browncat20
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- Jul 10, 2023
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Hi! I thought I would share my breakdown since I think they helped me prepare for the test.
Scores:
QR - 22
RC - 25
Bio - 25
GC - 21
OC - 26
TS - 23
AA - 24
Background: I took my exam June 30th, I am going into senior year.
Materials used:
Study Timeline:
I started reviewing material at the end of March but only for about 2 hours a day since I was still in school and swimming full time. I didn't really get into a good routine until mid May. I attempted to follow the schedule on Booster but could not keep up with each day. I was not studying for more than 4 hours a day until the last week and a half where I probably was studying between 8-10 hours a day. I also took a week off in mid June to go on vacation, which I think helped me reset and relax before my test.
BIO (25): This section was very representative of the Booster practice tests. The questions on the test are generally pretty surface level and nowhere near as in depth as the question banks. I would go through the notes only once and spend the rest of your time working on the question banks and practice tests. I think the practice tests helped me the most in showing what areas I understood and what areas I was weak in.
GC (21): I would say this was one of my weaker sections going into the test since I missed most of GC due to covid and had forgotten most of the information. The videos and question banks were a lifesaver on this section and prepare you for everything on the test. I had less than 5 calculations on my test and the rest was very conceptual.
OC (26): I was the most worried about this section because I did not have all the reactions memorized for this part. On my test I had a few reactions but most of them were very easy and basic ones I had seen many times. Definitely utilize the practice tests, understand acidity, and the differences between SN1/2 and E1/2.
PAT (18): I initially tried to understand this section but realized it wasn’t going to click for me. I would say attempt to master at least 3/6 sections and then have at least 1-2 you partially understand and then guess on the rest. Booster has great resources for this section but I did not have the time or willpower to understand it.
RC (25): I stuck with the vanilla method and read the whole passage before answering questions. My passages were around 8/13/7 paragraphs and were all relatively easy to understand. Don’t be caught off guard if you have any questions with graphs because I was not expecting that.
QR (22): The hardest part of this section is timing. Most of my questions were algebra and probability so definitely practice those areas. I found the practice tests to be around the same difficulty as the actual test. This is one section you must practice because right before my test I had forgotten to do a lot of the problems since I had been focusing on other subjects.
Takeaway: Booster is the best resource out there and truly the only thing you need for the test. If I had one piece of advice it would be to take all of the practice tests as many times as you can and to learn from the questions you are getting wrong. In GC and OC I had a few low scores on my practice tests but just made sure to review and retake so that I wouldn't make the same mistakes again. I definitely did not feel 100% confident going into the test but as long as you prepare yourself you will be fine.
Scores:
QR - 22
RC - 25
Bio - 25
GC - 21
OC - 26
TS - 23
AA - 24
Background: I took my exam June 30th, I am going into senior year.
Materials used:
- DAT Booster- this is the program I used for the majority of my studying. It is very representative of the actual exam and I had many questions that were similar to ones I had seen on the practice tests. Their notes and videos for the science subjects were great to supplement the information I had forgotten since taking these courses.
- DAT Destroyer- I only used this book to initially go over some of the biology questions. The other sections were significantly more difficult than any of the questions I had seen on the practice/real tests.
Study Timeline:
I started reviewing material at the end of March but only for about 2 hours a day since I was still in school and swimming full time. I didn't really get into a good routine until mid May. I attempted to follow the schedule on Booster but could not keep up with each day. I was not studying for more than 4 hours a day until the last week and a half where I probably was studying between 8-10 hours a day. I also took a week off in mid June to go on vacation, which I think helped me reset and relax before my test.
BIO (25): This section was very representative of the Booster practice tests. The questions on the test are generally pretty surface level and nowhere near as in depth as the question banks. I would go through the notes only once and spend the rest of your time working on the question banks and practice tests. I think the practice tests helped me the most in showing what areas I understood and what areas I was weak in.
GC (21): I would say this was one of my weaker sections going into the test since I missed most of GC due to covid and had forgotten most of the information. The videos and question banks were a lifesaver on this section and prepare you for everything on the test. I had less than 5 calculations on my test and the rest was very conceptual.
OC (26): I was the most worried about this section because I did not have all the reactions memorized for this part. On my test I had a few reactions but most of them were very easy and basic ones I had seen many times. Definitely utilize the practice tests, understand acidity, and the differences between SN1/2 and E1/2.
PAT (18): I initially tried to understand this section but realized it wasn’t going to click for me. I would say attempt to master at least 3/6 sections and then have at least 1-2 you partially understand and then guess on the rest. Booster has great resources for this section but I did not have the time or willpower to understand it.
RC (25): I stuck with the vanilla method and read the whole passage before answering questions. My passages were around 8/13/7 paragraphs and were all relatively easy to understand. Don’t be caught off guard if you have any questions with graphs because I was not expecting that.
QR (22): The hardest part of this section is timing. Most of my questions were algebra and probability so definitely practice those areas. I found the practice tests to be around the same difficulty as the actual test. This is one section you must practice because right before my test I had forgotten to do a lot of the problems since I had been focusing on other subjects.
Takeaway: Booster is the best resource out there and truly the only thing you need for the test. If I had one piece of advice it would be to take all of the practice tests as many times as you can and to learn from the questions you are getting wrong. In GC and OC I had a few low scores on my practice tests but just made sure to review and retake so that I wouldn't make the same mistakes again. I definitely did not feel 100% confident going into the test but as long as you prepare yourself you will be fine.
