Study habits

[asdfray]

Hey guys,

So I signed up for the DAT and will be taking it in 3 1/2 months... not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Been studying (kind of.. slacked off 2-3 days) for a week now and feel like I'm not being as productive as I can be. Mainly because I'm falling behind the study schedule proposed by dental works.

When studying for BIO, is it productive to take notes as mentioned in the schedule or just memorize? I feel like taking notes will be more of a waste of time, and memorizing everything and review the things I learned the day after will be better use of the time available? Are flashcards better? if so, what program do you guys recommend that's Mac friendly?

How many hours did you guys study at first? I feel like I'm not studying as hard as I can as of now and this will hurt me at the very end if I lose time (So difficult to stay consistent when I know it's 3.5 months away). What I'm really asking for is, TELL ME I need to study and stop wasting time. (jk, but yeah, tell me what you think)

Thanks guys/gals =D
Ray

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[sundaequeen]

I just did my DAT yesterday, and I signed up way back in September. Basically I wanted to to study throughout the semester, but didn't really get into it until early November, and then I had to stop and study for finals for like a week. But then after finals I was able to just focus on the DAT for 2 straight weeks and I felt like that was way more productive for me. For GC and OC, I think using Chad's videos to learn the material is enough, and then just do a ton of practice. As for Bio, I read through KBB once, then I read through Cliff's and Alan's notes and just did practice, and I made sure that I really knew the areas I was having trouble with. Anyways, you still have a ton of time, use it wisely and make sure you figure out what works for you!

 

[TheDentist16]

Hey guys,

So I signed up for the DAT and will be taking it in 3 1/2 months... not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

Been studying (kind of.. slacked off 2-3 days) for a week now and feel like I'm not being as productive as I can be. Mainly because I'm falling behind the study schedule proposed by dental works.

When studying for BIO, is it productive to take notes as mentioned in the schedule or just memorize? I feel like taking notes will be more of a waste of time, and memorizing everything and review the things I learned the day after will be better use of the time available? Are flashcards better? if so, what program do you guys recommend that's Mac friendly?

How many hours did you guys study at first? I feel like I'm not studying as hard as I can as of now and this will hurt me at the very end if I lose time (So difficult to stay consistent when I know it's 3.5 months away). What I'm really asking for is, TELL ME I need to study and stop wasting time. (jk, but yeah, tell me what you think)

Thanks guys/gals =D
Ray

I studied about 7-8 hours a day for 7.5 weeks using dentalWork's schedule. And for Bio, I found that flash cards and note-taking never worked for me in school, so I didn't do it for the DAT either.

 

[asdfray]

Yeah the whole flashcard thing was too timing consuming I found (after a week, I give up!). I think it'll be better use of my time if I just remember everything and review the next day and again at the end of the week. Also, take some notes down that's difficult to remember. Thanks

 

[KillaGorilla]

I worked on being able to cycle through all my material quickly. By the time my test came up I was able to review all my science in 1 day. Idk if this will work for anyone else, but GL.

 

[Jackson-Ave-Dental]

I studied over approximately 3 months... Studied maybe 3-4 days per week (4-5 hour intervals) and slacked off the other days of the week. I used ANKI a flashcard program for my mac since day 1.

I spent the entire first month going through bio and anki'd a ton of stuff and kept up with reviewing the material for the rest of the 2 months. Also used the program for the rest of the subjects too... Personally I felt that it helped me retain information quite well.

 

[asdfray]

@Gorilla - I was thinking of doing that too. Go indepth for a month and take about a month to review everything fast! then start on the practice exams and destroyer.

I studied over approximately 3 months... Studied maybe 3-4 days per week (4-5 hour intervals) and slacked off the other days of the week. I used ANKI a flashcard program for my mac since day 1.

I used that program too... thinking making the flashcards wouldn't take too long and I have something to do (review flashcard on itouch) during my daily commute! Making the flashcards are definitely slowing down my process and I'm not keeping up with DW's schedule (though I think it's still a good idea

 

[patelneal214]

Sme here I have been doing the bio's like general stuff with Dental Works program, but it seems as if I'm taking notes on everything, because Im thinking to myself, Why would they put it in a review book if it wasn't important?

 

[patelneal214]

like should i be taking notes on everything?

 

[Brostie]

You do still have some time. With that said you definitely don't want to waste the time that you do have. I would recommend reading through kaplan first. Instead of taking notes or just memorizing, I would go through each chapter slowly and make sure you really understand each chapter. You are not going to be able to get the score you want on the DAT by just memorizing things (unless u have an amazing memory), I know it sucks...but you are going to have to really know and understand a majority of the sciences if you want to do well.

 

[asdfray]

You do still have some time. With that said you definitely don't want to waste the time that you do have. I would recommend reading through kaplan first. Instead of taking notes or just memorizing, I would go through each chapter slowly and make sure you really understand each chapter. You are not going to be able to get the score you want on the DAT by just memorizing things (unless u have an amazing memory), I know it sucks...but you are going to have to really know and understand a majority of the sciences if you want to do well.

Exactly what I'm doing. Also, when I said memorizing, I meant stuff regarding mainly bio (names, phylums, etc.. harder stuff for me to visualize ) For the rest of the stuff, I'm really trying to learn (though, it takes more time doing so hehe)

Also, what did people tend to do after you finish a long day of studying? Did you go on the computer (watch movies, chat, FB!), tv, go out and hang with friends? etc... I'm trying to restrict myself on everything (even deactivated fb the first day - sdn is my only escape) and want to see if this is what you guys did as well (talking to the people who killed the DATs )

-Ray

 

[dentalexcel]

It really depends on how you REALLY feel about biology. It's true that it contains a lot of content, and we have to memorize a lot, but you should know how you feel about biology. If you've taken a lot of biology courses, you don't need to write down notes as you can probably just read and go over them. Then go through as many practice questions as you can