Spacejacked
New Member
- Joined
- May 21, 2023
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 1
Hi friends, I recently took the DAT, and I wanted to share my approach to studying for it. I’ve benefited a lot from others’ breakdowns, and I figured this would be a good chance to reflect on how I’ve studied for the test.
Scores
PAT - 25
QR - 30
RC - 25
Bio - 30
GC - 24
OC - 24
TS - 26
AA - 27
Background
Recently graduated psychology senior.
Materials Used
- Anki - I used both the Feralis biology and organic chemistry decks off of Booster. I only did 10 new cards every day and didn’t bother tweaking the settings. It was a great way to get myself in the mood for studying. It was also more for review than anything else, so I’d recommend scaling back the number of cards you do if it starts to consume too much time (i.e., it should not be the focus). I knew I wouldn’t get through all of the cards at my pace, so I made sure to keep myself disciplined and do them every day to make up for it.
- DAT Booster: Before I started studying, I was very apprehensive about using any kind of paid study tool. The idea of paying money to study was ridiculous to me. But when I thought about it more, I realized that having the bulk of your study material in such a centralized and structured environment was probably worth it. If you consume all or almost all of the material, I can’t imagine you’d find anything surprising on the exam. I also feel that the practice tests on Booster are pretty representative if not a bit harder than what you might encounter on the real exam.
Study Timeline
- I started studying in mid-January w/ just Anki and all of the available free content on Booster (including PAT generator stuff).
- In mid-February, I purchased Booster and tried sticking to the 10-week study schedule they provided. That didn’t last too long because I found it a lot to do every day.
- Up until mid-March, I was only doing the problem sets/banks for all of the sciences (I also watched all the videos for QR). At this point, I didn’t feel like I’d made many strides in learning content, so I started investing time into actually reading/annotating the study notes on Booster. Turns out, it’s a lot easier to learn content when you read it and then apply it.
- At the beginning of April, I was well into a groove now going through 2-3 sets of study notes a day across all of the subjects. I completely finished GC and OC content right as April ended but didn’t wrap up biology until two weeks later (a bit closer to the exam than I’d like).
- The week before the exam was just review, review, review. I looked back at all the notes I’d taken, all the missed/marked questions across every practice test and question set I did, and doubled down on any topic I tended to forget (e.g., the endocrine system and its hodgepodge of hormones).
- Throughout this period, I finished all 10 practice tests on Booster and consistently worked on PAT content every other day.
Exam Day
Bio (30): The questions were a lot more surface-level than I expected. Nothing really came as a complete surprise. If you roll w/ “breadth vs depth,” I think you’ll be fine. I do think the Bio section is served a bit better by practice tests than the other sciences just because there are so many different concepts to ask about.
GC (24): I was nervous about the calculations going in, but none of them were particularly demanding. Just don’t let more tedious calculations take up too much time. Otherwise, straightforward.
OC (24): Of the sciences, I think OC is the easiest to gloss over a question and miss something. If you’re not crunched on time, I’d recommend taking it easy and thoroughly reading each question/answer. Otherwise, straightforward.
PAT (25): This was by far the section I was most nervous about. My performance in practice was always up and down (high highs and very low lows). I did it in the following order: hole punching (build up confidence) → cubes → patterns → keyholes → TFE → angles (saved these for last bc they always kill my eyes). If anything, I think the PAT section benefits the most from practice tests to help w/ pacing.
RC (25): Smooth sailing for the most part. You inevitably run into 1-2 tricky questions. Interestingly, the answers to most of my questions came in order as I read the text, which made it a lot easier to find answers. That might not always be the case. My strategy w/ RC was to answer questions as I read through the entire passage.
QR (30): Always a bit of a time crunch for me, but I had 10 minutes left this time. Any question I didn’t immediately have an approach for, I skipped and came back. Don’t let those questions eat up time and just revisit them later.
Closing Advice
Please don’t hesitate to change the way you’re studying if you feel like you’re not learning as much as you should. Changing the way I approached content halfway through was the best thing I could’ve done. I think it’s really important not to tunnel vision into your studying routine. Studying for the DAT really is a marathon and not a sprint. Always remind yourself what you’re working towards when it becomes especially difficult to be motivated. A bit of pain is inevitable studying for months on end, but suffering that whole time is optional. Hope this helps!
Scores
PAT - 25
QR - 30
RC - 25
Bio - 30
GC - 24
OC - 24
TS - 26
AA - 27
Background
Recently graduated psychology senior.
Materials Used
- Anki - I used both the Feralis biology and organic chemistry decks off of Booster. I only did 10 new cards every day and didn’t bother tweaking the settings. It was a great way to get myself in the mood for studying. It was also more for review than anything else, so I’d recommend scaling back the number of cards you do if it starts to consume too much time (i.e., it should not be the focus). I knew I wouldn’t get through all of the cards at my pace, so I made sure to keep myself disciplined and do them every day to make up for it.
- DAT Booster: Before I started studying, I was very apprehensive about using any kind of paid study tool. The idea of paying money to study was ridiculous to me. But when I thought about it more, I realized that having the bulk of your study material in such a centralized and structured environment was probably worth it. If you consume all or almost all of the material, I can’t imagine you’d find anything surprising on the exam. I also feel that the practice tests on Booster are pretty representative if not a bit harder than what you might encounter on the real exam.
Study Timeline
- I started studying in mid-January w/ just Anki and all of the available free content on Booster (including PAT generator stuff).
- In mid-February, I purchased Booster and tried sticking to the 10-week study schedule they provided. That didn’t last too long because I found it a lot to do every day.
- Up until mid-March, I was only doing the problem sets/banks for all of the sciences (I also watched all the videos for QR). At this point, I didn’t feel like I’d made many strides in learning content, so I started investing time into actually reading/annotating the study notes on Booster. Turns out, it’s a lot easier to learn content when you read it and then apply it.
- At the beginning of April, I was well into a groove now going through 2-3 sets of study notes a day across all of the subjects. I completely finished GC and OC content right as April ended but didn’t wrap up biology until two weeks later (a bit closer to the exam than I’d like).
- The week before the exam was just review, review, review. I looked back at all the notes I’d taken, all the missed/marked questions across every practice test and question set I did, and doubled down on any topic I tended to forget (e.g., the endocrine system and its hodgepodge of hormones).
- Throughout this period, I finished all 10 practice tests on Booster and consistently worked on PAT content every other day.
Exam Day
Bio (30): The questions were a lot more surface-level than I expected. Nothing really came as a complete surprise. If you roll w/ “breadth vs depth,” I think you’ll be fine. I do think the Bio section is served a bit better by practice tests than the other sciences just because there are so many different concepts to ask about.
GC (24): I was nervous about the calculations going in, but none of them were particularly demanding. Just don’t let more tedious calculations take up too much time. Otherwise, straightforward.
OC (24): Of the sciences, I think OC is the easiest to gloss over a question and miss something. If you’re not crunched on time, I’d recommend taking it easy and thoroughly reading each question/answer. Otherwise, straightforward.
PAT (25): This was by far the section I was most nervous about. My performance in practice was always up and down (high highs and very low lows). I did it in the following order: hole punching (build up confidence) → cubes → patterns → keyholes → TFE → angles (saved these for last bc they always kill my eyes). If anything, I think the PAT section benefits the most from practice tests to help w/ pacing.
RC (25): Smooth sailing for the most part. You inevitably run into 1-2 tricky questions. Interestingly, the answers to most of my questions came in order as I read the text, which made it a lot easier to find answers. That might not always be the case. My strategy w/ RC was to answer questions as I read through the entire passage.
QR (30): Always a bit of a time crunch for me, but I had 10 minutes left this time. Any question I didn’t immediately have an approach for, I skipped and came back. Don’t let those questions eat up time and just revisit them later.
Closing Advice
Please don’t hesitate to change the way you’re studying if you feel like you’re not learning as much as you should. Changing the way I approached content halfway through was the best thing I could’ve done. I think it’s really important not to tunnel vision into your studying routine. Studying for the DAT really is a marathon and not a sprint. Always remind yourself what you’re working towards when it becomes especially difficult to be motivated. A bit of pain is inevitable studying for months on end, but suffering that whole time is optional. Hope this helps!
