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2025 DAT Breakdown (530AA)
I’ve found these posts super helpful for getting a grasp of how to study for the DAT when I first started and also to calm my nerves right before the exam dates, so here’s my contribution. Hope this can help you to prepare for your future DAT 🙂))
Scores (New scoring system and what it translates to in terms of the old one)
AA – 530 ~ 26
SNS – 550 ~ 27
BIO – 470 ~ 23
GC – 570 ~ 28
OC – 600 ~ 30
PAT – 480 ~ 22
QR – 490 ~ 23
RC – 500 ~ 25
Background:
I’m a biochem major, GPA 3.8. I started studying for the DAT during my gap year. I’m good with math, chem, and ochem, but I’m really bad with bio and anything that require memorizing. Aside from studying, I have 2 part-time jobs that take up about 20-30 hours a week, so 3 months of studying was never going to be enough for me.
Materials Used
I know cramming everything into 3 months will be the death of me, so I spread it out to a total of 6 months preparing for the test. 3 months spent on gen chem and ochem, and 3 months for bio and everything else.
Nov-Jan:
The goal for these 3 months was to refresh my memories on these subjects. My 1st bio class was taken in 2021, and it’s been 2 years since I finish the ochem series.
This was an opportunity to get one of the subjects out of my way too. Ochem was my best subject and the one I did most recently, so it was the easiest to review at the time.
As for you tube channels, I highly recommend Chad’s Prep. He’s an amazing guy, and his materials are amazing not only for the test, but also for when you are taking classes. This guy carried me through my ochem series. This is my primary way to review for ochem and gen chem.
By the end of the 1st 3 months, I finished reviewing ochem, partially for gen chem, but didn’t do much for bio.
Feb-May:
This is when I started using booster.
Within the 1st week, I tried to watch all of the videos on RC, PAT and QR, so that starting from the 2nd week, I can settle into a routine of 1 reading passage, 5-10 PAT questions for each sections, and started chipping off the QR question bank, 10-20 questions a day.
For me, I’m most prepared for ochem, followed by gen chem, and lastly bio. Thus, for my study schedule, I’ll focus on 1 subject a day, then alternate it like bio-genchem-bio-ochem-bio-… and so on.
For bio, I start with watching all the videos in one chapter. Then try to do the question bank, and mark the topics that I didn’t feel confident about, then go back and review it.
As I’ve review ochem and gen chem prior, I can jump straight into doing practice problem. At this point, I only need to tailor my prior knowledge to fit the DAT better, like what to focus more on and what not.
For the last 2 weeks, it was all practice exam, reviewing what I got wrong and determining what I need to review. I also started using anki at this point to quicky find out what I’ve forgotten and need to review.
Exam day: (May)
Natural science: DAT booster practice exam was quite representative of this section. My goal was to max out one of the subjects, which I was quite lucky to get a 600 for ochem.
PAT: It’s quite similar to Booster practice problems. I still couldn’t confidently do this section as it’s such a time crunch. Worst section of all time, but you still gotta try your best. Practice practice practice makes all the difference.
RC: Just like PAT, the more practice you get, the better you’ll be prepared for what they have to throw at you. I wasn’t able to finish my last passage, which was something I was very concerned about, but luckily it wasn’t too bad
QR: I was hoping I could max this section out, but this was harder than the practice tests I did in booster. I had a lot of the “A and B are sufficient together but neither is sufficient alone” type of question, which took up the bulk of my time, and I barely got to the last question before time’s up.
Personal notes:
- Aim to max out 1 or 2 sections you’re the best at. It’s a weird but super effective way to raise your score.
- I don’t feel like there’s a shortcut for RC and PAT, so it’s important to stick to a daily routine, like 1-2 hours reviewing them. However, don’t stress out too much either.
- Learn SMARTER, not HARDER. Being able to figure out what you need to prioritize is very important, especially if you procrastinate and find yourself in a time crunch.
- Take note if it’s how you study best, but remember, for the test, you need to recall the info FAST. For me, I find repeating videos helpful for memorizing bio facts without having to think to much about them, so occasionally I’d rewatch videos on x2 speed every 2 weeks or so. No notes taking for me.
- BIO IS OVERWHELMING: the sheer amount of information in the bio section is insane. Please approach it with a clear schedule of what you’re going to do when, and make sure you stick to it. Use the Booster cheatsheet to quickly remind yourself of the materials, but the question banks should be able to help secure all the info. However, do remember that there’s only 40 questions for what seems like triple the amount of information, so don’t tress too much if there’re certain topics you can’t seem to get right.
Things I’d do differently:
- Study for DAT in summer and take it by the end of junior year, or just do it earlier overall, in case I need to retake. (gotta wait 2 months before you can retake, and most dental applications open in June- I was lucky my score was good the 1st time)
By the end of Junior year, I've just finished ochem-> minimal review as the info is still fresh. Plus, I have to take biochem for my senior year, and I found that the bio information I reviewed for the DAT would’ve greatly benefited me during those classes.
- Be mindful of my time, and plan realistically. During the 6 months, I’ve definitely slacked off multiple times and procrastinated. This only leads to one day’s worth of material being crammed into the next and so on. This sucks. Please make schedules that you can follow. Better to do more than what you initially planned, than to do less.
- Use ANKI more: I only started using it much later, almost too late, but it was amazing. I could only imagine how much better I’d retain my info if I integrated it more into my studies. Maybe going through the flashcards 2-3 times a week or so.
I’ve found these posts super helpful for getting a grasp of how to study for the DAT when I first started and also to calm my nerves right before the exam dates, so here’s my contribution. Hope this can help you to prepare for your future DAT 🙂))
Scores (New scoring system and what it translates to in terms of the old one)
AA – 530 ~ 26
SNS – 550 ~ 27
BIO – 470 ~ 23
GC – 570 ~ 28
OC – 600 ~ 30
PAT – 480 ~ 22
QR – 490 ~ 23
RC – 500 ~ 25
Background:
I’m a biochem major, GPA 3.8. I started studying for the DAT during my gap year. I’m good with math, chem, and ochem, but I’m really bad with bio and anything that require memorizing. Aside from studying, I have 2 part-time jobs that take up about 20-30 hours a week, so 3 months of studying was never going to be enough for me.
Materials Used
- Lecture notes and YouTube videos
- DAT Booster
- (Optional) Anki flashcards and Quizlet
I know cramming everything into 3 months will be the death of me, so I spread it out to a total of 6 months preparing for the test. 3 months spent on gen chem and ochem, and 3 months for bio and everything else.
Nov-Jan:
The goal for these 3 months was to refresh my memories on these subjects. My 1st bio class was taken in 2021, and it’s been 2 years since I finish the ochem series.
This was an opportunity to get one of the subjects out of my way too. Ochem was my best subject and the one I did most recently, so it was the easiest to review at the time.
As for you tube channels, I highly recommend Chad’s Prep. He’s an amazing guy, and his materials are amazing not only for the test, but also for when you are taking classes. This guy carried me through my ochem series. This is my primary way to review for ochem and gen chem.
By the end of the 1st 3 months, I finished reviewing ochem, partially for gen chem, but didn’t do much for bio.
Feb-May:
This is when I started using booster.
Within the 1st week, I tried to watch all of the videos on RC, PAT and QR, so that starting from the 2nd week, I can settle into a routine of 1 reading passage, 5-10 PAT questions for each sections, and started chipping off the QR question bank, 10-20 questions a day.
For me, I’m most prepared for ochem, followed by gen chem, and lastly bio. Thus, for my study schedule, I’ll focus on 1 subject a day, then alternate it like bio-genchem-bio-ochem-bio-… and so on.
For bio, I start with watching all the videos in one chapter. Then try to do the question bank, and mark the topics that I didn’t feel confident about, then go back and review it.
As I’ve review ochem and gen chem prior, I can jump straight into doing practice problem. At this point, I only need to tailor my prior knowledge to fit the DAT better, like what to focus more on and what not.
For the last 2 weeks, it was all practice exam, reviewing what I got wrong and determining what I need to review. I also started using anki at this point to quicky find out what I’ve forgotten and need to review.
Exam day: (May)
Natural science: DAT booster practice exam was quite representative of this section. My goal was to max out one of the subjects, which I was quite lucky to get a 600 for ochem.
PAT: It’s quite similar to Booster practice problems. I still couldn’t confidently do this section as it’s such a time crunch. Worst section of all time, but you still gotta try your best. Practice practice practice makes all the difference.
RC: Just like PAT, the more practice you get, the better you’ll be prepared for what they have to throw at you. I wasn’t able to finish my last passage, which was something I was very concerned about, but luckily it wasn’t too bad
QR: I was hoping I could max this section out, but this was harder than the practice tests I did in booster. I had a lot of the “A and B are sufficient together but neither is sufficient alone” type of question, which took up the bulk of my time, and I barely got to the last question before time’s up.
Personal notes:
- Aim to max out 1 or 2 sections you’re the best at. It’s a weird but super effective way to raise your score.
- I don’t feel like there’s a shortcut for RC and PAT, so it’s important to stick to a daily routine, like 1-2 hours reviewing them. However, don’t stress out too much either.
- Learn SMARTER, not HARDER. Being able to figure out what you need to prioritize is very important, especially if you procrastinate and find yourself in a time crunch.
- Take note if it’s how you study best, but remember, for the test, you need to recall the info FAST. For me, I find repeating videos helpful for memorizing bio facts without having to think to much about them, so occasionally I’d rewatch videos on x2 speed every 2 weeks or so. No notes taking for me.
- BIO IS OVERWHELMING: the sheer amount of information in the bio section is insane. Please approach it with a clear schedule of what you’re going to do when, and make sure you stick to it. Use the Booster cheatsheet to quickly remind yourself of the materials, but the question banks should be able to help secure all the info. However, do remember that there’s only 40 questions for what seems like triple the amount of information, so don’t tress too much if there’re certain topics you can’t seem to get right.
Things I’d do differently:
- Study for DAT in summer and take it by the end of junior year, or just do it earlier overall, in case I need to retake. (gotta wait 2 months before you can retake, and most dental applications open in June- I was lucky my score was good the 1st time)
By the end of Junior year, I've just finished ochem-> minimal review as the info is still fresh. Plus, I have to take biochem for my senior year, and I found that the bio information I reviewed for the DAT would’ve greatly benefited me during those classes.
- Be mindful of my time, and plan realistically. During the 6 months, I’ve definitely slacked off multiple times and procrastinated. This only leads to one day’s worth of material being crammed into the next and so on. This sucks. Please make schedules that you can follow. Better to do more than what you initially planned, than to do less.
- Use ANKI more: I only started using it much later, almost too late, but it was amazing. I could only imagine how much better I’d retain my info if I integrated it more into my studies. Maybe going through the flashcards 2-3 times a week or so.