How exactly do you study for the DAT?

[idontcareanymor]

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Do you just read the kaplan book and take the test in hopes of doing well based on whatever you retained? I read somewhere that reading alone and one time allows for 10% retention, reading multiple times up to 40%, and reading + writing notes (for example in class while listening) = 90% retention. So what do you do? How do you study? Read? Write notes? Listen to CDs? Do a bunch of questions over and over? What do you do?

 

[supraman]

definetely in for replies on this, i just started last few days ago to study but don't have much of a plan!

 

[idontcareanymor]

yeah we definitely need some plans here, lets get this motivation thread going :D

 

[Shunwei]

I'd say long term exposure to the material. I have never been a big fan of cramming.

 

[Neuro178]

I take notes within the text and in the margins of the pages in pencil while I'm studying. At first I was going through Cliffs and taking notes on everything, but it was taking days to go through one chapter. Now I'm critically reading through about one chapter a day. I'll be starting the Kaplan course in about 1 1/2 weeks, and that should take me about 10 weeks. I'm leaving the last two weeks before the test for Acheiver/Top Score/reviewing.

I've also just started, so suggestions are helpful!

 

[hoss19]

bio - notecards were the best method for me. There is so much to know here, particulary processes, that you will need to rely on repitition to ingrain these items into your head. read through chapters of text / review book. then re-read, developing notecards as you pass over the material again.

gen / ochem - do problems! Dat destryer is great for this! Learn to identify areas of weakness and then shore up those weaknesses with additional problems and reading from your text books.

QR / PAT - practice, practice, practice! Crack dat is great for pat; qr you are going to need to use a variety of sources. i used a gmat prep book, sat prep book and various online searches for things like trigonometry, probability, and geometry.

RC: try to read science journals for content and identify big ideas. a lot of rc questions are simply black-and-white; they are a function of finding the answers within the body of the text. However, i had tons of quetions relating to big ideas, authors tone, inference, etc. that really threw me off because topscore and achiever generally dont incorporate these into the practice tests.

 

[daviddav]

In General and Organic Chemistry, I basically started off with concepts. Reading and rereading and then just making sure I understood everything because a lot of it is concepts. For the other stuff, I had an old gen and o chem book and would do a small number of practice problems for the basic types of problems. From there, I went to kaplan, topscore, and achiever. I also read the kaplan book on those sections multiple times.

QR: Practice. Didn't do much of it.
RC: Did 4 practice tests. Didn't do much more than that.
PAT: Practice, practice, practice. Again, Topscore, kaplan, achiever for me.

Bio: The big one for me. I read kaplan's blue book about four or five times. Read schaum's twice including the practice questions. They help a lot. Besides that, and yes, you guessed it, more practice problems on kaplan, topscore, and achiever.

Additional information: There are some helpful threads with some good questions. I used those as well.

 

[jigabodo]

One chapter at a time, with mock tests in between. Then, always go back and review on the things you are not too sure of.

 

[small]

Consistent study schedule, old textbooks, flashcards, lots of practice tests, repeat practice tests until memorized, still enjoy your life, don't stress out.