HOw much time to prepare for the DAT?

[informatique]

I just applied to take the DAT(didn't know sending scores to 13 schools would cost so much!) Anyhow, I'm thinking about taking it around June 5th. I get out of school on May 9th, so I plan to study several hours/day for 4 straight weeks. My LOR, personal statement, etc. will be ready to submit in May.

I'm worried if 4 weeks is enough to study for the DAT. However, I want my application in as early as possible.

Do you guys think 4 weeks is enough to prepare?

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[bounty101]

There's no standard timeframe. Depends on how well you study and how recent the test material is for you. For myself, if I was going to start studying from scratch it would take 2 intensive months.

 

[Lopyswine]

i started from scratch.

5 weeks. 4 hours a day. 6 days a week.

In the end I rocked it. Of course its highly dependent on the quality of the time you put in, not just the quantity.

You'd get more responses in the DAT forum.

 

[Saddleshoes]

I am of the opinion that the best was to prep for the DAT is to be a Bio. or Chem. major/minor and just go to school and do your best.

It worked for me. The only DAT prep I did was get one of those books to review the format of the test.

 

[Moni Ahmadian]

It depends how well have you reviewed the materials during your coursework. I myself limited my studies to those courses that were harder. So, I didn't study inorganic chemistry for example, but studied organic chemistry instead. I wish you the bet of luck

 

[jigabodo]

2 months, 8 hours everyday is what I did.

 

[SHC1984]

Did you take Kaplan? The material they provide really helped out a great deal. I would say taking that class would be enough for you do to well on the DAT.

 

[ummjoey]

i think 4 weeks is enough, but like the others said. it really depends on your study habits.

if you don't feel ready by june 5th, then i think it would be alright for you to push it back a few weeks. i think as long as you take it before july you should be good.

 

[Neutrophilomfs]

In my opinion, I don't think 4 weeks is enough to start from scratch. You need at least a week to take practice tests and go over them, review, and test again. This cuts it down to 3 weeks or less to cram everything else in which is a buttload of material. I agree that it can be done, but realistically, I wouldn't count on expecting to feel completely ready after that short a time period.

 

[heatwheat]

It all depends on where your at in your knowledge already. If you have a good foundation in all three science areas then 4 weeks of intense studying should be sufficient. If you've forgotten a lot of it however, then 2-3 months may be more beneficial to you.

 

[Amalgam4U]

I think there would be only 2 cases in which 4 weeks of dedicated studying would not prepare you well enough for the DAT.

Case 1: You do not have a good science background. I'd say B's or higher in req science classes to be safe.

Case 2: You are someone who takes more time than normal to study. I think about a month's worth of studying is pretty typical? 4wk x 7d/wk x 6 h/d = 168 hours. If you get a review book that's 300 pages thick, that's half an hour per page. But if you know from experience you take longer to absorb material, increase h/d or wk.

I probably studied for about 30 hours the week before (super busy ) and that definitely wasn't enough time to learn the PAT portion and some anatomy/phys, but I was fresh off ochem and some nice bio classes, so I didn't feel the need to study those subjects as hard.

Briefly: depends on you. How much you already know/retain and how quickly you can absorb new stuff.

This is how I'd look at it. You will probably learn the most stuff fastest towards the beginning of your studies. Towards the end it's more confidence building/experience (which may or may not be of value). However, I think that it IS important to turn in your app early and have D-schools consider you in the first batch of applicants, which gets more and more important as time goes on.

SO: as time goes on, studying becomes less important (even if you're not as prepared for the DAT), while turning in your app becomes more important. I think you hit the sweet spot at 4 weeks.

Do it! Good luck.

 

[informatique]

I actually took it once last summer without studying and received:

TA 18
AA 17
PA 21

I feel confident with bio, reading, and perceptual. I figure I could really just review and cram chem, orgo, and math during those 4 weeks and review some bio and keep practicing perceptual.

I guess I could ramp up my study time to 8 hrs/day for those 4 weeks since I decided to take time off work for the summer.

I'll probably just shoot for the 4 weeks and see how it goes....

 

[gijohn529]

Do some quality studying and do at least 4 hours minimun non-stop so that you we be mentally prepared for the long test. I did 2 weeks, 5 days a week of 6 hour studying and did the flash cards before I passed out. Don't stress and make sure to enjoy your weekends.

Make sure to eat brain food like eggs and take fish oil and vitamins. No food equals bad information absorption. If you smoke, try not to smoke... that makes you more stressed.