Hi,
So I just took my DAT last Friday and the results were good, although not as good as I was hoping for but a good score is a good score, I will take it any day. Here are something that I learned during my 3 months of studying:
- Chad's videos as many people said, take decent notes from him, read it while you did your Destroyer because it will come handy in the exam. Understand the materials throughly, back and forth! There was one question in GenChem I did wrong, not because I didn't know it but because I only understood the concept in 1 way and not the "reverse" way. So MAKE SURE you know what you are doing and able to think it in different situations.
- Speaking of understanding the concepts, DO DESTROYERS! I know everyone said it but can't emphasize enough how helpful it was. Dr. Romano knew what you need to ace the test seriously! Especially for Bio, do it with Feralis notes, I found Cliff's note rather redundant (sorry!) and waste of time in my opinion. Cliff's was basic, which was good when you just started so you did not feel overwhelm, but Bio was random, the more you know, the better you will be. I studied Feralis really late (about 2 weeks), so I really regret it, wish I did it way early for my Bio score. I know the format of Feralis was really difficult to follow, but the trick here is skipping the parts that you are confident in, you can skim through it but if you had good foundations in those, don't waste your time there, try to know/memorize things you don't know or weak of. You will really appreciate it and start EARLY! Bio is a lot already and forced yourself to study in 3-4 weeks will only make it worse and on top of that, you had other sections to focus on too.
- I was also very frustrated about Bio Destroyer at the beginning because I felt like I knew nothing about Bio, I'm a biochem major so I know most of molecular stuffs but almost 0 at the other part, only few from my Gen Bio. But do it! I know it has about 500 questions, I know it might freak you out because it felt too overwhelming (for me at the beginning at least) but please do it. Even if you think you know most of the stuffs, it is always nice to test your knowledge to make sure you know all types of questions DAT might ask you. Read the explanations, take notes if you have to (I honestly was too tired at the end of the process so I didn't do it, but if I could do it again, I would). Don't feel obligation that you should not look at the notes the first time you do it, look at terms you don't know, learn it, and slowly you will learn, I promise! I found many questions from real Bio DAT similar to the destroyers, in case someone wants to know how closet DAT destroyer bio is compare to the real DAT.
- The last thing I want to say is do Bootcamp PAT/reading at the beginning to learn but Chem/Bio/Math Bootcamp, use it when you think you are ready and just want to make sure you are on the right track. I made a mistake of doing it wayyy too early that it was really difficult for me later to determine what I knew and what I didn't. So don't make the same mistake, do it when you are ready (but not before the exam 1 week!) So you know what you need to learn more.
Anyhow, I realize the post is kinda long but I just want to share some struggles I have been through, hopefully will help whoever feeling overwhelming and tired feel better. Don't be scare and just do it! Because nothing good will come without any price. If you want to do it, you can do it I'm sure! Good luck with your studies
So I just took my DAT last Friday and the results were good, although not as good as I was hoping for but a good score is a good score, I will take it any day. Here are something that I learned during my 3 months of studying:
- Chad's videos as many people said, take decent notes from him, read it while you did your Destroyer because it will come handy in the exam. Understand the materials throughly, back and forth! There was one question in GenChem I did wrong, not because I didn't know it but because I only understood the concept in 1 way and not the "reverse" way. So MAKE SURE you know what you are doing and able to think it in different situations.
- Speaking of understanding the concepts, DO DESTROYERS! I know everyone said it but can't emphasize enough how helpful it was. Dr. Romano knew what you need to ace the test seriously! Especially for Bio, do it with Feralis notes, I found Cliff's note rather redundant (sorry!) and waste of time in my opinion. Cliff's was basic, which was good when you just started so you did not feel overwhelm, but Bio was random, the more you know, the better you will be. I studied Feralis really late (about 2 weeks), so I really regret it, wish I did it way early for my Bio score. I know the format of Feralis was really difficult to follow, but the trick here is skipping the parts that you are confident in, you can skim through it but if you had good foundations in those, don't waste your time there, try to know/memorize things you don't know or weak of. You will really appreciate it and start EARLY! Bio is a lot already and forced yourself to study in 3-4 weeks will only make it worse and on top of that, you had other sections to focus on too.
- I was also very frustrated about Bio Destroyer at the beginning because I felt like I knew nothing about Bio, I'm a biochem major so I know most of molecular stuffs but almost 0 at the other part, only few from my Gen Bio. But do it! I know it has about 500 questions, I know it might freak you out because it felt too overwhelming (for me at the beginning at least) but please do it. Even if you think you know most of the stuffs, it is always nice to test your knowledge to make sure you know all types of questions DAT might ask you. Read the explanations, take notes if you have to (I honestly was too tired at the end of the process so I didn't do it, but if I could do it again, I would). Don't feel obligation that you should not look at the notes the first time you do it, look at terms you don't know, learn it, and slowly you will learn, I promise! I found many questions from real Bio DAT similar to the destroyers, in case someone wants to know how closet DAT destroyer bio is compare to the real DAT.
- The last thing I want to say is do Bootcamp PAT/reading at the beginning to learn but Chem/Bio/Math Bootcamp, use it when you think you are ready and just want to make sure you are on the right track. I made a mistake of doing it wayyy too early that it was really difficult for me later to determine what I knew and what I didn't. So don't make the same mistake, do it when you are ready (but not before the exam 1 week!) So you know what you need to learn more.
Anyhow, I realize the post is kinda long but I just want to share some struggles I have been through, hopefully will help whoever feeling overwhelming and tired feel better. Don't be scare and just do it! Because nothing good will come without any price. If you want to do it, you can do it I'm sure! Good luck with your studies
