How many hours is necessary for successful DAT preparation?

[studyingfordat]

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I have questions regarding how much time is necessary for writing the American DAT. I understand that it is quite relative, but based on my situation I am hoping some past DAT writers could give me some insight.

I am a Biology Major so information is still relatively fresh. This summer I am planning to write the DAT and was wondering if it is possible to maintain a full time job as well. I would be working from 9 -5, five days a week. When I study, I am an evening person - I absorb the most amount of information in the evenings. I have about 9 weeks prior to writing the DAT. Ideally, I want to keep my weekends free if possible.

The math is below:
9 weeks of available studying time during my employment
3 evenings a week for 3 hours = 9 hours a week
(9 hours a week) X 9 weeks = 81 hours

Least Confident
I pretty much have to learn all of Organic Chemistry
I would have to learn all of Quantitative Reasoning section

Needs Improvement
I am mediocre in General Chem so I'll have to learn that as well.
My PAT will need improvement

I have written the Canadian DAT so I kinda know what to expect, even though they differ in some respects. My question is, do you think this plan is feasible? Would I be able to maintain a job and study in the evenings? In addition to studying for the sections, I hope I still have enough time to do some practise tests as well!

Please help me out! Thanks!

Al

 

[Lane138]

Don't fret too much about orgo! It was my weakest topic too, but I ended up getting a 30 on it!

I spent 4 weeks X 6 days/week X 6-8 hours/day studying, which came out to about 175 hours. I thought it was perfectly manageable. I spent two entire weeks on orgo though.

 

[invictusx]

Don't fret too much about orgo! It was my weakest topic too, but I ended up getting a 30 on it!

I spent 4 weeks X 6 days/week X 6-8 hours/day studying, which came out to about 175 hours. I thought it was perfectly manageable. I spent two entire weeks on orgo though.

I echo Lane138.
I spent 3.5 weeks and over 12 hours studying for it, mainly biology because I did HORRENDOUS in intro to bio (like, I'm being completely serious here) but I made up for it with a high bio DAT score.

Don't worry too much about orgo. I spent probably three days MAXIMUM trying to fully understand all the reactions (it's only because I liked orgo and did well).

Worry about biology--apply your concepts

 

[americanpierg]

I echo Lane138.
I spent 3.5 weeks and over 12 hours studying for it, mainly biology because I did HORRENDOUS in intro to bio (like, I'm being completely serious here) but I made up for it with a high bio DAT score.

Don't worry too much about orgo. I spent probably three days MAXIMUM trying to fully understand all the reactions (it's only because I liked orgo and did well).

Worry about biology--apply your concepts

I was the complete opposite lol. I relearned orgo completely from my orgo textbook until I knew everything (and not surprisingly orgo ended up being my best score...). This took by far the most time (about 2 weeks). I spent about 2 days memorizing the barrons AP bio book (my only bio resource... same book I used for the AP biology exam lol). Everything was review except for the few pages on germ layer development in a fetus. I did a few chemistry problems every day during those 2-3 weeks and a PAT exam like twice a week.