Want to start studying for the DAT now (not hardcore). What do I need?

[littlecalvaria]

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I realize this has probably been asked a billion times but....

I want to take the DAT in maybe a year or so but I don't want to just study hardcore for the final month. I want to do a little bit every day so that the material stays in my head and I feel completely comfortable taking the test.

I heard the DAT Destroyer was the book of choice for most people but is that appropriate for someone who doesn't want to go hardcore right now and wouldn't the book become outdated by the time I want to take it? What books should I get right now to help me understand the material and do the practice tests?

Thanks 🙂

 

[Veloce]

In my experience, studying for the DAT is like filling a bucket with a hole in it.

Set aside 1-2 months before the exam and study 10 hours a day every day.

I tried the studying a little bit for a year before the test and it didn't really work.

You need:

Crack the DAT PAT
DAT destroyer
Math Destroyer
Chads Videos
Kaplan blue book
Topscore and or Achiever

 

[Jia7]

i agree with Veloce. It's one of those tests that you would want to study for a maximum of 3 months in advance and study hard core with nothing else besides dat studying for the last month. If you want to start early i would strongly recommend going through schaums biology outline a few times. i think that covered everything you can possibly see in the bio section on the dat. its very detailed and quite boring but worth the hours you put in to study that book. besides that go through the genetics sections through campbells (from what people recommend on the forum). also get math destroyer and start practicing that. get as much math practice as possible.

for chem/ochem - chad's videos, kaplan blue book (go through chad's notes + book many times). then go through destroyer a few times.
for pat - crack dat pat

good luck!

 

[littlecalvaria]

Thanks for responses.

I realize studying this much in advance probably isn't very efficient but the problem is that I took Gen Chem more than a year ago and I finished O-Chem in Spring 2010. By the time I want to start studying for the DAT hardcore I'll will have no doubt completely forgotten that stuff and my biggest fear is realizing two months before the exam that I don't understand the stuff at all. That's why I kind of want to refresh my memory everyday and go over stuff.

Also for the books do you think I should hold off on getting those then since I won't be taking the DAT for a while? I've heard people say the DAT destoryer is really difficult so what should I start with? My feeling is I should start doing the PAT stuff now since it takes practice but other than that Gen Chem is probably my weakest subject (or at least it was back when I took it) and O-Chem I'm just ok at it. Bio is probably my strong point but I suppose it is for most people.

 

[Chemboy23]

What I have:

-DAT Destroyer
-Math Destroyer
-TopScore (DO NOT get Acheiver, it's ridicuolously hard, unnecessary)
-Crack the DAT PAT
-Schaum's Bio (never used, because it was boring, get Cliff's AP Bio 3rd ed. instead)
-Kaplan Blue Book (just went through it once and took notes on what I didn't know really all that well)
-Kaplan course review books - you can purchase these online for ~50 bucks most of the time
-Chad's Chemistry videos (most important, yet the cheapest, most effective study item I used)

Good to have, but not "do or die"

-Crack the DAT Math
-Crack the DAT Reading (this one should be placed above if you're ESL)
-Barron's Guide to the DAT (good for explaining the Perceptual part)
-Acheiver - if you're dead set on getting your confidence destroyed, get it. I will tell you that the PAT section is sooooo hard, but it actually has some decent explanations for the ones you get wrong. Also, the RC section of the Acheiver is okay, but again, I would refrain from getting it.

***That's it 🙂 Some of these items you can find for cheap online (used) so do some research before you go buying brand new study materials. If you need anything else, feel free to PM me. Best of luck!

 

[Chemboy23]

Ok, in regards to the Destroyer. Most people do the following:

-Study and review with about 3 months left to test date
-Begin studying the PAT section, do NOT procrastinate this!!!
-Use Chad's videos religiously during this time

-When you have ~1 month left
take your first practice test (Topscore)
start hitting the Destroyer (both of them) hardcore, on the Math one, DO NOT use a calculator...the real calculator at the test site sucks really bad...don't even try to use it
do ~2-3 CDP PAT tests


-3 weeks out
take another practice test (#2 Topscore)
work through the Destroyer (2nd time)
take 2-3 CDP (PAT practice) tests
work on timing with QR section (Math Destroyer)
-2 weeks out
work through the Destroyer (DAT) a third time
brush up on RC, this test can make a sig diff on your total score
make sure your timing is okay with the QR section, MATH Destroyer
take another TopScore test (#3)
practice, practice, practice with the CDP (PAT)
-1 week out
last minute memorization
at most, work through the destroyer once again
take ~2-3 Math Destroyer practice test to practice timing
go back and review all TopScore tests and get the right answers to the choices you answered wrong, study them a couple times
note the areas you are weak in, pound them over and over, this requires an honest self-assesment...but will pay off on test day

-Day before test
go out to dinner and DO NOT worry about the test
take some NyQuil or something to take the edge off (bad nerves)
get some good sleep, and just breathe, everything will be ok
even if you do not score a 30 in each section, you can still do well

Most Importantly...BE CONFIDENT!!!!!!!!! This is the single most important factor. It was one that caused me to not do as well as I had originally hoped to do.

Best of luck to you!!!

 

[Jia7]

if you had done well in those chem classes i would go through your notes again and refresh yourself once right now and again and again until you take the test. for bio as i said, strongly recommend schaums bio outline. i would get that and start reading.. it will take you a while to read that. get cliffs too, but definitely read schaums! i found it extremely helpful for my dat's bio section! also read through any of your bio classes notes. its better to know more for bio!

before going through destroyer (chem/ochem) i would recommend going through your class notes (if you had good one's) or kaplan blue book and chad's videos. i highly recommend chad's videos for chem and ochem. for math you can start by reading kaplan blue book, then go to khan's academy (search for it online) and go through the videos on topics listed in ADA's guidelines for dat. after that start practicing math destroyer. i would start with destroyer after you understand major concepts but you will never be able to cover everything that destroyer does and that's why it is such a good book. it teaches you what you don't really understand. you will have to go through destroyer a few times.

 

[liangster]

yup everyone's got the solid materials already posted here. you should know the kaplan blue book front and back before going into the DAT destroyer problems or you'll just be memorizing the answers.

for bio, cliffs ap bio is really good, try to know everything in this book is the bio on the real dat is soooo random.

i'm selling my MATH DESTROYER AND DAT DESTROYER books too..pm if you want them!

 

[yappy]

I studied for the dat for two months before taking a few top score test, intending to take it this aug. I ended up not because I only got my top score up to a 20aa (i have a lower gpa ~3.3).
Basically my plan is to review 2 hrs a day untill next summer when I apply and study hard core for about 2 months and take it. I learn different than alot of people - I have to understand everything to feel comfortable so I would benefit from a long term study plan - I HATE cramming and in the end you dont learn anything.

Having said that I have constructed my own notes that combines chads, KBB, and exam crackers by prepairing this summer. I plan to study these notes and do practice tests on the weekends.

GL

 

[shiftypoptart]

Definitely go on craigslist and buy all your materials used it will definitely be alot cheaper.

The stuff I used was in order of importance:

1 Chad Videos ( course saver.com)

2 MCAT Audio Osmosis for Biology Review

3 Kaplan Blue Book

4 Crack the DAT for ONLY the PAT section (everything else is useless)

5 Destroyer ONLY for math section. (again everything else is useless)

You should be good with just these things. Achiever, Destroyer, and Crack dat are way over the top and will make you lose confidence more than help (well at least it did for me). My advice is know a few study aids WELL rather than know alot of them all jumbled up in pieces. These are definitely the gems of the study aids so get these if your low on funds and want to study the important stuff.

 

[Lethstang]

kbb and chads videos are literally all you need. if you memorize themand understand them, you will get your 20.

 

[littlecalvaria]

completely forgot about this thread, thanks for help guys.

 

[dentalWorks]

I agree that spending 2 months of hardcore studying is the best options...

HOWEVER....

You can still use this 1 year time you have to your advantage. You see, there are 2 sections of the DAT where I believe them to be extremely easy to learn/memorize if you spend 30-45 minutes a day for an entire year on them..... Those 2 sections are math and Orgo. You spend only 30 minutes a day either memorizing Orgo reactions OR doing MATH Destroyer problems (not DAT destroyer math), and you my friend will get a HUGE score on those 2 sections in 1 years time..... That will really bring up your AA