How to actually study for the dat....

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KappaSig

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Ok so my question is to people that have done on well on the DAT. So I am studying for it, and I was wondering whats the best route.

Should I read the whole biology section then move on to learning the Chemistry section and then Organic. Or should I break it down like a few hours of biology then few hours of chemistry and etc.

Also whats a good source for reading passage, I am really slow at reading and I took a practice test and it didnt go too well.

I am in dire need of help as it is my second time taking the test and I want to do really well this time.

I would appreciate all the feed back I can get. Thank you for your time.

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It depends on you and your learning style, I took the DAT twice first time AA/TS/PAT = 20/20/20, second time AA=20, TS=21, PAT=22, RC=21, GC=22, OC=21, I studied for 10 weeks straight 8-10 hours per day, studied everything at the same time , few hours Bio, few hours chem, etc. the parts I felt less confidence in I spent more hours on, and I found my own way of reading the passages for RC, I found out which way is the best for me, I read the passage really fast , write down notes and then answer questions, but try out different methods, not every one has the same style. I read the Kaplan book 4 times cover to cover, did the DAT Destroyer, Achiever, Top score, also read my own Bio and Chem books from college, and took every DAT test I could get my hands on.
 
How you study this time should depend on how well you did on each section the first time. What did you make on it the first time? PAT? TS? QR? RC?

I took it one time and made a 20PAT, 20TS, 19AA. These arent the greatest scores but here's what I did to study:

I studied each section one at a time using mainly the Kaplan Blue Book. I studied biology for 3-4 days at about 5-6 hours a day. Then Gen Chem for 3-4 days 5-6 hours a day. I did Organic and the PAT the same way. Then once I thought I had a good sense of everything I took a Topscore test to see where I stood. Whatever I didn't understand or got wrong I made sure I knew how they got the answer and then I used my text books to brush up on those topics. Then I took another Topscore test. And so on. I took my last Topscore test about a week before the test.

For RC I really didn't study and I did ok. I would say just read the passage fast as you can and try to remember where all the key topics are in the passage and then go and answer the questions last. You should be able to go right to the section of the passage where the answer is this way with out taking too much time.

I did pretty bad on the QR section because it just was not enough time for me so I don't think I'm at liberty to give you advice on that section.:)

I had about 2 months to study though, I also depends on how much time you have before your test. When is the test?
 
It depends on you and your learning style, I took the DAT twice first time AA/TS/PAT = 20/20/20, second time AA=20, TS=21, PAT=22, RC=21, GC=22, OC=21, I studied for 10 weeks straight 8-10 hours per day, studied everything at the same time , few hours Bio, few hours chem, etc. the parts I felt less confidence in I spent more hours on, and I found my own way of reading the passages for RC, I found out which way is the best for me, I read the passage really fast , write down notes and then answer questions, but try out different methods, not every one has the same style. I read the Kaplan book 4 times cover to cover, did the DAT Destroyer, Achiever, Top score, also read my own Bio and Chem books from college, and took every DAT test I could get my hands on.

LOL @ retaking a 20/20/20, uhh why?
 
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What was the best way to study for OChem? Although I have gone through the mechanisms many times now, I tend to get confused during the practice tests.

Do you guys have any helpful hints/study methods that would help?

Thank you =)
 
10 weeks 8-10 hrs a day? It's just as important to me as anyone else, but that's gotta be overkill...
 
I studied for about a month and a half. First 2-3 weeks I studied for about 3-4 hours a day. Last 2-3 weeks I studied at least 8 hours every day. The last week was when I started doing practice tests and taking it easy on the studying part. Day before.... didn't do a damn thing.
 
Do practice questions 90% of them time, reading 10% of the time. This was the mistake I made the first time. Second time I scored much much higher and didn't go down in any section.
 
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