Strategies for the sciences?

[nasaann]

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Hi everyone! I'm done all of my review and I'm just spending the next 3 weeks doing constant practice. I'm using destroyer for GC, OC, bio and QR, and I want to make sure I'm using the destroyer books to their full potential. My biggest problem is that I get easily overwhelmed and just don't know where to start. I'm hoping some of you guys could look over my strategies and let me know what to do, and most importantly, what not to do. To preface, I've used chad's videos for OC and GC. *Edit*: Also went through Cliffs and Feralis' notes for bio, with many, many youtube videos (craig savage, Bozeman science), and lastly, KA + Chad's vids for QR.

Bio strategy: This one I'm pretty 100% in, and I don't need much help here but I'll ask anyways. I'm going through all of the destroyer questions and using the questions/right answers/wrong answers and explanations in the back to write notes. Basically... I have a notebook full of everything in destroyer, expanded with youtube videos. Is that enough preparation? I feel like the bio destroyer pretty much covers everything, or at least I hope so.

GC: I need the most help with this. I've watched all of Chad's videos and took notes. Now... do I do destroyer problems before bootcamp? Do I go straight to bootcamp? Focus on conceptual problems more than calculation based? I just have no idea where to start with practice after reviewing Chad's videos.

OC: Going through destroyer 1-2x, getting through all of the problems and putting the ones I don't know on flashcards and doing extra problems. Basically, should I go through destroyer and then try bootcamp? How are the OC questions on the DAT, mostly predict the product/reagent based, or really conceptual? Insight would be helpful!

QR: This section kinda worries me because I'm not really a math person. I'm gonna go straight to math destroyer and start doing tests, and making flash cards/notes on every type of problem. Is math destroyer enough, or should I also do destroyer QR (the one in the package)? I'm also going to try and practice GRE QC questions as well.

Basically, I would really like some info on just how to start studying for GC, and if destroyer is enough for OC/QR. Over-preparation is definitely good, but not to the extent where it isn't helpful anymore. Thank you everyone, I really appreciate it!

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Bio strategy: This one I'm pretty 100% in, and I don't need much help here but I'll ask anyways. I'm going through all of the destroyer questions and using the questions/right answers/wrong answers and explanations in the back to write notes. Basically... I have a notebook full of everything in destroyer, expanded with youtube videos. Is that enough preparation? I feel like the bio destroyer pretty much covers everything, or at least I hope so.

Did you do any bio preparation prior to Destroyer? I personally think you should establish a strong foundation prior to attempting Destroyer. Memorizing a bunch of isolated facts from a single resource is not a very thorough preparation method.

GC: I need the most help with this. I've watched all of Chad's and took notes. Now... do I do destroyer problems before bootcamp? Do I go straight to bootcamp? Focus on conceptual problems more than calculation based? I just have no idea where to start with practice after reviewing Chad's.

Assuming you've done Chad's quizzes already, I'd start working on both in parallel.

OC: Going through destroyer 1x, getting through all of the problems and putting the ones I don't know on flashcards and doing extra problems. Basically, should I go through destroyer and then try bootcamp? How are the OC questions on the DAT, mostly predict the product/reagent based, or really conceptual? Insight would be helpful!

Same as above - I'd use BC and Destroyer in parallel. As for types of questions, this can vary significantly based on the version of the rest. Mine wasn't too conceptual overall but there were still a few like that.

QR: This section kinda worries me because I'm not really a math person. I'm gonna go straight to math destroyer and start doing tests, and making flash cards/notes on every type of problem. Is math destroyer enough, or should I also do destroyer QR (the one in the package)? I'm also going to try and practice GRE QC questions as well.

Again, I would try to build up a solid foundation first using Chad's videos or Khan Academy videos (I used both) before jumping into practice so you have a decent understanding of what formulas and techniques to apply.

 

[nasaann]

@FeralisExtremum Yes I have done previous bio preparation. I've read through your notes and Cliffs and made my own notes on both. However, I'm making my flash cards off of destroyer. I'm trying to link destroyer questions to the content in my notes, because otherwise I'm going to forget my notes. Do you think this is a bad idea?

Parallel for GC and OC sound good. I'll fit them both in.

And as for math, KA vids weren't cutting it so I also went to Chad's. I've heard mixed reviews on them but they worked for me. My basic foundation is strong enough, but not to the caliber of destroyer. That's why I'm wondering if doing math destroyer tests with just chad's is a good idea or if I'm still going to be unprepared?

 

[FeralisExtremum]

@FeralisExtremum Yes I have done previous bio preparation. I've read through your notes and Cliffs and made my own notes on both. However, I'm making my flash cards off of destroyer. I'm trying to link destroyer questions to the content in my notes, because otherwise I'm going to forget my notes. Do you think this is a bad idea?

Parallel for GC and OC sound good. I'll fit them both in.

And as for math, KA vids weren't cutting it so I also went to Chad's. I've heard mixed reviews on them but they worked for me. My basic foundation is strong enough, but not to the caliber of destroyer. That's why I'm wondering if doing math destroyer tests with just chad's is a good idea or if I'm still going to be unprepared?

If you've done previous review then working your way through Destroyer now is fine. It's hard for me to comment on what technique to use to reinforce bio in your memory - I personally made notes to encompass everything and memorized those. Destroyer flashcards will be very helpful, but probably less structured. If that still works for you then I'd continue with that method.

Math Destroyer is good, but more difficult than the real DAT - keep using it, but also take practice tests that reflect the exact question style and difficulty of the real exam under timed conditions too. The combination of both will prepare you well.

 

[nasaann]

If you've done previous review then working your way through Destroyer now is fine. It's hard for me to comment on what technique to use to reinforce bio in your memory - I personally made notes to encompass everything and memorized those. Destroyer flashcards will be very helpful, but probably less structured. If that still works for you then I'd continue with that method.

Math Destroyer is good, but more difficult than the real DAT - keep using it, but also take practice tests that reflect the exact question style and difficulty of the real exam under timed conditions too. The combination of both will prepare you well.

That is a relief to hear. Math destroyer is killing me, but if it's useful I'll keep at it. Thank you for the advice, and for your notes!