How Long...?

[Ahmadtoo]

Just want to compare my pace with everyone else.

I've been studying about 5-8 hours per day on average for the first month, and I plan on stepping it up for the last month of studying to about 10-12 hours per day.

I know everyone is different, but I would just like to see other people's speed so I can help manage my time better.

How long does it take you to do:
1. Read through Cliff's Ap Bio twice back to back
2. DAT Destroyer first time through
3. DAT Destroyer second time through
4. Math Destroyer
5. Ferallis's Notes first time through
6. Ferallis's Notes second time through
7. Chadd's GC & OC videos and quizzes first time through
8. Chadd's GC & OC videos and quizzes second time through
9. Bootcamp

I have it scheduled to do all that in about 28 days including practice exams in between... If you could say how long per item, that would be great!

(I know that I'll be doing them all together, and not in an order like that, but just for the sake of understanding time, I'm trying to figure out how long each separate item takes)

The more people who submit feedback, the easier it would be for me to average how long it should take!

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[StudentDoc1234]

I highly doubt you'll be able to get through all of that in 28 days and have a good grasp of the content.

 

[Ahmadtoo]

I highly doubt you'll be able to get through all of that in 28 days and have a good grasp of the content.

Damn, really? For the first month of studying, I went through KBB twice, I did 2 practice exams and analyzed each question, went through Barron's AP bio, and did a booklet of practice questions.
So I kind of already have a good background going into the next 4 weeks. Do you think that with the background I have from my first 4 weeks of studying that it might be possible to complete my task list?

 

[510586]

Just want to compare my pace with everyone else.

I've been studying about 5-8 hours per day on average for the first month, and I plan on stepping it up for the last month of studying to about 10-12 hours per day.

I know everyone is different, but I would just like to see other people's speed so I can help manage my time better.

How long does it take you to do:
1. Read through Cliff's Ap Bio twice back to back
2. DAT Destroyer first time through
3. DAT Destroyer second time through
4. Math Destroyer
5. Ferallis's Notes first time through
6. Ferallis's Notes second time through
7. Chadd's GC & OC videos and quizzes first time through
8. Chadd's GC & OC videos and quizzes second time through
9. Bootcamp

I have it scheduled to do all that in about 28 days including practice exams in between... If you could say how long per item, that would be great!

(I know that I'll be doing them all together, and not in an order like that, but just for the sake of understanding time, I'm trying to figure out how long each separate item takes)

The more people who submit feedback, the easier it would be for me to average how long it should take!

Will be done with my first run of destroyer by Sunday (about 2 weeks), making notecards for everything I didn't understand or got wrong. I've been doing about 30 min- 1hr PAT plus reading a scientific article during this time. It takes a very very long time to write out stuff you missed. Answering questions doesn't though. Chad's took me a while too since I'm a little paranoid on missing any info so I rewind a lot while watching. If you take notes on nearly everything he says as well as do destroyer while marking everything you got wrong, it might be difficult to finish in 1 month to be honest.

 

[whitepapertree]

Just want to compare my pace with everyone else.

I've been studying about 5-8 hours per day on average for the first month, and I plan on stepping it up for the last month of studying to about 10-12 hours per day.

I know everyone is different, but I would just like to see other people's speed so I can help manage my time better.

How long does it take you to do:
1. Read through Cliff's Ap Bio twice back to back
2. DAT Destroyer first time through
3. DAT Destroyer second time through
4. Math Destroyer
5. Ferallis's Notes first time through
6. Ferallis's Notes second time through
7. Chadd's GC & OC videos and quizzes first time through
8. Chadd's GC & OC videos and quizzes second time through
9. Bootcamp

I have it scheduled to do all that in about 28 days including practice exams in between... If you could say how long per item, that would be great!

(I know that I'll be doing them all together, and not in an order like that, but just for the sake of understanding time, I'm trying to figure out how long each separate item takes)

The more people who submit feedback, the easier it would be for me to average how long it should take!

Rather than read Cliff's twice and Feralis twice

Do Cliffs once and Feralis once. But while your powering through Feralis, do the anki flashcards after each section (and until your test)

 

[Cello]

Just want to compare my pace with everyone else.

I've been studying about 5-8 hours per day on average for the first month, and I plan on stepping it up for the last month of studying to about 10-12 hours per day.

I know everyone is different, but I would just like to see other people's speed so I can help manage my time better.

How long does it take you to do:
1. Read through Cliff's Ap Bio twice back to back
2. DAT Destroyer first time through
3. DAT Destroyer second time through
4. Math Destroyer
5. Ferallis's Notes first time through
6. Ferallis's Notes second time through
7. Chadd's GC & OC videos and quizzes first time through
8. Chadd's GC & OC videos and quizzes second time through
9. Bootcamp

I have it scheduled to do all that in about 28 days including practice exams in between... If you could say how long per item, that would be great!

(I know that I'll be doing them all together, and not in an order like that, but just for the sake of understanding time, I'm trying to figure out how long each separate item takes)

The more people who submit feedback, the easier it would be for me to average how long it should take!

1.) My first Cliff's pass took probably 15 total hours taking notes. My second pass was probably half that time, maybe 8 hours. My third pass was probably 6/7 hours, my fourth pass I just read the stuff I was weak on (A&P, plants, photosynthesis, diversity of life) and it took maybe 3-4 hours. I recommend 4 passes.

2 & 3) DAT Destroyer first time through OC was probably 8 hours. Second time was probably more like 5ish, and third time was probably 4ish. I think GC took a bit longer, but only a bit. Bio took about the same amount of time except the first time which took me probably 10-12 hours and I got frustrated at how much I didn't know. haha

4.) Math Destroyer took me a ton of time. I have a weak math background, so your results may be different. I probably spent an average of 90 minutes on each test first pass, maybe 2 hours on a few. The second pass was usually a little more than an hour, and then my third pass I would attempt in 45 but rarely managed to answer all 40 in 45 minutes.

5 & 6.) I don't personally recommend that you read Cliff's AND Feralis, but I'm sure others will disagree. Yes, Feralis' Notes contain some A&P stuff and little bits here and there you won't find in Cliff's, but you can get ALL of the A&P stuff from Campbell's. If it was me, I would read Cliff's multiple times and supplement with Campbell's. Feralis' Notes are great if you want a summary of what is covered in the common DAT prep materials, but it is a lot of information and time which could be spent reading those materials instead. I spent 5 hours one day reading the first 45 pages of Feralis' Notes before I kind of realized that I knew 95%+ of what was in there just from reading Cliff's and Campbell's and doing DAT Destroyer Bio. Moreover, the little bits that I didn't know were unlikely to show up on the exam, which meant I would be using valuable time to study things unlikely to show up when I could be reinforcing the things which are likely. Glimmer said in her breakdown that she is good at knowing what is likely to be tested on and she got a 26AA with I think a 30 in BIO, so I'd say that is a good approach. Feralis himself said in his breakdown that he could have read Cliff's the day before and done Destroyer and still would have probably wound up with the 30 he earned. So, there you have it.

7 & 8.) Chad's videos show the total time for each section. It's around 15 hours for each chemistry section, so 30 total hours. You can cut that in half to 15 hours if you watch at 2x speed on your second pass which I recommend. The quizzes will probably add 3ish hours to each chem section, so you are looking at 36ish hours probably for your first pass, then 21ish for your second. The people with the highest TS scores seem to do MANY passes on Chad's quizzes, Glimmer for instance said she did his quizzes as much as 10 times! If I could go back, that's what I would do too.

9.) Bootcamp PAT will take 10 hours. Just multiply each section's allotted time by the number of practice exams and you'll know how long it will take (2.5 hours each for bio, GC, and OC). If you use generators and such, then that will take time.

10.) Add the eyeball game to your list of study materials. It's fun, and it will make you better at recognizing tiny angle differences. Ari recommended it on his site and it was actually very helpful for me. I got really good at it too! haha

 

[Ahmadtoo]

1.) My first Cliff's pass took probably 15 total hours taking notes. My second pass was probably half that time, maybe 8 hours. My third pass was probably 6/7 hours, my fourth pass I just read the stuff I was weak on (A&P, plants, photosynthesis, diversity of life) and it took maybe 3-4 hours. I recommend 4 passes.

2 & 3) DAT Destroyer first time through OC was probably 8 hours. Second time was probably more like 5ish, and third time was probably 4ish. I think GC took a bit longer, but only a bit. Bio took about the same amount of time except the first time which took me probably 10-12 hours and I got frustrated at how much I didn't know. haha

4.) Math Destroyer took me a ton of time. I have a weak math background, so your results may be different. I probably spent an average of 90 minutes on each test first pass, maybe 2 hours on a few. The second pass was usually a little more than an hour, and then my third pass I would attempt in 45 but rarely managed to answer all 40 in 45 minutes.

5 & 6.) I don't personally recommend that you read Cliff's AND Feralis, but I'm sure others will disagree. Yes, Feralis' Notes contain some A&P stuff and little bits here and there you won't find in Cliff's, but you can get ALL of the A&P stuff from Campbell's. If it was me, I would read Cliff's multiple times and supplement with Campbell's. Feralis' Notes are great if you want a summary of what is covered in the common DAT prep materials, but it is a lot of information and time which could be spent reading those materials instead. I spent 5 hours one day reading the first 45 pages of Feralis' Notes before I kind of realized that I knew 95%+ of what was in there just from reading Cliff's and Campbell's and doing DAT Destroyer Bio. Moreover, the little bits that I didn't know were unlikely to show up on the exam, which meant I would be using valuable time to study things unlikely to show up when I could be reinforcing the things which are likely. Glimmer said in her breakdown that she is good at knowing what is likely to be tested on and she got a 26AA with I think a 30 in BIO, so I'd say that is a good approach. Feralis himself said in his breakdown that he could have read Cliff's the day before and done Destroyer and still would have probably wound up with the 30 he earned. So, there you have it.

7 & 8.) Chad's videos show the total time for each section. It's around 15 hours for each chemistry section, so 30 total hours. You can cut that in half to 15 hours if you watch at 2x speed on your second pass which I recommend. The quizzes will probably add 3ish hours to each chem section, so you are looking at 36ish hours probably for your first pass, then 21ish for your second. The people with the highest TS scores seem to do MANY passes on Chad's quizzes, Glimmer for instance said she did his quizzes as much as 10 times! If I could go back, that's what I would do too.

9.) Bootcamp PAT will take 10 hours. Just multiply each section's allotted time by the number of practice exams and you'll know how long it will take (2.5 hours each for bio, GC, and OC). If you use generators and such, then that will take time.

10.) Add the eyeball game to your list of study materials. It's fun, and it will make you better at recognizing tiny angle differences. Ari recommended it on his site and it was actually very helpful for me. I got really good at it too! haha

Cello,
Thank you so much for the detailed reply!
That seems pretty legit, and I also made a schedule for each day, and what you said fits the time frame perfectly!
I have a few "Filler days" in my schedule in case I'm ever behind on schedule, I can use those days to catch up on certain things!
Again, thank you so much for everything! You boosted my hopes a bit, I think I can pull through... Let the game of time begin!

So it should all take about 300 hours... If I do 12 hours a day, I could potentially finish that in 25 days, so I need to push my exam date back by 1 week so I can have enough time to squeeze in the full length practice exams here and there.

Sound about right?