I am applying for admission after 3 years of undergrad and realize that I need to do exceedingly well on the DAT to have a chance. I have been studying with the Kaplan online course for almost a month, and have 1 month until I take the DAT. I was wondering if I should divide my study time primarily into taking practice tests, or if I should be reading the 1,000+ page Kaplan Review Notes and trying to absorb as much information as possible. Anyone that has taken the DAT and is willing to devulge their study tips, I would really appreciate it.
Seeking Advice
- Thread starter WMich
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First off, there is no such thing as not needing to do exceedingly well on the DAT to have a chance, unless you have a GPA of 4.0+ or any special hookups with anyone on the AdComs. Everyone needs to do fairly well to stand any chance at all.
On another note, 1 month is ample time to read the 1000+ page Kaplan BB with taking notes, and still taking several full length practice tests. One advice would be to not rely exclusively on Kaplan - you need to diversify your sources to make sure you get as much information as you can. I'd suggest Cliffs AP Bio, CrackDAT PAT, Destroyer. There's also full length practice test programs such as TopScore and Achiever, but I have not used these so I can't say anything about them. If I were in your position, I'd start off with taking a practice test or 2, that would give you a general idea of what you need to focus your studying on. After that, I'd study hardcore from Kaplan, Destroyer for about 3 weeks, and then start taking practice tests again for a week or so. Hope it all works out for you. Gluck.
On another note, 1 month is ample time to read the 1000+ page Kaplan BB with taking notes, and still taking several full length practice tests. One advice would be to not rely exclusively on Kaplan - you need to diversify your sources to make sure you get as much information as you can. I'd suggest Cliffs AP Bio, CrackDAT PAT, Destroyer. There's also full length practice test programs such as TopScore and Achiever, but I have not used these so I can't say anything about them. If I were in your position, I'd start off with taking a practice test or 2, that would give you a general idea of what you need to focus your studying on. After that, I'd study hardcore from Kaplan, Destroyer for about 3 weeks, and then start taking practice tests again for a week or so. Hope it all works out for you. Gluck.
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I would definitely take several practice exams. The DAT is very time intensive and tiring, so you need to make sure you have the stamina to go through a 4 hour exam. As the above poster mentioned, definitely go through different sources and do not rely solely on Kaplan, as you will find out it is not sufficient enough to score significantly high, IMO. I would get Topscore Pro for practice, as it has several section exams and full length exams.
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It really depends on which section you're talking about. Let's divide them up:
**Bio: I think KAPLAN does a decent job. The first time I took the DAT I only read KAPLAN and I ended up with a 20. So, yea, you should probably try to memorize every sentence for the bio section.
**G-chem: If you got the basic ideas down, I suggest you move on and start taking practice exams. G-chem section of the DAT is like a math exam and it involves solving lots of problems involving calculations. So, you're better off spending your time solving problems rather than trying to memorize all the theories and principles word by word.
**O-chem: I took the DAT twice, and both times my O-chem section involved lots and lots of reactions. So, I suggest you memorize as many reactions as possible. Don't worry too much about the detailed mechanisms, just memorize the general scheme of the reactions.
Personally, I think after spending 1 month with the KAPLAN book you should have all the concepts down by now. So move on and start taking practice exams, so you learn how to apply the concepts you've learned to different problems.
Good Luck
**Bio: I think KAPLAN does a decent job. The first time I took the DAT I only read KAPLAN and I ended up with a 20. So, yea, you should probably try to memorize every sentence for the bio section.
**G-chem: If you got the basic ideas down, I suggest you move on and start taking practice exams. G-chem section of the DAT is like a math exam and it involves solving lots of problems involving calculations. So, you're better off spending your time solving problems rather than trying to memorize all the theories and principles word by word.
**O-chem: I took the DAT twice, and both times my O-chem section involved lots and lots of reactions. So, I suggest you memorize as many reactions as possible. Don't worry too much about the detailed mechanisms, just memorize the general scheme of the reactions.
Personally, I think after spending 1 month with the KAPLAN book you should have all the concepts down by now. So move on and start taking practice exams, so you learn how to apply the concepts you've learned to different problems.
Good Luck
