1TrickUnicorn
Future smilemaker
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2018
- Messages
- 56
- Reaction score
- 49
Hey everyone!
I took my DAT recently and did pretty well for studying under 4 weeks. I thought it would be worthwhile making a thread for students who are in a time crunch and want to get the most out of their studying time like I did. Here is my score breakdown and how I prepared:
PAT: 30
QR: 24
RC: 22
BIOLOGY: 26
CHEMISTRY: 30
ORGO: 30
TS: 26
AA: 26
Study Materials (spent $130 in total)
-PATBooster $80
-DATDestroyer + Math Destroyer $0
-Chad’s videos $0
-Feralis Notes $0
-DATqvault’s Reading $49
Like most of you guys, I'm a broke college student and so I didn’t have the money for an expensive prep course like Kaplan or an expensive DATBootcamp membership. It also didn’t help that my parent’s recently filed for bankruptcy so I had to use only study materials that I thought were essential enough for me to do well.
I ended up getting a friend’s copy of the 2018 DATdestroyer book. For chemistry review I used Chad’s videos that were available on youtube. The only thing I purchased myself was PATbooster and DATqvault’s Reading Comprehension tests. At one point I did manage to get a free expiring DATBootcamp account near the start of my dedicated study period but I didn’t find it too helpful, so I didn’t purchase it. Plus most of the content was available for free so it made no sense to spend $500 on practice tests.
My Study Schedule
1. One month before studying for real DAT = PATBooster
I started preparing for the PAT a month before I started studying for the DAT. I heard mixed information where some people were saying DATBootcamp is more than enough while others were saying PATBooster is the best. I somehow managed to get a free expiring bootcamp account to try it before making up my mind and I honestly thought the PAT content was a bit outdated on DATBootcamp compared to PATBooster. I also didn’t find the Bootcamp PAT videos to be that helpful compare to Booster’s videos. So at the end I chose to stick with Booster for the PAT and continued to do PATBooster problems up until four weeks leading up to my DAT since my classes took up so much time. Looking back now, this was the smartest thing I did.
2. First week of studying = Feralis Biology Notes
When I actually started studying, I dedicated my first week to go through the Feralis Biology Notes. It’s very dense and dry but it literally had everything that you need to know for the DAT. I remember coming back to it at the end of my DAT and literally saw the answer to every question within the notes.
3. Remaining weeks = DATDestroyer/MathDestroyer, Chad’s Videos, PATBooster
In the 2nd week, I moved on to the DATDestroyer book and started redoing the PATbooster questions under the compilation tests. During this time, I also started watching all of Chad’s videos which were absolutely amazing, he made studying so easy and explained everything so clearly. Since they are focused on different sections, I used them at the same time for the remainder of my study schedule.
It took me about 2.5 weeks to get through DATDestroyer/Mathdestroyer and Chad’s videos. While going through these study materials, I took notes and actively reviewed them every day. Destroyer taught me a lot but it was often times draining to go through the books and I found myself dreading studying them in the days leading up to my DAT. But if anything, destroyer over prepared me for the exam as the questions I came across were so much easier. Dr. Romano’s questions were essential and it really helped me drill in the information that I needed to do well.
PATbooster however I did not get tired of. I think that more so has to do with the fact that PATBooster made it very enjoyable. Not only did it have very insightful tools and generators, but their actual exams and solutions are very well thought out. You can tell they really put a lot of time and effort into making them. Similar to destroyer though, I found that PATbooster had tests that were slightly harder than the PAT I had on my actual DAT but I was very happy with being over prepared in this instance.
During this time period I also tried completing at least 2 DATqvault reading comprehension tests every week leading up to the DAT for practice. I honestly should have spent more time on reading comp but I was doing well on the practice tests so I spent less time on it. While preparing amongst all this, I continued to review Feralis biology notes every few days so that I could retain everything.
Had I dedicated more time to this study period, I would have reviewed Chad’s videos one more time. He did such an amazing job at explaining topics that I can say without a doubt, he was one of the main reasons I did so well.
4. Last 3 days before actual DAT = Sample DAT Practice Test
It wasn’t until 3 days before my DAT that I took my first official DAT practice test. I did pretty well on it and so it boosted my confidence going into the real DAT. Any question I got wrong on that example, I tried figuring out why I got that question wrong in the first place. For the remaining days, I took time to review all of my notes and relax.
Overall experience
Overall I’m glad with what I did and couldn’t have been happier with my scores. I was hesitant to not use DATBootcamp but honestly it’s not needed at all. If you know people that wrote the DAT, do not hesitate to reach out and see if they have any resources for you. It can save you so much money and you can get some really good advice from them at the same time. I was fortunate I had a friend that was very kind to me and gave me their books.
At the end, I want to give a special thank-you to PATbooster, DATDestroyer, Chad, and Feralis for creating amazing study resources. I owe my DAT scores to them.Lastly if you're reading this and are taking the DAT soon, my advice is to start early and work hard. There’s no magic formula where you buy a certain course or product and you will magically get high scores. Be realistic and don't take any shortcuts, hard work prevails. Good luck!
Edit: Thank you everyone for your kind words! DM me if you have any questions. 🙂
I took my DAT recently and did pretty well for studying under 4 weeks. I thought it would be worthwhile making a thread for students who are in a time crunch and want to get the most out of their studying time like I did. Here is my score breakdown and how I prepared:
PAT: 30
QR: 24
RC: 22
BIOLOGY: 26
CHEMISTRY: 30
ORGO: 30
TS: 26
AA: 26
Study Materials (spent $130 in total)
-PATBooster $80
-DATDestroyer + Math Destroyer $0
-Chad’s videos $0
-Feralis Notes $0
-DATqvault’s Reading $49
Like most of you guys, I'm a broke college student and so I didn’t have the money for an expensive prep course like Kaplan or an expensive DATBootcamp membership. It also didn’t help that my parent’s recently filed for bankruptcy so I had to use only study materials that I thought were essential enough for me to do well.
I ended up getting a friend’s copy of the 2018 DATdestroyer book. For chemistry review I used Chad’s videos that were available on youtube. The only thing I purchased myself was PATbooster and DATqvault’s Reading Comprehension tests. At one point I did manage to get a free expiring DATBootcamp account near the start of my dedicated study period but I didn’t find it too helpful, so I didn’t purchase it. Plus most of the content was available for free so it made no sense to spend $500 on practice tests.
My Study Schedule
1. One month before studying for real DAT = PATBooster
I started preparing for the PAT a month before I started studying for the DAT. I heard mixed information where some people were saying DATBootcamp is more than enough while others were saying PATBooster is the best. I somehow managed to get a free expiring bootcamp account to try it before making up my mind and I honestly thought the PAT content was a bit outdated on DATBootcamp compared to PATBooster. I also didn’t find the Bootcamp PAT videos to be that helpful compare to Booster’s videos. So at the end I chose to stick with Booster for the PAT and continued to do PATBooster problems up until four weeks leading up to my DAT since my classes took up so much time. Looking back now, this was the smartest thing I did.
2. First week of studying = Feralis Biology Notes
When I actually started studying, I dedicated my first week to go through the Feralis Biology Notes. It’s very dense and dry but it literally had everything that you need to know for the DAT. I remember coming back to it at the end of my DAT and literally saw the answer to every question within the notes.
3. Remaining weeks = DATDestroyer/MathDestroyer, Chad’s Videos, PATBooster
In the 2nd week, I moved on to the DATDestroyer book and started redoing the PATbooster questions under the compilation tests. During this time, I also started watching all of Chad’s videos which were absolutely amazing, he made studying so easy and explained everything so clearly. Since they are focused on different sections, I used them at the same time for the remainder of my study schedule.
It took me about 2.5 weeks to get through DATDestroyer/Mathdestroyer and Chad’s videos. While going through these study materials, I took notes and actively reviewed them every day. Destroyer taught me a lot but it was often times draining to go through the books and I found myself dreading studying them in the days leading up to my DAT. But if anything, destroyer over prepared me for the exam as the questions I came across were so much easier. Dr. Romano’s questions were essential and it really helped me drill in the information that I needed to do well.
PATbooster however I did not get tired of. I think that more so has to do with the fact that PATBooster made it very enjoyable. Not only did it have very insightful tools and generators, but their actual exams and solutions are very well thought out. You can tell they really put a lot of time and effort into making them. Similar to destroyer though, I found that PATbooster had tests that were slightly harder than the PAT I had on my actual DAT but I was very happy with being over prepared in this instance.
During this time period I also tried completing at least 2 DATqvault reading comprehension tests every week leading up to the DAT for practice. I honestly should have spent more time on reading comp but I was doing well on the practice tests so I spent less time on it. While preparing amongst all this, I continued to review Feralis biology notes every few days so that I could retain everything.
Had I dedicated more time to this study period, I would have reviewed Chad’s videos one more time. He did such an amazing job at explaining topics that I can say without a doubt, he was one of the main reasons I did so well.
4. Last 3 days before actual DAT = Sample DAT Practice Test
It wasn’t until 3 days before my DAT that I took my first official DAT practice test. I did pretty well on it and so it boosted my confidence going into the real DAT. Any question I got wrong on that example, I tried figuring out why I got that question wrong in the first place. For the remaining days, I took time to review all of my notes and relax.
Overall experience
Overall I’m glad with what I did and couldn’t have been happier with my scores. I was hesitant to not use DATBootcamp but honestly it’s not needed at all. If you know people that wrote the DAT, do not hesitate to reach out and see if they have any resources for you. It can save you so much money and you can get some really good advice from them at the same time. I was fortunate I had a friend that was very kind to me and gave me their books.
At the end, I want to give a special thank-you to PATbooster, DATDestroyer, Chad, and Feralis for creating amazing study resources. I owe my DAT scores to them.Lastly if you're reading this and are taking the DAT soon, my advice is to start early and work hard. There’s no magic formula where you buy a certain course or product and you will magically get high scores. Be realistic and don't take any shortcuts, hard work prevails. Good luck!
Edit: Thank you everyone for your kind words! DM me if you have any questions. 🙂
Attachments
Last edited:
