mimiglasssnow
New Member
BIO - 30
CHM - 21
PAT - 22
RC - 22
AA - 24
I wanted to make a post about my experience with Booster since I found reading other people's breakdowns really helpful when I was studying. I've taken the DAT more than once, so I'll also mention a few things I did differently between attempts.
Biology:
I initially started with the Feralis notes, but honestly, the original notes were SO dense. There was just so much information, and I quickly realized I wasn't going to have enough time to get through everything.
I ended up switching to the videos and cheat sheets instead. What I would do was open the cheat sheets on my iPad, watch each corresponding video, and write down additional notes as I went along. If there was something I didn't understand, I'd go back to the actual study notes for clarification.
Honestly, I found this more than enough. The cheat sheets are pretty comprehensive, and I felt like they covered the material quite well. I also really liked having everything condensed onto a few pages because it made reviewing SO much easier.
The second time I took the DAT, I actually tried going through the study notes and doing the Bio Bites, but I found it incredibly time-consuming. By the time I got through everything, I felt like I was already forgetting some of the material. Looking back, I honestly think I preferred my original approach. Being able to quickly go through the cheat sheets multiple times was much more helpful for me than spending hours getting through the full notes just once.
General Chemistry:
Chemistry was definitely my weakest section, so I spent quite a bit of time on it.
I mainly relied on the videos because I'm really not someone who can sit down and read pages and pages of notes and retain everything. I would watch the videos, pause before the instructor solved a question, and try to work it out myself.
For chemistry, I honestly found that practice was the most helpful. After doing enough questions, I started noticing that a lot of them followed similar patterns. You start recognizing what kind of question you're dealing with and what steps you need to take to solve it.
One thing I would definitely change about my actual exam strategy is time management. I was so stressed about the biology section that I ended up spending too much time on it and actually ran out of time for the last few chemistry questions. Looking back, knowing that chemistry was my weaker section, I probably should have started with chemistry, finished it, and then gone back to biology. Biology felt more like knowledge recall and fact-checking for me, so I think I could have moved through it faster.
PAT:
Practice, practice, practice. I really can't emphasize this enough.
I did SO many PAT questions that eventually some of the sections became almost automatic.
One thing I also did on the actual exam was start with Angle Ranking (question 31), work my way through to the end of PAT, and then come back to Top-Front-End and Keyhole.
I found that getting through the sections where I was more comfortable first allowed me to save more time for the ones that required a little more thinking. I didn't want to spend too long on one difficult question while there were other questions I knew I could answer much faster.
For cube counting, I got to the point where I could look at a picture and immediately know how many cubes had a certain number of painted sides. It really just came down to doing enough questions until you recognized the patterns without having to spend so much time counting everything.
This was probably the hardest section for me to improve on. For acute angles, I found the knife method really helpful. For obtuse angles, I actually came across a tip about a week before my exam that helped a little. Instead of trying to compare the angles directly, look at which mountain is bigger. Is it a flatter, wider mountain or a sharper one? I found that helped me distinguish between some of the obtuse angles.
Another random tip that helped me was closing my eyes between questions! I know it sounds a little silly, and it takes a couple of seconds, but I found that it helped reset my eyes before looking at the next set of angles. I would close my eyes while clicking the next button, then open them again and look at the new question. I felt like I could judge the angles a little more clearly instead of carrying over what I had just been looking at.
For hole punching, I used the paper method. I would draw the grid lines on the paper they provided and work through the folds that way. Again, I just did so many questions that I gradually got much faster.
I will say that Booster's six-fold and half-hole-punch questions were REALLY difficult. But honestly, I think that was a good thing because the actual exam felt more manageable in comparison.
For Top-Front-End, one thing that helped me a lot was looking at the answer choices first instead of immediately trying to visualize the entire object. Usually, I noticed that the four answer choices could be split into two groups: two would have one similar line, and the other two would have a different one.
So, for example, if two answers had a dashed line and the other two had a straight line, I would go back to the original image and figure out whether that particular line would actually be visible from the top, front, or end. Just figuring out that one detail would already eliminate two answer choices. I found this much faster than trying to visualize the entire object every time. I would only do that if I was really stuck.
For Keyhole, I don't really have any amazing tips. I mostly just practiced and tried to compare the dimensions and lines of the object to the answer choices.
For Pattern Folding, I also tried not to mentally fold the entire thing unless I absolutely had to. I'd look at the individual shapes and try to find one of the more unusual or distinct sides, then match that to the answer choices. I found this much easier than trying to visualize the whole thing folding in my head.
Overall, I think getting really comfortable with cube counting and hole punching is so important. If you can get through those sections quickly and accurately, you have more time to spend on Keyhole and Pattern Folding, which I personally found harder. You don't necessarily need to be amazing at every single PAT subsection if you can make up time in the ones you're good at.
Reading Comprehension:
I'm naturally a pretty fast reader, so I never really used the search-and-destroy method.
My first two DAT attempts I got a 23, and my most recent one was a 22, so a little sad about that.
One thing I noticed was that some of the passages were quite biology-heavy, and a lot of the questions were really about remembering specific facts from the passage.
My biggest tip would be to actually pay attention to the details as you're reading. Highlight specific years, dates, names, and lists of information. For example, if they're talking about a particular plant and listing its benefits, I'd highlight those benefits because you might get a question asking whether a specific benefit was mentioned in the passage.
I found that a lot of the questions were more about fact-checking than making complicated inferences, so having those details highlighted was really helpful when going back to the passage.
I didn't really change my reading strategy much between attempts since I'm already a fast reader, but I would definitely recommend finding a method that works with your natural reading style rather than forcing yourself to use someone else's strategy.
Practice Tests / Study Timeline:
For my most recent attempt, I studied for approximately 6 weeks. My first attempt, on the other hand, was only about 2.5 months of studying.
One thing I did differently the first time was dedicate the final two weeks almost entirely to practice exams. I was doing around 2 practice tests a day and ended up completing close to 18 practice tests in total.
I genuinely think this helped a lot. By that point, I had already gone through most of the content, so I wanted to get comfortable with the timing, question formats, and just sitting through the entire exam.
I found that doing so many practice exams also helped me recognize the types of questions that kept coming up and figure out where I was still making mistakes.
Overall, I think Booster has a lot of resources, and you can pick and choose what works for you. My biggest takeaway is that you should figure out what works for you and stick with it. For me, watching videos, annotating the cheat sheets, and doing lots of practice questions worked much better than trying to read hundreds of pages of notes.
Hopefully this helps someone who's currently studying! Good luck everyone!!
CHM - 21
PAT - 22
RC - 22
AA - 24
I wanted to make a post about my experience with Booster since I found reading other people's breakdowns really helpful when I was studying. I've taken the DAT more than once, so I'll also mention a few things I did differently between attempts.
Biology:
I initially started with the Feralis notes, but honestly, the original notes were SO dense. There was just so much information, and I quickly realized I wasn't going to have enough time to get through everything.
I ended up switching to the videos and cheat sheets instead. What I would do was open the cheat sheets on my iPad, watch each corresponding video, and write down additional notes as I went along. If there was something I didn't understand, I'd go back to the actual study notes for clarification.
Honestly, I found this more than enough. The cheat sheets are pretty comprehensive, and I felt like they covered the material quite well. I also really liked having everything condensed onto a few pages because it made reviewing SO much easier.
The second time I took the DAT, I actually tried going through the study notes and doing the Bio Bites, but I found it incredibly time-consuming. By the time I got through everything, I felt like I was already forgetting some of the material. Looking back, I honestly think I preferred my original approach. Being able to quickly go through the cheat sheets multiple times was much more helpful for me than spending hours getting through the full notes just once.
General Chemistry:
Chemistry was definitely my weakest section, so I spent quite a bit of time on it.
I mainly relied on the videos because I'm really not someone who can sit down and read pages and pages of notes and retain everything. I would watch the videos, pause before the instructor solved a question, and try to work it out myself.
For chemistry, I honestly found that practice was the most helpful. After doing enough questions, I started noticing that a lot of them followed similar patterns. You start recognizing what kind of question you're dealing with and what steps you need to take to solve it.
One thing I would definitely change about my actual exam strategy is time management. I was so stressed about the biology section that I ended up spending too much time on it and actually ran out of time for the last few chemistry questions. Looking back, knowing that chemistry was my weaker section, I probably should have started with chemistry, finished it, and then gone back to biology. Biology felt more like knowledge recall and fact-checking for me, so I think I could have moved through it faster.
PAT:
Practice, practice, practice. I really can't emphasize this enough.
I did SO many PAT questions that eventually some of the sections became almost automatic.
One thing I also did on the actual exam was start with Angle Ranking (question 31), work my way through to the end of PAT, and then come back to Top-Front-End and Keyhole.
I found that getting through the sections where I was more comfortable first allowed me to save more time for the ones that required a little more thinking. I didn't want to spend too long on one difficult question while there were other questions I knew I could answer much faster.
For cube counting, I got to the point where I could look at a picture and immediately know how many cubes had a certain number of painted sides. It really just came down to doing enough questions until you recognized the patterns without having to spend so much time counting everything.
This was probably the hardest section for me to improve on. For acute angles, I found the knife method really helpful. For obtuse angles, I actually came across a tip about a week before my exam that helped a little. Instead of trying to compare the angles directly, look at which mountain is bigger. Is it a flatter, wider mountain or a sharper one? I found that helped me distinguish between some of the obtuse angles.
Another random tip that helped me was closing my eyes between questions! I know it sounds a little silly, and it takes a couple of seconds, but I found that it helped reset my eyes before looking at the next set of angles. I would close my eyes while clicking the next button, then open them again and look at the new question. I felt like I could judge the angles a little more clearly instead of carrying over what I had just been looking at.
For hole punching, I used the paper method. I would draw the grid lines on the paper they provided and work through the folds that way. Again, I just did so many questions that I gradually got much faster.
I will say that Booster's six-fold and half-hole-punch questions were REALLY difficult. But honestly, I think that was a good thing because the actual exam felt more manageable in comparison.
For Top-Front-End, one thing that helped me a lot was looking at the answer choices first instead of immediately trying to visualize the entire object. Usually, I noticed that the four answer choices could be split into two groups: two would have one similar line, and the other two would have a different one.
So, for example, if two answers had a dashed line and the other two had a straight line, I would go back to the original image and figure out whether that particular line would actually be visible from the top, front, or end. Just figuring out that one detail would already eliminate two answer choices. I found this much faster than trying to visualize the entire object every time. I would only do that if I was really stuck.
For Keyhole, I don't really have any amazing tips. I mostly just practiced and tried to compare the dimensions and lines of the object to the answer choices.
For Pattern Folding, I also tried not to mentally fold the entire thing unless I absolutely had to. I'd look at the individual shapes and try to find one of the more unusual or distinct sides, then match that to the answer choices. I found this much easier than trying to visualize the whole thing folding in my head.
Overall, I think getting really comfortable with cube counting and hole punching is so important. If you can get through those sections quickly and accurately, you have more time to spend on Keyhole and Pattern Folding, which I personally found harder. You don't necessarily need to be amazing at every single PAT subsection if you can make up time in the ones you're good at.
Reading Comprehension:
I'm naturally a pretty fast reader, so I never really used the search-and-destroy method.
My first two DAT attempts I got a 23, and my most recent one was a 22, so a little sad about that.
One thing I noticed was that some of the passages were quite biology-heavy, and a lot of the questions were really about remembering specific facts from the passage.
My biggest tip would be to actually pay attention to the details as you're reading. Highlight specific years, dates, names, and lists of information. For example, if they're talking about a particular plant and listing its benefits, I'd highlight those benefits because you might get a question asking whether a specific benefit was mentioned in the passage.
I found that a lot of the questions were more about fact-checking than making complicated inferences, so having those details highlighted was really helpful when going back to the passage.
I didn't really change my reading strategy much between attempts since I'm already a fast reader, but I would definitely recommend finding a method that works with your natural reading style rather than forcing yourself to use someone else's strategy.
Practice Tests / Study Timeline:
For my most recent attempt, I studied for approximately 6 weeks. My first attempt, on the other hand, was only about 2.5 months of studying.
One thing I did differently the first time was dedicate the final two weeks almost entirely to practice exams. I was doing around 2 practice tests a day and ended up completing close to 18 practice tests in total.
I genuinely think this helped a lot. By that point, I had already gone through most of the content, so I wanted to get comfortable with the timing, question formats, and just sitting through the entire exam.
I found that doing so many practice exams also helped me recognize the types of questions that kept coming up and figure out where I was still making mistakes.
Overall, I think Booster has a lot of resources, and you can pick and choose what works for you. My biggest takeaway is that you should figure out what works for you and stick with it. For me, watching videos, annotating the cheat sheets, and doing lots of practice questions worked much better than trying to read hundreds of pages of notes.
Hopefully this helps someone who's currently studying! Good luck everyone!!
