Tips for the Big Day

[SEM130]

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Hey y'all!
I just wanted to share a few tips from my DAT experience. I just took the test today and was super pleased with the results. (No; I did not make a 95th percentile but I got exactly what I was hoping for). For me a big part of the DAT was mentally preparing myself for the big event. I get major test anxiety, and despite reading hundreds (literally) of DAT breakdowns and what to expect day of posts, I still had some unanswered questions. So I just wanted to share what I wish I would have known approximately 8 hours ago. 😉

• This test is hard, but it is not impossible. I psyched myself out so bad. I was so incredibly nervous walking into the testing center. I thought I was going to pass out. But I didn't! I didn't pass out, I didn't throw up, and I didn't make a 10! These were all legitimate concerns of mine. lol
• Do not overwhelm yourself with study material. There are so many options when it comes to study materials. I think I spent as much time researching what study materials to buy as I did studying. I was trying to find the best preparation without paying a gazillion dollars. Whatever you buy, if you use it correctly, will be beneficial. There is nothing you can study that will be detrimental to your scores.
• If you bring your own ear plugs, they can't have a string connecting them. Lol! I wanted to bring my on ear phones mostly because I liked the smooshy ones and so I could feel in control of something haha. They do supply some big headphones if you want to use those. But when I got there, they were like "Sorry, your earphones can't be connected together. They can't have a wire between them." So I just made them find me some scissors and cut them apart.
• It feels like you are going into prison during the check in process. This is mostly just funny. If you are wearing pants, you have to show you have nothing written on your legs by lifting up your pants. They use a detector wand to check you. They fingerprint both hands. They take your picture. You sign in and out whenever you leave the room.
• There is truth to the "mini-break" legend. I searched all over the internet for confirmation of these mini breaks but couldn't find assurance. I had read somewhere that between sections (like science and PAT). If your time runs out, and you don't click the OK button right away, then your time on the next section does not begin. This kind of gives you a little break in between sections. I don't know how long you could sit there. I only did for about a minute. Then I worried I was doing something wrong. I just know that it was really helpful for me. I was able to mentally prepare myself for the PAT section. Just kind of refocused my eyes and drew out my hole punch grids. It was really helpful! I can't guarantee that this will always work, but it did for me.
• That 15 minute tutorial is the best thing you'll have all day. During the tutorial, I wasn't allowed to write anything on my sheets. I just kind of used this time to check my calculator and see if my number pad would work. IT DID!! This made the calculator a little more bearable when it came to the QR sections. The rest of the time I spent clearing my mind and praying for peace regardless of the outcome.
• I did not have any Statement/Reason Correct/ Incorrect questions on RC. These were the type of questions I missed every single time on DAT bootcamp, and I was so excited when I did not have any of them on the real thing. Pretty much all of my questions just required me to find a sentence or word in the article. It wasn't bad at all. I honestly have no idea what I missed on this section.
• Material I used: DAT Bootcamp (highly recommend! I knew what to expect after using Bootcamp. My scores were about +3 from my bootcamp scores in all sections except RC. RC score was the average of all my Bootcamp scores.) -Chads Videos (highly recommend! I felt like I had a Sensai Chad on my shoulder during the Gen Chem and Organic sections. The quizzes are harder than the real DAT but if you can do them, you can do the DAT. I basically had to relearn all of these concepts and these videos did a phenomenal job of this.)- DAT Destroyer (highly recommend! I wish I would have used this to its full extent. My first question on Bio was almost exactly the same question as the first question in the Bio section. This was such a blessing because my nerves were immediately calmed on the first question.) - Math Destroyer (Recommend! I did not use this nearly enough. I should have focused way more on QR than I did. It was not necessarily hard on the real thing, but I just did not prepare. It's so easy to make stupid mistakes on math.)

I hope that someone finds these tips helpful. If anyone has any questions, I will do my best to answer them. I have never been so excited to have something behind me as I am today. 🙂

P.S. I considered rescheduling my test the night before because I felt like I knew nothing at all. So if you feel confident going in, THAT'S AWESOME. But if you don't feel confident, that doesn't mean you are going to fall flat on your face. YOU'LL BE FINE!!
P.S.S Sorry this is long

 

[ywcywc]

Thank you so much.

 

[StudentDoc1234]

Never heard of the "mini-break" thank you so much for the post!

 

[aspiringdentist86]

What is the timeline of test day? Like if my test is at noon, what is the order of events that I should expect to happen? I know I'm supposed to get there an hour ahead of time..