Unsure with DAT Bio

[bearded gent]

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Hello,

I'm only a few days into studying and I'm still unsure of how I should approach the Bio Section of DAT. I majored in Biology in Undergrad so I feel somewhat comfortable. Is the DAT Destroyer Biology section enough? If I go through all the problems a couple of times will that be sufficient enough? I learn best when I'm doing problems rather than reading certain topics. I'm just worried that topics not covered in DAT Destroyer Bio section will come up.

 

[jz123]

Hello,

I'm only a few days into studying and I'm still unsure of how I should approach the Bio Section of DAT. I majored in Biology in Undergrad so I feel somewhat comfortable. Is the DAT Destroyer Biology section enough? If I go through all the problems a couple of times will that be sufficient enough? I learn best when I'm doing problems rather than reading certain topics. I'm just worried that topics not covered in DAT Destroyer Bio section will come up.

you should first start with Cliffsnote then feralis and finally destroyers going from basic, moderate to difficult respectively. At the end, you can get more practice tests to test your knowledge. You cannot be 100% ready for the bio section since it covers a lot of topics. However, as long as you efficiently used all the materials I mentioned. You are at least 80-90% ready depending on how efficient your study is.

 

[bearded gent]

you should first start with Cliffsnote then feralis and finally destroyers going from basic, moderate to difficult respectively. At the end, you can get more practice tests to test your knowledge. You cannot be 100% ready for the bio section since it covers a lot of topics. However, as long as you efficiently used all the materials I mentioned. You are at least 80-90% ready depending on how efficient your study is.

Ok, my only concern is wasting time reviewing material rather than doing problems and learning from my mistakes.

 

[jz123]

Ok, my only concern is wasting time reviewing material rather than doing problems and learning from my mistakes.

First of all, I would not say it is a waste of time to review material since each time you review you will learn something new and more importantly, the more you review, the longer the material will stick to your mind.
Doing problems is a great way to see your weakness and also good in practicing your memory of the materials.
If you are someone who prefers problems, fine, it is the same as reviewing materials. Do whatever you prefer as long as you feel like you learn.

 

[Alectrify]

Memorizing the answers to the bio questions in the destroyer is almost useless on its own. The destroyer is a great resource, but it seems like most people misuse it.

When the question asks the the number of heart chambers in an alligator (lol), it's trying to prompt you to review the circulatory system: pathway of pulmonary and system circuits, and any relevant terminology. I used a combination of khan academy (!!) and cliffnotes to review these basic systems. THAT is how you use the destroyer. The DAT will likely never ask you questions as specific as the destroyer, so memorizing the answers won't help. What you can take face value from the destroyer are the unknown terms (like all the hormones secreted in the GI, proteins in the signal pathways, etc.)


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[Likkriue]

Memorizing the answers to the bio questions in the destroyer is almost useless on its own. The destroyer is a great resource, but it seems like most people misuse it.

When the question asks the the number of heart chambers in an alligator (lol), it's trying to prompt you to review the circulatory system: pathway of pulmonary and system circuits, and any relevant terminology. I used a combination of khan academy (!!) and cliffnotes to review these basic systems. THAT is how you use the destroyer. The DAT will likely never ask you questions as specific as the destroyer, so memorizing the answers won't help. What you can take face value from the destroyer are the unknown terms (like all the hormones secreted in the GI, proteins in the signal pathways, etc.)


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I disagree that memorizing the answers is useless. Thats what I did, and I scored decently well on BIO. The Dat does ask questions literally straight from the destroyer, so I don't understand why memorizing the answers will not help.
I do however agree that knowing the full picture helps memorizing the stuff better.

 

[bearded gent]

Lol so it seems like I should buckle down and memorize Destroyer and concepts.

 

[Alectrify]

I disagree that memorizing the answers is useless. Thats what I did, and I scored decently well on BIO. The Dat does ask questions literally straight from the destroyer, so I don't understand why memorizing the answers will not help.
I do however agree that knowing the full picture helps memorizing the stuff better.

It's almost useless "on its own", as in if the only thing you did was memorize destroyer questions and nothing else for bio, that'd be problematic. Most of the questions on the destroyer that actually appear on the DAT are usually terminology questions and, as I have noted, are worth remembering no matter what. A majority of the questions, however, are not. A destroyer question doesn't give you 5 totally different choices, all completely unrelated to one another, for a question without reason - its prompting you to review a variety of fundamental concepts rather than to memorize those facts themselves. I'll give a cookie to anyone who's been asked for the number of heart chambers in an alligator.


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[FancyFloss]

Memorize everything ever that is covered under the term "Biology". My bio section had some questions that I never would have expected to even see in my undergrad as a bio. Memorizing answers are ok ONLY if you understand why the other answers are wrong.