Hey guys! I hope this breakdown of my DAT exam & Bootcamp experience encourages you and eases your pre-test anxieties!
I used Bootcamp for 3 months from March-May. I expanded Ari’s 2 week schedule into 3 months. This worked well so I could take extra days to study concepts that needed more attention or take days off when I had an college exams/finals. I finished learning all the material by the end of the 2nd month. I used the last month to review the concepts that I didn’t grasp as well and take ALL full length practice exams.
I studied 2-3 hours a day the first 2 months and then 4-6 hours per day for the last month. I love the academy videos because they tell you everything you need to know for the test!! You learn the strategies you’ll need to implement and don’t waste your time learning unnecessary info.
For Bio, I studied only the Bio Bites. I’m a molecular & cellular bio major so I had a strong background. I mainly needed to review & memorize the info instead of learning it from scratch. I completed a set every other day. The following day, I would review the questions I missed again.
For GC and OC, I watched all of Mike’s Videos and took notes with the printouts. After finishing a module, I’d complete the corresponding question banks/reaction bites to practice and determine what I still didn’t understand. The last week of studying, I switched from trying to memorize the OC reactions to trying to understand them mechanistically - this improved my understanding so I could tackle unfamiliar problems.
For PAT, I watched all academy videos to learn strategies and did the PAT trainer every day. I chose the strategies that worked for me & worked on improving my reaction time while implementing them.
For RC, I read one article a day from Science Daily. I watched the RC academy videos and decided on the passage mapping strategy because it made the most sense to me.
For QR, I did 15-20 problems a day from the practice banks and watched the academy videos on concepts I was weak in.
The month before the test:
I completed days 38-62 from the Study Schedule pretty much by the book. On the days I didn’t take a full length test, I did 1 RC passage question set, 2-3 bio bites sets, reviewed 1-2 topics in GC and OC, and completed 10-15 practice problems in each PAT section.
Two days before my DAT I reviewed all of my practice tests to watch the video explanations of questions I missed. I reworked all missed GC and QR problems on paper when applicable. I reviewed tests 1-8 on day 1. On DAT-eve I reviewed tests 9-10
**The full length tests were my greatest asset throughout the process!!! They showed me my weak spots and emphasized my strengths so I knew how to use my study time efficiently. They got me used to the timing and the format so I knew what to expect day of! I cannot emphasize enough how representative they were of the real DAT. If anything, they were a little more difficult than what I saw on my DAT**
I consistently got 19’s and 20’s on the full length exams, so that’s what I was expecting to get on Test Day. However, I’d heard it was common for people to see a 1-2 point bump in their scores. I was hopeful but not unrealistic.
Breakdown of the Exam & Scores:
Bio (23) - Felt just like the practice tests. I recognized a good handful of questions that were VERY similar to the bio practice tests.
GC (21) - There was nothing unexpected and all of the concepts were represented in the practice tests
OC (21) - same as GC. Although I didn’t recognize specific questions from practice exams, I had learned the equations and concepts that bootcamp emphasized so I was able apply them in different contexts!
PAT (23) - just like the practice tests in terms of difficulty
RC (28) - I honestly thought the passages I received were shorter and less dense than the BC tests. I used passage mapping & even had time at the end to review questions I was unsure of. Most of the questions were straight comprehension and not inference based. However, I received passages about topics in which I was already knowledgable - this combined with a personal strong RC background helped me I’m sure.
QR (20) - There were a few questions where the wording was unfamiliar but the concepts were the same! As long as you rely on what you know, you can apply it broadly! I ran out of time towards the end and used the last few minutes to make educated guesses on the last 5 problems or so.
I was extremely happy with my scores and my experience with Bootcamp. I’ve already recommended it to friends that will be applying next year!
My biggest tips:
I used Bootcamp for 3 months from March-May. I expanded Ari’s 2 week schedule into 3 months. This worked well so I could take extra days to study concepts that needed more attention or take days off when I had an college exams/finals. I finished learning all the material by the end of the 2nd month. I used the last month to review the concepts that I didn’t grasp as well and take ALL full length practice exams.
I studied 2-3 hours a day the first 2 months and then 4-6 hours per day for the last month. I love the academy videos because they tell you everything you need to know for the test!! You learn the strategies you’ll need to implement and don’t waste your time learning unnecessary info.
For Bio, I studied only the Bio Bites. I’m a molecular & cellular bio major so I had a strong background. I mainly needed to review & memorize the info instead of learning it from scratch. I completed a set every other day. The following day, I would review the questions I missed again.
For GC and OC, I watched all of Mike’s Videos and took notes with the printouts. After finishing a module, I’d complete the corresponding question banks/reaction bites to practice and determine what I still didn’t understand. The last week of studying, I switched from trying to memorize the OC reactions to trying to understand them mechanistically - this improved my understanding so I could tackle unfamiliar problems.
For PAT, I watched all academy videos to learn strategies and did the PAT trainer every day. I chose the strategies that worked for me & worked on improving my reaction time while implementing them.
For RC, I read one article a day from Science Daily. I watched the RC academy videos and decided on the passage mapping strategy because it made the most sense to me.
For QR, I did 15-20 problems a day from the practice banks and watched the academy videos on concepts I was weak in.
The month before the test:
I completed days 38-62 from the Study Schedule pretty much by the book. On the days I didn’t take a full length test, I did 1 RC passage question set, 2-3 bio bites sets, reviewed 1-2 topics in GC and OC, and completed 10-15 practice problems in each PAT section.
Two days before my DAT I reviewed all of my practice tests to watch the video explanations of questions I missed. I reworked all missed GC and QR problems on paper when applicable. I reviewed tests 1-8 on day 1. On DAT-eve I reviewed tests 9-10
**The full length tests were my greatest asset throughout the process!!! They showed me my weak spots and emphasized my strengths so I knew how to use my study time efficiently. They got me used to the timing and the format so I knew what to expect day of! I cannot emphasize enough how representative they were of the real DAT. If anything, they were a little more difficult than what I saw on my DAT**
I consistently got 19’s and 20’s on the full length exams, so that’s what I was expecting to get on Test Day. However, I’d heard it was common for people to see a 1-2 point bump in their scores. I was hopeful but not unrealistic.
Breakdown of the Exam & Scores:
Bio (23) - Felt just like the practice tests. I recognized a good handful of questions that were VERY similar to the bio practice tests.
GC (21) - There was nothing unexpected and all of the concepts were represented in the practice tests
OC (21) - same as GC. Although I didn’t recognize specific questions from practice exams, I had learned the equations and concepts that bootcamp emphasized so I was able apply them in different contexts!
PAT (23) - just like the practice tests in terms of difficulty
RC (28) - I honestly thought the passages I received were shorter and less dense than the BC tests. I used passage mapping & even had time at the end to review questions I was unsure of. Most of the questions were straight comprehension and not inference based. However, I received passages about topics in which I was already knowledgable - this combined with a personal strong RC background helped me I’m sure.
QR (20) - There were a few questions where the wording was unfamiliar but the concepts were the same! As long as you rely on what you know, you can apply it broadly! I ran out of time towards the end and used the last few minutes to make educated guesses on the last 5 problems or so.
I was extremely happy with my scores and my experience with Bootcamp. I’ve already recommended it to friends that will be applying next year!
My biggest tips:
- Watch academy videos to learn the strategies for the test - Bootcamp won’t tell you things you don’t need to know
- Find what strategies work for you and work on learning how to implement them quickly
- Focus on what you don’t know. Don’t waste your time reviewing what you already know well
- After the DAT (after taking a day off because you’ve earned it), watch all of the videos from the application services section while you still have access to them!! It’s helped me determine what steps to take next!
