So I will be taking the DAT during the first week of spring semester. I will be taking 12 or 15 hours. (genetics and biochem along side 2 or 3 upper level major classes) during the fall semester and need advice in how to go about studying during the semester? I would like to start studying for it during the fall here and there and then go all in during the winter break, Monday - Friday 8+ hours. I know a month isn't a lot of time, that is why i want to sneak in some study time during the fall. I will be using chads videos, dat bootcamp, and dat destroyer. Any ideas in what i can do to begin study during the semester? As in, where is a good starting point? I was thinking reviewing chad's videos during the fall semester during the weekends when i have time.. HELP!!! How have you guys studied during the semester??? I just need some guidance in how to go about my particular situation.
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DAT PREP CRISIS!
- Thread starter jsta2304
- Start date
So I have not taken my DAT yet but i'm in somewhat of a similar situation. I am taking my DAT in November and started studying a few weeks ago, so much of my studying will be taking place this fall semester. I will be taking Biochem 1, Mole Cell, microbio, and doing some research in mole cell bio, that being said I understand the anxiety that comes with thinking about studying for the DAT along with upper level bio classes. My advice for your preparation would be to try to take a lighter load if possible (I just took genetics last spring and that class is a beating, however it will definitely help you with that portion of your bio review). From there try and squeeze in as much content review as possible during the semester and constantly review your notes until winter break. Once winter break hits you should have a solid few weeks to go through destroyer and bootcamp. If you finish your content review and want to transition into destroyer in order to really have time to thoroughly go through each question and learn from the solutions that wouldn't be a bad idea. Just keep in mind that its recommended to go through it more than once to really hammer things in. Also, it might be a good idea to expose yourself to some PAT before winter break because that section takes time to get really quick at. All in all, I recommend you to build a foundation before the break so you can focus on practice problems/tests during that time. If you feel that you have a solid foundation as it is maybe an extensive review may not be necessary. These are just suggestions and remember you know yourself best so do what you think is going to help you learn the material most efficiently while allowing you enough time to go through your resources to access your weakness and to work on them. I wish you the best of luck and maybe I can offer you some better advice in the future when I have taken my DAT.
Thanks so much for your reply! Yeah the whole process is extensive and very stressful, but we'll get there! What exactly do you mean by content review by the way? And I do want to start studying for PAT, what do you recommend?So I have not taken my DAT yet but i'm in somewhat of a similar situation. I am taking my DAT in November and started studying a few weeks ago, so much of my studying will be taking place this fall semester. I will be taking Biochem 1, Mole Cell, microbio, and doing some research in mole cell bio, that being said I understand the anxiety that comes with thinking about studying for the DAT along with upper level bio classes. My advice for your preparation would be to try to take a lighter load if possible (I just took genetics last spring and that class is a beating, however it will definitely help you with that portion of your bio review). From there try and squeeze in as much content review as possible during the semester and constantly review your notes until winter break. Once winter break hits you should have a solid few weeks to go through destroyer and bootcamp. If you finish your content review and want to transition into destroyer in order to really have time to thoroughly go through each question and learn from the solutions that wouldn't be a bad idea. Just keep in mind that its recommended to go through it more than once to really hammer things in. Also, it might be a good idea to expose yourself to some PAT before winter break because that section takes time to get really quick at. All in all, I recommend you to build a foundation before the break so you can focus on practice problems/tests during that time. If you feel that you have a solid foundation as it is maybe an extensive review may not be necessary. These are just suggestions and remember you know yourself best so do what you think is going to help you learn the material most efficiently while allowing you enough time to go through your resources to access your weakness and to work on them. I wish you the best of luck and maybe I can offer you some better advice in the future when I have taken my DAT.
Content review simply refers to the learning or relearning as well as reviewing of subjects that will be on the DAT. This is usually the first phase in preparing for the DAT before moving on to practice problems and tests. We can use Ari's 10 week schedule as an example, his schedule recommends the first 5 weeks for "content review", which consists of reading cliff's notes and feralis notes for biology, watching chad's videos or mikes videos for the chems, using the PAT academy/generators on bootcamp, reading scientific american for reading comprehension, and watching the "DAT QR" khan academy playlist on youtube for quantitative reasoning. That process I just mentioned is the content review, essentially building that foundation I was mentioning above. After this phase people typically transition into practicing what they just learned to reinforce concepts, tackle their weaknesses, and work on their test taking strategies as well as timing. So this second phase is the one I had recommended you go through during winter break to keep things fresh before the test. It's also highly recommended to review the notes you took during your content review throughout the entire process to ensure you do not forget what you learned. Im personally basing my study plan off of Ari's 10 week schedule (https://s3.amazonaws.com/datbootcamp/Ari'sStudySchedule.pdf) but i'm stretching over about 13 weeks and tweaking it to fit my personal needs. This is a good schedule to reference and to use to figure out what study schedule works best for you. Lastly, since you are waiting until winter break to do the bulk of you studying i'm assuming you will be waiting till then to get the bootcamp subscription. That being the case after you have scheduled your DAT go ahead and get bootcamp 90 days before that date and start practicing PAT. If you have the extra cash and wouldn't mind getting it sooner to practice PAT that is an option too. I would say maybe hold off until you know when your date is to avoid paying for 2 subscriptions (you need it closer towards your test date to do the practice tests/ full length exams). Sorry if my posts are really long , just want to help you do well!
