those of you who took the DAT within the last few months

[1800RAW]

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and did fairly well on it (ie. no plans on retaking), how do you think youd do on it at this exact moment? I took mine back in March and honestly, I think id be lucky to pull an 18AA now, its as if all of the info left my head within a few weeks of taking the exam. Even tests Ive hardcore crammed for long ago (night before/morning of, years ago) I can remember more now about than the info tested on the DAT.

just something weird I have been noticing over the past few days, anyone else like this?

 

[wired202808]

1800raw, my apologies for interrupting a thread that I cannot answer to, but to elaborate on your post, do you believe it is more efficient to study in a shorter period of time vs. stretching it out for 3 months or so? I will read your breakdown before I ask more questions. Thanks.

 

[1800RAW]

the problem with stretching things out to several months is you end up forgetting things you studied 2-3 months prior; maybe not general concepts but more specific details. of course, its debatable how much the DAT relies testing on on those finer points, but IMO its better to be safe than sorry.

My recommendation, assuming you had three months prep time, would be the following:
#1 get ALL of the resources you plan on using in one shot, that way youre not 4 weeks in and realize "oh **** I really should have gotten another bio source" and then have your schedule offset. look at some strong breakdowns, make a list of stuff they used, and get those resources. In retrospect I would definitely look in the the DATQvault bio questions.

#2 Once you have those materials, spend 1.5-2 months consolidating and organizing info into condensed, high yield notes that get to the point w/o the fluff. Lets say you use chads videos, odds are youre gonna know 80% of the stuff in them. For that other 20%, make sure you take down EVERYTHING you feel weak on, it really helps with subsequent references and helps eliminate redundancy of going over things youre good on. I like to think of this as the "investment phase" of studying, disregarding familiar concepts/details and documenting what youre weak on.

#3 with the remaining 1-1.5 months, thats when you cram all the **** you gathered from step#2 into your head. it will most likely still be a good chunk of material, but figure you sift through 80% of chads stuff you already know, maybe 70% of campbells you're good with, etc. it really allows you to shift your focus on things youre fuzzy on and the overall relative lack of volume will let you ingrain that info into your head w/o too much time passing for you to start forgetting stuff.

so I guess my answer is yes and no. Use the bulk of your study time as an investment and consolidation phase of ALL possible testable material and the last month or so cramming that small percentage of stuff you need work on into your head. hope that helped/wasnt too confusing, lemme know if you have anymore questions

 

[elaine]

the problem with stretching things out to several months is you end up forgetting things you studied 2-3 months prior; maybe not general concepts but more specific details. Of course, its debatable how much the dat relies testing on on those finer points, but imo its better to be safe than sorry.

My recommendation, assuming you had three months prep time, would be the following:
#1 get all of the resources you plan on using in one shot, that way youre not 4 weeks in and realize "oh **** i really should have gotten another bio source" and then have your schedule offset. Look at some strong breakdowns, make a list of stuff they used, and get those resources. In retrospect i would definitely look in the the datqvault bio questions.

#2 once you have those materials, spend 1.5-2 months consolidating and organizing info into condensed, high yield notes that get to the point w/o the fluff. Lets say you use chads videos, odds are youre gonna know 80% of the stuff in them. For that other 20%, make sure you take down everything you feel weak on, it really helps with subsequent references and helps eliminate redundancy of going over things youre good on. I like to think of this as the "investment phase" of studying, disregarding familiar concepts/details and documenting what youre weak on.

#3 with the remaining 1-1.5 months, thats when you cram all the **** you gathered from step#2 into your head. It will most likely still be a good chunk of material, but figure you sift through 80% of chads stuff you already know, maybe 70% of campbells you're good with, etc. It really allows you to shift your focus on things youre fuzzy on and the overall relative lack of volume will let you ingrain that info into your head w/o too much time passing for you to start forgetting stuff.

So i guess my answer is yes and no. Use the bulk of your study time as an investment and consolidation phase of all possible testable material and the last month or so cramming that small percentage of stuff you need work on into your head. Hope that helped/wasnt too confusing, lemme know if you have anymore questions

where can i get the datq vault bio questions that you said helped you