DAT retake Advice: 19AA to 24AA

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shinebright88

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I found the breakdowns helpful and figured I would post one. By no means am I good at standardized tests (hence why I retook it).

1st attempt:
TS-19
AA-19

2nd attempt:
PAT-19
QR-23
RC-29
BIO-21
GC-20 (wish I spent more time on this section)
OC-26
TS-22
AA-24

Must use sources: DAT Bootcamp and DAT Qvault.
Studied for about 3 months (really did 4 but the first month was not very efficient)

*destroyer was okay but not necessary. I will say it was most helpful for organic chemistry*

PAT: Bootcamp was by far the most helpful especially watching Joel's videos. I wish I spent more time daily on this section as the tricks can be learned much better over time.

QR: Bootcamp. Do all of the tests and once you are done with all 10 tests start doing the subject specific questions to hone in on your weaknesses.

BIO: Bootcamp and Qvault: The major change I did during the second round was actively reviewing each question everyday. I had hundreds of flashcards and once I knew it cold I would set it aside and not look at it again. Writing it down was the most helpful for me instead of using Quizlet. To start off, I went through Romano's biology notes but after looking at Bootcamp biology notes I wish I had done Bootcamps because it was much more organized and detailed.

GC: I did not spend as much time on this section as I should have but I used Qvault and Bootcamp.

OC: I was most worried for this section and used Chad's videos, Mike's videos (but I liked Chad's more), Destroyer (went through it once and some questions twice), Bootcamp and Qvault. The most helpful were the destroyer roadmaps, Bootcamp tests, and Qvault. Closer to the exam I did the roadmaps, and mechanism specific questions from Bootcamp and Qvault. This really helped me (especially for Qvault) because it really hammered in the mechanisms which I had a lot of on the exam (in fact they were much easier on the exam).

RC: I've always loved reading but I will say use the highlight tool and do bootcamp's tests to get a feel for the kind of questions they will ask. I highlighted the points that I thought were important and key words which allowed me to find all the answers pretty quickly.

About destroyer: I'm not the biggest fan (minus the OC section) because I found the Bootcamp team a lot more helpful during my journey which helped immensely. The study group for Bootcamp is a lot more helpful than the Destroyer Study group (especially since they will kick out people randomly from the group for no reason). Just my experience.

Feel free to ask me any questions :D

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