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- Aug 10, 2014
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I just took the DAT recently, and I was pleased with my performance.
I will not be releasing my scores here, but in the interests of helping out SDNers who are preparing to take the DAT, as well as publicly recognizing those who make excellent materials in DAT prep., I wanted to make this breakdown.
If you're interested in a quick skim, I've highlighted all the critical points to make that easier.
Materials I used
Biology- I set up a foundation with Cliffs and Barrons, reading each topic in both books and making flashcards online on all the concepts/terms/definitions. However, this was just an exposure to the material. I firmly believe that @FeralisExtremum ' Biology Notes were critical in my performance on the real thing. I encourage everyone to get a copy of his notes. I skimmed through his notes once, and then re-read them and added to my Cliffs/Barrons Anki Flashcard collection.
Anki Flashcards- a FANTASTIC, FREE resource and I highly recommend everyone get it. Anki is a program which lets you create flashcards, import images into them (really useful- I did this with the images in Feralis' notes), and it brings up the flashcards on a frequency based on how often you get them right. So if you get it right the first time, it'll bring it up in 4 days, if you get it right again, then 12 days, etc. etc. You can adjust the interval for your own personal comfort.
I also made paper flashcards, since I discovered Anki very late in my prep.
I went through the DAT Destroyer-Biology one time. However, while going through it, I made a flashcard for every single question that I either a) got wrong or b) got right, but that was tricky/challenging. I did the same for the five DAT bootcamp exams. I had over 350 bio flashcards just based on the problems from these two sources. This is critical because instead of redoing hundreds of problems that I already understood, I could focus on the ones that I got wrong or found tricky and practice there.
I highly recommend everyone get DAT Bootcamp and DAT Destroyer. @Ari Rezaei and @orgoman22 have done a fantastic job with these materials, and many of the questions on my exam were things that Ari and Orgoman's materials taught me (the solutions for both resources are fantastic for expanding the scope of your Bio knowledge).
By Test Day, I could answer every single one of these questions comfortably, and I was also doing well on the conceptual Bio cards that I had made from Cliffs/Barrons/Feralis notes.
General Chemistry/Organic Chemistry- Chad's Videos laid the foundation for the Chemistries. I used his outlines but also made my own notes based on his video lectures! After Chad, I proceeded to DAT Destroyer, and then to DAT Bootcamp. Again, I made flashcards on tough or incorrect problems and reviewed them constantly.
Perceptual Ability- To be brutally honest, I didn't prepare as much for this section as I should have. I did only one DAT Bootcamp PAT exam, and stuck to the generators otherwise.
PAT was my lowest score on the entire thing. But DAT Bootcamp's Practice Exams will take you all the way. I also have Crack DAT PAT (Five test edition) but didn't find it helpful so I stuck with Bootcamp.
Reading Comprehension- The best strategy for me was reading through each passage completely, taking notes on the boards that the Prometric center gave me, and then answering the questions based on that. So for example, I'd go and find the key points made in Paragraph 1, and jot them down as "1- xyz." Then go on to paragraph 2, and do the same. I only went to the questions after reading the entire passage. This way, I was really engaged with the reading, and I also had a nice index made on my whiteboard if I needed to find something. Read Scientific American to build up your reading speed, and use DAT Bootcamp's practice RC exams!
Quantitative Reasoning- I established a foundation with Chad's videos, and then did Math Destroyer 2013 Tests 1-10 under timed conditions. I skimmed through the last 4 (Tests 11-14) but I didn't have enough time to do all of them.
Welp, that's about it. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me!
Closing Thoughts
I will not be releasing my scores here, but in the interests of helping out SDNers who are preparing to take the DAT, as well as publicly recognizing those who make excellent materials in DAT prep., I wanted to make this breakdown.
If you're interested in a quick skim, I've highlighted all the critical points to make that easier.
Materials I used
- DAT Destroyer 2015
- Math Destroyer 2013
- Feralis Biology Notes
- Cliffs AP Biology
- Barrons AP Biology
- DAT Bootcamp
- Chad's Videos
- ADA 2009 Practice DAT (available for free online if you google it). Be aware that there are multiple typos in both the questions and answer keys, Also, it is my opinion that this practice exam is harder than the real thing. I scored anywhere from 3 to 8 points higher in every section on the real thing compared to the practice exam.
Biology- I set up a foundation with Cliffs and Barrons, reading each topic in both books and making flashcards online on all the concepts/terms/definitions. However, this was just an exposure to the material. I firmly believe that @FeralisExtremum ' Biology Notes were critical in my performance on the real thing. I encourage everyone to get a copy of his notes. I skimmed through his notes once, and then re-read them and added to my Cliffs/Barrons Anki Flashcard collection.
Anki Flashcards- a FANTASTIC, FREE resource and I highly recommend everyone get it. Anki is a program which lets you create flashcards, import images into them (really useful- I did this with the images in Feralis' notes), and it brings up the flashcards on a frequency based on how often you get them right. So if you get it right the first time, it'll bring it up in 4 days, if you get it right again, then 12 days, etc. etc. You can adjust the interval for your own personal comfort.
I also made paper flashcards, since I discovered Anki very late in my prep.
I went through the DAT Destroyer-Biology one time. However, while going through it, I made a flashcard for every single question that I either a) got wrong or b) got right, but that was tricky/challenging. I did the same for the five DAT bootcamp exams. I had over 350 bio flashcards just based on the problems from these two sources. This is critical because instead of redoing hundreds of problems that I already understood, I could focus on the ones that I got wrong or found tricky and practice there.
I highly recommend everyone get DAT Bootcamp and DAT Destroyer. @Ari Rezaei and @orgoman22 have done a fantastic job with these materials, and many of the questions on my exam were things that Ari and Orgoman's materials taught me (the solutions for both resources are fantastic for expanding the scope of your Bio knowledge).
By Test Day, I could answer every single one of these questions comfortably, and I was also doing well on the conceptual Bio cards that I had made from Cliffs/Barrons/Feralis notes.
General Chemistry/Organic Chemistry- Chad's Videos laid the foundation for the Chemistries. I used his outlines but also made my own notes based on his video lectures! After Chad, I proceeded to DAT Destroyer, and then to DAT Bootcamp. Again, I made flashcards on tough or incorrect problems and reviewed them constantly.
Perceptual Ability- To be brutally honest, I didn't prepare as much for this section as I should have. I did only one DAT Bootcamp PAT exam, and stuck to the generators otherwise.
PAT was my lowest score on the entire thing. But DAT Bootcamp's Practice Exams will take you all the way. I also have Crack DAT PAT (Five test edition) but didn't find it helpful so I stuck with Bootcamp.
Reading Comprehension- The best strategy for me was reading through each passage completely, taking notes on the boards that the Prometric center gave me, and then answering the questions based on that. So for example, I'd go and find the key points made in Paragraph 1, and jot them down as "1- xyz." Then go on to paragraph 2, and do the same. I only went to the questions after reading the entire passage. This way, I was really engaged with the reading, and I also had a nice index made on my whiteboard if I needed to find something. Read Scientific American to build up your reading speed, and use DAT Bootcamp's practice RC exams!
Quantitative Reasoning- I established a foundation with Chad's videos, and then did Math Destroyer 2013 Tests 1-10 under timed conditions. I skimmed through the last 4 (Tests 11-14) but I didn't have enough time to do all of them.
Welp, that's about it. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me!
Closing Thoughts
- I hyped up the difficulty of the DAT in my head, almost so much that I was considering postponing my exam the day before! Don't do what I did! Just do your best and forget the rest.
- On the actual thing, you may feel like you're doing horribly on a given section (for me it was PAT), but stay strong and continue to move forward. In my case, I thought I would have to retake because of PAT, but I did well on PAT and it was a happy surprise.
- Stay calm, cool, and collected. It feels great to be on the other side of the DAT hurdle now, and I hope you all do well!
- Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.
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