DAT Study Guide/Books/questions on test

[Aamiracle]

Okay so I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology as of August 2015.

Taking two years off as I already missed the application cycle and have yet to take the DAT.

I got most things figured out; attempting to shadow a Dentist soon; even once a week for a full day as I need to work otherwise to support myself. Study for DAT within a 3-4 month span, and just do whatever else I can to make myself a strong applicant for next cycle.

Cummulative GPA is 3.42, science is 3.12. My resume includes includes 250+ hours of EMS volunteer, Nephrologist office alternating summer/winters, & internship at a pharmacy. Also some jobs i had which won't have much to do with schooling or career wise.

I was looking into study guides, and came across the 10-week DAT Bootcamp one & on a different thread, someone posted a 6/8 week study guide too. My questions is, are these a good study guide to follow? They are pretty old, but I assumed I could get the up to date books & just follow along.

I generally can't get myself started because there's a lot to go over and I'm terrible at organization and I would do better if given a schedule.

The study material I plan to use is:
-Cliffs AP biology 3rd edition (pdf)
-DAT Destroyer
-Chad videos
-Kaplan blue book
-DAT Bootcamp practice tests.

Also, I haven't looked at test dates yet, but I was wondering how often is it? And if I use 2015 books but plan on taking it, lets say...early 2016, I should still be fine? the books do not change much from what I've looked up.

I'm not sure if I should focus on any other books or subtract some of these books. Any input will be appreciated! Sorry for the long post!

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[Mushibachan]

I'd take out KBB. I used that in the sample study schedule and found it was useless.. Just use chads to replace it. Also add feralis bio notes to that too. That should be more than enough practice. If you need more add qvault tests

 

[LuxorSt1]

ADA 2007/9, Topscore Pro, and DAT Achiever. You would need to take full-lengths to get used to the 4-5 hour stretch.

 

[NavyDDS1990]

materials are good. KBB is indeed quite useless, but the only part I liked was the bio diagrams which helped me memorize and understand better.
I generally don't recommend people to follow a schedule made by someone else.
You need to figure out your own way of studying, and study at your own pace.
I believe if you follow someone else's schedule, things will not work out quite efficiently.
It's all about how efficiently you can study, not for how long you study.
Good luck!

 

[Aamiracle]

materials are good. KBB is indeed quite useless, but the only part I liked was the bio diagrams which helped me memorize and understand better.
I generally don't recommend people to follow a schedule made by someone else.
You need to figure out your own way of studying, and study at your own pace.
I believe if you follow someone else's schedule, things will not work out quite efficiently.
It's all about how efficiently you can study, not for how long you study.
Good luck!

I see what you mean, but It would be nice to have a starting schedule as well until I can understand how the books work and see my area of study and from there develop my own schedule from it

 

[Aamiracle]

I'd take out KBB. I used that in the sample study schedule and found it was useless.. Just use chads to replace it. Also add feralis bio notes to that too. That should be more than enough practice. If you need more add qvault tests

So from what I'm seeing, take out Kaplan material all together?

 

[Mushibachan]

So from what I'm seeing, take out Kaplan material all together?

Yeah, I think it's a waste of time.

 

[kbgirl]

I followed the 10 week program from Ari at dat boot camp. I condensed it and was able to do it in around 8 weeks but I was not working. I did well on the test and am so satisfied with how it worked out! I recommend it!!

 

[Aamiracle]

I followed the 10 week program from Ari at dat boot camp. I condensed it and was able to do it in around 8 weeks but I was not working. I did well on the test and am so satisfied with how it worked out! I recommend it!!

Thats good to hear! how were your scores if you don't mind me asking?

 

[kbgirl]

I got a 21 aa, 21 ts, 21 pat I think it probably would have been better if I had gone at the 10 week pace and actually taken a little more time to write my own biology notes! I think it's a good program to at least base your own off of and then customize it based on how you study most efficiently.

 

[Aamiracle]

I got a 21 aa, 21 ts, 21 pat I think it probably would have been better if I had gone at the 10 week pace and actually taken a little more time to write my own biology notes! I think it's a good program to at least base your own off of and then customize it based on how you study most efficiently.

Thats good to hear! I guess I'm going to go off that and few others eventually developing my own schedule! thank you for your input!

 

[Dr.Toothenstein]

Just think of it as phase 1, 2, and 3
phase 1-learn/review bio, gchem, ochem; use chad for chems, IDK for bio
phase 2-destroyer which has 500 bio Q's, 250 Q's gchem, 250 Ochem
---You should know these all pretty well, even the wrong answers what the definition means in bio and why they are wrong for ochem. Some people go over destroyer multiple times
phase 3 more practice using Qvault for bio, datbootcamp for bio/gchem/ochem

Youll have to decide which phase to go over math (math destroyer seems to be the favorite), reading, and PAT

 

[Aamiracle]

Just think of it as phase 1, 2, and 3
phase 1-learn/review bio, gchem, ochem; use chad for chems, IDK for bio
phase 2-destroyer which has 500 bio Q's, 250 Q's gchem, 250 Ochem
---You should know these all pretty well, even the wrong answers what the definition means in bio and why they are wrong for ochem. Some people go over destroyer multiple times
phase 3 more practice using Qvault for bio, datbootcamp for bio/gchem/ochem

Youll have to decide which phase to go over math (math destroyer seems to be the favorite), reading, and PAT

That seem's like most of the schedules posted up. I'll get math destroyer as well probably along with something covering the reading & PAT. Any suggestions for those two?

 

[bluesky12]

I wrote the DAT about two weeks ago. I agree with sexylife, I don't think you can follow someone else's schedule - but you can customize ari's schedule to your own needs based on what your weaknesses / strengths are. I will also give votes to cliff's, chad's DAT bootcamp, DAT destroyer and also add DATgenius for more practice tests. I'd say get datgenius over qvault or topscore as its less expensive and provides you a lot more.

 

[Aamiracle]

I wrote the DAT about two weeks ago. I agree with sexylife, I don't think you can follow someone else's schedule - but you can customize ari's schedule to your own needs based on what your weaknesses / strengths are. I will also give votes to cliff's, chad's DAT bootcamp, DAT destroyer and also add DATgenius for more practice tests. I'd say get datgenius over qvault or topscore as its less expensive and provides you a lot more.

Yeah thats what it seem's like I'm going to end up doing, using two study schedules for the first two weeks and eventually deviating my own out of them, I haven't heard of DATgenius, is it worth it? I'm at the budget of around $400 for books at this point, just waiting on one or two more paychecks to order them. For now I'm going to utilize cliffs AP notes since I can for free find a PDF version

 

[bluesky12]

If you have time / money then hit up destroyer