I just took the DAT about 3 weeks ago and was in the same boat as you during my studying. I felt that the Cliffs readings were very beneficial in terms of a review, but reading the chapters and taking notes as well as making flashcards was taking up so much time that I was struggling to get through any other subjects. Obviously studying is different for everybody, but I thought I'd share what I did and hopefully it helps you as well! My biggest thing is that my schedule, which is likely very similar to many predents, is crazy busy. Between commuting to school to get my masters, working, studying for the DAT, and trying to sleep, I really needed to find ways to study that were convenient on-the-go and accessible anywhere and everywhere. Whether I was waiting for a doctors appointment, grabbing a bite to eat, or driving, I found as many ways as possible to expose my brain to as much information as possible.
- Cliffs AP: I think it is a very useful tool to revisit topics of biology you may not have seen in a really long time. I read every chapter, reread the chapter the next day, and took notes on each chapter. However, when I got further into studying, I never ONCE referred back to the notes I took. I know that taking notes may have committed some of the information to memory without me realizing it, but if I could go back and do it again, I would not take notes on each chapter. I would still read every chapter, and take the quizzes at the end of each chapter. I also found the full-length exams at the back of the book useful, because I wasn't just reviewing the ONE topic I had just read about, and my opinion is that the more practice questions you see throughout studying, the more prepared you will be. Overall, a pretty useful resource for being free, and having it on my computer (as opposed to another textbook to carry around) made studying convenient during downtime between classes or while I was eating lunch or something.
- Feralis Notes: I can't stress enough how invaluable of a resource this is. Yes, there is a lot of information and it is overwhelming for someone like me that takes color-coordinated notes with neat handwriting and intense organization, but I started using this as my "textbook", and I wish I would have done so sooner. What I mean by this is that I would read the Feralis notes, and take my own notes from there.
- If there were a handful of strict memorization vocab words (for example: cell organelles or types of animal behavior, just to name a couple), I made a quizlet deck to go through on my phone when I had some downtime. It was quick and easy doing it on the computer, so I felt like I wasn't wasting a lot of time, but was still creating a review resource for myself that would be beneficial.
- If it was something that would best be learned from a diagram or some sort of picture, I would take my own notes on separate paper. A lot of the images that were in Feralis, I ended up tracing onto a separate piece of paper or printing blank (without labels, keywords, etc.) and made myself fill them in once, twice, or however many times it took to make the information stick. This was huge on test day, because I could see the image in my head while I was answering questions, and it helped my brain to really organize a lot of information about a lot of different topics.
- For the topics that I was comfortable with (for example, I just took physio last semester and knew that spending a lot of time reviewing physio would not be as beneficial as focusing on other topics that I haven't seen since intro bio), I reread that section, noted anything in particular that I thought I might not remember or didn't explicitly know, and used these super condensed notes to review the week of the test.
- In addition to making your own flashcards, the Anki deck mentioned above is also very useful. It really is just Feralis notes broken down into a bunch of flashcards, and while they aren't typically the type of flashcards I would make for myself, it was a deck that was readily available for on-the-go studying with very useful information.
- Biology CrashCourse: This is another resource that I don't think I could have done without. These are short videos (I think most are 10-15 minutes long) that really cover pretty much every topic on the test. I listened to the entire series once all the way through over a couple of days. I took notes on information that I was unfamiliar with, and speed through the stuff that I just needed a light review of. In the weeks leading up to the test, I just focused on the videos that covered the areas I was still struggling with. I know studying the day before the test is NOT recommended, and I totally agree with that. But there was still some information that I knew I could have spent more time reviewing, so the day before the test while I was kind of laying low, I relistened to a couple of the videos, and I kid you not, had at least 5 questions on the bio section that I would have been totally lost on (or at least had to make a less-than-educated guess on) had I not done a last minute relisten of these videos.
I think the most important piece of advice I can give is to really learn how your brain best retains information. As you probably know, the Biology section can cover SO MUCH information that knowing specific details is really nearly impossible. I found that it was way more beneficial to generally understand as many concepts/topics as possible, to give myself the best chance at making educated guesses and inferring to choose the right answer. For me, while I'm taking a test, I can visualize my notes best if they are in different colors and organized into tables/diagrams/pictures, so even though sometimes it looks like I am studying from an elementary school picture book (illustrated by yours truly), I'm studying in a way that allows me to differentiate between the millions of "facts" that could come up on the biology section and giving myself the best opportunity possible to retain as much information as possible.
I hope this helps! I am MORE than willing to help with any and all topics while studying for the DAT, as well as studying/test taking strategies, as this is something I've focused on heavily throughout my education to help combat the severe test anxiety that I have. Feel free to reach out if you need any help! Good luck studying!
