In need of some serious advice, DAT in a couple days

[Yazzi]

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Hello everyone!

I've been a long time lurker and decided to make an account today because I have so many questions and I don't know who to go, so I hope you all can help.

My DAT is set for next week. Studying for the DAT this summer has been a challenge, I have had family come visit from overseas and there was a death in the family that led me to be away from my studies for about two weeks.
I basically did the first month of Ari's schedule, watched Chads vids once and did the quizzes twice, I read AP Cliff's did the associated quizzes, and only did some of Destroyer . I felt that I had a great understanding of the material. I would go over the material I missed take notes and make a flashcard.

I started taking bootcamp tests last week and I scored on the first one BIO 18, CHEM 15, ORGO 16, PAT 15, RC 17, QR( too embarrassed to even say!)
Second BC: 16, 16, 15, 16, 19, 17(guess on the last 10 questions..dont know if this even counts)
I started panicking in chem and PAT because I had run out of time and left so many answers blank.

I honestly felt really depressed after the second one. I thought I knew information and now I feel like I know nothing especially when it comes to QR and ORGO.

I already know I need to postpone my exam, but the question now is when should I take it? I have classes starting next week , can I still be able to study for DAT along with classes? How can I improve in Orgo and QR? I felt like I understood Chad's QR well, but always sucked at the destroyer and BC QR. For all of the sections should I re-watch Chads? Should I get any other resource that might help me?

I apologize for the long post and appreciate the advice.

 

[enamel88]

I think you should postpone your test. Once you start hitting 18-19 at least, I think you're ok depending on how well you want to do on your exam. In terms of destroyer, it's perfectly normal to get a lot wrong the first run through. For me right after doing Chad's videos, I thought I knew everything by second nature only to get 30% of the questions right for OC and GC. But stubborn as I am, I decided to keep going. 2nd time is ALOT better maybe 70-80%. Then after the 2nd time, I just focus on the ones I got wrong. Your second time bootcamp scores still seem a little low considering it's the second time but it shows that the foundations aren't there yet. Don't feel depressed about the scores. Learn from them!!! You can do something about the scores. Also QR is hard for the bootcamp according to Ari and a lot of people. I personally have been using destroyer and even them am only getting 28/40 right. My test is in 2 weeks from today. Keep reviewing and push it back.

 

[changtw]

Hi Yazzi

First and foremost, I'm so, so sorry for your loss.

Dealing with the emotional repercussions of such an event definitely takes precedent over any sort of academic pursuits you have. I hope you have given yourself some time to heal.

I relate to your situation because something similar happened to me. After my graduation in May, I had given myself 6 weeks to study. My grandfather passed away shortly after my graduation, and I wound up taking 2 weeks off. Since I committed to the test day, I crammed in 4 weeks and went through with the exam (but this was over the summer, and I did not have to juggle any classes).

With such a stressful situation + the emotional turmoil associated with the passing of a loved one, please don't be so hard on yourself.

Bootcamp was killer. ESPECIALLY when it came to QR. So do not worry about scoring so low on it. So far, from reading what your previous study plans have been, I think you're doing everything right, so good on you!

If you've already decided on pushing the exam back, which I think would be wise, then I would hold off on the rest of BC for the time being. Since some time has passed, you might want to go back and go over Chad's videos a 3rd time just as a refresher. Then tackle Destroyer, then tackle BC once your DAT is closer in date.

It seems like you've got 75% of the material down, but you must make sure you give yourself proper time to study the remaining 25%.

Are you planning on applying this cycle or next? If it's next cycle, you definitely have some time. If this is the case, I would schedule my exam during the last week of winter break. That gives you all semester to study a few hours every week, then a solid 2.5 weeks to do the hard-studying (these would be your 8-10 hour days) + full-length practice exams.

Key things:
**Go back and go over Chad's again before proceeding with BC and Destroyer
**Do ALL of destroyer at least 2 times
**Math destroyer is a must if QR is a weak subject and you need to improve ( I found Chad's QR videos and quizzes to be very, very helpful in building a great foundation. I went through some of the QR videos twice, then found Destroyer QR and Math Destroyer to be significantly easier to follow).
**Save BC to simulate full-length exams 1.5 weeks before your exam date
**2007 + 2009 ADA DAT practice exams are a must

 

[Dr.Toothenstein]

I suck at QR and have been using bootcamp. How many right are you getting? I suck at trig and havent had a math class in ages. I noticed a ~40%=17. With your time left you should prioritize and spend the least amount of time possible on QR so you get a decent score. A 17 in QR probably isnt the end of the world, but getting a 17 in chem/bio would be a disaster. Are you going through math solutions before taking the next exam so you can learn? I have been doing that and it helps; there are some killer problems in bootcamp so I dont spend too much time on it but instead try to understand the concept (and how it might show up on the real thing). Two things that seem to help; as you go through word problems try to extract info into small points on your paper ie: mary is 2X as old as bob ill write M 2X B. Another thing is try to get as many points as possible, skip hard questions (random answer and mark them an move on); focus on problems you have a chance of getting right.

 

[enamel88]

I highly recommend going over math destroyer! I've been timing myself and getting around 28/40 right. I skip any question that's like more than 3 sentences and come back to it later. I really feel like this part they're testing you on math yes but also being able to allocate time throughout the problems. Cmon, 40 questions in 45 min?

 

[Yazzi]

Hi Yazzi

First and foremost, I'm so, so sorry for your loss.

Dealing with the emotional repercussions of such an event definitely takes precedent over any sort of academic pursuits you have. I hope you have given yourself some time to heal.

I relate to your situation because something similar happened to me. After my graduation in May, I had given myself 6 weeks to study. My grandfather passed away shortly after my graduation, and I wound up taking 2 weeks off. Since I committed to the test day, I crammed in 4 weeks and went through with the exam (but this was over the summer, and I did not have to juggle any classes).

With such a stressful situation + the emotional turmoil associated with the passing of a loved one, please don't be so hard on yourself.

Bootcamp was killer. ESPECIALLY when it came to QR. So do not worry about scoring so low on it. So far, from reading what your previous study plans have been, I think you're doing everything right, so good on you!

If you've already decided on pushing the exam back, which I think would be wise, then I would hold off on the rest of BC for the time being. Since some time has passed, you might want to go back and go over Chad's videos a 3rd time just as a refresher. Then tackle Destroyer, then tackle BC once your DAT is closer in date.

It seems like you've got 75% of the material down, but you must make sure you give yourself proper time to study the remaining 25%.

Are you planning on applying this cycle or next? If it's next cycle, you definitely have some time. If this is the case, I would schedule my exam during the last week of winter break. That gives you all semester to study a few hours every week, then a solid 2.5 weeks to do the hard-studying (these would be your 8-10 hour days) + full-length practice exams.

Key things:
**Go back and go over Chad's again before proceeding with BC and Destroyer
**Do ALL of destroyer at least 2 times
**Math destroyer is a must if QR is a weak subject and you need to improve ( I found Chad's QR videos and quizzes to be very, very helpful in building a great foundation. I went through some of the QR videos twice, then found Destroyer QR and Math Destroyer to be significantly easier to follow).
**Save BC to simulate full-length exams 1.5 weeks before your exam date
**2007 + 2009 ADA DAT practice exams are a must

Thank you so much for your advice. Made me feel much better. I was hoping to apply this cycle, but I don't mind not to. I would rather and hopefully take this exam once on a good note rather than rush and do bad on it and have to retake it. Would you suggest I go through the Math destroyer twice or is that too much?

 

[Yazzi]

I think you should postpone your test. Once you start hitting 18-19 at least, I think you're ok depending on how well you want to do on your exam. In terms of destroyer, it's perfectly normal to get a lot wrong the first run through. For me right after doing Chad's videos, I thought I knew everything by second nature only to get 30% of the questions right for OC and GC. But stubborn as I am, I decided to keep going. 2nd time is ALOT better maybe 70-80%. Then after the 2nd time, I just focus on the ones I got wrong. Your second time bootcamp scores still seem a little low considering it's the second time but it shows that the foundations aren't there yet. Don't feel depressed about the scores. Learn from them!!! You can do something about the scores. Also QR is hard for the bootcamp according to Ari and a lot of people. I personally have been using destroyer and even them am only getting 28/40 right. My test is in 2 weeks from today. Keep reviewing and push it back.

Thanks so much! How far do you think I should actually push it back without it being a drag? And another question how long did it take you to go through destroyer once and a second time?

 

[Yazzi]

I suck at QR and have been using bootcamp. How many right are you getting? I suck at trig and havent had a math class in ages. I noticed a ~40%=17. With your time left you should prioritize and spend the least amount of time possible on QR so you get a decent score. A 17 in QR probably isnt the end of the world, but getting a 17 in chem/bio would be a disaster. Are you going through math solutions before taking the next exam so you can learn? I have been doing that and it helps; there are some killer problems in bootcamp so I dont spend too much time on it but instead try to understand the concept (and how it might show up on the real thing). Two things that seem to help; as you go through word problems try to extract info into small points on your paper ie: mary is 2X as old as bob ill write M 2X B. Another thing is try to get as many points as possible, skip hard questions (random answer and mark them an move on); focus on problems you have a chance of getting right.

Thanks for your advice! Yes, I have tried doing the skip the hard questions thing and did notice my scores to go up a little. My first run at QR with BC was below a 15 (I ran out of time at #19), and the second QR test a 17, I guess I'm going to have to postpone to focus on my weaknesses.