How should I organize my time studying?

[neuman33]

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For those who scored well -

Is it best to study:

a) The 6 sections individually and take practice tests after completing each subject

b) One subject at a time until finished with everything, then take practice tests

c) One chapter of Math, one chapter bio, one chapter org, etc. ... completing your review book- and then taking practice tests


Also, is it better to:

1) finish one review book before moving on to another review book
2) read multiple review books together

 

[whiskeysour]

For those who scored well -

Is it best to study:

a) The 6 sections individually and take practice tests after completing each subject

b) One subject at a time until finished with everything, then take practice tests

c) One chapter of Math, one chapter bio, one chapter org, etc. ... completing your review book- and then taking practice tests


Also, is it better to:

1) finish one review book before moving on to another review book
2) read multiple review books together

i haven't taken the dat yet, but this is how i've been preparing for it.

focus in on your weakest area first. for me, my weakest area is bio since i'm a chem major. so i'm making notecards for the entire kaplan biology section, and will memorize those cold. next, i'm going to memorize the organic stuff while simulataneously keeping up with the bio memorization. my gen chem skills are high since i'm a ta for that class, so i'm going to basically review problems and not spend too much time on it. the math seems pretty basic and can be knocked out in a few days--just gotta review the area/geometry stuff. there is not much you can do for the RC section, but basically become familiar with skimming the passages for the answers. Finally, the PAT. I will study an entire week (2 weeks prior to the real DAT) for the PAT while reviewing bio and chem stuff. The final week I'm taking as many computer-based practice exams as possible and reviewing areas I have not scored as high as I would like.

I know each person approaches exams differently, but I feel confident that I will be in the 22-23 range using this method.

good luck.

 

[Future DDS]

For those who scored well -

Is it best to study:

a) The 6 sections individually and take practice tests after completing each subject

b) One subject at a time until finished with everything, then take practice tests

c) One chapter of Math, one chapter bio, one chapter org, etc. ... completing your review book- and then taking practice tests


Also, is it better to:

1) finish one review book before moving on to another review book
2) read multiple review books together

I say choice b) is the best out of 3. You want to focus on every single subject when you study it, but when you take the practice test, you want to feel how it is to take a whole comprehensive DAT.

Reading multiple review books together may overwhelm you, and in the end, you don't get much from them (at least this is how I feel). So I think it's better to focus on one review book, such as kaplan blue book, and read it thoroughly.

I hope this helps! 🙂

 

[golfmontpoker]

I say choice b) is the best out of 3. You want to focus on every single subject when you study it, but when you take the practice test, you want to feel how it is to take a whole comprehensive DAT.

Reading multiple review books together may overwhelm you, and in the end, you don't get much from them (at least this is how I feel). So I think it's better to focus on one review book, such as kaplan blue book, and read it thoroughly.

I hope this helps! 🙂

I would aslo go with B... I have just started a "Basic" review for the dat that i will be taking in June-July when i get outta this semester, and B is the way im going!

 

[xxxTheDonxxx]

For those who scored well -

Is it best to study:

a) The 6 sections individually and take practice tests after completing each subject

b) One subject at a time until finished with everything, then take practice tests

c) One chapter of Math, one chapter bio, one chapter org, etc. ... completing your review book- and then taking practice tests


Also, is it better to:

1) finish one review book before moving on to another review book
2) read multiple review books together

I think it's different for each person. I modeled mine after this guy who got AA24 PAT 21. He did (c) and i'm doing the same thing, i'm hoping to land somewhere near he landed. I guess you can do B if you want but make sure you review every other subjects when you start on a new subject. good luck!

 

[gansey]

For those who scored well -

Is it best to study:

a) The 6 sections individually and take practice tests after completing each subject

b) One subject at a time until finished with everything, then take practice tests

c) One chapter of Math, one chapter bio, one chapter org, etc. ... completing your review book- and then taking practice tests


Also, is it better to:

1) finish one review book before moving on to another review book
2) read multiple review books together

best to just study and stay off SDN

 

[xxxTheDonxxx]

best to just study and stay off SDN

very true....i'm going to do just that!!!

 

[howui3]

here is what worked for me:

i used the Kaplan blue book and made outlines for each section (ochem, gchem, bio, math). It started out at about 5-7 pages per section and it had everything I needed to know.

Every morning before doing practice problems I would review my outlines, read them and then repeat them to myself, for ochem I would go through all the reactions and side group activities. That would take me a 2-4 hours. Then I would start doing the problems. And if I came across new material I would add it to the appropriate section in my outline.

This way I knew exactly where things were, so if I need to find the info on Chordates I could find the page in my outline in no time. After about a 3 weeks of this I could recite all the section in my sleep, I knew all the material in the outlines cold. Then I moved on and started to do full length exams, before that I would only do section at a time. I bought Topscore and did the 3 exams and then DATachiever and did their 3 exams. Make sure to review the tests after you go through them.

This worked for me: PAT-23, Bio-22, Ochem-21, Gchem-21, RC-22, QR-21.

hope this helps.

 

[burton117]

here is what worked for me:

i used the Kaplan blue book and made outlines for each section (ochem, gchem, bio, math). It started out at about 5-7 pages per section and it had everything I needed to know.

Every morning before doing practice problems I would review my outlines, read them and then repeat them to myself, for ochem I would go through all the reactions and side group activities. That would take me a 2-4 hours. Then I would start doing the problems. And if I came across new material I would add it to the appropriate section in my outline.

This way I knew exactly where things were, so if I need to find the info on Chordates I could find the page in my outline in no time. After about a 3 weeks of this I could recite all the section in my sleep, I knew all the material in the outlines cold. Then I moved on and started to do full length exams, before that I would only do section at a time. I bought Topscore and did the 3 exams and then DATachiever and did their 3 exams. Make sure to review the tests after you go through them.

This worked for me: PAT-23, Bio-22, Ochem-21, Gchem-21, RC-22, QR-21.

hope this helps.

Sweet scores.. Congratulations!!

So how long would you say you spent total reviewing for the DAT? 3 weeks? And how many hours a day? It sounds like you went all out for the time period that you were studying..

 

[burton117]

best to just study and stay off SDN

U just hit the nail on the head!!

 

[howui3]

Sweet scores.. Congratulations!!

So how long would you say you spent total reviewing for the DAT? 3 weeks? And how many hours a day? It sounds like you went all out for the time period that you were studying..

3 weeks of hardcore review, then a few of taking practice exams (DATachiever and Topscore). Total time: about 5 weeks.

i started at 2-4 hours a day and worked up to about 8 productive hours/day. part of the test is having the stamina and not getting tired after 4 hours of concentration.

 

[burton117]

3 weeks of hardcore review, then a few of taking practice exams (DATachiever and Topscore). Total time: about 5 weeks.

i started at 2-4 hours a day and worked up to about 8 productive hours/day. part of the test is having the stamina and not getting tired after 4 hours of concentration.

Sweet! You definitely got a lot of bang for your buck for the time you put it. I am sure other people have spent a ton more time and not gotten as good scores...

Are you applying now or have you already applied? If so, best of luck to you!

 

[howui3]

Sweet! You definitely got a lot of bang for your buck for the time you put it. I am sure other people have spent a ton more time and not gotten as good scores...

Are you applying now or have you already applied? If so, best of luck to you!

already applied, going to ucla next fall.

 

[burton117]

already applied, going to ucla next fall.

Awesome! Congratulations again

 

[phraud]

here is what worked for me:

i used the Kaplan blue book and made outlines for each section (ochem, gchem, bio, math). It started out at about 5-7 pages per section and it had everything I needed to know.

Every morning before doing practice problems I would review my outlines, read them and then repeat them to myself, for ochem I would go through all the reactions and side group activities. That would take me a 2-4 hours. Then I would start doing the problems. And if I came across new material I would add it to the appropriate section in my outline.

This way I knew exactly where things were, so if I need to find the info on Chordates I could find the page in my outline in no time. After about a 3 weeks of this I could recite all the section in my sleep, I knew all the material in the outlines cold. Then I moved on and started to do full length exams, before that I would only do section at a time. I bought Topscore and did the 3 exams and then DATachiever and did their 3 exams. Make sure to review the tests after you go through them.

This worked for me: PAT-23, Bio-22, Ochem-21, Gchem-21, RC-22, QR-21.

hope this helps.

When you say 5-7 pages per section, do you mean 5-7 pages for bio, or or 5-7 pages per chapter in the bio section?

 

[howui3]

When you say 5-7 pages per section, do you mean 5-7 pages for bio, or or 5-7 pages per chapter in the bio section?

Yeah about 5-7 pages (front and back) for each DAT section. When I was done making my outlines, I had a packet for Bio, packet for Ochem, Gchem, and Math. Then I would review and memorize it and make sure I understand all the equations. This way I knew exactly where things were and would add new info to the appropriate place.

It was a pain to do becuase it took a lot of time, but if you thing about that is going through all the material twice: once as you read it and a second time as you rewrite it in your outline.

good luck.

 

[tissy]

Yeah about 5-7 pages (front and back) for each DAT section. When I was done making my outlines, I had a packet for Bio, packet for Ochem, Gchem, and Math. Then I would review and memorize it and make sure I understand all the equations. This way I knew exactly where things were and would add new info to the appropriate place.

It was a pain to do becuase it took a lot of time, but if you thing about that is going through all the material twice: once as you read it and a second time as you rewrite it in your outline.

good luck.

Wow..I have around 30 pages for biology...wish I only would've had 5-7..it does take up a lot of time but as I'm writing I start thinking about it and memorizing it at the same time.