I want to start by thanking everybody that has posted about how they prepared for the DAT. Hearing other peoples strategies for success was immensely helpful (when I finally started taking people's advice). I took the DAT this afternoon and here's the scores. 🙂
I set aside 6 weeks to study for the dat (I had minor surgery about 3 weeks into studying so it's closer to 5.5 weeks but basically the same). When I started studying I wasn't being very productive. I made it through about 45 minutes of organic and general chemistry a day on Chad's videos and read through Cliff's AP Bio. After a couple weeks of this I took a Crack the DAT science test (which was ridiculously hard), scored terribly, and got motivated. Here's the next 4 weeks broken down by subject.
Organic (27): Just came off of a full year of O Chem with a teacher that made me love the subject. I went through Chad's videos twice over 3 weeks and took all the quizzes, took detailed notes, and spent the last week reviewing them each day. Sporadically used DAT Destroyer, but only made it half way through the Organic section. I feel like it was helpful in the sense that I understood what to look for in the questions, but I didn't see any problems as tough as many of the questions in the this resource. It's good review in the sense that the problems often cover multiple topics, but many of the reactions are unnecessary. I'd definitely stick with Chad's reactions then supplement with reactions used to identify compounds in lab. I also read through the Gold Standard section that covers organic. It covers the material, but it's much tougher to quickly grasp the concepts than using Chad's. The last week I went through Chad's list of reactions each night before I went to bed. Overall, the section was easier than I anticipated.
Bio (25): Honestly, I didn't think that I was going to do this well on the bio section. I'm a chemistry major and have had a year off of all types of bio. My bio 101/102 teachers were boring and I usually opted to sleep in their classes rather than take notes (thank the lord for power points online). I summarized the whole Cliff's AP Bio section in a week (not including the lab topics) then continued to go over a few sections everyday until the test. I read through the DAT Gold Standard section twice as well. It covers the body systems well, but some sections are a little too detailed than what you need to score well (If you're looking to get a top score in this section then summarizing the Gold Standard section would be a good start, but will be a huge time consumer). I got through about half of DAT Destroyer on this section as well, but felt that the questions provided great review. I just ran out of time to get through the whole thing. Three days before the test I went through Feralis bio notes on DAT Bootcamp, while still continuing to go over my own notes (Feralis is a great free resource). I read over the notes on Campbell's chapters 19-21 that I found online. I suggest going over these more than once as I feel like they could have helped me improve my score. I'm not a fan of biology, but putting lots of work in this section will yield a good score. I spent the most time studying for this section~ approximately 3 hours a day for the last 4 weeks. This section was random, but easier than I anticipated.
Quantitative Reasoning (24): I've always been pretty good at math, so I didn't put much of a focus on this. I watched Chad's videos and took 2 practice tests on Crack the DAT. I got 30 on both and ignored this section until a few days before the test. I went through all of the math in DAT Destroyer in one day and felt I understood every section pretty well. I was surprised I wasn't in the upper 20's but probably deserved a lower score for not studying this section well. I also got a crazy trig question that I've never even seen before unless I made a stupid mistake 😕. Chad's videos are enough for this section but supplementing with DAT Destroyer is probably a decent idea.
Gen Chem (23): I crushed my general chemistry classes and felt super confident I was going to get in the upper 20's. I got one crazy hard question about safety and must have missed a few other things. I watched Chad's videos once and got overconfident. I didn't study this section at all after the videos until a few days before the test. I went over my notes from Chad's twice in the days leading up to the test. This section was about what I expected despite missing a few things. Pretty basic concepts/calculations.
Perceptual Ability (23): I used Crack the DAT PAT only for this section. I watched all the tutorial videos they had, then started the practice tests, taking one every 2 to 3 days. I didn't score below a 24 on any of the practice tests, but got a little nervous during this section on the real test. The keyholes were a little tougher than I anticipated, and that kind of killed my confidence. I don't think this section was necessarily tougher overall than Crack the DAT PAT, but I think I overthought some questions. I think Crack the DAT PAT is a great resource, but some supplemental material would have been helpful just to get a different look at the sections.
Reading Comprehension (23): I used Crack the Dat for Reading Comprehension. There were more tone questions, but it was still pretty close to the real deal. I worked on my strategy over 5 days doing five tests and trying different methods. Search and destroy just wasn't for me. Skimming the passages gave me a general idea where to look for certain questions, and I was much more productive doing it this way. I didn't write anything down, just read the passages as fast as possible, then went to each question and had an easier time locating the answers (I spent no more than 4 minutes reading each passage). This section is about finding the strategy that works best for you. Don't let other's scores influence how you tackle this section. Try a wide range of strategies you can find online and see how comfortable you are using them. My last 3 scores were a 23 on Crack the DAT, so I'd say it's a solid indicator of the score you'll receive.
I only took one full length practice test and it was the 2007 version 4 days before I took the DAT. It was easier than the real DAT, but after taking it I felt comfortable with the timing/scores I received. I didn't feel it was necessary to do anymore. I scored 22Bio/30OC/28GC/26PAT/29QR and didn't take the reading comprehension since it wasn't the full section. Some background information on me: I just finished my sophomore year at a state school in the midwest. It's not a school known for its strong academics but at the time I needed the scholarships that I was offered. I have a 4.0 and have taken the basic sciences covered by the DAT as well as Analytical Chemistry.
The day before the test I very briefly went over all of my notes on the sciences that I'd taken, then stopped all studying. I swam a few miles, then went and had a couple drinks with my buddies. I got lots of sleep (the alcohol helped 😉) then went for a very short/slow run in the morning to calm the nerves. I signed up for an afternoon test as that's when I normally felt the most productive when studying. I was over an hour away from the testing center so I had my dad drive me. I never feel like driving after taking a big test, but I also like to stay focused on the way to the test and this helped.
The best advice I think I can give is to not get overconfident on a section you think you understand well. Continue to study every section until the very end and really hit those sections that you're struggling with hard. I hope you all will excuse any spelling/grammar mistakes. I've probably had a few too many drinks in celebration of finally being done with this whole process
.
I set aside 6 weeks to study for the dat (I had minor surgery about 3 weeks into studying so it's closer to 5.5 weeks but basically the same). When I started studying I wasn't being very productive. I made it through about 45 minutes of organic and general chemistry a day on Chad's videos and read through Cliff's AP Bio. After a couple weeks of this I took a Crack the DAT science test (which was ridiculously hard), scored terribly, and got motivated. Here's the next 4 weeks broken down by subject.
Organic (27): Just came off of a full year of O Chem with a teacher that made me love the subject. I went through Chad's videos twice over 3 weeks and took all the quizzes, took detailed notes, and spent the last week reviewing them each day. Sporadically used DAT Destroyer, but only made it half way through the Organic section. I feel like it was helpful in the sense that I understood what to look for in the questions, but I didn't see any problems as tough as many of the questions in the this resource. It's good review in the sense that the problems often cover multiple topics, but many of the reactions are unnecessary. I'd definitely stick with Chad's reactions then supplement with reactions used to identify compounds in lab. I also read through the Gold Standard section that covers organic. It covers the material, but it's much tougher to quickly grasp the concepts than using Chad's. The last week I went through Chad's list of reactions each night before I went to bed. Overall, the section was easier than I anticipated.
Bio (25): Honestly, I didn't think that I was going to do this well on the bio section. I'm a chemistry major and have had a year off of all types of bio. My bio 101/102 teachers were boring and I usually opted to sleep in their classes rather than take notes (thank the lord for power points online). I summarized the whole Cliff's AP Bio section in a week (not including the lab topics) then continued to go over a few sections everyday until the test. I read through the DAT Gold Standard section twice as well. It covers the body systems well, but some sections are a little too detailed than what you need to score well (If you're looking to get a top score in this section then summarizing the Gold Standard section would be a good start, but will be a huge time consumer). I got through about half of DAT Destroyer on this section as well, but felt that the questions provided great review. I just ran out of time to get through the whole thing. Three days before the test I went through Feralis bio notes on DAT Bootcamp, while still continuing to go over my own notes (Feralis is a great free resource). I read over the notes on Campbell's chapters 19-21 that I found online. I suggest going over these more than once as I feel like they could have helped me improve my score. I'm not a fan of biology, but putting lots of work in this section will yield a good score. I spent the most time studying for this section~ approximately 3 hours a day for the last 4 weeks. This section was random, but easier than I anticipated.
Quantitative Reasoning (24): I've always been pretty good at math, so I didn't put much of a focus on this. I watched Chad's videos and took 2 practice tests on Crack the DAT. I got 30 on both and ignored this section until a few days before the test. I went through all of the math in DAT Destroyer in one day and felt I understood every section pretty well. I was surprised I wasn't in the upper 20's but probably deserved a lower score for not studying this section well. I also got a crazy trig question that I've never even seen before unless I made a stupid mistake 😕. Chad's videos are enough for this section but supplementing with DAT Destroyer is probably a decent idea.
Gen Chem (23): I crushed my general chemistry classes and felt super confident I was going to get in the upper 20's. I got one crazy hard question about safety and must have missed a few other things. I watched Chad's videos once and got overconfident. I didn't study this section at all after the videos until a few days before the test. I went over my notes from Chad's twice in the days leading up to the test. This section was about what I expected despite missing a few things. Pretty basic concepts/calculations.
Perceptual Ability (23): I used Crack the DAT PAT only for this section. I watched all the tutorial videos they had, then started the practice tests, taking one every 2 to 3 days. I didn't score below a 24 on any of the practice tests, but got a little nervous during this section on the real test. The keyholes were a little tougher than I anticipated, and that kind of killed my confidence. I don't think this section was necessarily tougher overall than Crack the DAT PAT, but I think I overthought some questions. I think Crack the DAT PAT is a great resource, but some supplemental material would have been helpful just to get a different look at the sections.
Reading Comprehension (23): I used Crack the Dat for Reading Comprehension. There were more tone questions, but it was still pretty close to the real deal. I worked on my strategy over 5 days doing five tests and trying different methods. Search and destroy just wasn't for me. Skimming the passages gave me a general idea where to look for certain questions, and I was much more productive doing it this way. I didn't write anything down, just read the passages as fast as possible, then went to each question and had an easier time locating the answers (I spent no more than 4 minutes reading each passage). This section is about finding the strategy that works best for you. Don't let other's scores influence how you tackle this section. Try a wide range of strategies you can find online and see how comfortable you are using them. My last 3 scores were a 23 on Crack the DAT, so I'd say it's a solid indicator of the score you'll receive.
I only took one full length practice test and it was the 2007 version 4 days before I took the DAT. It was easier than the real DAT, but after taking it I felt comfortable with the timing/scores I received. I didn't feel it was necessary to do anymore. I scored 22Bio/30OC/28GC/26PAT/29QR and didn't take the reading comprehension since it wasn't the full section. Some background information on me: I just finished my sophomore year at a state school in the midwest. It's not a school known for its strong academics but at the time I needed the scholarships that I was offered. I have a 4.0 and have taken the basic sciences covered by the DAT as well as Analytical Chemistry.
The day before the test I very briefly went over all of my notes on the sciences that I'd taken, then stopped all studying. I swam a few miles, then went and had a couple drinks with my buddies. I got lots of sleep (the alcohol helped 😉) then went for a very short/slow run in the morning to calm the nerves. I signed up for an afternoon test as that's when I normally felt the most productive when studying. I was over an hour away from the testing center so I had my dad drive me. I never feel like driving after taking a big test, but I also like to stay focused on the way to the test and this helped.
The best advice I think I can give is to not get overconfident on a section you think you understand well. Continue to study every section until the very end and really hit those sections that you're struggling with hard. I hope you all will excuse any spelling/grammar mistakes. I've probably had a few too many drinks in celebration of finally being done with this whole process
.
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