So I’ve been a long time forum lurker and recently took the DAT, so I figured I’d pass on some of the things I learned. My strategy was to simply dive in and do as many particle problems as humanly possible over the course of 10-12 hours a day for roughly 5 weeks.
ACTUAL DAT TEST SCORES
BIO: 22
CHEM:22
ORGO: 23
PAT: 22
RC: 18
QR: 18
AA: 21
TS: 22
BOOTCAMP SCORES
BIO: 18, 16, 18, 18, 22
CHEM: 18, 19, 25, 18, 18
ORGO: 18, 19, 21, 21, 23
PAT: 18, 19, 19, 20, 19
RC: 16, 17, 19, 18, 18
QR: 18, 18, 20,18, 18
WHAT I USED TO STUDY
1) DAT Destroyer: this is your bible. It will give you the entire scope of what will be on the exam in BIO, CHEM, ORGO, and QR. Go through the problems untimed and learn to do each problem. If you get one wrong, review the whole subject by referencing chads videos, not just how to do that specific problem. ($100)
2) DAT Math Destroyer ($100)
3) Chads videos ($90)
4) Cliffs AP bio or Barrons, whatever your into ($5 used on amazon)
5) DAT Bootcamp ($100) I was extremely hesitant to purchase bootcamp as none of my friends who took the DAT last year used it and they all told me to use crack the DAT. Also the reviewers test scores on their site look kind of ridiculously high. What kind of gest 25 lol. Buying the subscription turned out to be the best decision I ever made. The fact that this product is only $100 is total steel. YOU MUST BUY BOOT CAMP AND TAKE THE 5 TEST THE LAST 7-10 BEFORE YOUR EXAM. I attached my score sheets for each boot camp exam I took. I studied the hell out of each exam and really ignored my scores and just focused on learning the material, and not simply memorizing the answers. However knowing the material is simply not enough for the DAT, you have to know how to take the exam. Bootcamp will; give you the physical and mental stamina you need for exam day. Teach you to use the software which is essentially identical to what you will see on test day including the online calculator. And most importantly, allow you to work on your timing. On my actual exam I had like 35 minutes left to review my sciences sections thanks to using bootcamp.
6) DAT Question of the day
SECTION BREAK DOWN
BIO Materials (in the order I used them)
-Cliffs AP bio: be able to explain this entire book out loud before you take this exam
-Khan academy: really useful for getting the overall picture of subjects you are weak in
-DAT boot camp supplemental blogs on DNA technology, digestion, etc. (this was gold to say the least)
-DAT Destroyer: 420 problems, use only after you have reviewed the material
-DAT Boot camp-these exams helped immensely, no subject on the DAT will be covered that you did not see on these five exams. STUDY THEM!
-The Bio section on the DAT covers a vast amount of material. I genuinely believe that the people writing the exam want to make sure the test taker understands the fundamentals, unlike the 2007 DAT bio section which simply requires you to memorize a trillion random facts (which you will subsequently have to do anyways lol). When studying, I would dedicate 5-6 hours a day to Bio, and 5-6 hours a day to everything else. It is an important score form what I understand.
-Do yourself a great favor and watch this video before you start studying for bio, it helped me immensely. Try to grasp the bigger picture of everything, especially for biochem, if your able to do that, you’ll get through bio no problem. What I would do is talk out loud to myself, and try to explain the concepts to a six year old. It helps.
Note: for orgo and chem, when I got a question wrong and knew I had to review a subject, I would go watch the chads video on the respective subject, wait a day, and take the quiz associated with the video. Ironically I probably watched at least 90% of the videos lol.
CHEM
-DAT destroyer 30 problems a day untimed
-DAT boot camp work on your timing
ORGO
-DAT Destroyer 30 problems a day untimed
-ACS orgo study guide (just a bunch of problems
-DAT Boot camp
PAT
-DAT boot camp YouTube videos
-DAT boot camp
-THIS IS ALL YOU NEED FOR THIS SECTION. The highest I scored on a practice exam was a 20 and I got a 22 on the real thing with plenty of time to spare to review my answers. When you take the DAT boot camp exams, take note of how many you got right out of 15 on each section (ie. Keyhole, cubes etc.) , and address your weaknesses by retaking the exams and using the generators in the areas you are weak. Be persistent and never get discouraged.
Note: I highly recommend you sleep the night before your exam lol. I might have gotten two hours of sleep the night before and half way through the RC section I thought to myself “**** I’m half asleep”
RC
-DAT bootcamp
-much harder than the real thing
QR
-DAT Destroyer 10 times harder than the real thing
-DAT Boot Camp also 15 times harder than the real thing, again learn the problems it’ll help you a lot.
Other Random Thoughts:
1) If your test is at 8am, you should be taking your studying and starting you practice exams at 8am everyday. I'm an early bird so I got to the pro metric center at 7 and got to start my exam at 7 30 even though I was scheduled to start at 8.
2) Study the material in the order you will see it on the exam
3) On lunch breaks, watch khan academy videos and do sets of PAT angles
I hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions. Good luck!
ACTUAL DAT TEST SCORES
BIO: 22
CHEM:22
ORGO: 23
PAT: 22
RC: 18
QR: 18
AA: 21
TS: 22
BOOTCAMP SCORES
BIO: 18, 16, 18, 18, 22
CHEM: 18, 19, 25, 18, 18
ORGO: 18, 19, 21, 21, 23
PAT: 18, 19, 19, 20, 19
RC: 16, 17, 19, 18, 18
QR: 18, 18, 20,18, 18
WHAT I USED TO STUDY
1) DAT Destroyer: this is your bible. It will give you the entire scope of what will be on the exam in BIO, CHEM, ORGO, and QR. Go through the problems untimed and learn to do each problem. If you get one wrong, review the whole subject by referencing chads videos, not just how to do that specific problem. ($100)
2) DAT Math Destroyer ($100)
3) Chads videos ($90)
4) Cliffs AP bio or Barrons, whatever your into ($5 used on amazon)
5) DAT Bootcamp ($100) I was extremely hesitant to purchase bootcamp as none of my friends who took the DAT last year used it and they all told me to use crack the DAT. Also the reviewers test scores on their site look kind of ridiculously high. What kind of gest 25 lol. Buying the subscription turned out to be the best decision I ever made. The fact that this product is only $100 is total steel. YOU MUST BUY BOOT CAMP AND TAKE THE 5 TEST THE LAST 7-10 BEFORE YOUR EXAM. I attached my score sheets for each boot camp exam I took. I studied the hell out of each exam and really ignored my scores and just focused on learning the material, and not simply memorizing the answers. However knowing the material is simply not enough for the DAT, you have to know how to take the exam. Bootcamp will; give you the physical and mental stamina you need for exam day. Teach you to use the software which is essentially identical to what you will see on test day including the online calculator. And most importantly, allow you to work on your timing. On my actual exam I had like 35 minutes left to review my sciences sections thanks to using bootcamp.
6) DAT Question of the day
SECTION BREAK DOWN
BIO Materials (in the order I used them)
-Cliffs AP bio: be able to explain this entire book out loud before you take this exam
-Khan academy: really useful for getting the overall picture of subjects you are weak in
-DAT boot camp supplemental blogs on DNA technology, digestion, etc. (this was gold to say the least)
-DAT Destroyer: 420 problems, use only after you have reviewed the material
-DAT Boot camp-these exams helped immensely, no subject on the DAT will be covered that you did not see on these five exams. STUDY THEM!
-The Bio section on the DAT covers a vast amount of material. I genuinely believe that the people writing the exam want to make sure the test taker understands the fundamentals, unlike the 2007 DAT bio section which simply requires you to memorize a trillion random facts (which you will subsequently have to do anyways lol). When studying, I would dedicate 5-6 hours a day to Bio, and 5-6 hours a day to everything else. It is an important score form what I understand.
-Do yourself a great favor and watch this video before you start studying for bio, it helped me immensely. Try to grasp the bigger picture of everything, especially for biochem, if your able to do that, you’ll get through bio no problem. What I would do is talk out loud to myself, and try to explain the concepts to a six year old. It helps.
Note: for orgo and chem, when I got a question wrong and knew I had to review a subject, I would go watch the chads video on the respective subject, wait a day, and take the quiz associated with the video. Ironically I probably watched at least 90% of the videos lol.
CHEM
-DAT destroyer 30 problems a day untimed
-DAT boot camp work on your timing
ORGO
-DAT Destroyer 30 problems a day untimed
-ACS orgo study guide (just a bunch of problems
-DAT Boot camp
PAT
-DAT boot camp YouTube videos
-DAT boot camp
-THIS IS ALL YOU NEED FOR THIS SECTION. The highest I scored on a practice exam was a 20 and I got a 22 on the real thing with plenty of time to spare to review my answers. When you take the DAT boot camp exams, take note of how many you got right out of 15 on each section (ie. Keyhole, cubes etc.) , and address your weaknesses by retaking the exams and using the generators in the areas you are weak. Be persistent and never get discouraged.
Note: I highly recommend you sleep the night before your exam lol. I might have gotten two hours of sleep the night before and half way through the RC section I thought to myself “**** I’m half asleep”
RC
-DAT bootcamp
-much harder than the real thing
QR
-DAT Destroyer 10 times harder than the real thing
-DAT Boot Camp also 15 times harder than the real thing, again learn the problems it’ll help you a lot.
Other Random Thoughts:
1) If your test is at 8am, you should be taking your studying and starting you practice exams at 8am everyday. I'm an early bird so I got to the pro metric center at 7 and got to start my exam at 7 30 even though I was scheduled to start at 8.
2) Study the material in the order you will see it on the exam
3) On lunch breaks, watch khan academy videos and do sets of PAT angles
I hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions. Good luck!
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