physioengineer
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2019
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 2
*First of all, this won't be how it works for everyone. Everyone learns differently, and some people really need a schedule to keep them in line. I just don't work that way!*
AA: 23
PAT: 25
GPA: hi 3.7 science, 3.8 cumulative
For anyone who finds themselves in a position of being close to the exam, without feeling totally prepared: study hard, but don't flip out - it won't help! Control yourself as much as possible and try to feel a healthy amount of pressure. Be realistic, too - if you need to delay, do it. I delayed my test 3 times: (June 28 to July 3 because of scheduling conflict, and July 3 to July 18 because I felt unprepared)- best decision I could have made in this whole DAT process, I think.
In total, I likely ended up studying 1 hour a week Jan - early May using a free iPhone app I found with ~1000 questions in all subjects. (most useful for PAT, probably, to get your brain used to the question types.) Late May I studied a little harder (10-15 hours / week) with DAT Destroyer, which helped me adjust to tougher questions and figure out where I was weak by looking at the questions I would consistently miss. Then I took Organic II and Organic Lab in the summer (June - July), taking my DAT July 18. Although the pace was hard to keep up with, and it definitely wasn't relaxing, being so immersed in organic chemistry was super helpful. Didn't review any orgo for the DAT, since I had essentially been reviewing much more heavily than DAT-level all summer. GC was weak for me, but I ended up pulling out a 20 (thanks in part to Chad, but more than anything a generally deeper understanding of Chemistry that Orgo II gave me - I had a great prof.)
What I would recommend to anyone as the most valuable study strategy: Find as many free practice tests as possible - from anywhere.
Obviously some of them will be way off in terms of difficulty, but for me the practice tests served more than anything to familiarize my brain with the DAT formatting and to help show me areas of weakness / unfamiliarity, that I could polish up afterwards. (Always review practice exams - super valuable).
I got 2 free tests from March2Success (through an army recruiter), 2 free from Kaplan (friend gave me a book he didn't use, tests are resett-able), 1 free from Bootcamp, 1 free from the DAT website, and 1 free from my health profession advisor (which I didn't even have time to use, lol).
When taking those tests, I didn't go back and check my answers, and tried to take them in uncomfortable environments, so that taking the test on test day was pretty comfortable. (My worst practice test was a Kaplan seated by the kid play station in Chik Fil A - that was a test of focus and patience to be sure!! haha) This strategy can be discouraging (I was scoring around 19s at my highest [far lower on Kaplan] on most tests using this method, but obviously it ended up alright.) I think it's valuable to take the BootCamp one closest to the test - quality of test is best (though still harder than real DAT).
I won't claim that all ended well merely because of my preparation - I definitely think I had some luck on my test and the Lord's hand on me, too ;-).
My score came out at a 23AA, when I thought I was probably closer to a 19 or 20. I didn't want to commit to the expensive Bootcamp program, so I ended up studying all of the free resources I could find, alongside DAT destroyer and 1 month of Chad's vids to review Gen Chem and some basic bio concepts. Bio questions for me on the exam seemed pretty basic. My TS was 21, but my RC and QR raised my AA quite a bit. Had never scored so high on a PAT test as I did on test day (25). I watched the free bootcamp keyhole strategy video LITERALLY the night before the exam and think that was a big difference maker.
LAST THING: Personally, I believe that more than anything it's important to go into the test room confident, calm, well-nourished and well-rested. Don't wear yourself out the night before. This is a marathon of a process, not a sprint. Do whatever gets you zoned in the night before, but don't overwork yourself. Something my old Calc III prof used to say kept coming back to me ... "You understudy, YOU FAIL. You overstudy, YOU FAIL." (LOL. maybe a bit dramatic. Don't worry, just try to go in to the test with a fresh mind.)
AA: 23
PAT: 25
GPA: hi 3.7 science, 3.8 cumulative
For anyone who finds themselves in a position of being close to the exam, without feeling totally prepared: study hard, but don't flip out - it won't help! Control yourself as much as possible and try to feel a healthy amount of pressure. Be realistic, too - if you need to delay, do it. I delayed my test 3 times: (June 28 to July 3 because of scheduling conflict, and July 3 to July 18 because I felt unprepared)- best decision I could have made in this whole DAT process, I think.
In total, I likely ended up studying 1 hour a week Jan - early May using a free iPhone app I found with ~1000 questions in all subjects. (most useful for PAT, probably, to get your brain used to the question types.) Late May I studied a little harder (10-15 hours / week) with DAT Destroyer, which helped me adjust to tougher questions and figure out where I was weak by looking at the questions I would consistently miss. Then I took Organic II and Organic Lab in the summer (June - July), taking my DAT July 18. Although the pace was hard to keep up with, and it definitely wasn't relaxing, being so immersed in organic chemistry was super helpful. Didn't review any orgo for the DAT, since I had essentially been reviewing much more heavily than DAT-level all summer. GC was weak for me, but I ended up pulling out a 20 (thanks in part to Chad, but more than anything a generally deeper understanding of Chemistry that Orgo II gave me - I had a great prof.)
What I would recommend to anyone as the most valuable study strategy: Find as many free practice tests as possible - from anywhere.
Obviously some of them will be way off in terms of difficulty, but for me the practice tests served more than anything to familiarize my brain with the DAT formatting and to help show me areas of weakness / unfamiliarity, that I could polish up afterwards. (Always review practice exams - super valuable).
I got 2 free tests from March2Success (through an army recruiter), 2 free from Kaplan (friend gave me a book he didn't use, tests are resett-able), 1 free from Bootcamp, 1 free from the DAT website, and 1 free from my health profession advisor (which I didn't even have time to use, lol).
When taking those tests, I didn't go back and check my answers, and tried to take them in uncomfortable environments, so that taking the test on test day was pretty comfortable. (My worst practice test was a Kaplan seated by the kid play station in Chik Fil A - that was a test of focus and patience to be sure!! haha) This strategy can be discouraging (I was scoring around 19s at my highest [far lower on Kaplan] on most tests using this method, but obviously it ended up alright.) I think it's valuable to take the BootCamp one closest to the test - quality of test is best (though still harder than real DAT).
I won't claim that all ended well merely because of my preparation - I definitely think I had some luck on my test and the Lord's hand on me, too ;-).
My score came out at a 23AA, when I thought I was probably closer to a 19 or 20. I didn't want to commit to the expensive Bootcamp program, so I ended up studying all of the free resources I could find, alongside DAT destroyer and 1 month of Chad's vids to review Gen Chem and some basic bio concepts. Bio questions for me on the exam seemed pretty basic. My TS was 21, but my RC and QR raised my AA quite a bit. Had never scored so high on a PAT test as I did on test day (25). I watched the free bootcamp keyhole strategy video LITERALLY the night before the exam and think that was a big difference maker.
LAST THING: Personally, I believe that more than anything it's important to go into the test room confident, calm, well-nourished and well-rested. Don't wear yourself out the night before. This is a marathon of a process, not a sprint. Do whatever gets you zoned in the night before, but don't overwork yourself. Something my old Calc III prof used to say kept coming back to me ... "You understudy, YOU FAIL. You overstudy, YOU FAIL." (LOL. maybe a bit dramatic. Don't worry, just try to go in to the test with a fresh mind.)
