I wasn't trying to be helpful. I'm not a fan of people not memorizing stuff that should clearly be memorized in order to well on the exam. If you look through the pre-dental forums you'll I try my best to be helpful to people but there are a lot of frustrating questions that get asked and it gets on my nerves sometimes.
However, I will try to be helpful. If you haven't started studying for the DAT, I highly recommend following this schedule to the exact letter of the law. It worked well for me.
http://datbootcamp.com/Ari'sStudyGuide.pdf
http://datbootcamp.com/Ari'sStudySchedule.pdf
In my opinion if you stay disciplined and follow this exactly as prescribed, without taking any shortcuts or skipping anything, it's a guaranteed 22+.
If you already have committed to a study plan follow that, but just want some general advice for test day, here's mine.
Two days before your test start worrying about your sleep, nutrition, caffeine intake, and the logistics of exam day. Two days out, start eating quality meals, but big meals. Lots of carbs, fat, and protein from home-cooked sources. You'll want a lot of fuel stored up but don't want any indigestion or bathroom issues during the test, so avoid too much processed and/or restaurant food. Also, know yourself with how much caffeine for you is effective for the test, and plan accordingly. You also need to worry about in-test nutrition. For example; one medium black iced coffee from Dunkin does it just fine for me, but I knew that on test day I would want the boost because it's a long exam. I also knew I would need some food to keep sharp for the whole five or whatever hours. So this is what I did to address all these issues.
My exam was a Friday. Wednesday night, I ate a lot of quality calories and slept for 9 hours. I treated it like a normal studying day otherwise. Thursday night, after 5pm when I was done reviewing (
no studying the day before, just review!!!) I drove the exact route to the prometric center I would be taking, and timed it. Made sure I knew exactly where it was, where to park, and how long the drive was. I allowed myself double on test day the next morning. I went ahead and bought two medium black iced at Dunkin, and two Gatorade brand protein bars (they're good because they also have carbs in them, but not too much fat/calories to make you sluggish or sugar alcohols to make you need to **** during the exam like Big Colossal brands would). The Cliff Protein bars would also work just as well as the Gatorade brand. I got them the night before so I didn't have to get them on the way to the exam. Put them in the fridge with any coffee you might need.
After you have the peace of mind squared away on the nutritional/caffeine aspect, and you've stopped reviewing at 5pm, watch something funny for an hour or two. I watched South Park, but picky your best method. After this, listen to whatever music gets you in the mindset you need to take the test. You could need some Three Days Grace or DMX to get fired up, or some Kid Cudi or Lupe to get calmly confident, it's all up to you. Just make sure your mind is right for the test. Sleep 9 hours again if you can. If you're nervous and you can't; don't worry. The 9 hours from the night before will carry you through the test, as will adrenaline.
So you wake up and it's test day. Make sure you eat complex carbs and protein for breakfast, I suggest oatmeal and Chobani. PB & J on wheat with Chobani would suffice if you don't have the time to for oatmeal. Remember to give yourself double time to get to the center half an hour before they tell you you need to be there. Use the bathroom right before the test starts, and eat your first bar and drink your first coffee immediately before you go in.
In the exam, you'll have a **** ton of time with the sciences. Like way extra if you've studied properly. Your first instinct is usually right for Bio and Orgo, but on GC you'll have time to double check every calculation. Then you move on to PAT. For the PAT, you should make 16 hole punch grids, so if you screw up on one of the 15 questions you have an emergency grid. PAT will give you a decent amount of time. Don't double check easy ones or you will run out of time. If you have a weak section (mine was TFE), save it until last. Do all the other sections, get all the points you know you can get on the easier ones, and with five minutes left go back and make educated guesses on your weak section. I knew whether I stared at a TFE problem for 30 seconds or 20 minutes my results would be the same, so I chose my battles. It paid off. I got a 22, which isn't the greatest, but it's good enough.
After PAT you'll get your break, at this point you'll really need to piss. Enjoy the piss, it's nice and relaxing. Drink your second coffee, even if you don't think you need it (you'll want to stay on edge until the test is over), and eat your second bar. Forget everything about the PAT and sciences because you can't change them now.
RC you have to move quickly in order to get to everything. I finished the majority of the questions with 5 mins to spare and used those last 5 mins to go over the trickiest ones. You won't have time to double check everything. From here you move straight into QR. Now, my opinion of QR is A) different from other people because I thought this section was preposterously easy and more than sufficient time and B) I took it in 2014 so you have a different section. However, most people say QR is tough to get done in time. You won't have time to double check answers, but you'll have time to look at the tough ones towards the end. I got a 28 and I will never forget the question I got wrong. It haunts me to this day. I finished the other 29 questions with like 5 mins remaining and just tried for two straight minutes to finish the exam as strong as I could but I just gave up and wanted to see my score so I guessed lol.
After you finish QR, there's an optional survey and then your scores pop up. It can be a great feeling or a terrible feeling, and what determines that is how confident you are during your studying and the exam itself, in addition to all the little things I've mentioned. You've put in a lot of time and effort into studying. Be confident in your preparation. You need to have the mentality that you're going to murder that exam, and the only way you won't do well is if you choke, and nobody likes to choke in the big moment. I knew that there was nothing I could have possibly done to make myself prepared to take that exam. My brain was ten months pregnant. If you can't be this confident, then push the date back until you have done more preparation and are this confident.
There, was that "helpful"?
