Hey everyone! So I just got finished taking my DAT the other day and I could not be more ecstatic that its over! When I was beginning to make a study plan back in October, I was really worried that I wouldn't have enough time to study enough to do well because of all the crazy breakdowns I saw that say you need to study 12 hours a day for 10 weeks and all that. The majority of my studying for the DAT took place in the fall semester, while I was juggling 16 credit hours at a pretty competitive school, working two on campus jobs that combined for roughly 20-25 hours a week, coaching and playing football, and trying to still find some sort of time for a social life/sleep (that part took a bit of a hit at the end). I probably did roughly 20 hours of studying a week for the first 7 weeks while I was in school, and then did probably 7-8 hours a day of studying for the last three weeks (excluding Christmas, New Years, and all that). It was without a doubt the most I have ever worked for any academic pursuit, but I hope that by writing this I can help some people who might be in a similar situation see that you CAN do well and you CAN succeed as long as you make a reasonable schedule and have the mental toughness to stick to it.
My scores were:
QR- 22
RC- 22
BIO- 19
GC- 23
OC- 23
TS- 21
PAT- 22
AA- 22
Overall Study Plan
I based my study plan loosely off of DAT BootCamp Ari's 10 Week Study Plan, but tailored it to my own preferences. I'll break that down section by section below. Also, instead of having something set for each day, I listed what I had to do for the week, and then broke it down as I went along. This made it way easier for me to adjust my studies when I had tests/presentations to give for school and work. I also knew that the final three weeks of my 10 week plan were going to be my winter break home from school, so I knew I would have more time to study then, so I took the first five weeks of Ari's plan that consist of taking notes and reviewing, and extended that to 7 weeks (one of which was finals week and consisted of 0 hours of DAT studying). The final three weeks were just straight up practice problems, practice tests, and prayer.
Materials
DAT BootCamp- Loved it. Definitely harder than the actual test but it gets you really prepared, especially for the PAT. I had never gotten above a 20 on the BootCamp PAT section, but I pulled out a 22 on the actual thing.
Math/DAT Destroyer- Really tough questions, but they get you to know your stuff. I did all of the problems in DAT Destroyer, except for the Bio ones. Whichever ones I got wrong I re-did. Took a lot of time but definitely helped. Dr Romano (the author) also answers your questions here on the studentdoctor forums which is super helpful.
Coursesaver- Chad's definitely a smart dude, but like I will mention later, I had alot of technical problems with them. It's probably worth your time, but out of the materials I used it would be last on my list based on the hassle.
Kaplan Blue Book- Used it for Gen Chem and read their little test-taking tips which were helpful. People seem to hate on this book but I found it to be just fine. Only reason I didn't use it for OChem is because Chad's videos took less time to watch than taking notes on this book would have taken.
2007&2009 Practice Tests- I did the 07 test online, and ordered the paper 09 test. DAT BootCamp has explanations for the 2007 answers, but the 2009 answer explanations aren't anywhere. I would say 2007 is way too easy (except for reading, which I got like a 50% on), but a good confidence booster. 2009 math is tough, but the rest are pretty close to the actual DAT. Definitely a good last thing to do before the exam.
Sections
QR- For QR, I felt like if you passed 8th grade math you probably know everything on the test, except maybe some more complex trig or probability stuff, so the only studying I really did was watching the CourseSaver Chad's videos on the tough stuff and doing Math Destroyer Tests (untimed). One quick note on CourseSaver-- the website is really crappy, and I spent alot of time with customer service working out glitches on the site and problems with my subscription, but the OC videos came in handy in the end so I guess it was worth it. I downloaded their "myspeed" app or whatever its called to watch it in double speed, but the app only worked on firefox, so I had to download that too. Anyways, best representation of QR is the 2007 and 2009 DATs. On the actual thing I was expecting to get a 30 because I thought it was really easy and finished with 10 minutes left. I didn't check my work over though in those 10 minutes because that was the end of the test and I was totally done with DAT stuff, so my advice would be to double check.
RC- Took a couple practice tests on DAT BootCamp, not much else you can do. Kind of a you get it or you don't thing in my opinion- very similar to SAT Reading.
BIO- I followed Ari's plan with this pretty religiously, and ended up making a 90 page study guide of the 2003 Cliff AP Bio book. I took the tests in the back of the book and killed it (wish I had done that back when I was taking AP Bio!!). I also made flashcards and used the flashcards that my sister used when she was in AP Bio last year. I had an average of a 21 on my practice tests for Bio, and just got really unlucky with the actual test, as it seemed to consist entirely of all of the things that I was bad at. I probably marked half of the questions, but still pulled out a 19 so not terrible.
GC- Used mostly the Kaplan Blue Book, and did Destroyer Questions and BootCamp tests. I also reached out to my old AP Chem teacher who is a really cool dude, and he hooked me up with some kick-ass study guides for Acid-Base and Electrochem (Which were my toughest topics)
OC- I did pretty well in Orgo last year when I took it in school, and I actually remembered alot of the reactions. For a refresher though, I watched all of Chad's OChem videos (which I actually did all in one day with the videos at double speed because I was behind on my study schedule-- I do NOT suggest doing that.) I cannot stress enough that the best way to learn orgo is DOING PROBLEMS OVER AND OVER, so do as many problems as you can and you'll do great.
PAT- If you were to dedicate a couple of days straight where you only practiced PAT, I'm sure you would do really well. Towards the end of my studies, when I was realizing just doing 15 minutes of one section a day and that eyeballing game that Ari suggests wasn't cutting it, I devoted probably 10 hours to it in one day, and my scores shot up, except for the KeyHole section, which is the devil. I would suggest either the few full days of PAT, or putting in an hour of PAT each day, and you will kick butt. I also started with the sections that I was best at, and saved the ones I struggled in for last, because I figured even if I gave myself all the time in the world I would still probably get 10/15 right max, so might as well devote your time to the stuff you know you can get 15/15 on. If you google strategies for PAT or watch Ari's youtube videos you should get some good strategies to attack it with as well.
Practice Tests (QR/RC/BIO/GC/OC/TS/PAT/AA)
BootCamp 1-
23 21 20 19 17 19 17 20
BootCamp 2-
22 19 20 26 20 22 18 21
BootCamp 3-
22 22 18 24 18 20 20 21
Bootcamp 4-
23 23 20 19 26 22 20 22
Bootcamp 5-
20 23 22 22 21 22 19 22
2007 DAT-
27 18 23 30 26 26 23 25
2009 DAT-
23 23 23 26 22 24 24 23
Average-
23 21 21 24 21 22 20 22
Actual DAT-
22 22 19 23 23 21 22 22
I also did some other PAT tests, and got 18-20 on most of them.
All in all, best of luck to anyone taking the exam! I hope this helped you out! The last piece of advice I want to give you is to relax on exam day. You will always have more you can study, but you have to be confident in yourself and your ability to succeed. Success is 90% self-confidence! I had a bit of a below average day compared to my practice exams, and I think it was because I was freaking out the whole time I was taking the test. I wish I had just taken a breath and calmed myself down during the exam. I know that if you work hard and stay calm and confident, you'll do great things!
My scores were:
QR- 22
RC- 22
BIO- 19
GC- 23
OC- 23
TS- 21
PAT- 22
AA- 22
Overall Study Plan
I based my study plan loosely off of DAT BootCamp Ari's 10 Week Study Plan, but tailored it to my own preferences. I'll break that down section by section below. Also, instead of having something set for each day, I listed what I had to do for the week, and then broke it down as I went along. This made it way easier for me to adjust my studies when I had tests/presentations to give for school and work. I also knew that the final three weeks of my 10 week plan were going to be my winter break home from school, so I knew I would have more time to study then, so I took the first five weeks of Ari's plan that consist of taking notes and reviewing, and extended that to 7 weeks (one of which was finals week and consisted of 0 hours of DAT studying). The final three weeks were just straight up practice problems, practice tests, and prayer.
Materials
DAT BootCamp- Loved it. Definitely harder than the actual test but it gets you really prepared, especially for the PAT. I had never gotten above a 20 on the BootCamp PAT section, but I pulled out a 22 on the actual thing.
Math/DAT Destroyer- Really tough questions, but they get you to know your stuff. I did all of the problems in DAT Destroyer, except for the Bio ones. Whichever ones I got wrong I re-did. Took a lot of time but definitely helped. Dr Romano (the author) also answers your questions here on the studentdoctor forums which is super helpful.
Coursesaver- Chad's definitely a smart dude, but like I will mention later, I had alot of technical problems with them. It's probably worth your time, but out of the materials I used it would be last on my list based on the hassle.
Kaplan Blue Book- Used it for Gen Chem and read their little test-taking tips which were helpful. People seem to hate on this book but I found it to be just fine. Only reason I didn't use it for OChem is because Chad's videos took less time to watch than taking notes on this book would have taken.
2007&2009 Practice Tests- I did the 07 test online, and ordered the paper 09 test. DAT BootCamp has explanations for the 2007 answers, but the 2009 answer explanations aren't anywhere. I would say 2007 is way too easy (except for reading, which I got like a 50% on), but a good confidence booster. 2009 math is tough, but the rest are pretty close to the actual DAT. Definitely a good last thing to do before the exam.
Sections
QR- For QR, I felt like if you passed 8th grade math you probably know everything on the test, except maybe some more complex trig or probability stuff, so the only studying I really did was watching the CourseSaver Chad's videos on the tough stuff and doing Math Destroyer Tests (untimed). One quick note on CourseSaver-- the website is really crappy, and I spent alot of time with customer service working out glitches on the site and problems with my subscription, but the OC videos came in handy in the end so I guess it was worth it. I downloaded their "myspeed" app or whatever its called to watch it in double speed, but the app only worked on firefox, so I had to download that too. Anyways, best representation of QR is the 2007 and 2009 DATs. On the actual thing I was expecting to get a 30 because I thought it was really easy and finished with 10 minutes left. I didn't check my work over though in those 10 minutes because that was the end of the test and I was totally done with DAT stuff, so my advice would be to double check.
RC- Took a couple practice tests on DAT BootCamp, not much else you can do. Kind of a you get it or you don't thing in my opinion- very similar to SAT Reading.
BIO- I followed Ari's plan with this pretty religiously, and ended up making a 90 page study guide of the 2003 Cliff AP Bio book. I took the tests in the back of the book and killed it (wish I had done that back when I was taking AP Bio!!). I also made flashcards and used the flashcards that my sister used when she was in AP Bio last year. I had an average of a 21 on my practice tests for Bio, and just got really unlucky with the actual test, as it seemed to consist entirely of all of the things that I was bad at. I probably marked half of the questions, but still pulled out a 19 so not terrible.
GC- Used mostly the Kaplan Blue Book, and did Destroyer Questions and BootCamp tests. I also reached out to my old AP Chem teacher who is a really cool dude, and he hooked me up with some kick-ass study guides for Acid-Base and Electrochem (Which were my toughest topics)
OC- I did pretty well in Orgo last year when I took it in school, and I actually remembered alot of the reactions. For a refresher though, I watched all of Chad's OChem videos (which I actually did all in one day with the videos at double speed because I was behind on my study schedule-- I do NOT suggest doing that.) I cannot stress enough that the best way to learn orgo is DOING PROBLEMS OVER AND OVER, so do as many problems as you can and you'll do great.
PAT- If you were to dedicate a couple of days straight where you only practiced PAT, I'm sure you would do really well. Towards the end of my studies, when I was realizing just doing 15 minutes of one section a day and that eyeballing game that Ari suggests wasn't cutting it, I devoted probably 10 hours to it in one day, and my scores shot up, except for the KeyHole section, which is the devil. I would suggest either the few full days of PAT, or putting in an hour of PAT each day, and you will kick butt. I also started with the sections that I was best at, and saved the ones I struggled in for last, because I figured even if I gave myself all the time in the world I would still probably get 10/15 right max, so might as well devote your time to the stuff you know you can get 15/15 on. If you google strategies for PAT or watch Ari's youtube videos you should get some good strategies to attack it with as well.
Practice Tests (QR/RC/BIO/GC/OC/TS/PAT/AA)
BootCamp 1-
23 21 20 19 17 19 17 20
BootCamp 2-
22 19 20 26 20 22 18 21
BootCamp 3-
22 22 18 24 18 20 20 21
Bootcamp 4-
23 23 20 19 26 22 20 22
Bootcamp 5-
20 23 22 22 21 22 19 22
2007 DAT-
27 18 23 30 26 26 23 25
2009 DAT-
23 23 23 26 22 24 24 23
Average-
23 21 21 24 21 22 20 22
Actual DAT-
22 22 19 23 23 21 22 22
I also did some other PAT tests, and got 18-20 on most of them.
All in all, best of luck to anyone taking the exam! I hope this helped you out! The last piece of advice I want to give you is to relax on exam day. You will always have more you can study, but you have to be confident in yourself and your ability to succeed. Success is 90% self-confidence! I had a bit of a below average day compared to my practice exams, and I think it was because I was freaking out the whole time I was taking the test. I wish I had just taken a breath and calmed myself down during the exam. I know that if you work hard and stay calm and confident, you'll do great things!
