Low DAT. Need some advice from DAT retakers who boosted their scores

[PaliRN95]

Hello everyone,



I want to retake it again in 7-8 weeks, but I work full time. So I have about 8 weeks to prepare and I work 3 12 hour night shifts. For those who retook the DAT and boosted their scores, what did you do differently? I feel like I know what I can do differently myself, but I'd like to hear it firsthand from the people who have done it first. Also, for those who work fulltime and scored well on the DAT, how did you prepare? what was a typical study day for you like?

Thanks in advance!

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[ProspectivePostPreDent]

I worked a job and had class while studying, lowest score in any section was a 22.

The basic method doesn't have to be complicated.

Going into your days off, get enough sleep (you know the minimum amount needed for you to get to 90+% working efficiency; it's slightly different for everyone). An hour less than ideal sleep is just one more hour of sucking (and the rest of your waking hours will suck too). Get what you need.

Also, stay hydrated. 10+ tall glasses of water a day. Makes you think more clearly.

First, make sure you have an overview book or guide that has all the up to date topics and then just do 50:10 (10 minute break) studying, starting with your weakest areas.

But that's just shooting in the dark.

The most important part is taking a load of timed exams. Get them from every source - kaplan, princeton review, bootcamp, wherever you can. Get 10 at bare minimum.

Render the format so mundane that it's like going for a light jog. You have to mitigate the psychological toll it takes on you so you can just focus on the answers.

Take your first test ASAP, and after every test, review every missed answer (especially science and math) and figure out why the wrong answers were wrong and the right ones are right.

Every single answer to every single missed question.

Identify problem areas based on this and use it to redirect your studying. After a couple iterations of this, you should be getting 20+ consistently.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

How did you prepare for the DAT the first time?

 

[PaliRN95]

I worked a job and had class while studying, lowest score in any section was a 22.

The basic method doesn't have to be complicated.

Going into your days off, get enough sleep (you know the minimum amount needed for you to get to 90+% working efficiency; it's slightly different for everyone). An hour less than ideal sleep is just one more hour of sucking (and the rest of your waking hours will suck too). Get what you need.

Also, stay hydrated. 10+ tall glasses of water a day. Makes you think more clearly.

First, make sure you have an overview book or guide that has all the up to date topics and then just do 50:10 (10 minute break) studying, starting with your weakest areas.

But that's just shooting in the dark.

The most important part is taking a load of timed exams. Get them from every source - kaplan, princeton review, bootcamp, wherever you can. Get 10 at bare minimum.

Render the format so mundane that it's like going for a light jog. You have to mitigate the psychological toll it takes on you so you can just focus on the answers.

Take your first test ASAP, and after every test, review every missed answer (especially science and math) and figure out why the wrong answers were wrong and the right ones are right.

Every single answer to every single missed question.

Identify problem areas based on this and use it to redirect your studying. After a couple iterations of this, you should be getting 20+ consistently.

Thank you! those are great tips. how many hours a day did you study and for how long?

 

[PaliRN95]

How did you prepare for the DAT the first time?

For the most part I used Aris schedule but I didn't finish destroyer for any section. I got like 150 questions in for each science. Also, I burned myself out the last 3 weeks so my study days dropped to 4hrs which is a big reason why destroyer never got finished. I didn't start reading practice until a week before the test. I think I've learned from my mistakes, but my only issue is time which I have no choice but to find at this point and I know people do it so hopefully it isn't a problem.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

For the most part I used Aris schedule but I didn't finish destroyer for any section. I got like 150 questions in for each science. Also, I burned myself out the last 3 weeks so my study days dropped to 4hrs which is a big reason why destroyer never got finished. I didn't start reading practice until a week before the test. I think I've learned from my mistakes, but my only issue is time which I have no choice but to find at this point and I know people do it so hopefully it isn't a problem.

Some general advice:

1. Try to work through all of your resources completely, to make sure you've been exposed to a lot of the content that could appear on the DAT. This includes practice exams, Destroy problems, etc. That will be tough with a limited amount of time, so schedule our how much content you need to get through each day ahead of time so you know what milestones you should be hitting to be on pace to do that.

2. 8 weeks while working full-time is kind of rough, but since your work is three 12-hour shifts, that still leaves at least 4 days a week open that you can fully dedicate to studying. I'd suggest using the earlier weeks to do content review (especially in Biology and General Chemistry, where your scores were lower) before moving ahead to practice exams/questions. What resources did you use to do content review the first time you studied, and did you manage to get through them all?

3. Try to practice math, reading, and PAT regularly (every day if possible). You don't need to practice them for too long - usually 20 minutes per subject is enough - and doing so will improve your timing, which is critical for all three of these sections.

Let me know if you have any other questions or points of concern - I didn't retake the DAT, but I hope it's still helpful advice.

 

[ProspectivePostPreDent]

Thank you! those are great tips. how many hours a day did you study and for how long?

I did four months, two casual and two serious. For a month or two, on weekdays, I got an hour on the bus to work then another hour or two at home. So I guess put that aside, like what you've already done.

After that, I picked it up to the hour on the bus + 4 at home for the "serious" period.
All the while, obviously weekends were for studying.

Especially with 8 hour weekend study days.. 50/10, very important to break and stay hydrated.

At two different points (including leading into the test), I took 3 days off work, creating five day weekends.