- Joined
- Jun 17, 2015
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 12
I took my DAT in August and have been meaning to post a breakdown for a while now. SDN got me through a lot of stress during the study process, so I thought I'd do my part in contributing. -- I'm going to give a breakdown/advice on my studying so keep reading if you're interested (it's going to be lengthy).
PAT: 20
QR: 18
RC: 19
Bio: 30
GC: 20
OC: 25
TS: 23
AA: 22
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To study, I used Chad's videos, Destroyer, Cliffs for bio, Crack DAT and a little bit of bootcamp. I ended up getting bootcamp at the very end of my studying and wish I would have used it sooner! I used Ari's guide but ended up making significant adjustments. Initially, I was following his schedule but after the first month I realized it was too slow and I would not be prepared enough by the time my test day came around. His guide goes through the destroyer once... BUT if you want to do well, you need to go through it at least twice.. maybe even 3 times. The first month I was studying about 4 hours a day but by month two I was doing 10-12 hours a day. This allowed me to finish destroyer 2.5 times with a week left over for full-length tests and review (mind you, I had no life and literally got my first gray hair LOL it's worth it though dw).
PAT: I used Crack DAT for PAT initially, but would definitely recommend bootcamp instead. I struggled SO MUCH with TFE and going through Crack DAT I was feeling super insecure and overwhelmed. I only used bootcamp for about a week and the TFE visualizer saved me. If I would have known better, I would have skipped Crack DAT and just gotten bootcamp from the beginning, I'm sure my scores would have improved significantly. On the real DAT there were a few 'rock' questions in the keyhole section which you don't get practice with on bootcamp. These are a pain in the ass. I used this free site to get an idea which helped some: http://www.datgenius.com/rock-keyholes/
BIO: For bio, I used Cliff's as an overview, taking notes through every chapter and making flashcards on all the topics that I was not sure about. Bio was definitely one of my weakest subjects and what made me the most nervous, so seeing my score at the end of the exam shocked me. I had borrowed a friend's Kaplan Blue book first, but after looking through it for a few days, I realized it was just WAY to general. I recommend Cliff's over Kaplan a million times over. After I finished cliff's, I spent a significant time doing the Destroyer bio problems (and when I say doing the problems I mean guessing and studying the answers in the back... the explanations in the back of the book are a life saver - spend your time on them even if you got the answer right! Figure out why the other options are wrong and review, review, review). The Destroyer problems are crazy hard. I was averaging 50% every time which is really discouraging, but don't worry! They train you for the worst so that the actual DAT feels like a breeze. I was really stressed about taxonomy since I had never taken a class on it, but it turned out there was only one question on my DAT that had even the slightest bit of taxonomy. Take that with a grain of salt though since the questions obviously change. My advice: learn a little bit about everything and you'll be able to guess your way through hard questions. Don't spend too much time on the small details.
OC/GC: As you probably know, Chad's videos are the best for OC and GC. I HATE GC but Chad does a really great job of giving you tips and tricks to remember the formulas and calculate things quickly. I printed out all of the outlines and after I finished watching the videos, I spent time going through the outlines at least once a week. The week before my exam, I went through the OC reactions until I had every single one of them memorized. Again, Destroyer is key to beating these sections. I felt like many of the actual DAT questions were similar to the GC questions in destroyer, but the OC on the real DAT was much easier.
QR: QR sucks for everyone I think. I used the Math Destroyer for most of my QR studying after I went through Chad's videos. I knew going in to the test that this was going to be my weakest section. A lot of people told me that the keyboard doesn't work for the calculator but it did for me so that saved me A LOT of time. I'd suggest checking first thing during the tutorial section and hitting 'num lock' on your keypad... maybe that's why it didn't work for others? I skipped through all the questions I wasn't sure about, guessing and marking them. I had time to go back to 4 or 5 before my time ran out, but I'd say I guessed on 60% of the questions for this section.
RC: I spent the least time studying for reading. The only reading practice I had was the full length tests on bootcamp. If I could do it again, I would definitely spend more time here... even a 20 or 21 would have raised my AA significantly. The readings were very similar to the ones in bootcamp which was good but I found myself consistently strapped for time (hence practice would have done me good). I was able to highlight the readings too during my test which I didn't you could do... this was a life-saver.
The last week before my exam, I did a full-length bootcamp practice test every day. I got through about 6 which I really, really recommend. By the time I took my test, I was comfortable with the 4.5 hours of testing and I was able to pace myself well (I ended up having an extra 15 minutes at the end of my science section). My advice: study with the full intention of taking the DAT only once. Give it your all cause lord knows you don't want to go through it again. Take it when you're ready, but keep in mind, you'll probably never feel ready.
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I know this post was painfully long, but I hope you found it somewhat helpful. If you have any other questions, let me know~ I'm more than happy to give whatever advice I can. Good luck with your studies and remember to breathe! You will be okay
-B
PAT: 20
QR: 18
RC: 19
Bio: 30
GC: 20
OC: 25
TS: 23
AA: 22
*
*
*
To study, I used Chad's videos, Destroyer, Cliffs for bio, Crack DAT and a little bit of bootcamp. I ended up getting bootcamp at the very end of my studying and wish I would have used it sooner! I used Ari's guide but ended up making significant adjustments. Initially, I was following his schedule but after the first month I realized it was too slow and I would not be prepared enough by the time my test day came around. His guide goes through the destroyer once... BUT if you want to do well, you need to go through it at least twice.. maybe even 3 times. The first month I was studying about 4 hours a day but by month two I was doing 10-12 hours a day. This allowed me to finish destroyer 2.5 times with a week left over for full-length tests and review (mind you, I had no life and literally got my first gray hair LOL it's worth it though dw).
PAT: I used Crack DAT for PAT initially, but would definitely recommend bootcamp instead. I struggled SO MUCH with TFE and going through Crack DAT I was feeling super insecure and overwhelmed. I only used bootcamp for about a week and the TFE visualizer saved me. If I would have known better, I would have skipped Crack DAT and just gotten bootcamp from the beginning, I'm sure my scores would have improved significantly. On the real DAT there were a few 'rock' questions in the keyhole section which you don't get practice with on bootcamp. These are a pain in the ass. I used this free site to get an idea which helped some: http://www.datgenius.com/rock-keyholes/
BIO: For bio, I used Cliff's as an overview, taking notes through every chapter and making flashcards on all the topics that I was not sure about. Bio was definitely one of my weakest subjects and what made me the most nervous, so seeing my score at the end of the exam shocked me. I had borrowed a friend's Kaplan Blue book first, but after looking through it for a few days, I realized it was just WAY to general. I recommend Cliff's over Kaplan a million times over. After I finished cliff's, I spent a significant time doing the Destroyer bio problems (and when I say doing the problems I mean guessing and studying the answers in the back... the explanations in the back of the book are a life saver - spend your time on them even if you got the answer right! Figure out why the other options are wrong and review, review, review). The Destroyer problems are crazy hard. I was averaging 50% every time which is really discouraging, but don't worry! They train you for the worst so that the actual DAT feels like a breeze. I was really stressed about taxonomy since I had never taken a class on it, but it turned out there was only one question on my DAT that had even the slightest bit of taxonomy. Take that with a grain of salt though since the questions obviously change. My advice: learn a little bit about everything and you'll be able to guess your way through hard questions. Don't spend too much time on the small details.
OC/GC: As you probably know, Chad's videos are the best for OC and GC. I HATE GC but Chad does a really great job of giving you tips and tricks to remember the formulas and calculate things quickly. I printed out all of the outlines and after I finished watching the videos, I spent time going through the outlines at least once a week. The week before my exam, I went through the OC reactions until I had every single one of them memorized. Again, Destroyer is key to beating these sections. I felt like many of the actual DAT questions were similar to the GC questions in destroyer, but the OC on the real DAT was much easier.
QR: QR sucks for everyone I think. I used the Math Destroyer for most of my QR studying after I went through Chad's videos. I knew going in to the test that this was going to be my weakest section. A lot of people told me that the keyboard doesn't work for the calculator but it did for me so that saved me A LOT of time. I'd suggest checking first thing during the tutorial section and hitting 'num lock' on your keypad... maybe that's why it didn't work for others? I skipped through all the questions I wasn't sure about, guessing and marking them. I had time to go back to 4 or 5 before my time ran out, but I'd say I guessed on 60% of the questions for this section.
RC: I spent the least time studying for reading. The only reading practice I had was the full length tests on bootcamp. If I could do it again, I would definitely spend more time here... even a 20 or 21 would have raised my AA significantly. The readings were very similar to the ones in bootcamp which was good but I found myself consistently strapped for time (hence practice would have done me good). I was able to highlight the readings too during my test which I didn't you could do... this was a life-saver.
The last week before my exam, I did a full-length bootcamp practice test every day. I got through about 6 which I really, really recommend. By the time I took my test, I was comfortable with the 4.5 hours of testing and I was able to pace myself well (I ended up having an extra 15 minutes at the end of my science section). My advice: study with the full intention of taking the DAT only once. Give it your all cause lord knows you don't want to go through it again. Take it when you're ready, but keep in mind, you'll probably never feel ready.
*
*
*
I know this post was painfully long, but I hope you found it somewhat helpful. If you have any other questions, let me know~ I'm more than happy to give whatever advice I can. Good luck with your studies and remember to breathe! You will be okay
-B
