using textbooks to study for DAT? advice needed

[hunterx2]

Hey guys, I'm new here, and I would appreciate some advice on the DAT. I graduated with a degree in bio five years ago but took an unrelated job in retail marketing, so a very long time has elapsed since I took my basic science courses.

So I figured that I have to start from the very beginning and re-learn everything from ground up, and I've been reading my old university textbooks to get a good foundation. So far I've finished my general chem textbook cover to cover and did ALL of the problems, even the difficult multi-concept challenge problems. I have also read about half of my ochem textbook and also did all the problems. My plan is to finish the second half of ochem, then read my general biology textbook cover to cover before reading kaplan just for the PAT section. Then I will finish the rest of kaplan for review and maybe go for other resources that ppl mention here, like DAT destroyer and videos.

But then I figured that, since there is no way that any review book has more info than the textbooks I am already reading, and since I can already do even the hard challenge problems at the very end of the chapters, do I even need to go for the review books and videos??? What exactly can they offer to somebody who is fresh from studying a far more detailed textbook? I don't want to waste $$$ needlessly.

Any thoughts? Is my study plan adequate? My target score is at least 22, and I am a good test taker and a fast reader. Thanks.

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[ekephant]

The review books and videos (Chad's videos to be more specific) are really geared to narrow down your studying and help you focus on areas that are heavily tested on. If you do only review your textbooks you may be overloaded with information that might not even appear on the test. In my personal opinion it's always better to know more, but on a test like the DAT, which really challenges your memory capacity, I would really try to focus only on what I know will be tested on. That being said, I did use the Campbell Biology textbook for further supplementary reading (in addition to review books and videos) and it did help on about 2 of the 40 biology questions. In terms of efficiency, you would be better off using a few good review books for biology, and wikipedia or youtube for things you are unsure of. For the chemistries, all you really need are Chad's videos for learning/reviewing and DAT Destroyer for practicing. However if you really do not want to spend the extra money, I'm sure all the information you need is in your textbooks. Just remember this is a standardized test and will most likely not be covering in-depth material (with a few exceptions here and there). Good luck with your studies!

 

[hunterx2]

Hi guys thanks for the replies.

I know it's much more efficient to study from a focused and targeted review book, but it seems like review books are good only when the material is already fresh in your mind. I'm 26 and it's been 5 years since graduation, 7 years since ochem, and 8 since general chem. So for me I basically have to re-learn everything as if I never learned it at all, and no review book is going to teach me the material from the ground up. So I absolutely have to go over my textbooks at least once just to get the foundation knowledge I need. My only question is, is this enough, or do I really need to fork over $150 for destroyer and $30 for the videos (and spend 6 extra weeks going over that stuff?)



Thanks.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

I understand your concerns about having to learn everything from the ground up (I am in a similar situation as yourself), but believe it or not review books will teach you what you need to know from the ground up. Chad's videos for general and organic chemistry and review books for biology (Cliff's, Barron's etc) WILL cover in sufficient detail what you need to know. The only real difference between your textbooks and a review book is that the review book is trimmed down to the stuff you will need on the exam - it is still taught to you as if you had never been exposed to the material before. I've never encountered anything in my review material that made assumptions in knowledge that weren't already covered in the same material.

 

[hunterx2]

Ok then here is what I'm going to do to study:

Ochem: finish the second half of the textbook (hey I'm halfway done already so I'll just go ahead and finish it, it will only take me 2 more weeks)
Gen chem: already studied and pretty much mastered it
Bio: will skim over a review book instead of slogging though a textbook
QR: kaplan
PAT: kaplan.

Then I'll take a practice test. If I don't do well I will watch the videos and go over dat destroyer.

Does this sound like a good strategy? I'm looking to apply this coming year but there is plenty of time to study. I need to score at least 22 as I said before.