- Joined
- May 17, 2017
- Messages
- 68
- Reaction score
- 48
I've been looking forward to doing this 
This is really long... sorry in advance...
DAT was taken on 6/20/17.
Background:
- Just finished my junior year of undergrad
- Overall GPA 3.91
- Science GPA: 3.93
- Major is Biomedical Diagnostics and Therapeutic Sciences
- Minor in Business
Materials:
- DAT Kaplan 2017-2018
- DAT Destroyer
- Math Destroyer
- DAT Bootcamp
- Chad’s Videos
- AP Cliffs Bio
- Khan Academy videos
Subject Practice Test scores
- DAT Bootcamp:
o 3/6/17-Biology Exam 1: 18
o 3/13/17- Reading Comprehension Exam 1: 19
o 3/20/17- Quantitative Reasoning Exam 1: 17
o 6/6/17- Quantitative Reasoning Exam 6: 21
o 6/7/17- Perceptual Abilities Exam 9: 19
o 6/8/17- Quantitative Reasoning Exam 8: 19
o 6/16/17- Biology Exam 6: 19
o 6/17/17- Biology Exam 7: 22
o 6/18/17- Quantitative Reasoning Exam 7: 22
o 6/18/17- General Chemistry Exam 6: 21
o 6/18/17- Organic Chemistry Exam 6: 21
o 6/18/17- Quantitative Reasoning Exam 6: 24
Full-length Practice Test scores
- 5/7/17
o Note: I had already taken Bio, RC, and QR subject tests two months before I took this full-length. The questions are the same. I had just started studying GC (Chad’s videos) and had not yet started OC.
o Bio: 20
o GC: 20
o OC: 18
o PAT: 19
o RC: 20
o QR: 17
- 5/16/17
o Note: Between this full-length and the last one, I reviewed my answers for the sciences and QR only. I also finished Chad’s GC videos and started working through the problems in the GC section of Destroyer. Also, my connection was lost after the PAT section so I didn’t finish the test… oh well.
o Bio: 16
o GC: 20
o OC: 18
o PAT: 18
- 5/20/17
o Note: Between this full-length and the last one, I studied bio a lot more from Cliff’s, especially the taxonomy section and plants section. I continued to work on chem problems and started watching Mike’s OC videos. I also practiced PAT using generators.
o Bio: 17
o GC: 24
o OC: 18
o PAT: 18
o RC: 22
o QR: 16
- 5/22/17 (Kaplan, not Bootcamp)
o Note: It has only been two days since last exam, but I felt I could do better after reviewing science section and QR section, but, as you can see, it wasn’t a good idea.
o Bio: 18
o GC: 21
o OC: 15
o PAT: 15
o RC: 22
o QR: 14
- 5/30/17
o Note: Between this full-length and the last one, I finished more than half of Destroyer Bio questions, practiced PAT generators, and started doing one timed math practice test a day from Math destroyer. I also finished Mike’s videos for OC. I hadn’t done any GC questions though.
o Bio: 18
o GC: 22
o OC: 20
o PAT: 18
o RC: 23
o QR: 18
- 6/13/17 (Kaplan, not Bootcamp)
o Note: Between this full-length and the last one, I finished the Bio section on destroyer, finished the OC section in destroyer, practiced PAT generators and tests, and did one math practice test a day. I also started rewatching some of Chad’s videos for GC.
o Bio: 18
o GC: 21
o OC: 20
o PAT: 19
o RC: 22
o QR: 17
- From here on, I kept taking practice tests for the subjects I needed help in (mostly Bio and QR). The day before my test, I decided to relax and only took the survey of natural sciences section from the last full-length on Bootcamp.
o Bio: 20
o GC: 19
o OC: 20
Official Scores: I think maybe the feeling of knowing that this is the real thing helped me? I’m not sure…
- AA: 23
- TS: 22
- PAT: 20
- Bio: 21
o Took Bio 1 two years before I took the DAT and did not take Bio 2. Studied as mentioned above.
- Gen Chem: 20
o Took Gen Chem 1 and 2 two years before DAT. Studied as mentioned above.
- O Chem: 26
o Took O Chem 1 and 2 one year before DAT. Studied as mentioned above.
- RC: 24
o Did not study except for full-length tests..
- QR: 23
o Have not taken algebra or statistics since high school (3+ years ago). Studied as mentioned above.
I started studying in December 2016 during winter break, but not seriously. I read through the Kaplan Bio section and took notes as a refresher for bio. I read one chapter a day and took thorough notes. I registered for the DAT at the end of winter break for June 1st (but I ended up moving it to June 20th when it got closer to the test date because I wasn’t prepared).
In January, I started my winter semester of school with 15 credits, volunteered as a research assistant in a lab, and was a student ambassador. I also shadowed on Saturdays for 8 hours and had some other smaller extracurriculars. I did not have much time to study for the DAT but I did what I could. I woke up 1-2 hours early and studied for it. Each month I would work on a new subject until the end of the semester. January was reviewing Bio from Kaplan and my notes, February was getting familiar with PAT from Kaplan (as I had never seen it before), March was QR practice from DAT destroyer (about 20-30 problems a day, depending on how much time I had that day), and April was more bio review.
I spent little time on RC and no time on OC or GC during the semester because I figured that I would have all of May to study those since I was not taking summer classes. During the semester, I realized how much of Bio and Math I had forgotten and realized that I would need to study those more during May. So basically I ended up pushing studying for everything to May.
In May, I spent the first two weeks watching Chad’s videos and going to the research lab. I watched about 3 hours’ worth of videos a day. Once I finished that, I jumped into doing practice problems in Destroyer. I did about 50 practice problems on days when I took a full-length test. On top of these 50 problems, I would do a timed math practice test from Destroyer and 1 hour of PAT practice from bootcamp generators. On the days when I didn’t take a full-length test, I would do one hour of PAT practice from Bootcamp each day, 100 questions of Bio Destroyer questions each day (and take GOOD notes), watch 1 entire chapter of Mike’s OC videos on Bootcamp each day, and a timed math practice test from Math destroyer each day.
Once I ran out of math tests from Math Destroyer, I did tests 6-10 from Bootcamp (one a day). I really recommend doing these for the Qualitative Comparison Questions. They were very similar to the actual.
Once I ran out of Bio questions, I would take a test from Bootcamp, review what I got wrong, and watch Youtube videos on things I needed a refresher on. My advice would be to read the explanations from Bootcamp out loud because I find that it helps in understanding and remembering. Also writing out concepts that you got wrong more than once from different tests helps.
Once I finished the OC videos from Bootcamp, I did 100 OC questions from Destroyer a day (I scheduled it so I start the 100 OC questions a day after I finished all 600 Bio questions). After this I only took one practice exam because I didn’t feel the need to study OC much more.
I actually never finished all the GC questions. I got up to 250 and then stopped because again I didn’t feel the need to keep going. Instead I started rewatching Chad’s videos to keep it fresh in my mind. I would watch it whenever I was eating lunch or dinner (a little bit overboard, I know).
I actually never studied RC except for when I was taking a full-length test. I never reviewed this section of the test either. So no “one science article a day” because I didn’t need it. I used the search-and-destroy method and was left with 10 minutes at the end on the real DAT. I took a small nap before the QR section…
For PAT I mostly just practiced from generators and tests from bootcamp. I also took a couple practice tests. I probably should've studied more for this...
And that’s that!! Hopefully I explained everything. Let me know if something is confusing.
This is really long... sorry in advance...
DAT was taken on 6/20/17.
Background:
- Just finished my junior year of undergrad
- Overall GPA 3.91
- Science GPA: 3.93
- Major is Biomedical Diagnostics and Therapeutic Sciences
- Minor in Business
Materials:
- DAT Kaplan 2017-2018
- DAT Destroyer
- Math Destroyer
- DAT Bootcamp
- Chad’s Videos
- AP Cliffs Bio
- Khan Academy videos
Subject Practice Test scores
- DAT Bootcamp:
o 3/6/17-Biology Exam 1: 18
o 3/13/17- Reading Comprehension Exam 1: 19
o 3/20/17- Quantitative Reasoning Exam 1: 17
o 6/6/17- Quantitative Reasoning Exam 6: 21
o 6/7/17- Perceptual Abilities Exam 9: 19
o 6/8/17- Quantitative Reasoning Exam 8: 19
o 6/16/17- Biology Exam 6: 19
o 6/17/17- Biology Exam 7: 22
o 6/18/17- Quantitative Reasoning Exam 7: 22
o 6/18/17- General Chemistry Exam 6: 21
o 6/18/17- Organic Chemistry Exam 6: 21
o 6/18/17- Quantitative Reasoning Exam 6: 24
Full-length Practice Test scores
- 5/7/17
o Note: I had already taken Bio, RC, and QR subject tests two months before I took this full-length. The questions are the same. I had just started studying GC (Chad’s videos) and had not yet started OC.
o Bio: 20
o GC: 20
o OC: 18
o PAT: 19
o RC: 20
o QR: 17
- 5/16/17
o Note: Between this full-length and the last one, I reviewed my answers for the sciences and QR only. I also finished Chad’s GC videos and started working through the problems in the GC section of Destroyer. Also, my connection was lost after the PAT section so I didn’t finish the test… oh well.
o Bio: 16
o GC: 20
o OC: 18
o PAT: 18
- 5/20/17
o Note: Between this full-length and the last one, I studied bio a lot more from Cliff’s, especially the taxonomy section and plants section. I continued to work on chem problems and started watching Mike’s OC videos. I also practiced PAT using generators.
o Bio: 17
o GC: 24
o OC: 18
o PAT: 18
o RC: 22
o QR: 16
- 5/22/17 (Kaplan, not Bootcamp)
o Note: It has only been two days since last exam, but I felt I could do better after reviewing science section and QR section, but, as you can see, it wasn’t a good idea.
o Bio: 18
o GC: 21
o OC: 15
o PAT: 15
o RC: 22
o QR: 14
- 5/30/17
o Note: Between this full-length and the last one, I finished more than half of Destroyer Bio questions, practiced PAT generators, and started doing one timed math practice test a day from Math destroyer. I also finished Mike’s videos for OC. I hadn’t done any GC questions though.
o Bio: 18
o GC: 22
o OC: 20
o PAT: 18
o RC: 23
o QR: 18
- 6/13/17 (Kaplan, not Bootcamp)
o Note: Between this full-length and the last one, I finished the Bio section on destroyer, finished the OC section in destroyer, practiced PAT generators and tests, and did one math practice test a day. I also started rewatching some of Chad’s videos for GC.
o Bio: 18
o GC: 21
o OC: 20
o PAT: 19
o RC: 22
o QR: 17
- From here on, I kept taking practice tests for the subjects I needed help in (mostly Bio and QR). The day before my test, I decided to relax and only took the survey of natural sciences section from the last full-length on Bootcamp.
o Bio: 20
o GC: 19
o OC: 20
Official Scores: I think maybe the feeling of knowing that this is the real thing helped me? I’m not sure…
- AA: 23
- TS: 22
- PAT: 20
- Bio: 21
o Took Bio 1 two years before I took the DAT and did not take Bio 2. Studied as mentioned above.
- Gen Chem: 20
o Took Gen Chem 1 and 2 two years before DAT. Studied as mentioned above.
- O Chem: 26
o Took O Chem 1 and 2 one year before DAT. Studied as mentioned above.
- RC: 24
o Did not study except for full-length tests..
- QR: 23
o Have not taken algebra or statistics since high school (3+ years ago). Studied as mentioned above.
I started studying in December 2016 during winter break, but not seriously. I read through the Kaplan Bio section and took notes as a refresher for bio. I read one chapter a day and took thorough notes. I registered for the DAT at the end of winter break for June 1st (but I ended up moving it to June 20th when it got closer to the test date because I wasn’t prepared).
In January, I started my winter semester of school with 15 credits, volunteered as a research assistant in a lab, and was a student ambassador. I also shadowed on Saturdays for 8 hours and had some other smaller extracurriculars. I did not have much time to study for the DAT but I did what I could. I woke up 1-2 hours early and studied for it. Each month I would work on a new subject until the end of the semester. January was reviewing Bio from Kaplan and my notes, February was getting familiar with PAT from Kaplan (as I had never seen it before), March was QR practice from DAT destroyer (about 20-30 problems a day, depending on how much time I had that day), and April was more bio review.
I spent little time on RC and no time on OC or GC during the semester because I figured that I would have all of May to study those since I was not taking summer classes. During the semester, I realized how much of Bio and Math I had forgotten and realized that I would need to study those more during May. So basically I ended up pushing studying for everything to May.
In May, I spent the first two weeks watching Chad’s videos and going to the research lab. I watched about 3 hours’ worth of videos a day. Once I finished that, I jumped into doing practice problems in Destroyer. I did about 50 practice problems on days when I took a full-length test. On top of these 50 problems, I would do a timed math practice test from Destroyer and 1 hour of PAT practice from bootcamp generators. On the days when I didn’t take a full-length test, I would do one hour of PAT practice from Bootcamp each day, 100 questions of Bio Destroyer questions each day (and take GOOD notes), watch 1 entire chapter of Mike’s OC videos on Bootcamp each day, and a timed math practice test from Math destroyer each day.
Once I ran out of math tests from Math Destroyer, I did tests 6-10 from Bootcamp (one a day). I really recommend doing these for the Qualitative Comparison Questions. They were very similar to the actual.
Once I ran out of Bio questions, I would take a test from Bootcamp, review what I got wrong, and watch Youtube videos on things I needed a refresher on. My advice would be to read the explanations from Bootcamp out loud because I find that it helps in understanding and remembering. Also writing out concepts that you got wrong more than once from different tests helps.
Once I finished the OC videos from Bootcamp, I did 100 OC questions from Destroyer a day (I scheduled it so I start the 100 OC questions a day after I finished all 600 Bio questions). After this I only took one practice exam because I didn’t feel the need to study OC much more.
I actually never finished all the GC questions. I got up to 250 and then stopped because again I didn’t feel the need to keep going. Instead I started rewatching Chad’s videos to keep it fresh in my mind. I would watch it whenever I was eating lunch or dinner (a little bit overboard, I know).
I actually never studied RC except for when I was taking a full-length test. I never reviewed this section of the test either. So no “one science article a day” because I didn’t need it. I used the search-and-destroy method and was left with 10 minutes at the end on the real DAT. I took a small nap before the QR section…
For PAT I mostly just practiced from generators and tests from bootcamp. I also took a couple practice tests. I probably should've studied more for this...
And that’s that!! Hopefully I explained everything. Let me know if something is confusing.
