- Joined
- Feb 8, 2017
- Messages
- 299
- Reaction score
- 349
Intro
I've been lurking on SDN for years and the breakdowns and all the other advice I've gotten off here has tremendously helped me so I thought I'd give back what I can and hopefully help out some of you predents on there. This is basically how i went from a 19AA and 17TS to a 21AA and 22TS. Also I'm typing this up on my phone as I fly to a interview(wish me luck!!) so I apologize for any spelling and formatting errors.
First of all id recommend following a study schedule for your DAT. There's tons of them out there, I used Ari's to start and ended up making my own for the last month. That's another thing, go at your own pace and don't be afraid to change your schedule to suit your liking and also if you feel like you need to delay your dat delay it! Whether is a extra day or another month do whatever you need to be most prepared for your DAT trust me it's worth it.
Materials Used
Chad's orgo and gen chem vids
DATbootcamp
I mainly used chad's vids and DAT bootcamp and I occasionally had to Google something. DAT bootcamps a must if there's only one thing you can get that's it right there! Bootcamp also comes with mikes vids which I'm sure are great but I simply preferred chads personality over mikes. I also bought DAT destroyer but honestly didn't use it much I got half way through it before just concentrating on bootcamp. Having already taken the DAT before I felt bootcamp was a better representation of the actual test but you can't go wrong with destroyer it's just not for everybody.
Study timeline
I started studying in May but due to Ramadan I didn't really get into it until late June. I took my test on August 9th so I studied for a bit over 2 months. My daily schedule looked a little like this:
8-9am: wake up, shower, breakfast etc
10am to 4pm: work
4 to 5pm: get home and eat something
5 to 9/10pm: go to the library and study
Ive heard about people studying 10+ hours a day for there DATs but I just can't do that without getting burned out. I felt that 4 to 5 hours a day was perfect for me but it'll vary depending on how you study.
BIOLOGY(17 to 22)
First attempt:
I used feralis notes and read through them a few times starting at around 2 weeks before my DAT.
Retake:
I only used DAT bootcamps biology notes. I read ~2 chapters everyday for 2 months, a chapter of general biology and a chapter of anatomy and physiology each. If the chapters were short I'd combine a couple of them for example, chapters 1 and 2 and A&P chapters on the skin and urinary systems. My first read through I took notes some people might prefer to take notes or make notecards but I felt that simply reading the chapters over and over again really drilled the information into me.
Actual test:
very similar to bootcamp. I did end up getting like 5 picture related questions which threw me off a bit but I still felt like I did really great.
GEN CHEM (15 TO 24)
& ORGO(20 TO 21)
1st attempt:
I watched chads videos never took any notes (biggest mistake ever lol) I relied on the hope that id just remember stuff and that approach really showed in my scores.
Retake:
I again used chads vids this time I took diligent and organized notes on every vid. I ended up with ~70 pages of each gen chem and orgo notes (total about ~140). Chad broke his videos down into separate days, 7 for chem and 6 for orgo. I considered those as chapters and I'd review two chapters of each orgo and chem everyday up until my exam. I also used the reaction sheets on Bootcamp and I'd go over them every couple of days as well.
Actual test:
Much more conceptual then what I was expecting, gen chem was a breeze. On orgo I got a few IR and hydrogen acidity questions which ive always struggled with but i still felt that it was comparable to bootcamps tests.
Quantitive Reasoning (19 TO 20)
1st attempt:
I didn't really study for QR my first time through I took some bootcamp tests, watched a few vids, and went through BCs equation sheet.
Retake:
I took all BC tests and reviewed everything I got wrong. I still struggled on the BC test but I figured that QR wasn't important enough to put to much effort into (that might not be the right mentality for you).
Actual test:
I felt that it was easier then bootcamp but not by a lot. I didn't have many long calculations but I've always struggled with time on the QR in bootcamp and I barely finished. I also got a little lucky cuz I finished with about 30 seconds left and I clicked on a random question to review and it turned on I'd put the wrong answer down for it and quickly changed it lol (it was a age problem I had wrote the wrong persons age).
RC (24 TO 20)
1st attempt and retake:
I've always been good at reading and didn't really do any reviewing or studying for the RC part but if you struggle with it or if English isn't your first language I highly recommend bootcamps tests. They're definitely harder then the actual DAT but the extra effort pays off.
Actual test:
I felt that it was simple and straightforward, my only problem was that towards the end I started feeling noxious for some reason. I finished with about 8 minutes left and instead of reviewing I decided to close my eyes and put my head down mentally preparing myself for the QR I figured it would be a worthwhile sacrifice since I've been historically good at reading and QR was my worst section on bootcamp.
PAT (19 TO 21)
1st attempt and retake:
All you need is bootcamp. The generators are god send and the test are a bit more difficult that the actual DAT so don't worry if you struggle a bit with them. I would spend about 15 to 30 minutes a day on PAT practice. I suggest getting really good at some parts of it (remember each questions worth the same) I got really good at cube counting and hole punching (line of symtery method!) And got those out of the way quickly after that I moved on to what I was 2nd best at and so on. For the rock questions I recommend not even attempting to solve them just guess and move on there not worth the time or effort to solve.
Actual test:
MUCH easier that bootcamps but I was surprised by my score I did guess on a good chunk lol
Conclusion
Just a final breakdown of my scores for easy reading
1st attempt: 19 AA 17 TS.
Bio 17, chem 15, orgo 20, QR 19, RC 24, PAT 19
2nd attempt: 21AA 22TS.
Bio 22, chem 24, orgo 21, QR 20, RC 20, PAT 21
If anybody has any questions feel free to ask I'd be more then happy to help!
I've been lurking on SDN for years and the breakdowns and all the other advice I've gotten off here has tremendously helped me so I thought I'd give back what I can and hopefully help out some of you predents on there. This is basically how i went from a 19AA and 17TS to a 21AA and 22TS. Also I'm typing this up on my phone as I fly to a interview(wish me luck!!) so I apologize for any spelling and formatting errors.
First of all id recommend following a study schedule for your DAT. There's tons of them out there, I used Ari's to start and ended up making my own for the last month. That's another thing, go at your own pace and don't be afraid to change your schedule to suit your liking and also if you feel like you need to delay your dat delay it! Whether is a extra day or another month do whatever you need to be most prepared for your DAT trust me it's worth it.
Materials Used
Chad's orgo and gen chem vids
DATbootcamp
I mainly used chad's vids and DAT bootcamp and I occasionally had to Google something. DAT bootcamps a must if there's only one thing you can get that's it right there! Bootcamp also comes with mikes vids which I'm sure are great but I simply preferred chads personality over mikes. I also bought DAT destroyer but honestly didn't use it much I got half way through it before just concentrating on bootcamp. Having already taken the DAT before I felt bootcamp was a better representation of the actual test but you can't go wrong with destroyer it's just not for everybody.
Study timeline
I started studying in May but due to Ramadan I didn't really get into it until late June. I took my test on August 9th so I studied for a bit over 2 months. My daily schedule looked a little like this:
8-9am: wake up, shower, breakfast etc
10am to 4pm: work
4 to 5pm: get home and eat something
5 to 9/10pm: go to the library and study
Ive heard about people studying 10+ hours a day for there DATs but I just can't do that without getting burned out. I felt that 4 to 5 hours a day was perfect for me but it'll vary depending on how you study.
BIOLOGY(17 to 22)
First attempt:
I used feralis notes and read through them a few times starting at around 2 weeks before my DAT.
Retake:
I only used DAT bootcamps biology notes. I read ~2 chapters everyday for 2 months, a chapter of general biology and a chapter of anatomy and physiology each. If the chapters were short I'd combine a couple of them for example, chapters 1 and 2 and A&P chapters on the skin and urinary systems. My first read through I took notes some people might prefer to take notes or make notecards but I felt that simply reading the chapters over and over again really drilled the information into me.
Actual test:
very similar to bootcamp. I did end up getting like 5 picture related questions which threw me off a bit but I still felt like I did really great.
GEN CHEM (15 TO 24)
& ORGO(20 TO 21)
1st attempt:
I watched chads videos never took any notes (biggest mistake ever lol) I relied on the hope that id just remember stuff and that approach really showed in my scores.
Retake:
I again used chads vids this time I took diligent and organized notes on every vid. I ended up with ~70 pages of each gen chem and orgo notes (total about ~140). Chad broke his videos down into separate days, 7 for chem and 6 for orgo. I considered those as chapters and I'd review two chapters of each orgo and chem everyday up until my exam. I also used the reaction sheets on Bootcamp and I'd go over them every couple of days as well.
Actual test:
Much more conceptual then what I was expecting, gen chem was a breeze. On orgo I got a few IR and hydrogen acidity questions which ive always struggled with but i still felt that it was comparable to bootcamps tests.
Quantitive Reasoning (19 TO 20)
1st attempt:
I didn't really study for QR my first time through I took some bootcamp tests, watched a few vids, and went through BCs equation sheet.
Retake:
I took all BC tests and reviewed everything I got wrong. I still struggled on the BC test but I figured that QR wasn't important enough to put to much effort into (that might not be the right mentality for you).
Actual test:
I felt that it was easier then bootcamp but not by a lot. I didn't have many long calculations but I've always struggled with time on the QR in bootcamp and I barely finished. I also got a little lucky cuz I finished with about 30 seconds left and I clicked on a random question to review and it turned on I'd put the wrong answer down for it and quickly changed it lol (it was a age problem I had wrote the wrong persons age).
RC (24 TO 20)
1st attempt and retake:
I've always been good at reading and didn't really do any reviewing or studying for the RC part but if you struggle with it or if English isn't your first language I highly recommend bootcamps tests. They're definitely harder then the actual DAT but the extra effort pays off.
Actual test:
I felt that it was simple and straightforward, my only problem was that towards the end I started feeling noxious for some reason. I finished with about 8 minutes left and instead of reviewing I decided to close my eyes and put my head down mentally preparing myself for the QR I figured it would be a worthwhile sacrifice since I've been historically good at reading and QR was my worst section on bootcamp.
PAT (19 TO 21)
1st attempt and retake:
All you need is bootcamp. The generators are god send and the test are a bit more difficult that the actual DAT so don't worry if you struggle a bit with them. I would spend about 15 to 30 minutes a day on PAT practice. I suggest getting really good at some parts of it (remember each questions worth the same) I got really good at cube counting and hole punching (line of symtery method!) And got those out of the way quickly after that I moved on to what I was 2nd best at and so on. For the rock questions I recommend not even attempting to solve them just guess and move on there not worth the time or effort to solve.
Actual test:
MUCH easier that bootcamps but I was surprised by my score I did guess on a good chunk lol
Conclusion
Just a final breakdown of my scores for easy reading
1st attempt: 19 AA 17 TS.
Bio 17, chem 15, orgo 20, QR 19, RC 24, PAT 19
2nd attempt: 21AA 22TS.
Bio 22, chem 24, orgo 21, QR 20, RC 20, PAT 21
If anybody has any questions feel free to ask I'd be more then happy to help!
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