Hey everyone!
Just took the DAT today after 3 months of studying, and did better than I expected.
First off, here are my DAT Bootcamp scores on the individual practice tests. I'm not including the bio ones because I took those before I'd studied them well, and once I retook them I often recognized the questions, so I don't think the scores actually reflect what I know.
GC: 22, 17, 20, 18, 21, 24, 19, 23, 20, 22
OC: 20, 20, 21, 23, 21, 21, 20, 20, 22, 21
PAT: 20, 21, 19, 20, 19, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20
QR: 20, 20, 19, 19, 20, 19, 20, 24, 20, 30 (lucky on the last)
RC: (Only took practice tests 1, 2, and 7): 22, 20, 23
I did buy the Bio section of QVault towards the end, and my scores for that were as follows:
19, 19, 18, 19, 21, 18, 20, 20, 18, 19
I didn't buy/use DAT Destroyer at all. Honestly, DAT Bootcamp is all I think you really need, but the Qvault purchase did help me in my weakest subject, since there's just so much bio they can throw at you.
My training schedule for the first five weeks mostly aligned with what Ari's schedule suggested, with the exception of biology and math. I really didn't like studying for bio early on, so it became a sort of every other day thing for me, and I didn't really start heavily studying for it until the last 5 weeks before the test. And I didn't watch any of the Khan Academy videos for math, as the chemistry videos were already taking up plenty of time, so I just did the practice tests for it.
Honestly with the math section, there's only a limited number of types of problems they ask you, so if you understand the answers/formulas on those, you should be good to go. Unless you're starting from a very weak place in math, I don't think the videos are necessary on an already video-heavy schedule.
For the last 5 weeks, in addition to reading the bio notes from BC constantly, I just took practice test after practice test after practice test, depending on what subjects I felt I was weak on. The scores for the practice tests above are from my first time with each test, but I ended up taking every GC and OC practice test at least twice. That's how I study best, and I think it works really well in exposing you to every sort of question you might see.
To parrot what everyone else has constantly been saying: Yes, the actual DAT is considerably easier than what BC throws at you, for the most part. On to specifics:
GC and OC were slightly easier than what BC had to offer, but not by a lot. Questions were very similar for the most part. Strangely (and thankfully) I had far fewer stereochemistry questions on the real OC section compared to the practice tests.
BIO was very similar to BC and DATQVault. Just keep re-reading the notes Ari provides, no matter how painful and tedious it may be. They covered everything I was presented with. I've not yet had a formal class in anatomy and physiology, so I was constantly reading that section in particular.
PAT was considerably easier, especially in keyhole, TFE, and angle ranking. Cube counting, pattern folding, and hole punch were very similar to BC.
RC was much, much easier. The passages were similar in reading difficulty to BC, but the questions were so much more straightforward. I only took 3 practice tests in this subject, but on the real thing I just read the entire passage at first and then answered the questions, looking back as needed.
QR was much easier as well. I've always loved math, but apart from a rogue 30 on practice test 10, I was consistently missing 5-8 problems on the practice tests each time. Mainly from those "A is greater, B is greater, A and B are identical, A and B can't be compared" and "Statement 1 and 2 ALONE are sufficient etc" type problems. Those two problems types were present on the real exam, but much more straightforward.
The actual testing experience was really nice. The noise-cancelling headphones they provide worked great, the screen was clear and legible, they were prompt to replace the laminated sheets.
If anyone has any questions, I'm happy to answer!
Just took the DAT today after 3 months of studying, and did better than I expected.
First off, here are my DAT Bootcamp scores on the individual practice tests. I'm not including the bio ones because I took those before I'd studied them well, and once I retook them I often recognized the questions, so I don't think the scores actually reflect what I know.
GC: 22, 17, 20, 18, 21, 24, 19, 23, 20, 22
OC: 20, 20, 21, 23, 21, 21, 20, 20, 22, 21
PAT: 20, 21, 19, 20, 19, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20
QR: 20, 20, 19, 19, 20, 19, 20, 24, 20, 30 (lucky on the last)
RC: (Only took practice tests 1, 2, and 7): 22, 20, 23
I did buy the Bio section of QVault towards the end, and my scores for that were as follows:
19, 19, 18, 19, 21, 18, 20, 20, 18, 19
I didn't buy/use DAT Destroyer at all. Honestly, DAT Bootcamp is all I think you really need, but the Qvault purchase did help me in my weakest subject, since there's just so much bio they can throw at you.
My training schedule for the first five weeks mostly aligned with what Ari's schedule suggested, with the exception of biology and math. I really didn't like studying for bio early on, so it became a sort of every other day thing for me, and I didn't really start heavily studying for it until the last 5 weeks before the test. And I didn't watch any of the Khan Academy videos for math, as the chemistry videos were already taking up plenty of time, so I just did the practice tests for it.
Honestly with the math section, there's only a limited number of types of problems they ask you, so if you understand the answers/formulas on those, you should be good to go. Unless you're starting from a very weak place in math, I don't think the videos are necessary on an already video-heavy schedule.
For the last 5 weeks, in addition to reading the bio notes from BC constantly, I just took practice test after practice test after practice test, depending on what subjects I felt I was weak on. The scores for the practice tests above are from my first time with each test, but I ended up taking every GC and OC practice test at least twice. That's how I study best, and I think it works really well in exposing you to every sort of question you might see.
To parrot what everyone else has constantly been saying: Yes, the actual DAT is considerably easier than what BC throws at you, for the most part. On to specifics:
GC and OC were slightly easier than what BC had to offer, but not by a lot. Questions were very similar for the most part. Strangely (and thankfully) I had far fewer stereochemistry questions on the real OC section compared to the practice tests.
BIO was very similar to BC and DATQVault. Just keep re-reading the notes Ari provides, no matter how painful and tedious it may be. They covered everything I was presented with. I've not yet had a formal class in anatomy and physiology, so I was constantly reading that section in particular.
PAT was considerably easier, especially in keyhole, TFE, and angle ranking. Cube counting, pattern folding, and hole punch were very similar to BC.
RC was much, much easier. The passages were similar in reading difficulty to BC, but the questions were so much more straightforward. I only took 3 practice tests in this subject, but on the real thing I just read the entire passage at first and then answered the questions, looking back as needed.
QR was much easier as well. I've always loved math, but apart from a rogue 30 on practice test 10, I was consistently missing 5-8 problems on the practice tests each time. Mainly from those "A is greater, B is greater, A and B are identical, A and B can't be compared" and "Statement 1 and 2 ALONE are sufficient etc" type problems. Those two problems types were present on the real exam, but much more straightforward.
The actual testing experience was really nice. The noise-cancelling headphones they provide worked great, the screen was clear and legible, they were prompt to replace the laminated sheets.
If anyone has any questions, I'm happy to answer!
