nisky66
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- Sep 27, 2022
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Hi! I hope this is helpful for anyone looking to use DATBooster. I thought it would be nice to provide an honest breakdown of what helped me do fairly well and also talk about the mistakes I made while studying that I would definitely change if I were to study again to get a higher score. Please advise that I only used DATBooster, and am not knowledgeable about any other website/program. I personally believe that DATBooster is enough to efficiently do well considering that I'm someone who doesn't like studying for long periods of time. Nor do I like spending a lot on study materials. If this sounds like you, read more!
Scores:
Bio-24, GC- 24, OC- 22, PAT-20, RC-18, QR-18, TS-23, AA-21
Background:
Currently a 3rd year traditional student with a 3.75 GPA.
Took the DAT on Sept 20, 2022. I started studying in June 2022, so 4 months of studying using DATBooster's 12 Week Study Guide. Being realistic with your availability is the best solution to choosing a detailed study guide.
DATBooster Overview:
DATBooster alone is extremely worth your time and money. I have read many reviews saying that the DAT practice tests are a lot harder than the actual DAT test, while there are others who say otherwise. For me, I would say for the most part yes it’s harder, but it really depends on your previous understanding of the material, your background from undergrad classes, and how comfortable you are with time and pressure against you. The DATBooster was not easier or harder than the actual test from my perspective (except RC - will explain later), yet the material to prepare you is very detailed and will make the studying process a lot easier. It contains lots of videos, practice problems, notes (Feralis notes are extremely beneficial!), and advanced generators.
Comparing DATBooster tests to my actual score, it was just about accurate considering that I got an AA- 21 and averaged around AA's of 21 and 22 in all of my mid-to-final practice tests, thus it's hard to tell if you'll suddenly hit a 24 out of nowhere. And another reason why you cannot expect it to be easier or harder is because your favorite or weaker topics have an equal chance of showing up. For example, I hated the Diversity of Life section in Biology (plants, animals, taxonomy, etc). It just wasn't my thing. Memorizing all of these specific names just seemed overwhelming and unnecessary. I maybe had about 7 questions on it out of 40. One friend I know had 1. Another friend I know had 10+. Some questions will be easier. Some questions won't really make sense at all and you just have to guess. Just expect the unexpected, and study as much as you can with the time that you have. You get what you put in.
Studying:
Being busy is a natural part of the process. You don't have to spend 7-10 hours everyday on DAT material, you can still be fine with 3-4 hours of quality studying and handling other things in your life. My goal at the very least was to efficiently complete most if not all of the tasks from the DATBooster study schedule. DO NOT get discouraged if you do not complete all of your tasks. This is NORMAL. Sometimes, I crossed things out and pushed them to another day because I got lazy, stressed, or overwhelmed with how much I was studying. It's better to be honest with yourself and learn by reorganizing the schedule rather than forcing yourself to check things off for the sake of it. It's perfectly OKAY to modify your DATBooster schedule. One mistake I made was watching a bunch of advanced Organic Chem videos such as Grignard Reagents and Wittig Reaction tutorials without mastering the basics of arrow pushing, nucleophilicity, etc. It was definitely a waste of time, so mastering the fundamentals always comes first (for any section)!
Studying for Bio (24): I highly recommend that you understand every single question that DATBooster provides you in their practice problems. Some of them WILL show up on your test. I have not heard a single person that said that they didn't see at least one problem copied or reworded. These questions are enough to understand everything from a whole perspective when you are in doubt. I studied every problem at least 2x before taking the exam. These questions will connect to each other and it's even better that they have video tutorials on what you got wrong and why other answers aren't correct.
Studying for GC (24): Same as Bio above, emphasize practice questions and understand the material
equally. Professor Dave has great explanation videos that I used. In addition, some actual tests will be highly conceptual or will require a lot of calculations. DATBooster prepares you for both scenarios as long as you put in the time watching their videos and even on their extra questions that are not part of their practice tests.
Studying for OC (22): I was really expecting this to be my worst section because of how bad I was at memorizing the mechanisms and reactions. But to be honest, I'm glad that the actual DAT gave me more conceptual questions as opposed to random "guess the reactant to this product" questions. However, it's always important to prepare for the worst. What helped me was to use the Feralis Notes and line them up side by side in terms of tabs on your computer. Save them so whenever you are doing and practicing problems, you can always check if you're right. Application is the most crucial way to study O-chem. You can't just memorize. Practice, practice, practice, on the DATBooster tests (and the "Extra questions" if you're having even more trouble) to succeed!
Studying for PAT (20): Practicing these over and over will allow you to get the best score you want. They may be very subjective at first, but really take the time to understand why you thought they were subjective. My mistake here was giving up on the subjective questions and spending my time on other things. Although the real DAT was more objective, I still didn't get sufficient practice for problems like Keyholes and Angle ranking.
Studying for RC (18): Ah yes... my unexpected downfall. I was not prepared at all, at least in the way I expected. DATBooster offers many great strategies to pick from and goes into detail of how each method is utilized. I simply chose the wrong strategy and do not recommend this strategy for anyone due to its high risk. I chose "Search and Destroy," meaning that I hardly read the passages and go straight to answering the questions; I would find key words and look for the answers surrounding those words. I averaged around 25+ on my practice tests (this being my highest scoring sections), because I noticed that DATBooster's RC passages are easier than the actual. I would just say be prepared for the worst in the reading sections, as most of the questions I had were not direct like I predicted and required me to really dig deeper in comprehension. If I could go back, I would simply do more reading than searching for answers.
Studying for QR (18): I honestly don't have too much thought on this. I thought I did pretty well on every question but I guess I can say I was a little overconfident yet very tired from the other sections. I averaged about 20+ on my practice tests so there could have been many factors as to why I didn't do well in this. It is what it is but I will say to get a good grasp of shortcut strategies. I spent most of my time in this section learning different methods and formulas to breeze past easy questions.
Last Advice for DAT day:
The DAT exam is a REALLY tough exam, especially for someone whose nerves start to get out of control in scenarios where you think you're not doing well. I could honestly say that my heart rate was excessively over-the-top for the entire test because I didn't want to waste the $500 I paid just for the DAT alone. I was so scared of failing that it threw me off in the RC and QR sections. And it showed. I was panicking about utilizing the wrong RC method and I simply lost my composure and motivation to continue.
If you're really good at controlling your nerves and emotions, props to you! If not, some things are just not meant to be controlled and that's okay. I am not perfect, and you probably are not perfect either. But what you can control is your drive and preparation, and hopefully that will enable you to gain confidence as you move through the test.
GOOD LUCK! And you got this!
Scores:
Bio-24, GC- 24, OC- 22, PAT-20, RC-18, QR-18, TS-23, AA-21
Background:
Currently a 3rd year traditional student with a 3.75 GPA.
Took the DAT on Sept 20, 2022. I started studying in June 2022, so 4 months of studying using DATBooster's 12 Week Study Guide. Being realistic with your availability is the best solution to choosing a detailed study guide.
DATBooster Overview:
DATBooster alone is extremely worth your time and money. I have read many reviews saying that the DAT practice tests are a lot harder than the actual DAT test, while there are others who say otherwise. For me, I would say for the most part yes it’s harder, but it really depends on your previous understanding of the material, your background from undergrad classes, and how comfortable you are with time and pressure against you. The DATBooster was not easier or harder than the actual test from my perspective (except RC - will explain later), yet the material to prepare you is very detailed and will make the studying process a lot easier. It contains lots of videos, practice problems, notes (Feralis notes are extremely beneficial!), and advanced generators.
Comparing DATBooster tests to my actual score, it was just about accurate considering that I got an AA- 21 and averaged around AA's of 21 and 22 in all of my mid-to-final practice tests, thus it's hard to tell if you'll suddenly hit a 24 out of nowhere. And another reason why you cannot expect it to be easier or harder is because your favorite or weaker topics have an equal chance of showing up. For example, I hated the Diversity of Life section in Biology (plants, animals, taxonomy, etc). It just wasn't my thing. Memorizing all of these specific names just seemed overwhelming and unnecessary. I maybe had about 7 questions on it out of 40. One friend I know had 1. Another friend I know had 10+. Some questions will be easier. Some questions won't really make sense at all and you just have to guess. Just expect the unexpected, and study as much as you can with the time that you have. You get what you put in.
Studying:
Being busy is a natural part of the process. You don't have to spend 7-10 hours everyday on DAT material, you can still be fine with 3-4 hours of quality studying and handling other things in your life. My goal at the very least was to efficiently complete most if not all of the tasks from the DATBooster study schedule. DO NOT get discouraged if you do not complete all of your tasks. This is NORMAL. Sometimes, I crossed things out and pushed them to another day because I got lazy, stressed, or overwhelmed with how much I was studying. It's better to be honest with yourself and learn by reorganizing the schedule rather than forcing yourself to check things off for the sake of it. It's perfectly OKAY to modify your DATBooster schedule. One mistake I made was watching a bunch of advanced Organic Chem videos such as Grignard Reagents and Wittig Reaction tutorials without mastering the basics of arrow pushing, nucleophilicity, etc. It was definitely a waste of time, so mastering the fundamentals always comes first (for any section)!
Studying for Bio (24): I highly recommend that you understand every single question that DATBooster provides you in their practice problems. Some of them WILL show up on your test. I have not heard a single person that said that they didn't see at least one problem copied or reworded. These questions are enough to understand everything from a whole perspective when you are in doubt. I studied every problem at least 2x before taking the exam. These questions will connect to each other and it's even better that they have video tutorials on what you got wrong and why other answers aren't correct.
Studying for GC (24): Same as Bio above, emphasize practice questions and understand the material
equally. Professor Dave has great explanation videos that I used. In addition, some actual tests will be highly conceptual or will require a lot of calculations. DATBooster prepares you for both scenarios as long as you put in the time watching their videos and even on their extra questions that are not part of their practice tests.
Studying for OC (22): I was really expecting this to be my worst section because of how bad I was at memorizing the mechanisms and reactions. But to be honest, I'm glad that the actual DAT gave me more conceptual questions as opposed to random "guess the reactant to this product" questions. However, it's always important to prepare for the worst. What helped me was to use the Feralis Notes and line them up side by side in terms of tabs on your computer. Save them so whenever you are doing and practicing problems, you can always check if you're right. Application is the most crucial way to study O-chem. You can't just memorize. Practice, practice, practice, on the DATBooster tests (and the "Extra questions" if you're having even more trouble) to succeed!
Studying for PAT (20): Practicing these over and over will allow you to get the best score you want. They may be very subjective at first, but really take the time to understand why you thought they were subjective. My mistake here was giving up on the subjective questions and spending my time on other things. Although the real DAT was more objective, I still didn't get sufficient practice for problems like Keyholes and Angle ranking.
Studying for RC (18): Ah yes... my unexpected downfall. I was not prepared at all, at least in the way I expected. DATBooster offers many great strategies to pick from and goes into detail of how each method is utilized. I simply chose the wrong strategy and do not recommend this strategy for anyone due to its high risk. I chose "Search and Destroy," meaning that I hardly read the passages and go straight to answering the questions; I would find key words and look for the answers surrounding those words. I averaged around 25+ on my practice tests (this being my highest scoring sections), because I noticed that DATBooster's RC passages are easier than the actual. I would just say be prepared for the worst in the reading sections, as most of the questions I had were not direct like I predicted and required me to really dig deeper in comprehension. If I could go back, I would simply do more reading than searching for answers.
Studying for QR (18): I honestly don't have too much thought on this. I thought I did pretty well on every question but I guess I can say I was a little overconfident yet very tired from the other sections. I averaged about 20+ on my practice tests so there could have been many factors as to why I didn't do well in this. It is what it is but I will say to get a good grasp of shortcut strategies. I spent most of my time in this section learning different methods and formulas to breeze past easy questions.
Last Advice for DAT day:
The DAT exam is a REALLY tough exam, especially for someone whose nerves start to get out of control in scenarios where you think you're not doing well. I could honestly say that my heart rate was excessively over-the-top for the entire test because I didn't want to waste the $500 I paid just for the DAT alone. I was so scared of failing that it threw me off in the RC and QR sections. And it showed. I was panicking about utilizing the wrong RC method and I simply lost my composure and motivation to continue.
If you're really good at controlling your nerves and emotions, props to you! If not, some things are just not meant to be controlled and that's okay. I am not perfect, and you probably are not perfect either. But what you can control is your drive and preparation, and hopefully that will enable you to gain confidence as you move through the test.
GOOD LUCK! And you got this!
