DAT study routine dilemma

[DentalDiva RDH]

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Hey all,

I've finally started studying for the DAT this week. I put myself on an 8 week plan. I am planning on taking it end of March/ early April. I am working full-time so it has already been a challenge, but especially with the amount of notes I've been taking! It seems ridiculous and slightly neurotic. Already getting the feeling like there's no way I'll get through it all, at the pace I'm going and the amount of notes I'm taking, and working doesn't help. It's always a little tough to get a solid flowing routine and, as we all do, I want to study as efficiently as possible.

Has anyone experienced this dilemma? Any tips on cutting down on note taking and what programs or books you may have used that were good at eliminating excess in a particular subject?

Thanks 😀

 

[sacapuntas]

To me note taking isn't important so I didn't do much of it. I did at first and found that, like you, I was getting bogged down. I realized I could read Cliffs in a day if I didn't take notes, and still had time to do all the questions. If I did notes, it would probably take 3-4 days to get through cliffs. I discovered I gained more from reading through w/out notes multiple times rather than w/ notes one time.

I have 4 notebooks full of notes from my initial studying that I never re-read!




Exception, with Chad's videos I found taking notes critical. I reviewed all of my notes for both g.chem and o.chem in a couple hours saving a TON of time. Chad's videos already save so much time not having to read, that I felt taking notes was time well spent.

Last bit of time saving advice - watch Chads videos on Fast Play if you can keep up, it knocks a few hours off the series.

Hey all,

I've finally started studying for the DAT this week. I put myself on an 8 week plan. I am planning on taking it end of March/ early April. I am working full-time so it has already been a challenge, but especially with the amount of notes I've been taking! It seems ridiculous and slightly neurotic. Already getting the feeling like there's no way I'll get through it all, at the pace I'm going and the amount of notes I'm taking, and working doesn't help. It's always a little tough to get a solid flowing routine and, as we all do, I want to study as efficiently as possible.

Has anyone experienced this dilemma? Any tips on cutting down on note taking and what programs or books you may have used that were good at eliminating excess in a particular subject?

Thanks 😀

 

[ushaseos]

sacapuntas has the right idea if you can go through the same material more than once.

I am a bit finicky about re-doing something so I like to just do things once and if you want to go through only once you have to take notes.

My memory sucks so I had to go slower and take notes esp. for bio. For Chem and Ochem, I just had my mistakes in Destroyer as notes. I used to religiously spend 30 minutes each day before doing a practice test, and read them. How did you study in college? Did you summarize a lot of lectures etc before a midterm?

Either way you'll spend the same amount of time with the prep material, but with the notes method, you have a concise summary, while with the multiple review method, you'll probably remember a lot more of the book. Your job would be to see what is more useful for you.

 

[Adamsswag]

Hey all,

I've finally started studying for the DAT this week. I put myself on an 8 week plan. I am planning on taking it end of March/ early April. I am working full-time so it has already been a challenge, but especially with the amount of notes I've been taking! It seems ridiculous and slightly neurotic. Already getting the feeling like there's no way I'll get through it all, at the pace I'm going and the amount of notes I'm taking, and working doesn't help. It's always a little tough to get a solid flowing routine and, as we all do, I want to study as efficiently as possible.

Has anyone experienced this dilemma? Any tips on cutting down on note taking and what programs or books you may have used that were good at eliminating excess in a particular subject?

Thanks 😀

I think everyone has ran into this problem. For bio I would suggest using Alan's notes as a good outline and as you read keep adding to Alan's notes. This will save some time. If you're not sure where to acquire his notes just google "Alan's notes DAT". His notes are pretty on point and I really think they will catalyze your studying process.

 

[DentalDiva RDH]

To me note taking isn't important so I didn't do much of it. I did at first and found that, like you, I was getting bogged down. I realized I could read Cliffs in a day if I didn't take notes, and still had time to do all the questions. If I did notes, it would probably take 3-4 days to get through cliffs. I discovered I gained more from reading through w/out notes multiple times rather than w/ notes one time.

I have 4 notebooks full of notes from my initial studying that I never re-read!




Exception, with Chad's videos I found taking notes critical. I reviewed all of my notes for both g.chem and o.chem in a couple hours saving a TON of time. Chad's videos already save so much time not having to read, that I felt taking notes was time well spent.

Last bit of time saving advice - watch Chads videos on Fast Play if you can keep up, it knocks a few hours off the series.

Thanks! I can see re-reading being more helpful to me than piling up the notes, that I know I won't re-read! I wasn't planning on watching chad's videos but it seems like a great way to take away important concepts and techniques, so I will def. look into it.

sacapuntas has the right idea if you can go through the same material more than once.

I am a bit finicky about re-doing something so I like to just do things once and if you want to go through only once you have to take notes.

My memory sucks so I had to go slower and take notes esp. for bio. For Chem and Ochem, I just had my mistakes in Destroyer as notes. I used to religiously spend 30 minutes each day before doing a practice test, and read them. How did you study in college? Did you summarize a lot of lectures etc before a midterm?

Either way you'll spend the same amount of time with the prep material, but with the notes method, you have a concise summary, while with the multiple review method, you'll probably remember a lot more of the book. Your job would be to see what is more useful for you.

I actually went through college trying a lot of different study methods, all of which were OK but weren't my niche. I'm definitely a note-taker, but that was usually just with lecture, and not with reading. I assume that's why I'm having some difficulty with the way I started studying for the DAT, taking a mass load of notes from the book, not me. Must be all that anxiety already kickin in.

Thanks, I'm glad you brought up how I studied in college, makes sense. I think now I know when I should be heavy on note-taking (i.e.- when I watch Chad's lectures) and when not to.

I think everyone has ran into this problem. For bio I would suggest using Alan's notes as a good outline and as you read keep adding to Alan's notes. This will save some time. If you're not sure where to acquire his notes just google "Alan's notes DAT". His notes are pretty on point and I really think they will catalyze your studying process.

Yeah I have seen quite a bit of talk around here about his notes. I looked them up, they look great and practically identical to most of ours, I'm sure. I will definitely use them as an outline. Thanks so much!