DAT in a week

[chalet131998]

Hey guys-

I’m taking the DAT this upcoming Saturday, and am posting to ask how I should best spend my time this week in order to fully prepare.

I’ve been studying for around 2.5 months and I recently took Bootcamp’s Full Length Exams 5-7 and have been consistently scoring in the 18-19 range for SNS.

I know everyone says not to fixate on BC scores, but considering that I’d like to score better on the real thing, these scores are beginning to mess with my head a little. If anyone who’s already taken the DAT can chime in and give advice on the most effective way to approach this week, that’d be greatly appreciated.

SUMMARY: DAT in a week; bootcamp scores not ideal; looking for best approach to make the most effective use of my time

Thanks

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[zToothinator]

What are your scores for RC and QR? Those factor into your AA as well and can either bring you up to a 20 or further down below 18.

If you're hoping to take the DAT this upcoming Saturday and not postpone it, I personally, would focus on gen chem and orgo. The chemistry section gets redundant after a while whereas biology is too broad to effectively increase your score within a week. Work through the gen chem and orgo section for each Bootcamp test you've taken. After each test, go through each question, whether you got it right or wrong, to understand the topic behind each one. On the ones you got wrong, ask if you got it wrong because you made a silly mistake or didn't understand the topic. If you made a mistake, just mentally make a note to slow down during the test to avoid dumb mistakes that will cost you points on test day due to jitters. If you don't understand the topic, read through the notes to see if it jogs your memory. If not, watch Mike's video on the topic to explain it further.

Again, the chemistry section becomes repetitive after you do a lot of practice questions on Bootcamp. On my actual DAT, I saw very similar questions to DAT Bootcamp so if you can identify the high-yield questions on Bootcamp and then learn how to attack those problems, I think that you'll be able to bring your gen chem and orgo score to consistently be 20+. If your bio is an 18 and RC and QR are also 20+, you'll be in good shape.

This is how I tacked gen chem and orgo. Chemistry (orgo by far) was my worst of biology, chem, and physics so I was extremely nervous for these sections.

 

[Let me out!]

Well, it will vary by each poster but one thing is for sure:

Not being on SDN. You have one week. Nothing you do at this point will change anything. Keep doing what you've been doing and finalize it.

 

[chalet131998]

What are your scores for RC and QR? Those factor into your AA as well and can either bring you up to a 20 or further down below 18.

If you're hoping to take the DAT this upcoming Saturday and not postpone it, I personally, would focus on gen chem and orgo. The chemistry section gets redundant after a while whereas biology is too broad to effectively increase your score within a week. Work through the gen chem and orgo section for each Bootcamp test you've taken. After each test, go through each question, whether you got it right or wrong, to understand the topic behind each one. On the ones you got wrong, ask if you got it wrong because you made a silly mistake or didn't understand the topic. If you made a mistake, just mentally make a note to slow down during the test to avoid dumb mistakes that will cost you points on test day due to jitters. If you don't understand the topic, read through the notes to see if it jogs your memory. If not, watch Mike's video on the topic to explain it further.

Again, the chemistry section becomes repetitive after you do a lot of practice questions on Bootcamp. On my actual DAT, I saw very similar questions to DAT Bootcamp so if you can identify the high-yield questions on Bootcamp and then learn how to attack those problems, I think that you'll be able to bring your gen chem and orgo score to consistently be 20+. If your bio is an 18 and RC and QR are also 20+, you'll be in good shape.

This is how I tacked gen chem and orgo. Chemistry (orgo by far) was my worst of biology, chem, and physics so I was extremely nervous for these sections.

Will do that. QR is sitting around 19 (planning on doing the last few math destroyer tests this week) and RC has consistently been 23+. PAT as well has been 19+. Thanks for the reply!

 

[zToothinator]

Will do that. QR is sitting around 19 (planning on doing the last few math destroyer tests this week) and RC has consistently been 23+. PAT as well has been 19+. Thanks for the reply!

No problem! Have you finished the Bootcamp QR yet? If not, I found Bootcamp to be more similar in question type and difficulty than math destroyer.