Hey everyone! I took the DAT on August 15th and wanted to share my experience taking the exam. Reading these breakdowns while studying helped a lot and thought it’d be nice to share my own! For some background I’m a junior majoring in Food Science and Technology and just recently took Ochem 1 and 2, and microbiology this past year.
I studied for a total of 6 weeks. The first 2 weeks I studied around 7 hours a day, and found it really hard to just sit down and get working. The vast amount of information felt overwhelming, but then I got into the rhythm of things and studying felt more doable. The remaining weeks I studied for an average of 11 hours a day, and really focused on the sciences (mainly bio).
Scores:
PAT: 20
QR: 20
RC: 19
Bio: 24
GC: 21
OC: 21
TS: 22
AA: 21
Study tools and strategies:
I was debating between DAT Booster and DAT Bootcamp, but I ultimately decided to use Booster because of its price and the good things I had heard about it. I initially tried following Booster’s 8 week schedule but strayed away from it later on. Having a structured schedule was nice because the amount of content was overwhelming at first. In the end, I ended up figuring out my own study strategies and what works best for me. I also used Bootcamp’s free high-yield biology notes and organic chemistry reaction sheet which really helped me understand some concepts. I used Chad’s videos on general chemistry topics that I needed a little more help on. For biology, Craig Savage’s videos on taxonomy mapped out the information visually which really helped me understand the topics. I tried out Anki but it wasn’t the best way for me to learn. For QR, RC, and PAT I solely used Booster.
PAT (20): TFE and Keyhole were the two sections I struggled with the most. If you struggle with them too I strongly recommend skipping to questions 31-90 and then going back to question 1 and going from there. This will help manage your time well for the PAT. PAT Booster is pretty representative of the actual exam, although Angle Ranking had a lot more obtuse angles than Booster’s practice tests. The other sections were pretty much on the same difficulty levels.
QR (20): Time management is the biggest thing for this section. Keep taking those practice tests and really make sure you can nail your timing for this section and pace yourself well. From my experience Booster’s practice tests and extra questions were very representative of the actual exam. I did not see anything new, again it just comes down to time management.
RC (19): This section surprised me the most because while going through this section I felt pretty confident in my answers and my understanding of the passages. Unfortunately, this ended up not being the case and the one thing I would say is to not neglect studying for RC. It was really easy to push this section aside and spend all my time on the sciences and PAT but don’t do this! Keep practicing and find what strategy works best for you. Booster offers all the resources you need to do well in the section.
BIO (24): This section was the most daunting because of how much information there is to study. When everyone says breadth over depth, it really is breadth over depth. Majority of the questions I had seen before either word-for-word or similar from Booster. I took the first 2 of 3 crash courses, and this is something I am so glad I did. I believe this is the reason why I did well in this section because Feralis (the creator of Booster’s bio notes) went over the high-yield information we needed to know. This really helped narrow down what to focus on and ease my stress over this section. It’s a bit pricey, but in my opinion worth it. I also used Bootcamp’s free high-yield bio notes and found it to be easier to study with as the information was more condensed. I didn’t really read over the Feralis notes, mainly because it wasn’t the best way for me to absorb and learn the information. I recommend taking a practice exam in the beginning of your studies to identify your strengths and weaknesses and go from there.
GC (21): It’s been around a year since I finished general chemistry and knew going in I would have to spend extra time studying this section. This section along with organic chemistry is all about practice and making sure you understand how to solve each type of problem. As you study, you’ll start to see a pattern in the questions being asked. For the topics that I was still confused about I used Chad’s Prep videos and they really helped me.
OC (21): This section is also just practice and memorization. I had flashcards that I made for my lectures the previous year which I used to help jog my memory. I also attended the first 2 crash courses for this section and found the second to be really helpful in structuring/organizing the reactions for my studying. Crash courses also come with 2 extra practice exams so I was able to get more practice in. Again, I recommend taking a practice exam in the beginning to identify your strengths and weaknesses so that you can use your study time wisely.
Overall, I really recommend DAT Booster as your study tool because it’s nicely organized and highly representative of the actual exam. I’m happy with my score, however I decided to retake it in hopes of performing better in RC and QR. I hope this breakdown was able to help you guys, and I wish everyone the best with their exam. You all got it!
I studied for a total of 6 weeks. The first 2 weeks I studied around 7 hours a day, and found it really hard to just sit down and get working. The vast amount of information felt overwhelming, but then I got into the rhythm of things and studying felt more doable. The remaining weeks I studied for an average of 11 hours a day, and really focused on the sciences (mainly bio).
Scores:
PAT: 20
QR: 20
RC: 19
Bio: 24
GC: 21
OC: 21
TS: 22
AA: 21
Study tools and strategies:
I was debating between DAT Booster and DAT Bootcamp, but I ultimately decided to use Booster because of its price and the good things I had heard about it. I initially tried following Booster’s 8 week schedule but strayed away from it later on. Having a structured schedule was nice because the amount of content was overwhelming at first. In the end, I ended up figuring out my own study strategies and what works best for me. I also used Bootcamp’s free high-yield biology notes and organic chemistry reaction sheet which really helped me understand some concepts. I used Chad’s videos on general chemistry topics that I needed a little more help on. For biology, Craig Savage’s videos on taxonomy mapped out the information visually which really helped me understand the topics. I tried out Anki but it wasn’t the best way for me to learn. For QR, RC, and PAT I solely used Booster.
PAT (20): TFE and Keyhole were the two sections I struggled with the most. If you struggle with them too I strongly recommend skipping to questions 31-90 and then going back to question 1 and going from there. This will help manage your time well for the PAT. PAT Booster is pretty representative of the actual exam, although Angle Ranking had a lot more obtuse angles than Booster’s practice tests. The other sections were pretty much on the same difficulty levels.
QR (20): Time management is the biggest thing for this section. Keep taking those practice tests and really make sure you can nail your timing for this section and pace yourself well. From my experience Booster’s practice tests and extra questions were very representative of the actual exam. I did not see anything new, again it just comes down to time management.
RC (19): This section surprised me the most because while going through this section I felt pretty confident in my answers and my understanding of the passages. Unfortunately, this ended up not being the case and the one thing I would say is to not neglect studying for RC. It was really easy to push this section aside and spend all my time on the sciences and PAT but don’t do this! Keep practicing and find what strategy works best for you. Booster offers all the resources you need to do well in the section.
BIO (24): This section was the most daunting because of how much information there is to study. When everyone says breadth over depth, it really is breadth over depth. Majority of the questions I had seen before either word-for-word or similar from Booster. I took the first 2 of 3 crash courses, and this is something I am so glad I did. I believe this is the reason why I did well in this section because Feralis (the creator of Booster’s bio notes) went over the high-yield information we needed to know. This really helped narrow down what to focus on and ease my stress over this section. It’s a bit pricey, but in my opinion worth it. I also used Bootcamp’s free high-yield bio notes and found it to be easier to study with as the information was more condensed. I didn’t really read over the Feralis notes, mainly because it wasn’t the best way for me to absorb and learn the information. I recommend taking a practice exam in the beginning of your studies to identify your strengths and weaknesses and go from there.
GC (21): It’s been around a year since I finished general chemistry and knew going in I would have to spend extra time studying this section. This section along with organic chemistry is all about practice and making sure you understand how to solve each type of problem. As you study, you’ll start to see a pattern in the questions being asked. For the topics that I was still confused about I used Chad’s Prep videos and they really helped me.
OC (21): This section is also just practice and memorization. I had flashcards that I made for my lectures the previous year which I used to help jog my memory. I also attended the first 2 crash courses for this section and found the second to be really helpful in structuring/organizing the reactions for my studying. Crash courses also come with 2 extra practice exams so I was able to get more practice in. Again, I recommend taking a practice exam in the beginning to identify your strengths and weaknesses so that you can use your study time wisely.
Overall, I really recommend DAT Booster as your study tool because it’s nicely organized and highly representative of the actual exam. I’m happy with my score, however I decided to retake it in hopes of performing better in RC and QR. I hope this breakdown was able to help you guys, and I wish everyone the best with their exam. You all got it!
