Hi Everyone, I took the DAT on August 30th and I got a 26 AA (26 TS, 30 Bio, 27 Chem, 23 Ochem, 25 Quantitative Reasoning, 26 Reading Comprehension, 18 PAT). I used Booster and Bootcamp.
Background: I studied for this exam over the summer for about 2 months while shadowing and having other responsibilities. Studying for this exam was a challenge as consistently studying 12 hours a day was difficult for me, as it is for many others lol. So, I would alternate between maybe studying 5-6 hours one day and going all out the next day, preferably on the weekends. Balance is key. Studying/cramming too much stresses me out so I had to balance it. Since I used both booster and bootcamp, I will highlight the pros and cons of each service for each subject below (I got both because I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned).
BIO
As you can see from above, I was nowhere close to 30s on the practice tests so I was pleasantly surprised when I took the real DAT. Personally, I found both Bootcamp and Booster really good for this section, with Booster having an edge. Bootcamp was good in terms of their Bio bites that I used consistently (didn’t use Anki as I felt it was a waste of time and too detailed) and their videos. Taxonomy and Fertilization were two things I had trouble learning but Bootcamp’s bio videos for those helped a lot. Also, Bootcamp’s condensed notes were better than Feralis notes, which are pretty dense. Booster was better in the sense that their practice tests are way way more representative of the real dat. I prolly had like 10 questions similar or word for word on the real dat. Plus, their 3 crash courses for biology are a must. They gave me exactly the high yield info I needed to know since I was short on time, in addition to 5 extra practice tests. I would recommend getting the crash courses 2 weeks before the exam so you have maximum exposure (only downside is that they are a bit pricey approx $125 for each course, but hey, this whole app process is pretty expensive in general lol). So, if I were to do this all over again, how would I study? First, start Bio early (don’t cram like how I did). Do a chapter a day (25 chapters in total). I would say watch and take notes on the videos from Bootcamp (I never watched Booster’s bio videos so I can’t comment on their quality), do the Booster and Bootcamp end of chapter questions, do the Bio bites from Bootcamp and extra questions from Booster. After doing this for a month (25 days approx), start the practice tests and kinda treat them like flashcards while also understanding what you got wrong. I think I did Bootcamp’s 15 practice tests like 2x and Booster’s 15 practice tests 3x (the practice test scores above are from my first attempt taking those).
CHEM (27)
Bootcamp: 26, 21, 22, 26, 21, 22, 22, 23, 30, 22, 26, 22, 26, 26, 24
Booster: 25, 24, 21, 26, 21, 25, 27, 22, 22, 25
I was surprised by this score as I got a C in undergrad chem. For this section, again, I used bootcamp and booster. Bootcamp was good because of Dr. Mike’s videos (he saved me for this section because he explained it very well and concise). The extra questions and practice tests were alright, but booster’s practice tests were better. Why? Because the real DAT chem section is much more conceptual than calculation-based and I felt that Booster had more questions on a wide variety of concepts. Those helped me a ton. So, if I were to do this all over again, how would I study? First, watch all of Mike’s videos (a chapter a day is good enough) for about half a month. Take detailed notes and then after every chapter, solve booster and bootcamp’s extra questions while the stuff is fresh in your head. Make flashcards if needed (I made about 800 flashcards for this section since my background knowledge was poor). Then, go straight to the practice tests (don’t be afraid of getting a low score, I know I sure was lol). Take notes on the questions you missed and/or guessed on. I did this in detail which is why I did all 15 bootcamp and all 10 booster practice tests only once. After doing that, I didn’t look over chem until the day before my test (please don’t do this lol). Overall, I hope my score on this section encourages people, who like me, had “poor background knowledge” or didn’t do well on this respective subject during undergrad. Don’t lose hope! Even if you don’t have background knowledge, you can always attain it
OCHEM (23)
Bootcamp: 21, 19, 21, 21, 22, 17, 19, 21, 23, 21
Booster: 20, 20, 21, 21, 21, 20, 19, 22, 21, 21
For this section, I procrastinated (started studying two weeks before the test) because I had gotten an A in ochem in undergrad so I thought I had sufficient background knowledge (don’t do this). I was wrong lol. With two weeks left, I looked over the ochem notes they provide and realized I had forgotten so much. I made flashcards on all the reactions and for the remaining 14 days, I memorized them daily. I didn’t have time for the last 5 practice tests for Bootcamp and only did the practice tests 1x. I used Bootcamp and booster for this. Bootcamp was good because of Dr. Mike (the guy saved me here again, bless him lol). His videos were concise and easy to understand. I like that he told us which mechanisms we do or don’t need to know (saved me time since I was in a rush). I didn’t watch Booster’s videos for this section. In terms of Bootcamp’s and Booster’s questions and practice tests, I feel for this section it is a tie. Both had good questions, with Booster being a little bit more conceptual and testing on slightly more reactions than we needed to know for the DAT (better to be overprepared than underprepared I guess). So, if I were to do this all over again, how would I study? First, don’t cram. Cramming only makes you stressed out and when I am stressed out, it's hard for me to retain info. Second, watch Mike’s videos and take handwritten notes and then, do the end of chapter questions for bootcamp and booster. Third, do the practice tests and mark the ones you got wrong and understand why you got them wrong and only do those if you are in a time crunch.
PAT (18)
Bootcamp: <14, 17, 17
Booster: 17, 17, 18, 17
Now onto everybody’s favorite section, PAT lol. I did not study for this section much (like barely at all). I wish I had but I was shooting for just an 18 on this. In June, I watched the PAT videos from Bootcamp and Booster (I felt Booster’s videos were better for pattern folding and keyholes, while Bootcamp’s videos were better for cube counting and TFE). I took my first practice in June and got less than a 14 (they didn’t give me an exact score because I did that bad lol). I got discouraged and decided to focus on the other subjects (don’t do this). Instead, I should have been doing daily generators of like 15 questions on each section per day. 15 questions per section per day may seem small but it adds up over time. Again, I didn’t do this. Fast forward to a week before my test, I sat down for a whole day and just did generators and question banks from Bootcamp and Booster. In terms of their video explanations for the question banks, I would say Bootcamp was better because Kiara explained it really well. After doing those for a day, I took a practice test the next day and got a 17 (better but nowhere near awesome). Then, I decided to switch to only using Booster’s practice tests and they helped in the sense that they were way way more difficult. That taught me to be able to spot small differences, especially for sections like Keyholes and Pattern Folding. On the real test, I went directly to question 31 and did all of those while going back to keyholes and tfe last. For angles, I would lean back and quickly glance at the angles (I never got more than 9/15 right on this section during practice). Hole punching and cube counting were easier (draw a grid for hole punching and tally for cube counting). Here, Bootcamp is better because their practice questions exposed me a lot to unsuspended cubes and empty holes or 4 folds, while Booster’s practice tests did not have as many questions on their practice tests. For pattern folding, Booster was better as they focused on shape elimination. Oftentimes, you can eliminate 2 out of their 4 choices based on the fact that they have an extra shape that isn’t present. For keyholes and TFE, I kinda just gave up because I was running out of time. I would never get more than 5/15 right on these when I practiced. Again, looking back, if I had been more consistent in my practice, I think I could have mastered this section and gotten 21+. Oh well
Reading (26)
Bootcamp: 25
I didn’t study much for reading. Took one practice from Bootcamp and got a 25 and thought it was good enough lol. During my undergrad research, we had to read a lot of dense scientific articles so I was used to reading a lot. On the real DAT, it was much easier. You get 3 passages, 50 questions, 60 minutes. I did the following: spent 20 minutes on each passage (the first 5 minutes I would read/skim the passage and highlight important terms or details I felt the questions would ask me on; then, spend the remaining 15 minutes answering the questions). This section was not a problem and from what I have read, Bootcamp and Booster are much harder than the real DAT so don’t be bummed if you get a low score on the practice tests.
Quantitative Reasoning (25)
Bootcamp: 20, 24, 24, 25, 21, 20, 25, 24, 25, 30, 20, 19, 21, 20, 18
Booster: 24, 24, 23, 23, 23, 25, 23, 22, 23, 25
I always enjoyed math. I did well on math in high school but it had been over 3 years since I was last in math class when I started studying for the DAT. I was kinda disappointed in this score (not because its a “bad” score, but because I expected a 30 on this section). This section I went overboard for lol. I did all 15 Bootcamp and all 10 Booster tests. In addition, I did all of DAT Destroyer math’s 15 practice tests too (personal opinion: DAT Destroyer is a waste of time and money. They say they updated it for 2022 but some of the math is just not tested anymore. Even though I bought the books, I only did the math portion as I was short on time). I felt prepared but I think I might have gotten a hard QR section on the real DAT. Overall, both Booster and Bootcamp are adequate for this section and I would recommend just doing the practice tests and making sure you know the formulas, especially unit conversions.
Conclusion: Overall, if you are short on money or time and could only pick one service, I would recommend DAT Booster. I hope this breakdown helps. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer. My undergrad science gpa is barely a 3.5 since I messed up my freshman year (at the end of my freshman year I had a 2.5 science), so I knew I had to score well on the DAT to “compensate” for the low GPA. So to all the people out there, please don’t lose hope. Dedicate yourself and the results will show. Peace.
Background: I studied for this exam over the summer for about 2 months while shadowing and having other responsibilities. Studying for this exam was a challenge as consistently studying 12 hours a day was difficult for me, as it is for many others lol. So, I would alternate between maybe studying 5-6 hours one day and going all out the next day, preferably on the weekends. Balance is key. Studying/cramming too much stresses me out so I had to balance it. Since I used both booster and bootcamp, I will highlight the pros and cons of each service for each subject below (I got both because I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned).
BIO
- Bootcamp Practice Tests: 22, 18, 19, 24, 22, 20, 22, 20, 21, 20, 22, 19, 20, 23, 20)
- Booster Practice Tests: 20, 21, 22, 23, 23, 20, 22, 21, 24, 24, 21, 21, 23, 22, 21)
As you can see from above, I was nowhere close to 30s on the practice tests so I was pleasantly surprised when I took the real DAT. Personally, I found both Bootcamp and Booster really good for this section, with Booster having an edge. Bootcamp was good in terms of their Bio bites that I used consistently (didn’t use Anki as I felt it was a waste of time and too detailed) and their videos. Taxonomy and Fertilization were two things I had trouble learning but Bootcamp’s bio videos for those helped a lot. Also, Bootcamp’s condensed notes were better than Feralis notes, which are pretty dense. Booster was better in the sense that their practice tests are way way more representative of the real dat. I prolly had like 10 questions similar or word for word on the real dat. Plus, their 3 crash courses for biology are a must. They gave me exactly the high yield info I needed to know since I was short on time, in addition to 5 extra practice tests. I would recommend getting the crash courses 2 weeks before the exam so you have maximum exposure (only downside is that they are a bit pricey approx $125 for each course, but hey, this whole app process is pretty expensive in general lol). So, if I were to do this all over again, how would I study? First, start Bio early (don’t cram like how I did). Do a chapter a day (25 chapters in total). I would say watch and take notes on the videos from Bootcamp (I never watched Booster’s bio videos so I can’t comment on their quality), do the Booster and Bootcamp end of chapter questions, do the Bio bites from Bootcamp and extra questions from Booster. After doing this for a month (25 days approx), start the practice tests and kinda treat them like flashcards while also understanding what you got wrong. I think I did Bootcamp’s 15 practice tests like 2x and Booster’s 15 practice tests 3x (the practice test scores above are from my first attempt taking those).
CHEM (27)
Bootcamp: 26, 21, 22, 26, 21, 22, 22, 23, 30, 22, 26, 22, 26, 26, 24
Booster: 25, 24, 21, 26, 21, 25, 27, 22, 22, 25
I was surprised by this score as I got a C in undergrad chem. For this section, again, I used bootcamp and booster. Bootcamp was good because of Dr. Mike’s videos (he saved me for this section because he explained it very well and concise). The extra questions and practice tests were alright, but booster’s practice tests were better. Why? Because the real DAT chem section is much more conceptual than calculation-based and I felt that Booster had more questions on a wide variety of concepts. Those helped me a ton. So, if I were to do this all over again, how would I study? First, watch all of Mike’s videos (a chapter a day is good enough) for about half a month. Take detailed notes and then after every chapter, solve booster and bootcamp’s extra questions while the stuff is fresh in your head. Make flashcards if needed (I made about 800 flashcards for this section since my background knowledge was poor). Then, go straight to the practice tests (don’t be afraid of getting a low score, I know I sure was lol). Take notes on the questions you missed and/or guessed on. I did this in detail which is why I did all 15 bootcamp and all 10 booster practice tests only once. After doing that, I didn’t look over chem until the day before my test (please don’t do this lol). Overall, I hope my score on this section encourages people, who like me, had “poor background knowledge” or didn’t do well on this respective subject during undergrad. Don’t lose hope! Even if you don’t have background knowledge, you can always attain it
OCHEM (23)
Bootcamp: 21, 19, 21, 21, 22, 17, 19, 21, 23, 21
Booster: 20, 20, 21, 21, 21, 20, 19, 22, 21, 21
For this section, I procrastinated (started studying two weeks before the test) because I had gotten an A in ochem in undergrad so I thought I had sufficient background knowledge (don’t do this). I was wrong lol. With two weeks left, I looked over the ochem notes they provide and realized I had forgotten so much. I made flashcards on all the reactions and for the remaining 14 days, I memorized them daily. I didn’t have time for the last 5 practice tests for Bootcamp and only did the practice tests 1x. I used Bootcamp and booster for this. Bootcamp was good because of Dr. Mike (the guy saved me here again, bless him lol). His videos were concise and easy to understand. I like that he told us which mechanisms we do or don’t need to know (saved me time since I was in a rush). I didn’t watch Booster’s videos for this section. In terms of Bootcamp’s and Booster’s questions and practice tests, I feel for this section it is a tie. Both had good questions, with Booster being a little bit more conceptual and testing on slightly more reactions than we needed to know for the DAT (better to be overprepared than underprepared I guess). So, if I were to do this all over again, how would I study? First, don’t cram. Cramming only makes you stressed out and when I am stressed out, it's hard for me to retain info. Second, watch Mike’s videos and take handwritten notes and then, do the end of chapter questions for bootcamp and booster. Third, do the practice tests and mark the ones you got wrong and understand why you got them wrong and only do those if you are in a time crunch.
PAT (18)
Bootcamp: <14, 17, 17
Booster: 17, 17, 18, 17
Now onto everybody’s favorite section, PAT lol. I did not study for this section much (like barely at all). I wish I had but I was shooting for just an 18 on this. In June, I watched the PAT videos from Bootcamp and Booster (I felt Booster’s videos were better for pattern folding and keyholes, while Bootcamp’s videos were better for cube counting and TFE). I took my first practice in June and got less than a 14 (they didn’t give me an exact score because I did that bad lol). I got discouraged and decided to focus on the other subjects (don’t do this). Instead, I should have been doing daily generators of like 15 questions on each section per day. 15 questions per section per day may seem small but it adds up over time. Again, I didn’t do this. Fast forward to a week before my test, I sat down for a whole day and just did generators and question banks from Bootcamp and Booster. In terms of their video explanations for the question banks, I would say Bootcamp was better because Kiara explained it really well. After doing those for a day, I took a practice test the next day and got a 17 (better but nowhere near awesome). Then, I decided to switch to only using Booster’s practice tests and they helped in the sense that they were way way more difficult. That taught me to be able to spot small differences, especially for sections like Keyholes and Pattern Folding. On the real test, I went directly to question 31 and did all of those while going back to keyholes and tfe last. For angles, I would lean back and quickly glance at the angles (I never got more than 9/15 right on this section during practice). Hole punching and cube counting were easier (draw a grid for hole punching and tally for cube counting). Here, Bootcamp is better because their practice questions exposed me a lot to unsuspended cubes and empty holes or 4 folds, while Booster’s practice tests did not have as many questions on their practice tests. For pattern folding, Booster was better as they focused on shape elimination. Oftentimes, you can eliminate 2 out of their 4 choices based on the fact that they have an extra shape that isn’t present. For keyholes and TFE, I kinda just gave up because I was running out of time. I would never get more than 5/15 right on these when I practiced. Again, looking back, if I had been more consistent in my practice, I think I could have mastered this section and gotten 21+. Oh well
Reading (26)
Bootcamp: 25
I didn’t study much for reading. Took one practice from Bootcamp and got a 25 and thought it was good enough lol. During my undergrad research, we had to read a lot of dense scientific articles so I was used to reading a lot. On the real DAT, it was much easier. You get 3 passages, 50 questions, 60 minutes. I did the following: spent 20 minutes on each passage (the first 5 minutes I would read/skim the passage and highlight important terms or details I felt the questions would ask me on; then, spend the remaining 15 minutes answering the questions). This section was not a problem and from what I have read, Bootcamp and Booster are much harder than the real DAT so don’t be bummed if you get a low score on the practice tests.
Quantitative Reasoning (25)
Bootcamp: 20, 24, 24, 25, 21, 20, 25, 24, 25, 30, 20, 19, 21, 20, 18
Booster: 24, 24, 23, 23, 23, 25, 23, 22, 23, 25
I always enjoyed math. I did well on math in high school but it had been over 3 years since I was last in math class when I started studying for the DAT. I was kinda disappointed in this score (not because its a “bad” score, but because I expected a 30 on this section). This section I went overboard for lol. I did all 15 Bootcamp and all 10 Booster tests. In addition, I did all of DAT Destroyer math’s 15 practice tests too (personal opinion: DAT Destroyer is a waste of time and money. They say they updated it for 2022 but some of the math is just not tested anymore. Even though I bought the books, I only did the math portion as I was short on time). I felt prepared but I think I might have gotten a hard QR section on the real DAT. Overall, both Booster and Bootcamp are adequate for this section and I would recommend just doing the practice tests and making sure you know the formulas, especially unit conversions.
Conclusion: Overall, if you are short on money or time and could only pick one service, I would recommend DAT Booster. I hope this breakdown helps. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer. My undergrad science gpa is barely a 3.5 since I messed up my freshman year (at the end of my freshman year I had a 2.5 science), so I knew I had to score well on the DAT to “compensate” for the low GPA. So to all the people out there, please don’t lose hope. Dedicate yourself and the results will show. Peace.
