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Aamiracle

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Okay so I recently began studying for the DAT and plan on taking it Feb/March 2016. (haven't signed up yet).

The books I have right now are:

Cliff's AP Biology (PDF)
DAT Destroyer '15
Math Destroyer '15.

I have just gone over the biology section of DAT destroyer and have done 100 questions & read over a few chapters and took notes in cliff's AP.
After just that, I realized I forgot A LOT, and need a nice refresher of everything (Bio, Chem, Orgo, Math) because each question is familiar but foreign to me at the same time.

I've heard Chad videos are excellent but those were from pretty old/outdated threads, and I just wanted to see if that was still the case. Someone else told me Princeton Review books were also good, and I haven't heard the best about Kaplan.

I want to basically reteach myself for the month of December, and then get cracking down on questions for two months before the test or mix it up, either or.

I'm a graduate with a BS in Biology, and also work almost full-time, so I do try to study around that and manage 3 hours a day.

any advice is appreciated!
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Chad videos are still very relevant! It is really good for ochem and gchem. Some of his math videos are good too. It's good that you got the destroyer books already!
 
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Hey. Chad was apparently supposed to update his material this last summer; it never happened though. It's still incredible for learning concepts and getting an awesome base for organic chemistry/general chemistry. From there a lot of people recommend doing DAT Destroyer (which I see you have) and DAT Bootcamp for even more test prep.
I did exactly what you did and spent a month re-learning all the material for all 3 science subjects and math. I used Cliffs's AP Biology + Feralis Notes + Craig Savage Youtube videos for biology.
For Ochem I'm using chads then DAT Destroyer very soon. Same with general chemistry.

I haven't taken the test yet (it's in January for me) but I can see why so many people recommend the approach I provided; I feel like I know what's going on!
 
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omarski said:
Hey. Chad was apparently supposed to update his material this last summer; it never happened though. It's still incredible for learning concepts and getting an awesome base for organic chemistry/general chemistry. From there a lot of people recommend doing DAT Destroyer (which I see you have) and DAT Bootcamp for even more test prep.
I did exactly what you did and spent a month re-learning all the material for all 3 science subjects and math. I used Cliffs's AP Biology + Feralis Notes + Craig Savage Youtube videos for biology.
For Ochem I'm using chads then DAT Destroyer very soon. Same with general chemistry.

I haven't taken the test yet (it's in January for me) but I can see why so many people recommend the approach I provided; I feel like I know what's going on!
Click to expand...

He was? Well I used it throughout the summer and it was great (and so did many others on the forum). I wouldn't worry about that. I second craig savage, he's great!
 
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omarski said:
Hey. Chad was apparently supposed to update his material this last summer; it never happened though. It's still incredible for learning concepts and getting an awesome base for organic chemistry/general chemistry. From there a lot of people recommend doing DAT Destroyer (which I see you have) and DAT Bootcamp for even more test prep.
I did exactly what you did and spent a month re-learning all the material for all 3 science subjects and math. I used Cliffs's AP Biology + Feralis Notes + Craig Savage Youtube videos for biology.
For Ochem I'm using chads then DAT Destroyer very soon. Same with general chemistry.

I haven't taken the test yet (it's in January for me) but I can see why so many people recommend the approach I provided; I feel like I know what's going on!
Click to expand...

Awesome thank you! I guess I started studying in the wrong order! lol, but I'm going to subscribe to Chad videos or just buy them outright because I'm lacking foundation in Gchem and Ochem.
 
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Chad's videos are amazing! I am a bio major and hadn't taken GC in 4 years so had pretty much forgotten everything. Just took my DAT in November and I got a 22 on GC. Definitely a great base to learn most of the high yield GC concepts you will see on the DAT.
 
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so far...

I currently have gone over majority of ferralis biology notes (very dense..)

watched every Gen Chem and Orgo video for chad, took notes on each video & did the after video quizzes.

Going to start destroyer tomorrow and just practice basically 4-5 days a week for a few hours a day, and I'm taking it early march.

As for RC I started to just read a science article daily, and going to start practicing QR the last week of Jan.

I do eventually plan on purchasing crack the dat for the PAT section in Feb, and other then that, that's my initial plan.
 
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Sounds like you know what you're doing! Take it in march if you can. I only gave myself 5 weeks to study and studying 10-15 hrs a day is absolute hell lol
 
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LuckBloodandSweat said:
Sounds like you know what you're doing! Take it in march if you can. I only gave myself 5 weeks to study and studying 10-15 hrs a day is absolute hell lol
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yeah i plan to, Just went through 80 orgo questions from destroyer, and all i can say is I feel like I got owned, they are so difficult!
 
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I just did 100 today LOL. I had my friend who's an orgo TA at my college help me. I got about 60-65% right which is meh but a huge improvement over where I was 2 weeks ago! I indeed do feel like I'm getting owned most of the time lolll
 
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LuckBloodandSweat said:
I just did 100 today LOL. I had my friend who's an orgo TA at my college help me. I got about 60-65% right which is meh but a huge improvement over where I was 2 weeks ago! I indeed do feel like I'm getting owned most of the time lolll
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haha glad im not the only one, I'm reviewing my chad notes and going to look at the 80 questions again and try to understand what i did.. and do 20 more and then tackle like 50 gen chem questions afterwards...

what other sources are you using?
 
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Pretty much the same stuff most people are. Feralis notes, Bootcamp, Crack DAT PAT and Topscore. I did use the Kaplan Mcat Bio book too and i felt it was solid for anatomy but we'll see how my DAT goes in less than 2 weeks! haha
 
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LuckBloodandSweat said:
Pretty much the same stuff most people are. Feralis notes, Bootcamp, Crack DAT PAT and Topscore. I did use the Kaplan Mcat Bio book too and i felt it was solid for anatomy but we'll see how my DAT goes in less than 2 weeks! haha
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sounds like your on the right track, I still need to get my hands on bootcamp and crack the dat!

destroyer is wrecking me right now, do you have a better approach to the problems themselves? I do learn from some of them, but some I Can't picture having to do on the DAT itself
 
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destroyer is supposed to be overkill. We're not all like feralis who can get 80-90% of them right haha. I think if you're getting over 70% on destroyer you should be good. I get about 65% or so now. I used to get 40-50%! So it's a great gauge to see that you've actually learned stuff
 
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LuckBloodandSweat said:
destroyer is supposed to be overkill. We're not all like feralis who can get 80-90% of them right haha. I think if you're getting over 70% on destroyer you should be good. I get about 65% or so now. I used to get 40-50%! So it's a great gauge to see that you've actually learned stuff
Click to expand...
It really kills my confidence, I do about 25 questions from orgo, gen chem, and bio each study session, and get about 5-10 right, I'm considering finding another source, I seem to learn from some of it, but I don't feel great after a study session of destroyer. and good stuff on receiving his #! hopefully you can learn a considerable amount from him and perform well

where are you at now with your studying?
 
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Got only a week left till my test about. And don't give up on destroyer dude! Eventually you'll learn from your mistakes, or maybe it's helping you target some weaknesses! I admit there are a few questions in there where I am just like what the heck is this but better safe than sorry. I got 20s/21s on bootcamp and that's a major disappointment to me because I want to get 24 or so but I can dream I guess. Only things I can consistently get over 23s in practice in are math and rc :(. Possibly the least important sections. I pretty much just finished all of chad's videos and my material review. I'm gonna crack down on destroyer, review notes, maybe take some more notes on feralis and create some drill charts/packets for myself. I find it helps if I rewrite stuff on a blank page and test myself on it. It worked pretty well during my first good semester but it can be pretty tiring I suppose. I also really need to step up my PAT game. I get 16-18s on bootcamp and it's so damn discouraging.
 
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try using my natural science notes if you want high scores on the science sections
 
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thanks jacobs! Yeah I just started looking at them. They're pretty awesome! Your notes in tandem with feralis and destroyer will hopefully boost me up quite a bit in the next week. I've gone through all of chad's and reviewed anatomy and cell bio. I'm pretty fresh on eco and evo from an upper division class in college so I haven't gone too nuts about that thankfully.
 
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LuckBloodandSweat said:
Got only a week left till my test about. And don't give up on destroyer dude! Eventually you'll learn from your mistakes, or maybe it's helping you target some weaknesses! I admit there are a few questions in there where I am just like what the heck is this but better safe than sorry. I got 20s/21s on bootcamp and that's a major disappointment to me because I want to get 24 or so but I can dream I guess. Only things I can consistently get over 23s in practice in are math and rc :(. Possibly the least important sections. I pretty much just finished all of chad's videos and my material review. I'm gonna crack down on destroyer, review notes, maybe take some more notes on feralis and create some drill charts/packets for myself. I find it helps if I rewrite stuff on a blank page and test myself on it. It worked pretty well during my first good semester but it can be pretty tiring I suppose. I also really need to step up my PAT game. I get 16-18s on bootcamp and it's so damn discouraging.
Click to expand...

I think you'll be just fine, you seem to have it together, everyone keeps saying and telling me the practice material is harder then the actual test so your 20/21s are equivalent to 25/26 on the real thing. & math and RC are still important in a certain sense! they'll boost your overall grade as well! I haven't even looked at the math really at all besides the first few chad videos, and that is my weakest subject.

right now I'm not entirely sure when to take the test...I was just about to register for march 7th today but I'm scared that I won't be ready; working 35-40 hours a week & taking a English class is going to take up a decent amount of time and limit the amount of study time for me to be prepared by march 7th..but on top of that I do have a trip that is a week long booked for the middle of march, so I would lose a week of study time to that for sure, but I would have a solid 2-3 weeks after the trip!?? I also hope my stress about this test doesn't ruin the trip either though..
 
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omarski said:
Hey. Chad was apparently supposed to update his material this last summer; it never happened though. It's still incredible for learning concepts and getting an awesome base for organic chemistry/general chemistry. From there a lot of people recommend doing DAT Destroyer (which I see you have) and DAT Bootcamp for even more test prep.
I did exactly what you did and spent a month re-learning all the material for all 3 science subjects and math. I used Cliffs's AP Biology + Feralis Notes + Craig Savage Youtube videos for biology.
For Ochem I'm using chads then DAT Destroyer very soon. Same with general chemistry.

I haven't taken the test yet (it's in January for me) but I can see why so many people recommend the approach I provided; I feel like I know what's going on!
Click to expand...

hey, I hope it went well if you've taken it already, curious to see how it turned out for you!
 
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Thanks miracle. I'm mostly just doing the destroyer now. I'm getting a fairly reasonable amount of questions right and I think I'm just worrying myself sick. I've been pretty good at standardized tests in the past and have started to step up my grades in college too. I just need to be confident.
 
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LuckBloodandSweat said:
Thanks miracle. I'm mostly just doing the destroyer now. I'm getting a fairly reasonable amount of questions right and I think I'm just worrying myself sick. I've been pretty good at standardized tests in the past and have started to step up my grades in college too. I just need to be confident.
Click to expand...
I think you'll be fine, especially if you are getting the questions right! I'm terrible at standardized tests but realized the more stressed I get, the worse I do, so just relax and you'll be fine and it'll be over with before you know it!
 
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Thanks man. I just did the 2007 ADA and I think I killed it although 07 might be too easy.
Here's what I just got on 07 lol
BIO: 20
GC: 28 or 30? i got them all right lol
OC: 28
PAT: 18
RC: 21
QR: 24

I could live with that on test day but idk how accurate 2007 is.
 
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LuckBloodandSweat said:
Thanks man. I just did the 2007 ADA and I think I killed it although 07 might be too easy.
Here's what I just got on 07 lol
BIO: 20
GC: 28 or 30? i got them all right lol
OC: 28
PAT: 18
RC: 21
QR: 24

I could live with that on test day but idk how accurate 2007 is.
Click to expand...
thats amazing!

especially GC and OC, did you just use chad and destroyer for those? I'm very weak in those right now, so far I have been practicing math and bio for a while.

Also, after your DAT, can you post a breakdown and let me know what helped you the most and what didn't?
 
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LuckBloodandSweat said:
My DAT was bad :(. I posted a mini rant. I'm sure you can find it somewhere if not lmk and I'll bump.
Click to expand...

I'm sure you did decent! I couldn't find it, but I don't really know how to navigate the forums well either.

Any tips? I let go of one job, so I can have more time to study for Feb.
 
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