Gen Chem Advice/Approach

[bjamm]

I'm having a hard time studying for this section. I went through Chad's twice, did the quizzes, and destroyer once but I'm still scoring 17s while scoring 20+ on all my other sections. I've been going over the problems I did wrong on BC and watch Mike's videos, but every time I begin a new test I still score the same or lower. I have memorized the formulas Chad, and BC provided.

Im basically asking for advice from those who took it and how they were able to improve and achieve higher scores. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, and my exam is in 5 weeks!!
BTW, I have taken GC 1 two years ago and received an A.

Thanks guys!

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[I-hate-alginate]

Five weeks is enough time to prepare for the exam so don't worry about it. I would watch Chad again!! Take notes on everything he says and make sure you understand every topic. Then do destroyer again. You have to do destroyer twice and you have plenty of time. If you get a question wrong, go to the solutions and read the explanation carefully and understand it. Make sure you understand it before moving on. There was one question in destroyer that I struggled with. It required a lot of work and tbh I still don't understand the way they did it. So I asked myself about the chances of having this question on my exam.... yeah it was on there. They just changed the numbers smh.

 

[bjamm]

will try that thank you so much!

 

[DAT Destroyer]

I have many years experience with the DAT and what you are experiencing is not unusual. Stop worry so much about numbers from a timed test and focus more on learning. Valuable hours can be used learning from your mistakes, strengthening weaknesses.

What is tripping you up in GC?

What is your GPA, is this your first time taking the DAT?

 

[Jaa_]

Destroyer, Chad, and Bootcamp is the best combo of resources for gen chem! Did you take notes on Chad's videos? How did you do on the quizzes? There are only a handful of subtopics in the Gen Chem section so look closely at the breakdowns to see what you struggle with (Bootcamp does a really nice job highlighting weak points). If I were you I would go through the destroyer book twice very thoroughly and then return to the Bootcamp tests. The text explanations are great in Destroyer. Five weeks is more than enough time for this especially if your other scores are in your goal range. Just don't let the other topics slack while you focus on GC!

 

[bjamm]

Destroyer, Chad, and Bootcamp is the best combo of resources for gen chem! Did you take notes on Chad's videos? How did you do on the quizzes? There are only a handful of subtopics in the Gen Chem section so look closely at the breakdowns to see what you struggle with (Bootcamp does a really nice job highlighting weak points). If I were you I would go through the destroyer book twice very thoroughly and then return to the Bootcamp tests. The text explanations are great in Destroyer. Five weeks is more than enough time for this especially if your other scores are in your goal range. Just don't let the other topics slack while you focus on GC!

I did well on Chad's quizzes. My second time going through his videos, I wrote all of them down and re did them. Thank you for your advice, I appreciate it!

 

[IcyFox]

Five weeks is enough time to prepare for the exam so don't worry about it. I would watch Chad again!! Take notes on everything he says and make sure you understand every topic. Then do destroyer again. You have to do destroyer twice and you have plenty of time. If you get a question wrong, go to the solutions and read the explanation carefully and understand it. Make sure you understand it before moving on. There was one question in destroyer that I struggled with. It required a lot of work and tbh I still don't understand the way they did it. So I asked myself about the chances of having this question on my exam.... yeah it was on there. They just changed the numbers smh.

How many hours would you recommend studying per day if I have 10 weeks?

 

[I-hate-alginate]

How many hours would you recommend studying per day if I have 10 weeks?

Everyone got their own study habits so my recommendation might not work for you. I'm the type that likes to cram before exams. Studying for 10 weeks is something I would never do, I would go crazy. It's never about how much time you spend studying, it's all about how much you get done. I used to do 30+ questions of Chem and ochem in destroyer. And 50 question of biology. If you get those done in let's say 4 hours. Just do pat generators for about 30mins and then do a math exam and you are done for the day. That's how I did it but I don't recommend it to anyone. If time goes back, I would spend more time studying, especially for QR.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

Everyone got their own study habits so my recommendation might not work for you. I'm the type that likes to cram before exams. Studying for 10 weeks is something I would never do, I would go crazy. It's never about how much time you spend studying, it's all about how much you get done. I used to do 30+ questions of Chem and ochem in destroyer. And 50 question of biology. If you get those done in let's say 4 hours. Just do pat generators for about 30mins and then do a math exam and you are done for the day. That's how I did it but I don't recommend it to anyone. If time goes back, I would spend more time studying, especially for QR.

Great advice, all students are different so study plans and habits will also be different.