Help!!!

[Smile786]

Hi everyone! I need major help! I don't know how many of you out there is in the same position as me, where you just don't know where to start studying. I go on SDN everyday and see that so and so made something in the 20+ range. That is great and I hope the best for them. But I would like to know what and how to study for this. I know people study like 5-8 hours a day, which I am willing to do, but I just don't know how to study for it. Can someone tell me like how exactly they studied? Like did you read kaplan review notes on one subject and then take sample tests? Like what? So far what I have done is take the Kaplan course which is ending this week. The course didn't help me much because I couldn't keep up because I am taking a summer course. I hope that someone can help me out and others who need the same advice. Thank you in advance.



(Want to take the DAT this late AUG)

 

[electron]

hey there,

I havent taken my DAT yet but im preparing for it for September. I first started by taking a few practice DAT's to see where im at (15ish). Then I went through the entire Kaplan review book and took my own notes for each section (condense and simplify things) to get familiar with what im suppose to know. Then im going to go through DAT destroyer and do those problems. Ill then take Top score and DAT achiever, that should let me know what I really suck at. Work on those things and then take the practive ADA exam and hopefully Ill be ready. Im also taking the Kaplan course as well. Good luck studying, if you put the time and effort into it youll be a average SDNer (mid 20's haha)...atleast im hoping on it.

 

[djeffreyt]

okay, my DAT is in less than 6 hours, so i need to stop sitting here, but I felt bad for you cause I was in the same boat a month ago.

I started by taking a full length book DAT from Kaplan as a pretest to find out my weaknesses. You already took the course which gives tests like that...so that works.

Then I just went through each section of Kaplan.

Math - 2-3 days - then took a QR Kaplan test
O-chem - 1 week - then took a Kaplan o chem test
(I made flash cards of all the major rxns I felt were necessary...around 85 or so. I made them simple and one sided. did not draw out mechanisms. and I made them so I could cover up half the card and try and predict the product or the reactant
Bio -1.25 weeks - kaplan bio test
Chem - 1 week - Kaplan Chem test
Review Everything - 2 days - then took a topscore full length test
Reviewed my results the next day, went back and looked up stuff in my bio book, kaplan book, chem book, o-chem book, etc.
took another full length, reviewed it and so forth and so on. each time I looked at my tests and saw what I still didn't understand well, so i would go back and read in my text book or in kaplan. I also made notecards for bio and chem and QR as I went for things I knew might not stick easily, like trig equalities, weird bio terms, and trends in chemistry like if ka > 1 then what?

I've spent these last 2 weeks doing the reviewing and practice tests. I stopped taking the PAT and Reading Comprehendsion portions cause I do fine on PAT and I am not helping my RC score by wasting an hour reading each day...I either get it or I don't.

This is basically how I've studied...for better or worse. It's all I could do cause I still work part time. I also made sure not to overkill. I always had a free day each week when I would go out surfing and still hung out with friends on weekend nights. I've been studying since July 4th or so, and I take my DAT tomorrow....we'll see how it goes.


oh, also, use SDN, lots of good people on here to explain stuff and help out. Also, As you go, throw out notecards that you obviously have learned, keep new info coming in and stop reviewing the old stuff that is engrained.

Good luck...I don't envy you at all.

 

[Smile786]

Thank you guys for the advice and taking your time to help me. I will start studying for this today and see how I do. Good luck djeffreyt on your DAT. "20+ that thing!"