Just started studying. Thoughts?

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raminanx

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Hey everyone, I just started my DAT studying a couple days ago. I am aiming to take the DAT around June 15th. I noticed that many of you only spend 8 weeks to study but I am trying to follow a friends study outline from last year. He studied 4 months and got a AA of 24. Destroyed the DAT.
Tell me your thoughts on the schedule.

All of March -->

Complete the AP Bio Cliff and Kaplan "big book" Bio section and make Flash Cards
Watch all of Chad's Gen Chem and Orgo videos while taking detailed notes.
Meanwhile, my Kaplan online course runs from March 16th to May 4th. (I won't include the Kaplan studying and homework in the outline because it is a given)

All of April -->

Complete DAT Destroyer and Math Destroyer (I also purchased Organic Chemistry Odyssey... haven't looked at it yet)
Work vigorously on Crack DAT PAT problems.

All of May -->

Purchasing DAT Achiever full tests and completing those and the full TopScore test. While going over the DAT destroyer problems again and flashcards.
Also doing QVault.

Couple weeks of June -->
Do more problems on sections that I am weakest. (Take my mind of the stress and anticipation of the exam by reading a book)
Last week before the exam, I was going to redo 3-5 of the full DAT test from Kaplan, Achiever and TopScore.


What do you guys think of this? Fortunately, I have only my last 2 classes this quarter and won't be working for the next 3 months. Any tips would be great and appreciated.
I should note, PAT comes very easy to me. I took the LSAT 2 years ago Reading Comp was my best section. I feel good about Gen Chem and Orgo, but my main worry is learning all the material in Biology. Oh yeah, Math is straight for me.

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3.5 months is a bit much especially if you think you have a handle on PAT / Ochem / Chem / QR and you haven't even begun studying. I'd drop the Kaplan course and save the money, its nigh useless according to most who've been through it. Otherwise, your plan looks solid.
 
Good to hear somebody else also has the same DAT studying schedule. I just started studying as well and I am essentially planning out a 3.5-4 months preparation and plan to take the exam no later than June 15th. A few of my friends who destroyed the DAT gave me a rough outline of their studying schedule and it is very similar to everything you mentioned.

I also have the online Kaplan course which will run until mid-May. It's a lot of useful resources that I will definitely do (full-lengths, subject tests, quizzes) but I will mostly focus on the stuff I need to learn (like only doing the workshops that I need to study). Biology is also my biggest concern and I hear everyone recommending Bio qvault.

I think we got an excellent schedule going and since we're in it to win it, we can keep each other in check during our studying. :) If anyone who has recently taken the DAT has any other tips or recommendations, it would be so incredibly appreciated!! Thanks so much in advance.
 
I'm gonna be straight up with you--I wouldn't recommend this plan whatsoever.

If your 24 AA friend "killed" it, then there are a few people on this site who I would guess "massacred" the DAT. (Trying to keep up the analogy, here!) I don't think that ANY of these people used Kaplan. I've read maybe one breakdown where a person said it was worth it, and their scores weren't all that stellar--a 19 AA or something like that. Do a quick search for the "la datélisse" thread and check the breakdowns up at the top. If you're aiming for those scores, I'd see what those people did.

Four months is far too long. Not only will your motivation to study fizzle out into oblivion, but you will start to forget things and that will be very frustrating.

After having taken my test and now having the benefit of experience, I genuinely think that you can fine-tune this schedule to make it more effective. My breakdown (in my signature) is more thorough, but I'll give you some quick tips:

1. Study for 2.5 months. It's enough, provided you'll put in 4-hour days on most days. I studied for 3 months and now wish I had just buckled down and gotten it over with sooner.
2. It will not take you a whole month to get through the Destroyer. Also, don't think the Destroyer will be a representation of the test. I don't recommend it, really, but everyone else on this site does. I think I wasted lots of time with it. Chad is the BEST thing for chemistry, hands down.
3. The Kaplan bio section was a total bore to read. I think that Cliff's AP biology and Barron's AP biology combined gave me everything I needed. Plus, they were much more interesting to read, especially Barron's.
4. You need to watch Chad more than once. For example, I reviewed all of his videos on fast-play the week before my DAT.
5. This is highly unpopular advice, but I'd spend my last week reviewing concepts instead of doing practice tests. Practice tests just teach you very isolated things about different topics. The thirty minutes you spend tackling some biology questions that give you surface knowledge about a plethora of things could be better spent reviewing an entire chapter of Cliff's AP that will teach you everything you need to know about a single topic. I never took a practice test. If you know your stuff, timing will not be a huge issue, especially for the sciences.
6. I'd work on Crack PAT tests throughout your studying. I did one every three days or so. They're actually sort of fun once you get the hang of them and are a good break from trying to cram your mind with so many facts.

Let me know if I can help!
 
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I agree with Glimmer 100%. I wouldn't waste your time or money on a formal Kaplan course and instead focus on solid review or practice tests, whichever you prefer. I studied for about 6 weeks and thought it was a good amount of prep time.

It's also fairly straightforward to complete the full Destroyer book twice in about 3 weeks, you definitely don't need 2 months, otherwise you'll keep forgetting what you've learned a few weeks earlier. I think that even though Destroyer is much harder than the problems on the real DAT, you'll learn a lot from working and reviewing those problems (especially ochem and math from my experience), which makes the DAT that much easier. I just don't think that spacing it out as much as you planned is the best idea for retention.

One last thing, in addition to reviewing the sections of Chad's videos you need help with, you should also regularly review the notes you take from his videos the first time around. The week before my exam, I reread my notes every day to make sure I had every topic down rock solid.
 
Glimmer & MedDevil: Thank you very much for the valuable tips!!! I had already taken the Kaplan in-class course that's way I just requested to extend my access to its online resources (otherwise, I wouldn't have invested in Kaplan in the first place if knew about all this prior to doing their in-class course).

Glimmer: You are so awesome for taking the time to share your very helpful and honest tips and experiences with us! I truly appreciate it! :)

free99: Awesome method to hit the destroyer!! Thanks so much for sharing this!! (PreDentLimbo, many thanks for making the original thread.)
 
You got a good plan. If you understand the questions you are answering, you should score high on the real DAT

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I actually kinda just started on the DAT.

My whole plan is pretty march finish Cliff's AP/Barrons AP, along with all chad's videos up until March 17th about.

Then after March 17th, is all the practice problems such as Destroyer, Achiever, TOPscore, and etc up until around April 20th.

I will be doing DAT QVAULT and chad's quizzes periodically to retain my memory while I am reading. So basically I am learning and applying it right away.

Not too sure if this will work out, but I am a type of person who have a really great short term memory. So for me in my opinion, 3 months would be way too long !
 
I am not shooting for a 19 or 20. I want a minimum score of 23. I have a 4.0 Science GPA, but when I was a freshmen I got distracted and did not do to well. I turned it around in the coming years and my Overal GPA is a 3.3 right now. So, I need that high DAT score so I can have my options of what schools I can attend.
Loveee2Smile, keep in touch. I will be on my DAT hustle game.
 
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azynnytex: I too have a great capacity of memorizing and retaining information. So I agree that 3 months may be pushing it cause I could easily forget a lot of information in that time period. My friend had made this schedule and with his score I was very confident in him. I still am, but getting advice from others who have taken the test too is always more beneficial.
 
Hey everyone, I just started my DAT studying a couple days ago. I am aiming to take the DAT around June 15th. I noticed that many of you only spend 8 weeks to study but I am trying to follow a friends study outline from last year. He studied 4 months and got a AA of 24. Destroyed the DAT.
Tell me your thoughts on the schedule.

All of March -->

Complete the AP Bio Cliff and Kaplan "big book" Bio section and make Flash Cards
Watch all of Chad's Gen Chem and Orgo videos while taking detailed notes.
Meanwhile, my Kaplan online course runs from March 16th to May 4th. (I won't include the Kaplan studying and homework in the outline because it is a given)

All of April -->

Complete DAT Destroyer and Math Destroyer (I also purchased Organic Chemistry Odyssey... haven't looked at it yet)
Work vigorously on Crack DAT PAT problems.

All of May -->

Purchasing DAT Achiever full tests and completing those and the full TopScore test. While going over the DAT destroyer problems again and flashcards.
Also doing QVault.

Couple weeks of June -->
Do more problems on sections that I am weakest. (Take my mind of the stress and anticipation of the exam by reading a book)
Last week before the exam, I was going to redo 3-5 of the full DAT test from Kaplan, Achiever and TopScore.


What do you guys think of this? Fortunately, I have only my last 2 classes this quarter and won't be working for the next 3 months. Any tips would be great and appreciated.
I should note, PAT comes very easy to me. I took the LSAT 2 years ago Reading Comp was my best section. I feel good about Gen Chem and Orgo, but my main worry is learning all the material in Biology. Oh yeah, Math is straight for me.

You need a solid 2 months to conquer the exam with confidence...3 months if you are inherently not confident about your abilities. Anything more than what was suggested would make you very tired, drive you up the wall, and hate your life.

As far as studying material goes, the posters above did a pretty good job in steering you in the right direction.
 
You need a solid 2 months to conquer the exam with confidence...3 months if you are inherently not confident about your abilities. Anything more than what was suggested would make you very tired, drive you up the wall, and hate your life.

As far as studying material goes, the posters above did a pretty good job in steering you in the right direction.

I'm going to assume everyone here that says "2-4 months" study time is fresh out of school, in school, or works only part time? Anyone here work a full time career with a commute each way have any advice on study duration and schedule?

As many of you may know from some of my previous posts here (I'm relatively new to the forum), I'm a non-trad applicant that's been working in Bioengineering for 13 years and after having reached the top of my engineering field (recently promoted to Principal) and getting burned out on corporate engineering ($$ driven, not patient driven), I'm wanting to make a switch to dentistry. I attempted this back in 1998 and was accepted, but I declined due to personal reasons and finished up in Bioengineering. So, long story short, my time commuting to and from work and working is around 55 hours per week, M-F. I'm also married with a newborn on the way (after the DAT in July, thankfully!).

This leaves me with around 3 hours per night to watch Chad's, read the suggested AP bio books, quizzes, practice tests, etc., during the week, Friday and Saturday off, and Sunday nights with about 4 hours (16 hrs weekly until July 11th).

Advice? Too little time? Stretched out too long and risking forgetting things as the test nears? I think I have a good plan by mixing it up and not sticking to one particular subject for longer than one night at a time. My personal study schedule has a nice topic balance throughout the next ~4 months to avoid complete burnout - in fact, this is the same method I use at work to prevent burnout and maximize productivity.

Nonetheless, advice on optimizing as seen from a full-time career working applicant would be great!
 
You're welcome to PM me. I'm a non-trad also. But I had a disgusting schedule I wouldn't really recommend to anyone.

Basically I was running on 4 hours of sleep daily for about a month or so. I had been away from gen chem and o chem plus bio for approximately 3 years at the time. Studied for only 6 weeks because I was in school full time and couldn't really make time to dedicate myself full time to studying. So that 6 weeks consisted of reviewing EVERYTHING from bio to gen chem and o chem. And doing CrackDAT PAT.

This all took place between 7pm to 3am daily.

Week 1-2: 2-4 hours daily of following Kaplan bio and supplementing with Wikipedia and bio textbook (total approx 4-6 hours of studying / day)
Week 3-4: 2 hours gen chem and 2 hours o chem, supplementing with Chad's videos and old chem/o chem textbook. (total approx 6 hours of studying / day)
Week 5-6: CrackDAT PAT. 1 test daily, checked EVERY problem I did wrong. Reviewing bio, chem, and o chem and doing a lot of practice quizzes in my old bio, chem, and gen chem. I started taking DAT stuff to school and "leisurely" read between classes, during lunch, and essentially every waking hour.

During the last 2 weeks. I did TopScore to get myself familiarized with the interface of the test, practiced with a laminated sheet and a basic calculator.

My scores were 19 for RC and O chem, my lowest sections, a bunch of 20s and 22 for PAT. I wasn't a straight A student when I was taking those basic science classes. I think I had mostly Bs.

During those 6 weeks, I submitted an abstract, won first place, finished with a 3.5 GPA that semester. I lost about 7 lbs and was reduced to merely wanting basic human desires - eat & sleep lol. And I wanted most people to stay the frack away from me because I was irritable as frack lol. But hey, 4 interview invites, attended 3, got accepted at all 3. I am not complaining.
 
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