rarachel19
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- Aug 28, 2023
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Hi! I hope this is helpful for anyone studying for the DAT and thinking about how to go about studying. I’ve read a lot of breakdowns and wanted to write my own having just recently taken the exam a few days ago.
Scores:
PAT - 23
QR - 18
RC - 21
Bio - 23
GC - 22
OC - 25
TS - 23
AA - 22
Background:
Currently a senior with a 3.86~ GPA.
Materials Used:
DAT Booster - I’m someone who hates spending a lot of money on study materials so I only bought Booster and it was pretty much the only resource I used. I found Booster to be very representative of the real thing especially for all the sciences. For bio, chem, and orgo I saw several questions that were very similar to those that I encountered during practice exams and in question banks. My real test scores in the sciences were all higher than what I got on the practices. However, I found math and reading comprehension to be harder on the real test and I scored much lower than usual.
DAT Bootcamp - I never bought bootcamp but I found their free high yield bio notes to be easier to process than the Booster Feralis notes. I started using Bootcamp’s bio notes later on to review because it felt less jammed with overly specific details.
Anki - Unlike most people, I actually never got into the groove of using Anki and felt like it wasn’t helping me. I attempted to use Anki on a daily basis but found myself just trying to get through decks and not actually retaining the information. Eventually, I just stopped using Anki altogether and would review marked questions instead.
Studying:
I started studying at the end of May until my test date August 21 (around 3 months). I followed the 10 week study schedule provided by Booster only for the learning phase. After the learning phase, I just did my own thing, taking practice exams and focusing on my weakest subjects. I would typically study for around 7 hrs everyday. I highly recommend just dedicating a summer to studying for the DAT rather than trying to do it during the school year. I also think breaks are necessary. I went on an 18 day long vacation with my family in mid July, did little to no studying, and came back feeling more refreshed and motivated to study.
In terms of how I studied, I would read the notes on the topic and then do practice questions.
I completed all the Booster question banks and found the marked questions feature to be really useful. I frequently went back and redid questions I marked and it helped me hone in on areas I was weak in.
Day of Exam:
Bio (23): Several very straightforward questions and repeat questions from practice exams. For many questions, I would often narrow it down to two answers and just hoped the one I chose was right. I recommend redoing bio practice exams and really understanding what you got wrong. For every question I got wrong, I would go back and reread the chapter and redo practice questions on that topic. I recommend using Booster cheat sheets and Bootcamp’s high yield bio notes to review.
GC (22): Questions felt a lot simpler and easier than Booster and there wasn’t any complicated math. I got a lot of simple stoichiometry questions. Again, many repeat questions from Booster practice exams (E cell calculations, le chateliers, electron configuration, pH, types of solids). More conceptual questions.
OC (25): I was really surprised by this score because orgo has always been a weak subject. I practiced orgo a lot, constantly redoing practice questions and reaction bites. I never memorized all the reactions but by the end I was familiar with the ones that were consistently showing up. Make sure to know which are ortho/para/meta directing, H-NMR and C-NMR signals, hybridization, most acidic hydrogen, IUPAC naming. I only used Booster’s orgo notes and the practice questions, and didn't watch any of the videos.
PAT (23): Booster’s PAT notes on how to approach questions and high amount of practice questions was extremely helpful. I practiced PAT everyday doing ~10 questions from the question banks for each puzzle type. Make sure not to dwell on a single question because it’s really easy to run out of time. I liked going in the order angle ranking, hole punching, pattern folding, TFE, and keyhole last. Honestly, a lot of the time it felt like I was just guessing and going with gut feeling. This section just felt silly to me.
RC (21): I was consistently scoring 26-30 on Booster practice and would breeze through all the questions with a lot of leftover time so I was surprised by my score. On the real test I was struggling to find the answers directly in the passage and had minimal leftover time. It felt like the questions required a lot more comprehension and the passages themselves were more in depth and difficult to understand. I didn’t really focus on RC while studying because reading has been a strength of mine.
QR (18): I was scoring 23-26 on Booster practice so I was also surprised by this score. I’ve always been tight on time with this section and usually work up until the last minute and this was true for the real test. I realized I was really running out of time towards the end and felt really rushed. The questions felt more convoluted and required more reading and comprehension. I didn’t get as many straightforward algebra questions. I did all the Booster practice questions and only watched videos on topics I was bad at.
Ending Advice:
I think I retained the information best from doing practice questions and exams. Because it felt like many questions repeated from practice exams, really make sure you understand the answers and if you have time even go back and redo practice exams. A lot of the times I thought I understood a mistake but in reality I just passively read the explanation and would make the same mistake when I redid a practice exam. This really forced me to understand why I was making a mistake and what I was misunderstanding. Finally, this exam isn’t the end all be all and a day or two of not studying is not the end of the world.
Scores:
PAT - 23
QR - 18
RC - 21
Bio - 23
GC - 22
OC - 25
TS - 23
AA - 22
Background:
Currently a senior with a 3.86~ GPA.
Materials Used:
DAT Booster - I’m someone who hates spending a lot of money on study materials so I only bought Booster and it was pretty much the only resource I used. I found Booster to be very representative of the real thing especially for all the sciences. For bio, chem, and orgo I saw several questions that were very similar to those that I encountered during practice exams and in question banks. My real test scores in the sciences were all higher than what I got on the practices. However, I found math and reading comprehension to be harder on the real test and I scored much lower than usual.
DAT Bootcamp - I never bought bootcamp but I found their free high yield bio notes to be easier to process than the Booster Feralis notes. I started using Bootcamp’s bio notes later on to review because it felt less jammed with overly specific details.
Anki - Unlike most people, I actually never got into the groove of using Anki and felt like it wasn’t helping me. I attempted to use Anki on a daily basis but found myself just trying to get through decks and not actually retaining the information. Eventually, I just stopped using Anki altogether and would review marked questions instead.
Studying:
I started studying at the end of May until my test date August 21 (around 3 months). I followed the 10 week study schedule provided by Booster only for the learning phase. After the learning phase, I just did my own thing, taking practice exams and focusing on my weakest subjects. I would typically study for around 7 hrs everyday. I highly recommend just dedicating a summer to studying for the DAT rather than trying to do it during the school year. I also think breaks are necessary. I went on an 18 day long vacation with my family in mid July, did little to no studying, and came back feeling more refreshed and motivated to study.
In terms of how I studied, I would read the notes on the topic and then do practice questions.
I completed all the Booster question banks and found the marked questions feature to be really useful. I frequently went back and redid questions I marked and it helped me hone in on areas I was weak in.
Day of Exam:
Bio (23): Several very straightforward questions and repeat questions from practice exams. For many questions, I would often narrow it down to two answers and just hoped the one I chose was right. I recommend redoing bio practice exams and really understanding what you got wrong. For every question I got wrong, I would go back and reread the chapter and redo practice questions on that topic. I recommend using Booster cheat sheets and Bootcamp’s high yield bio notes to review.
GC (22): Questions felt a lot simpler and easier than Booster and there wasn’t any complicated math. I got a lot of simple stoichiometry questions. Again, many repeat questions from Booster practice exams (E cell calculations, le chateliers, electron configuration, pH, types of solids). More conceptual questions.
OC (25): I was really surprised by this score because orgo has always been a weak subject. I practiced orgo a lot, constantly redoing practice questions and reaction bites. I never memorized all the reactions but by the end I was familiar with the ones that were consistently showing up. Make sure to know which are ortho/para/meta directing, H-NMR and C-NMR signals, hybridization, most acidic hydrogen, IUPAC naming. I only used Booster’s orgo notes and the practice questions, and didn't watch any of the videos.
PAT (23): Booster’s PAT notes on how to approach questions and high amount of practice questions was extremely helpful. I practiced PAT everyday doing ~10 questions from the question banks for each puzzle type. Make sure not to dwell on a single question because it’s really easy to run out of time. I liked going in the order angle ranking, hole punching, pattern folding, TFE, and keyhole last. Honestly, a lot of the time it felt like I was just guessing and going with gut feeling. This section just felt silly to me.
RC (21): I was consistently scoring 26-30 on Booster practice and would breeze through all the questions with a lot of leftover time so I was surprised by my score. On the real test I was struggling to find the answers directly in the passage and had minimal leftover time. It felt like the questions required a lot more comprehension and the passages themselves were more in depth and difficult to understand. I didn’t really focus on RC while studying because reading has been a strength of mine.
QR (18): I was scoring 23-26 on Booster practice so I was also surprised by this score. I’ve always been tight on time with this section and usually work up until the last minute and this was true for the real test. I realized I was really running out of time towards the end and felt really rushed. The questions felt more convoluted and required more reading and comprehension. I didn’t get as many straightforward algebra questions. I did all the Booster practice questions and only watched videos on topics I was bad at.
Ending Advice:
I think I retained the information best from doing practice questions and exams. Because it felt like many questions repeated from practice exams, really make sure you understand the answers and if you have time even go back and redo practice exams. A lot of the times I thought I understood a mistake but in reality I just passively read the explanation and would make the same mistake when I redid a practice exam. This really forced me to understand why I was making a mistake and what I was misunderstanding. Finally, this exam isn’t the end all be all and a day or two of not studying is not the end of the world.
