DAT Breakdown (AA:23, PAT:23)

[Realistic_Car_152]

AA: 23; PAT: 23

Hey everyone! I recently took my DAT and thought I’d share a breakdown since reading others was of tremendous help to me. I primarily used DATBooster, but also used DAT/Math Destroyer 2021 towards the end for practice questions. DATBooster was very representative of the actual exam in terms of the question style, how the screen looks like, the marked questions, the time remaining, the right-click crossing out, the highlight option, etc.
I studied for 3 months with a few break days, everyday for at least 6-7 hours. I strictly followed the DATBooster 10-week schedule for Phase 1, but distributed my time differently across the subjects in Phase 2&3. I did all 10 practice tests (repeated Practice Test 1 since it was a Diagnostic exam) with the last 3 being in full-length style, and reviewed the questions and read the explanations to answers. Towards the last month of my study schedule is when I did the majority of the Practice Tests. For all sections, I watched all the videos, read through all the notes, and practiced the questions that corresponded to the videos, chapters, etc. Below is what I did for every section in addition to that:

Biology:
Practice Test Avg: 20
Actual Test Score: 20
For this section, I recommend taking screenshots of the videos like I did because I found the graphics helpful in simplifying concepts, especially if you’re a visual learner. I found the Taxonomy notes to be overwhelming so I relied on only the videos for it. I used Anki for Functions of Systems, Development, Genetics, and a little for Evolution. I highly recommend starting Anki as soon as you can because I started it when reviewing and it took longer to retain information. The Cheat sheets and the Extra Questions were great resources! I also practiced around 100 questions from DAT Destroyer towards the last 2 weeks of my study plan.

GChem:
Practice Test Avg: 22
Actual Test Score: 20
For this section, I turned the formula sheet into flashcards, by chapters, and added to it any new formulas/rules I encountered in practice tests. I also practiced around 100 questions from the DAT Destroyer towards the last 2 weeks of my study plan.

OChem:
Practice Test Avg: 23
Actual Test Score: 26
For this section, I made flashcards with all the reactions from the reaction sheets, and added to them any new reactions/variations of a reaction I encountered in practice exams. I made sure to study the activating/deactivating groups for EAS reactions, in addition to the nomenclature priorities and lab tests. The Extra Questions were great to use for practice, and the new set of Extra Questions were really helpful in reviewing reactions/specific things about reactions like rearrangement, less or more substituted, etc. I didn’t do all the questions of the new set because they were still being posted around by exam date.

PAT:
Practice Test Avg: 21
Actual Test Score: 23
For this section, I did the Extra Questions for all sections, but didn’t get to finish Keyhole and redid the Top-Front-End. I used the generators a lot, at least every 2 days, and timed myself to see my areas of weakness and improve. I used the T-table method for cube-counting and drew the patterns for Hole Punching. This section is just about practicing and getting yourself familiar with the method/question types.

RC:
Practice Test Avg: 18
Actual Test Score: 24
For this section, I completed all the 20-minute Extra Practice and redid a few of them, but doing the Practice Tests was more helpful later since it’s 3 passages with 60 minutes. The strategy I used was going over the entire passage so I get a good overall idea, but not reading the sentences completely. Once I got the idea of a sentence, I would just skip to the following one. I tried to keep the reading to 6 minutes and leave the rest for answering questions.

QR:
Practice Test Avg: 21
Actual Test Score: 23
For this section, I did almost all Extra Questions, but doing the Practice Tests really helped with the timing. Timing is key because you could be stuck wasting time on a question and losing points for easier questions you didn’t get to. I also did all the questions from the DAT Destroyer and did Practice Tests 1-5 from the Math Destroyer, not in test style though.

Exam-day tips:
Arrive early at your testing center because there are security procedures you'll go through. Make sure you have water, snacks/food, and medication (if needed). For questions you are not sure of/have no clue on approaching it, guess an answer, mark the question, and come back to it at the end when you get to all the questions. You have scrap paper and markers throughout the exam time and could ask for more. I highly recommend taking the 30-minute break to grab a snack.

I hope this helps! Stay strong and good luck on your exam!

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