DAT prepping: AP chemistry as my only background general chemistry knowledge

[BlueDime]

Hello,
I am currently a third year who is planning on studying for the DAT at some point near winter 2021 or summer 2021. I have taken Organic chem 1 and 2. Before applying to my university, I had taken the AP chemistry test in high school, and did alright enough to not have to take the Gen Chem 1 course. At my university, Gen chem 1 and 2 material are in the same semester of the Gen chem 1 course. The Gen Chem 2 course is considered Analytical chemistry. I think it has some Gen chem 2 material but goes more in depth with analytical stuff (it's weird I know). My plan is to not take Gen chem 2 until after I take the DAT.

My question is will I be able to re-review and "teach" myself general chemistry for the DAT using my knowledge from AP chemistry and additional sources? What are some resources that could help me get ready for the general chemistry 1 & 2 material of the DAT?

Any advice is appreciated!

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[Blueshirts]

A lot of people use chad's videos/course saver to brush up on material, it is honestly very good, just have to google either name and you'll see a link

 

[BlueDime]

A lot of people use chad's videos/course saver to brush up on material, it is honestly very good, just have to google either name and you'll see a link

Thank you!

 

[Blueshirts]

Np, feel free to ask any questions i'll try to answer if I can, gl

 

[chemphysicsinstructor]

Hello,
I am currently a third year who is planning on studying for the DAT at some point near winter 2021 or summer 2021. I have taken Organic chem 1 and 2. Before applying to my university, I had taken the AP chemistry test in high school, and did alright enough to not have to take the Gen Chem 1 course. At my university, Gen chem 1 and 2 material are in the same semester of the Gen chem 1 course. The Gen Chem 2 course is considered Analytical chemistry. I think it has some Gen chem 2 material but goes more in depth with analytical stuff (it's weird I know). My plan is to not take Gen chem 2 until after I take the DAT.

My question is will I be able to re-review and "teach" myself general chemistry for the DAT using my knowledge from AP chemistry and additional sources? What are some resources that could help me get ready for the general chemistry 1 & 2 material of the DAT?

Any advice is appreciated!

Yes, you can teach yourself the necessary general chemistry. An AP chemistry textbook is a good starting point. I recommend making sure you understand the basic concepts and not spend too much time focusing on long calculation-based problems.

 

[BlueDime]

Yes, you can teach yourself the necessary general chemistry. An AP chemistry textbook is a good starting point. I recommend making sure you understand the basic concepts and not spend too much time focusing on long calculation-based problems.

Noted. Thanks! Do you mean I should focus on calculation problems once I have gotten down the basic concepts? Or they are not heavily-tested on?

 

[Blueshirts]

Noted. Thanks! Do you mean I should focus on calculation problems once I have gotten down the basic concepts? Or they are not heavily-tested on?

The questions are designed to be done fast, you won't end up seeing difficult math, but you should understand the the necessary equations, the math will generally be easy whole numbers

 

[BlueDime]

The questions are designed to be done fast, you won't end up seeing difficult math, but you should understand the the necessary equations, the math will generally be easy whole numbers

Sounds good thanks!

 

[chemphysicsinstructor]

Noted. Thanks! Do you mean I should focus on calculation problems once I have gotten down the basic concepts? Or they are not heavily-tested on?

I do not recommend focusing on multi-part calculation problems since they require a calculator and are not tested on the exam.

 

[BlueDime]

I do not recommend focusing on multi-part calculation problems since they require a calculator and are not tested on the exam.

Thank you!

 

[Darley Havidson]

If you did well enough in AP chem to get college credit, then I believe you are more than capable of self-teaching the GC material for the DAT! I agree with the above advice to not focus on long/difficult calculations, since that isn't that style of calculations on the DAT. I don't know if I would suggest reading an AP Chemistry textbook though, since the material covered in it could be beyond the scope of the DAT - you might waste time trying to learn more difficult concepts/calculations. Depends on the textbook though I guess! Chad's or Mike's (DATBootcamp) videos hit the scope/level of problem difficultly perfectly, so those are great resource suggestions.

 

[BlueDime]

If you did well enough in AP chem to get college credit, then I believe you are more than capable of self-teaching the GC material for the DAT! I agree with the above advice to not focus on long/difficult calculations, since that isn't that style of calculations on the DAT. I don't know if I would suggest reading an AP Chemistry textbook though, since the material covered in it could be beyond the scope of the DAT - you might waste time trying to learn more difficult concepts/calculations. Depends on the textbook though I guess! Chad's or Mike's (DATBootcamp) videos hit the scope/level of problem difficultly perfectly, so those are great resource suggestions.

I hope so, thanks! I've heard a lot of people recommend DATBootcamp as a whole, I'll keep that in mind too!

 

[ChemistryDentist]

I think your background in AP Chem should be pretty sufficient for what you should expect to see in the GC section of the DAT. Of course, you'll need to practice a bunch to refresh and to cover topics that may have been more breezed over back in high school.

If you like video resources, use whatever you can find online, YouTube, whatever, for free to save some money. I liked the Orgoman videos, others prefer some others. The cheaper (i.e., free) the better for that prep stuff.

For the question practice specifically, I think the Destroyer should be your Bible for preparing. It was absolutely the reason I was able to score as well as I did in that section, even with my background. It prepared me for the worst and set me up to do my best. Of course, that means it was very difficult - but highly, highly worth your time.

Hope that helps some! Seems to be a different suggestion from the rest on this thread thus far.

 

[BlueDime]

I think your background in AP Chem should be pretty sufficient for what you should expect to see in the GC section of the DAT. Of course, you'll need to practice a bunch to refresh and to cover topics that may have been more breezed over back in high school.

If you like video resources, use whatever you can find online, YouTube, whatever, for free to save some money. I liked the Orgoman videos, others prefer some others. The cheaper (i.e., free) the better for that prep stuff.

For the question practice specifically, I think the Destroyer should be your Bible for preparing. It was absolutely the reason I was able to score as well as I did in that section, even with my background. It prepared me for the worst and set me up to do my best. Of course, that means it was very difficult - but highly, highly worth your time.

Hope that helps some! Seems to be a different suggestion from the rest on this thread thus far.

Thank you for your response! I'll make sure to practice a lot since it has been a while. That's a good point. I will check out Destroyer once I begin reviewing the material too!