- Joined
- Nov 30, 2008
- Messages
- 292
- Reaction score
- 28
This was my third, and final, time taking the DAT. Here is a link to the last time I took it which was 5+years ago.
Educational background: I have a bachelor's in biology (with a chemistry) and I just finished a Master's in biology in this last fall.
I studied for the last ~2 months, but to be honest I think there was about a week in there middle where I didn't do any studying because it had been 5+ years since I had taken a chemistry class or math class of any kind.
My scores are below with my last DAT's scores in parenthesis:
Perceptual - 22 (20)
QR - 18 (17)
Reading - 21 (23)
Bio - 19 (19)
GC - 21 (19)
OC - 22 (19)
TS - 21 (19)
AA - 20 (19)
Materials: Bootcamp, CDP, Destroyer, Chad's videos and quizzes, Cliff's AP Bio 3rd edition, and Feralis notes.
PAT- I just worked through the Bootcamp practice tests a time or two, and maybe did 1 or 2 CDP tests. Bootcamp was definitely harder (angles were WAY harder than DAT) than CDP which seemed too easy.
QR - Didn't really study QR all that much especially the trig stuff. I worked through Destroyer QR once last week, a couple of Bootcamp tests, and all of Chad's videos and quizzes about a month ago. Chad's videos and quizzes are a little overkill for what was on my test but it's probably better to be safe than sorry.
Reading - Didn't study this at all because of how I did on my last DAT and, IMO, there is no reason to study it if you plan on using the search and destroy method.
Bio - I studied the Feralis notes, Cliff's, Destroyer (x2), and Bootcamp, but I didn't try Chad's videos. In hindsight, I definitely didn't go over the parts that I knew I was a little weak on enough (aerobic respiration in particular), but I also got a few completely unexpected questions... for example about dinosaurs. I think Bio is just a hard topic to study for because there is such a broad spectrum of questions that could be asked.
GC - Destroyer (x2), Bootcamp, and Chad's videos and quizzes. Chad's videos are VERY helpful if it's been a while since you've seen chemistry. Destroyer is definitely overkill but was definitely helpful just to have some problems to work through to help you process the information you're learning.
OC - Same as GC. Destroyer (x2), Bootcamp, and Chad's videos and quizzes. I think the most helpful part of Destroyer for me were the road maps of reactions because it's easier to look at nicely drawn out structures rather than stacks and stacks of hand drawn note cards. Again, Chad is SUPER helpful and definitely worth the money($50?) I spent on getting his videos.
Overall: I'm happy my scores went up, but I think I could have done better because I know I slacked off a little and definitely didn't study as hard as I could have. All of the materials I used were definitely helpful, and not to knock anything, but if you can only afford to get a couple of the materials I would spend your money on Bootcamp for practice and Chad's videos to get the basics down. Destroyer was definitely helpful but if I didn't have a solid foundation of knowledge from Chad's videos I wouldn't have understood hardly any of it.
If you have any questions, or if something doesn't make sense (it's been a long day...), let me know and good luck studying! 🙂
Educational background: I have a bachelor's in biology (with a chemistry) and I just finished a Master's in biology in this last fall.
I studied for the last ~2 months, but to be honest I think there was about a week in there middle where I didn't do any studying because it had been 5+ years since I had taken a chemistry class or math class of any kind.
My scores are below with my last DAT's scores in parenthesis:
Perceptual - 22 (20)
QR - 18 (17)
Reading - 21 (23)
Bio - 19 (19)
GC - 21 (19)
OC - 22 (19)
TS - 21 (19)
AA - 20 (19)
Materials: Bootcamp, CDP, Destroyer, Chad's videos and quizzes, Cliff's AP Bio 3rd edition, and Feralis notes.
PAT- I just worked through the Bootcamp practice tests a time or two, and maybe did 1 or 2 CDP tests. Bootcamp was definitely harder (angles were WAY harder than DAT) than CDP which seemed too easy.
QR - Didn't really study QR all that much especially the trig stuff. I worked through Destroyer QR once last week, a couple of Bootcamp tests, and all of Chad's videos and quizzes about a month ago. Chad's videos and quizzes are a little overkill for what was on my test but it's probably better to be safe than sorry.
Reading - Didn't study this at all because of how I did on my last DAT and, IMO, there is no reason to study it if you plan on using the search and destroy method.
Bio - I studied the Feralis notes, Cliff's, Destroyer (x2), and Bootcamp, but I didn't try Chad's videos. In hindsight, I definitely didn't go over the parts that I knew I was a little weak on enough (aerobic respiration in particular), but I also got a few completely unexpected questions... for example about dinosaurs. I think Bio is just a hard topic to study for because there is such a broad spectrum of questions that could be asked.
GC - Destroyer (x2), Bootcamp, and Chad's videos and quizzes. Chad's videos are VERY helpful if it's been a while since you've seen chemistry. Destroyer is definitely overkill but was definitely helpful just to have some problems to work through to help you process the information you're learning.
OC - Same as GC. Destroyer (x2), Bootcamp, and Chad's videos and quizzes. I think the most helpful part of Destroyer for me were the road maps of reactions because it's easier to look at nicely drawn out structures rather than stacks and stacks of hand drawn note cards. Again, Chad is SUPER helpful and definitely worth the money($50?) I spent on getting his videos.
Overall: I'm happy my scores went up, but I think I could have done better because I know I slacked off a little and definitely didn't study as hard as I could have. All of the materials I used were definitely helpful, and not to knock anything, but if you can only afford to get a couple of the materials I would spend your money on Bootcamp for practice and Chad's videos to get the basics down. Destroyer was definitely helpful but if I didn't have a solid foundation of knowledge from Chad's videos I wouldn't have understood hardly any of it.
If you have any questions, or if something doesn't make sense (it's been a long day...), let me know and good luck studying! 🙂
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