Wanted to make a breakdown post since I read alot of these as I was studying. Before reading this, don’t compare yourself to others, everyone has a different journey. I studied for around 4 months and tested May 21, 2025. I pushed my test an extra month since I wasnt ready after the 3 months. I would say on average I studied around 2-4 hours per day, for 3 months, and 4-6 hours everyday the last month since I was in summer break. I always had days where I studied 0-2 hours once or twice a week due to life. I followed DAT Boosters 12-week schedule for phase 1 content review (7 weeks) and then made my own schedule for the rest of my studying. I would only plan ahead a few days so I had a malleable study schedule based on what I felt I needed to work on. The last month of studying I took 10 full-length practice tests and studied every question after thoroughly, and this was where I saw the most improvement in my scores. My scores for these practice test varied alot per section, but i usually got a 420 and my final 3 test scores were 420, 460, and 440. Make sure you take these test as the same time as your test so you are used to testing early morning.
My score breakdown was AA- 490, PAT- 470, BIO- 470, GC- 470, OC- 540, TS- 490, RC- 510, QR- 440
As you can see, I did better than my practice tests! I believe this was due to me having full confidence going into the testing room and having no stress since at that point theres nothing you can do but do your best. I arrived at my testing center an hour early at 7am, and studied my science notes. I also took my 30 minute break to eat a healthy snack, scroll on tikok, then studied my QR formulas.
All of my content review was done using DAT Booster, watching the videos and taking notes. In addition to the 10 pratice test on DAT Booster, I also used DAT Bootcamp just for the practice tests. I didn’t use ANKI except a bit for O-Chem. Instead of anki, I would use DAT Boosters game challenge, had a custom quizlet, and studied my marked questions.
My main approach to memorizing content was using the whiteboard method; I highly recommend using it especially for the biology section. I also memorized the many mnemonics that are taught in both booster and bootcamp.
Biology (470)- This was the most representative section as it felt just like the practice. DAT Boosters Bio bits are very extra, I would do as much as you can but focus on the topics you feel weaker in. Some questions were very in-depth and low yield so I wouldn’t focus too much on completing it. The DAT Booster cheat sheets were amazing and very high yield so make sure to memorize them. I myself made similar ones for GC and OC to constantly review (Using the whiteboard method).
Gen Chem (470)- I was always slow at Chem so I just planned my test strat on taking more time on GC and less time on Bio/OC. The booster videos were good. I made my own cheat sheet with formulas and high-yield info. I feel like question banks were good but the practice test questions were better and more representative. It’s important to understand the concepts since questions can be worded so differently. I enjoyed Bootcamps tests since the videos explanation from Dr. Mike made it easy to understand the overall concepts behind the questions. Make sure you know the high yield topics like ideal gas law, gibbs free energy, KSP, and rates.
O-Chem (540)- I had a strong foundation already and the videos were a perfect amount of info for me to remember high yield info and the question banks were also great. I forced myself to do anki for it but overall just doing the questions banks over and practice tests were a majority of how I studied.
PAT (470)- DAT Boosters startegies were very useful and I constantly practiced which made me so good. After getting familiar with PAT, I always praticed with a timer, like doing 25 questions in 20 minutes. I noticed boosters TFE and then bootcamps hole punching were harder than the real test. Overall this section just requires repetition and actively understanding how to utilize the strategies quickly. On the test, I skipped to question 31 to start the test with angle ranking and move on from there.
RC (510)- I used a mix of the standard and search n destroy. I would do standard approach but switch to search n destroy if I was running out of time. Just pick a strategy and learn it well. This also just comes with consistent practice.
QR (440)- Practice tests were representative of the actual test. I was already good at the algebra question so I didn’t study much. The part I struggled with was permutations/combinations and probabilities.
My score breakdown was AA- 490, PAT- 470, BIO- 470, GC- 470, OC- 540, TS- 490, RC- 510, QR- 440
As you can see, I did better than my practice tests! I believe this was due to me having full confidence going into the testing room and having no stress since at that point theres nothing you can do but do your best. I arrived at my testing center an hour early at 7am, and studied my science notes. I also took my 30 minute break to eat a healthy snack, scroll on tikok, then studied my QR formulas.
All of my content review was done using DAT Booster, watching the videos and taking notes. In addition to the 10 pratice test on DAT Booster, I also used DAT Bootcamp just for the practice tests. I didn’t use ANKI except a bit for O-Chem. Instead of anki, I would use DAT Boosters game challenge, had a custom quizlet, and studied my marked questions.
My main approach to memorizing content was using the whiteboard method; I highly recommend using it especially for the biology section. I also memorized the many mnemonics that are taught in both booster and bootcamp.
Biology (470)- This was the most representative section as it felt just like the practice. DAT Boosters Bio bits are very extra, I would do as much as you can but focus on the topics you feel weaker in. Some questions were very in-depth and low yield so I wouldn’t focus too much on completing it. The DAT Booster cheat sheets were amazing and very high yield so make sure to memorize them. I myself made similar ones for GC and OC to constantly review (Using the whiteboard method).
Gen Chem (470)- I was always slow at Chem so I just planned my test strat on taking more time on GC and less time on Bio/OC. The booster videos were good. I made my own cheat sheet with formulas and high-yield info. I feel like question banks were good but the practice test questions were better and more representative. It’s important to understand the concepts since questions can be worded so differently. I enjoyed Bootcamps tests since the videos explanation from Dr. Mike made it easy to understand the overall concepts behind the questions. Make sure you know the high yield topics like ideal gas law, gibbs free energy, KSP, and rates.
O-Chem (540)- I had a strong foundation already and the videos were a perfect amount of info for me to remember high yield info and the question banks were also great. I forced myself to do anki for it but overall just doing the questions banks over and practice tests were a majority of how I studied.
PAT (470)- DAT Boosters startegies were very useful and I constantly practiced which made me so good. After getting familiar with PAT, I always praticed with a timer, like doing 25 questions in 20 minutes. I noticed boosters TFE and then bootcamps hole punching were harder than the real test. Overall this section just requires repetition and actively understanding how to utilize the strategies quickly. On the test, I skipped to question 31 to start the test with angle ranking and move on from there.
RC (510)- I used a mix of the standard and search n destroy. I would do standard approach but switch to search n destroy if I was running out of time. Just pick a strategy and learn it well. This also just comes with consistent practice.
QR (440)- Practice tests were representative of the actual test. I was already good at the algebra question so I didn’t study much. The part I struggled with was permutations/combinations and probabilities.
