Hi, I just took my DAT this week and I found other SDN breakdowns very helpful in choosing study materials. I also had some new functions available to me during the exam which I thought were useful.
PAT/QR/RC/Bio/GC/OC: 24/20/21/21/23/20 TS: 22 AA:21
I studied during the semester from March to May 31st for around 250 hours. I used Cliff's AP Bio, Chad's Videos, DAT Destroyer and DAT Bootcamp.
BIO:
I'm a Bio major, so initially my focus was on relearning GC and OC. I definitely regretted this about four weeks out from my exam. To study for Bio I first read and outlined the chapters in Cliff's AP Bio book. This tactic was useful for certain subjects, like DNA replication, ecology, and genetics but I feel like I wasted my time outlining chapters on subjects like taxonomy. Doing every practice question available to you is key for Bio, you'll realize from the Destroyer and Bootcamp that there are certain types of questions that are almost guaranteed to be on your test (like Hardy-Weinberg, coelomates, heart physiology, etc). I went through the Destroyer just under two times for Bio and did every bio section on Bootcamp. Review every incorrect or confusing question and make flashcards for every term you don't understand or haven't memorized!
GC:
GC came easier to me than OC or Bio when I began doing practice tests, I think Chad's videos did a great job on this section. Also, DAT Destroyer!! I went through the GC section twice, I think this really prepared me for Bootcamp exams and the real thing. Bootcamp is also excellent because GC was the section on SNS that would sometimes slow me down. I didn't find flashcards as useful for GC except for some of the theory questions. Just practice practice practice.
OC:
I was most nervous about this section going into my studies. I took OC the summer before and I was nervous that I would know less than most students since my class was a condensed version. Chad's videos definitely helped for reviewing subjects I remembered from my class, but when he began reviewing specific reactions I think I was in over my head. However, I went through Destroyer over two times and this is where OC really started coming back to me. I made flashcards for every reaction I got wrong, and I made a little quiz out of the roadmaps to force myself to fill them in, this helped a lot. If there was a confusing mechanism I didn't fully understand most of them could be found with an explanation on Khan Academy or with a quick google search. DAT Bootcamp was an excellent resource for OC too, their video explanations were always sufficient and to the point. I wish I had crammed a little more for OC the week before my exam.
QR:
I went through 12 of the DAT Math Destroyer exams and I thought these were useful to recognize what types of problems you don't know, but I thought they were too difficult to accurately represent scores when timed. Bootcamp was great for QR, I think the key for this section is to be efficient at recognizing what type of problem you're looking at and knowing if you should solve, or guess and move on. Timing is the most difficult part for this section.
RC:
I didn't study much for this besides the RC exams on Bootcamp, I felt like those were sufficient. I thought I would do better on RC on the real exam, I read threads where people said Bootcamp was harder than the real DAT for RC but I think it was on par. My passages were more difficult than I anticipated but definitely manageable.
PAT:
I only used Bootcamp to study for this section. I started playing the DAT Bootcamp PAT game in March (My high score is a 1.9!) and then I did all of the full length exam PAT sections and 2 of the additional PAT sections. I think this section is the most exhausting section on the exam. My real DAT was definitely easier than Bootcamp for keyholes, TFE and pattern folding. Angles were equivalent and hole punches were maybe even a little harder. Bootcamp prepares you well!
Bootcamp scores:
PAT/QR/RC/Bio/GC/OC
#1, 6 weeks from test: 19/17/18/18/16/14
#2, 4 weeks from test: 20/17/20/15/18/16 After this exam I was really freaked out I was going to bomb my DAT, I went home and bought CrackDAT science but returned it the next day after reading reviews here lol. Stay confident and keep studying! I really buckled down after seeing these scores, Bootcamp and Destroyer were all I needed.
#3 (2 weeks before test): 19/19/23/17/22/17
#4, week before test: 19/18/27/18/22/24
#5: --/21/22/20/19/19
2007 Sample: I can't find my scores, definitely easier than the real thing but good practice!
2009: 23/19/21/20/23/19 Closest to my real scores.
NEW: On my exam (May 31st) there was a function to cross off answer choices to mark them wrong to help narrow down your answer. I liked this a lot, especially for bio questions I went back to with extra time. There was also a highlighter function that could be used in the reading passage or in any of the questions on the exam. I maybe used this once on RC, didn't find it helpful but it could be for other people. My break was also 30 minutes instead of 15, I still used only 15 because that's how I practiced.
Good luck everyone!
PAT/QR/RC/Bio/GC/OC: 24/20/21/21/23/20 TS: 22 AA:21
I studied during the semester from March to May 31st for around 250 hours. I used Cliff's AP Bio, Chad's Videos, DAT Destroyer and DAT Bootcamp.
BIO:
I'm a Bio major, so initially my focus was on relearning GC and OC. I definitely regretted this about four weeks out from my exam. To study for Bio I first read and outlined the chapters in Cliff's AP Bio book. This tactic was useful for certain subjects, like DNA replication, ecology, and genetics but I feel like I wasted my time outlining chapters on subjects like taxonomy. Doing every practice question available to you is key for Bio, you'll realize from the Destroyer and Bootcamp that there are certain types of questions that are almost guaranteed to be on your test (like Hardy-Weinberg, coelomates, heart physiology, etc). I went through the Destroyer just under two times for Bio and did every bio section on Bootcamp. Review every incorrect or confusing question and make flashcards for every term you don't understand or haven't memorized!
GC:
GC came easier to me than OC or Bio when I began doing practice tests, I think Chad's videos did a great job on this section. Also, DAT Destroyer!! I went through the GC section twice, I think this really prepared me for Bootcamp exams and the real thing. Bootcamp is also excellent because GC was the section on SNS that would sometimes slow me down. I didn't find flashcards as useful for GC except for some of the theory questions. Just practice practice practice.
OC:
I was most nervous about this section going into my studies. I took OC the summer before and I was nervous that I would know less than most students since my class was a condensed version. Chad's videos definitely helped for reviewing subjects I remembered from my class, but when he began reviewing specific reactions I think I was in over my head. However, I went through Destroyer over two times and this is where OC really started coming back to me. I made flashcards for every reaction I got wrong, and I made a little quiz out of the roadmaps to force myself to fill them in, this helped a lot. If there was a confusing mechanism I didn't fully understand most of them could be found with an explanation on Khan Academy or with a quick google search. DAT Bootcamp was an excellent resource for OC too, their video explanations were always sufficient and to the point. I wish I had crammed a little more for OC the week before my exam.
QR:
I went through 12 of the DAT Math Destroyer exams and I thought these were useful to recognize what types of problems you don't know, but I thought they were too difficult to accurately represent scores when timed. Bootcamp was great for QR, I think the key for this section is to be efficient at recognizing what type of problem you're looking at and knowing if you should solve, or guess and move on. Timing is the most difficult part for this section.
RC:
I didn't study much for this besides the RC exams on Bootcamp, I felt like those were sufficient. I thought I would do better on RC on the real exam, I read threads where people said Bootcamp was harder than the real DAT for RC but I think it was on par. My passages were more difficult than I anticipated but definitely manageable.
PAT:
I only used Bootcamp to study for this section. I started playing the DAT Bootcamp PAT game in March (My high score is a 1.9!) and then I did all of the full length exam PAT sections and 2 of the additional PAT sections. I think this section is the most exhausting section on the exam. My real DAT was definitely easier than Bootcamp for keyholes, TFE and pattern folding. Angles were equivalent and hole punches were maybe even a little harder. Bootcamp prepares you well!
Bootcamp scores:
PAT/QR/RC/Bio/GC/OC
#1, 6 weeks from test: 19/17/18/18/16/14
#2, 4 weeks from test: 20/17/20/15/18/16 After this exam I was really freaked out I was going to bomb my DAT, I went home and bought CrackDAT science but returned it the next day after reading reviews here lol. Stay confident and keep studying! I really buckled down after seeing these scores, Bootcamp and Destroyer were all I needed.
#3 (2 weeks before test): 19/19/23/17/22/17
#4, week before test: 19/18/27/18/22/24
#5: --/21/22/20/19/19
2007 Sample: I can't find my scores, definitely easier than the real thing but good practice!
2009: 23/19/21/20/23/19 Closest to my real scores.
NEW: On my exam (May 31st) there was a function to cross off answer choices to mark them wrong to help narrow down your answer. I liked this a lot, especially for bio questions I went back to with extra time. There was also a highlighter function that could be used in the reading passage or in any of the questions on the exam. I maybe used this once on RC, didn't find it helpful but it could be for other people. My break was also 30 minutes instead of 15, I still used only 15 because that's how I practiced.
Good luck everyone!
