Hello All!
I hope that everyone reading this both had a great holiday, and is staying warm through this hectic North-Western weather.
I took the DAT on the 30th of December, and I feel awesome now that I have it done. To those of you who are studying for it now, keep at it! All of your hard work will pay off. After stressing over the test, I received the following scores:
PAT: 20
QR: 22
RC: 22
Bio: 20
Chem: 20
OChem: 24
TS: 20
AA: 22.
Now, these aren't the chart topping, incredible 28's and 30's that you see some people post. Those are very rare and are just...nuts. But these scores are pretty good considering the fact that I only had time to study for 3 weeks. You read that correctly. Weeks. Not months like others have (which is nuts to me...do they have nothing else to do or have no responsibilities?). Although I did dedicate myself to studying for those three weeks, I still gave myself time to have fun by means of...get this...time management! If I can do it, anyone can do it.
Anyway, now that my little rant is over, you may want to know how I studied. Hard. Besides that, I made use of 4 main written sources:
Barron's DAT
Kaplan's DAT
Cliff's AP Bio
DAT Destroyer
And 2 main electronic sources:
DAT question of the Day
DAT Bootcamp.
The above listed were some of the best that I found. The DAT question of the day was a daily email providing a sample DAT question, as well as an explanation for the answer, something that is EXTREMELY beneficial. The same man who made the DAT question of the day, GatorD to be precise, made the DAT Bootcamp Website. This was one of the most beneficial sources, as it provided practice tests for me to use, as well as those extremely important answer explanations. Each day I studied, I would look over the question of the day and the explanation, making sure I understood WHY the answer was what it was.
Besides the electronic sources, my days were very routine:
1. Read a chapter of Cliffs, highlighting and really diving into the material, going over the practice questions and explanations afterwards.
2. Read a chapter of each the Biology, Chemistry, and OChem sections in Kaplan's book, again highlighting, and really delving into the material.
3. Go over 15 questions in each section of the DAT destroyer in a test-like situation, not looking at the answers and explanations until finishing all questions. However, when I did finish, I again LOOKED AT THE EXPLANATIONS, being sure to understand WHY the answer was, not just WHAT the answer was.
4. Weep in desperation/despair about the upcoming test.
5. Skim over what I read in that day...being sure I understood the material and had no grey areas.
Finally, when those were over, I did what I considered to be the most important thing: rested. I watched t.v., played games with my family, etc. Do whatever you want! Just let your brain rest.
Before I went to bed, I also made use of 2 different note sources:
The tear-out study sheets from the Kaplan DAT book,
the Biology notes kindly provided by the user bangity, found at this location:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/biology-notes-cliff-kaplan.923768/
I would read through each of these notes once before going to sleep while laying in bed, just becoming more familiar with the terms and sections provided.
A week before the test, I began utilizing the Barron's Book, taking practice tests, and looking at the PAT and RC strategies. I had always felt confident in these sections, and didn't put the same amount of effort into those as I did the science portion. Also, I did not study AT ALL for the QR. Maybe a skimmed the trig. portion once or twice, but other than that...nothing. I have always been good in math, and I did not want to "waste my time" studying for that particular section. To those who read that and think I am arrogant in those terms, I by no means mean to be. We all simply have our strengths, and one of mine is math. I am sure that some of you didn't need to study as much for the Bio or Chem section as I!
Finally, within the last few days before the test, I simply did practice problems. It is then that I utilized the DAT bootcamp site more than ever, that I used Barron's CD that came with 2 computerized tests, and simply looked over all of the questions I had seen, as well as the explanations for answers. I believe it is the practice questions I used that allowed me to do as well as I did. There were about 15 questions on the actual DAT that I had seen on some form of practice test. I urge you all to take advantage of them, and spend that little extra money to get as many as possible.
Ultimately, as I said before, I didn't do unbelievable. I didn't knock the socks off of the exam by getting the 28's and the 30's you see some people post on here. I am a more realistic, average-joe kind of person that put his mind to study for this test. I found many different studying methods on this site, and I utilized a bit of each one, forming my own, unique way that I knew would work for me. If I can do it, you can do it! Be you, and find your own groove. I am posting this in hopes that someone else can learn from how I studied, and use my experience to their advantage as I did with those before me. Stay strong, use different study materials (like those I used above), study hard, and RELAX. You can do this. In the end you can do 2 things to help your chances:
1. Study
2. Believe in yourself.
You got this.
I hope that everyone reading this both had a great holiday, and is staying warm through this hectic North-Western weather.
I took the DAT on the 30th of December, and I feel awesome now that I have it done. To those of you who are studying for it now, keep at it! All of your hard work will pay off. After stressing over the test, I received the following scores:
PAT: 20
QR: 22
RC: 22
Bio: 20
Chem: 20
OChem: 24
TS: 20
AA: 22.
Now, these aren't the chart topping, incredible 28's and 30's that you see some people post. Those are very rare and are just...nuts. But these scores are pretty good considering the fact that I only had time to study for 3 weeks. You read that correctly. Weeks. Not months like others have (which is nuts to me...do they have nothing else to do or have no responsibilities?). Although I did dedicate myself to studying for those three weeks, I still gave myself time to have fun by means of...get this...time management! If I can do it, anyone can do it.
Anyway, now that my little rant is over, you may want to know how I studied. Hard. Besides that, I made use of 4 main written sources:
Barron's DAT
Kaplan's DAT
Cliff's AP Bio
DAT Destroyer
And 2 main electronic sources:
DAT question of the Day
DAT Bootcamp.
The above listed were some of the best that I found. The DAT question of the day was a daily email providing a sample DAT question, as well as an explanation for the answer, something that is EXTREMELY beneficial. The same man who made the DAT question of the day, GatorD to be precise, made the DAT Bootcamp Website. This was one of the most beneficial sources, as it provided practice tests for me to use, as well as those extremely important answer explanations. Each day I studied, I would look over the question of the day and the explanation, making sure I understood WHY the answer was what it was.
Besides the electronic sources, my days were very routine:
1. Read a chapter of Cliffs, highlighting and really diving into the material, going over the practice questions and explanations afterwards.
2. Read a chapter of each the Biology, Chemistry, and OChem sections in Kaplan's book, again highlighting, and really delving into the material.
3. Go over 15 questions in each section of the DAT destroyer in a test-like situation, not looking at the answers and explanations until finishing all questions. However, when I did finish, I again LOOKED AT THE EXPLANATIONS, being sure to understand WHY the answer was, not just WHAT the answer was.
4. Weep in desperation/despair about the upcoming test.
5. Skim over what I read in that day...being sure I understood the material and had no grey areas.
Finally, when those were over, I did what I considered to be the most important thing: rested. I watched t.v., played games with my family, etc. Do whatever you want! Just let your brain rest.
Before I went to bed, I also made use of 2 different note sources:
The tear-out study sheets from the Kaplan DAT book,
the Biology notes kindly provided by the user bangity, found at this location:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/biology-notes-cliff-kaplan.923768/
I would read through each of these notes once before going to sleep while laying in bed, just becoming more familiar with the terms and sections provided.
A week before the test, I began utilizing the Barron's Book, taking practice tests, and looking at the PAT and RC strategies. I had always felt confident in these sections, and didn't put the same amount of effort into those as I did the science portion. Also, I did not study AT ALL for the QR. Maybe a skimmed the trig. portion once or twice, but other than that...nothing. I have always been good in math, and I did not want to "waste my time" studying for that particular section. To those who read that and think I am arrogant in those terms, I by no means mean to be. We all simply have our strengths, and one of mine is math. I am sure that some of you didn't need to study as much for the Bio or Chem section as I!
Finally, within the last few days before the test, I simply did practice problems. It is then that I utilized the DAT bootcamp site more than ever, that I used Barron's CD that came with 2 computerized tests, and simply looked over all of the questions I had seen, as well as the explanations for answers. I believe it is the practice questions I used that allowed me to do as well as I did. There were about 15 questions on the actual DAT that I had seen on some form of practice test. I urge you all to take advantage of them, and spend that little extra money to get as many as possible.
Ultimately, as I said before, I didn't do unbelievable. I didn't knock the socks off of the exam by getting the 28's and the 30's you see some people post on here. I am a more realistic, average-joe kind of person that put his mind to study for this test. I found many different studying methods on this site, and I utilized a bit of each one, forming my own, unique way that I knew would work for me. If I can do it, you can do it! Be you, and find your own groove. I am posting this in hopes that someone else can learn from how I studied, and use my experience to their advantage as I did with those before me. Stay strong, use different study materials (like those I used above), study hard, and RELAX. You can do this. In the end you can do 2 things to help your chances:
1. Study
2. Believe in yourself.
You got this.
