One month away and in need of advice!

[Micliggity]

Hey everyone! So I started studying for the DAT early December and it's scheduled for February 8 (about 2 months of studying). The first month I spent about 6 hours a day in average studying and have been studying 8-10 a day since the beginning of January (1 month before test). I've seen some improvement on DAT bootcamp with GC and QR destroyer especially, but I'm concerned that I'm just getting the same amount of questions wrong on destroyer each section for GC and OC. Granted I go to the explanation and figure the questions out and make flash cards, etc., I'm nervous that I'm not improving quickly enough. I'm also nervous I'm not spending enough time on Bio (using cliffs and ferralis). I'm rereading cliffs right now and making quizlet flash cards this time.

I have a 3.85 gpa and have done a ton of EC especially with Operation Smile, have worked as an orthodontic technician, shadowed GD a bunch, as well as oral surgery. I've been on 2 missions with Operation smile to the DR and Thailand as well.

Basically, I'm afraid I'm going to throw this away with my DAT. Do you think I have enough time to improve (29 days) and do you think I still have a shot at a pretty good score?

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[BrightTeeth]

Hi Micliggity! I got a 22 in GC and a 30 in OC so I'll give you my advise for how I studied for these sections.

For general chemistry I did all the destroyer GC problems. No matter how much I reviewed I never did better than 50% on the destroyer problems. Instead I learned my mistakes and took notes after doing the problems. Just realize that the destroyer problems for both GC and OC are way harder than the real test but you still learn good concepts by doing the problems.

For organic chemistry I did roughly 80 of the OC problems. Again I was probably averaging 50% correct on the destroyer problems my first time around. I took detailed notes of my mistakes and learned why I was missing those problems.

I purchased bootcamp, chad's videos, and qvault and found that the practice problems offered in these materials helped me the most. Destroyer was ok but the materials I just mentioned were closer in difficulty to the real exam.

I got a 30 in OC because I memorized Chad's OChem packets like the back of my hand and I also memorized the destroyer road maps. Chad's packets don't really cover the concept questions you might see on the OC section but they nail all the reagents you need to know.

I took notes on all the concept questions that showed up on bootcamp, qvault, chad's, and destroyer to ace all the questions that asked you about all the unique carbons/hydrogens/NMR/etc.

Hope this helps.

 

[Faefly]

Fear is Normal, if your Bio scores are lacking, try to focus more on bio, how about PAT, QR, and RC? How are you doing in those?
You still have one month, but if you feel you need more time, don't think that others said it can be done in 2 months, so I should do it too, no think about your own needs and capabilities, you have already done a great job GPA wise and EC wise, the Dat now deserves all the time that you need.
I would suggest you study for one more week, and see if you still feel, you are way behind, then....

The answer is simple, postpone the test, and relax. Study at your own pace, what is the difference between taking the test on February the 8th or Feb the 28th?
2 more weeks of practice, I will also suggest that you purchase qvault and dat genius to get more practice.

Disclaimer: I have not taken the test yet, nor used qvault or DAt genius !

 

[Micliggity]

Fear is Normal, if your Bio scores are lacking, try to focus more on bio, how about PAT, QR, and RC? How are you doing in those?
You still have one month, but if you feel you need more time, don't think that others said it can be done in 2 months, so I should do it too, no think about your own needs and capabilities, you have already done a great job GPA wise and EC wise, the Dat now deserves all the time that you need.
I would suggest you study for one more week, and see if you still feel, you are way behind, then....

The answer is simple, postpone the test, and relax. Study at your own pace, what is the difference between taking the test on February the 8th or Feb the 28th?
2 more weeks of practice, I will also suggest that you purchase qvault and dat genius to get more practice.

Disclaimer: I have not taken the test yet, nor used qvault or DAt genius !

PAT is hovering around 18 right now, QR is at about 20, GC is around 18 on average and I haven't taken DAT bootcamp tests for OC, Bio or RC. I've just been focusing on reading cliff's over for a second time and feralis' notes and doing the quizzes at the end of each chapter as well as going through all of the dat bootcamp questions for GC and OC. I'm writing down all of my trouble problems and drilling them into my head, so I think that that will help.

The only problem is that I'm studying abroad (leaving Feb 13) and don't return until June 20th, which means that if I bomb this, I'll be studying all semester long while away (which is fine, I'll do what I have to do, but i really just want to do well the first time) and have to take the DAT again in late June. I'm trying my best to keep my cool, but I'm also just trying to gauge how I'm doing.