles as slopes) until you find one that works effectively. Whatever trick you may use, make sure you are not spending any more than eight minutes on the angle ranking section. On hole punching, I wanted to save time so rather than using the grid method, I hovered my mouse over the locations of the holes and worked backwards.
QR
I have a strong math background but I had to learn some probability concepts for the DAT. My main advice would be to familiarize yourself with all possible question types. Compared to typical math classes, the QR section contains quite peculiar question types that need to be read carefully. I can not stress this enough; the majority of practice test questions I got wrong were due to insufficient understanding of the question or the answers. Question wording can be very tricky.
RC
For previous standardized tests I was used to using the Vanilla Method, but I still tried out other strategies shown on Bootcamp for the RC section. Needless to say, the Vanilla Method still worked the best and I was able to have high scores right off the bat on the practice tests. Along with the PAT section, I think the RC section requires the most focus compared to the other sections. Right before you return from your break, make sure you clear your mind and get ready to immerse yourself in the passages you are going to read. Try your best to be interested in the passages because it will help you catch important details and think about it critically.
BIO
My advice for the BIO section is all about preparation. The catalog of content for the BIO section on Bootcamp can seem daunting, but you should try your best to come up with a schedule where you can cover it all. I had to learn a lot of new information, but the questions on the DAT are so simple that even brief exposure to the information allowed me to get questions right. After you have gone through all of the content, come up with your own study guide that includes the most important concepts from each topic in a concise form (e.g. acronyms).
GC
In my opinion, the GC section has the least amount of content to cover compared to the BIO and OC sections. With that being said, a strong understanding of fundamental concepts (e.g. gas laws, equilibrium, and thermochemistry) is necessary to get a good score. Dr. Mike’s videos on Bootcamp do an excellent job of covering useful content in a short amount of time.
OC
Although I got a good score on the OC section, I should have studied for it more since I believe I could have done better. Having taken it so recently, I had a lot of confidence and really only focused on studying the content I had to learn. A great way to study organic chemistry is by creating spider diagrams where you come up with all of the possible reactions a molecule could undergo and what products this would lead to. I learned this from my professor and it gave me my confidence in organic chemistry in the first place.
Conclusion
Hopefully you have found at least one of my tidbits potentially useful. Again, I suggest using DAT Bootcamp. I wish all of you the best of luck as you study for the DAT.