Planned Study Schedule - Thoughts/ Advice?

[jkmuskego]

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I have reading various forums and articles of different strategies upon how to study for the DAT. I am hoping for some input/ advice from those who have successfully completed the DAT. I am planning on taking it ~July 15th. From my understanding this is late in relation to most applicants; I understand that I will not have the capacity to retake the exam again if I perform poorly.



Time Period: 8 weeks

Goals:
- KBB Biology
- Chad’s Videos Organic
- Chad’s Videos General
- Crack DAT PAT tests
- DAT Destroyer
- Math Destroyer


Week 1-3
- Complete KBB – Biology
o ~ 1 ch./day; 2nd day review and test of prior days material
- Complete Chad’s Organic (7 sections)
o 1 ch./ 2days: 1 day of content; 2nd day of review and test
- Complete Chad’s General (6 sections)
o 1 ch./ 2days: 1 day of content; 2nd day of review and test
- Complete KBB Math
- Time for Reading Comprehension (1 hr/day)

Week 4
- Review Material/ Content
- Begin Practice Crack DAT PAT
- Practice Reading Comp

Week 5-6
- Complete DAT Destroyer twice
- Complete Math Destroyer twice
- Continue practice CDP
- Practice Reading Comp
Week 7-8
- Review Weaknesses
- Practice Test: 2009 Official, Achiever, Topscore


Thank You

 

[DoctorCrentist]

KBB (the whole book) will take 3 weeks, the first time around
DAT Destroyer will take you 3 weeks to a month to go through it once, if you plan on actually learning the info, not just getting everything wrong and moving on without wondering why/how to get the right answer. The O-chem pathways in DAT destroyer will all of a sudden make sense the 2-3rd time you go through the o-chem section, and you will feel great. : )
Reading comp- I found the KBB reading comp section to be most similar to the actual DAT's reading comp. "search and destroy" tactic for reading comp was most useful (read the question, then comb through the article for the key words, answer it, move onto the next question, skimming mostly, not reading the whole thing first)
Achiever will make you feel like you are an idiot, don't stress too much if you get like 17's on achiever, the real test is much easier. I got 3+ points higher than what I scored on achiever.

Get the Old released exam from ADA (get the free one and the paid one), the most accurate assessment of your studies will come from taking these 2 sample exams. you will likely score 1 point higher than what you get on the old exam. I suggest taking it 2 weeks before you take the real DAT, so you can brush up on other stuff if you need to.

Keep in mind, towards the end of your studies (couple weeks before actual DAT), you will be taking simulation exams on the computer/on paper mainly. Each full exam takes the whole day to get through, since you will review your mistakes and make flashcards etc from them or whatever you do to not make that mistake again. Try not to burn out, haha. Good luck sir.

To give you a time frame, I spent ~3 months, while working fulltime (40hr weeks) and taking 1 prereq class. I studied 4-6 hours on days I had work, 8-12 hours on days I did not. I barely went out, cranked out a decent score, and got accepted to school this past December. It was a tough 3 months though. Felt good to see a good score show up at the end of that computer test screen. Aim for >20.

 

[DoeAdeer]

Looks good to me... Just don't burn yourself out.

 

[jkmuskego]

Thanks Crentist for thoughtful input!... I'm curious if you cold post the links to the Official Practice DAT tests; I could only find a PDF copy of the 2007 test.

I'm assuming in July/ August and congrats to getting accepted!

 

[NDPitch]

I'm in the same boat as you. Trying to take it in July and apply. I'm having a really hard time juggling 40+ hour work weeks and getting in enough study time to do well on this thing. Combined with getting all of my application stuff together, it's a little stressful, haha.

I'm almost done with my 2nd time around of Chad's videos. I've read Cliffs and have made flash cards from it. I'm re-reading Cliff's now. I've ordered CDP and started going through some of the questions, and DAT Destroyer will be soon.

 

[jkmuskego]

jeez, good luck NDPitch! That sounds like some load!

 

[Msmouth]

I think you should practice PAT everyday as soon as possible, you have to get quick at it.

 

[sacapuntas]

I think you should practice PAT everyday as soon as possible, you have to get quick at it.

I don't think this is a good idea. I personally think 20 hours of PAT total should be enough for most people to get an adequate score on the PAT. For most people (there are exceptions) you should be able to once a week take a CDP test (1 hr) and spend 1 hour at some point in the next few days reviewing your errors. The next week do it again. There are 10 CDP tests in the commonly bought package, giving you 20 hours total of study time for PAT. You can spend your time elsewhere more productively.