i see all these posts about Bootcamp VS real DAT, so I've decided to share my opinion a bit here. I'm a predental student, and just took DAT yesterday. i thought Bootcamp resembles the real DAT pretty much exactly, except for RC and QR.
RC is much harder in bootcamp compared to the real one, partly is because your questions are not being asked in order, and questions are not direct. Also, you gotta be able to recognize a lot of those implied messages in bootcamp. my actual RC on DAT, the first two sections in were in order, but not the 3rd, which i was able to get a 20. (reading has always been the most difficult subject for me to overcome, because english isn't my first language. so if i could get a 20, YOU CAN GET AT LEAST A 21 OR ABOVE!!! NO JOKE). Just to make you feel even better, i was never able to score a 16 or above on Bootcamp~
QR on the real DAT was hard. i thought QR was the part that will boost up my grade, but NO. i blanked out for the first 5 questions, marked at least 3 out of 5, and i had only 9 minutes left to finish up the last 10 questions. However, questions at the end weren't as brutal as the first 10. Therefore, i was able to get a 20 at the end. My suggestion to QR section is to skip IMMEDIATELY for the ones you are like......huh?? and come back for them. so that you will have enough time to finish up all the questions that you have absolute confidence in!! DON't struggle for the ones you don't know and rush through the ones you do like i did.
For the Bio Section, all i can say is to prepare as much as possible. You would never know where those questions are coming from. However, Bootcamp was a very goooood source for me because every question has at least a 10 pages explanation for it LOL. When i was preparing for it, i had a word doc. open, and i write down all the things that i don't know when i was reading those explanations. Not only go through the ones you missed, but also the ones you got them correctly. there were always info in the explanation section that were brand new to me. I ended up getting a 23 on bio section. Luck does play a role, but it's not the only thing determines your score!!
GC and OC on the real test were very similar to the questions you see in bootcamp. Try to go through them once, twice, or even thrice. you might think you remember the ones you missed, but truth is.... NO, YOU DON'T. Do them multiple times to enhance memory is always the best way. and again, write down anything conceptual in the word doc (you should have a word doc. created by now btw~~). Chads Video was my primary source to prepare for these 2 sections. All i can say is THAT BALD GUY ROCKS!! i feel like he knows soooo much about anything, and at the same time, he's awesome at teaching. His sections are concise and to the point. i actually got a 24 for both GC and OC. Thanks Chad.
PAT on the real test was hard, but bootcamp wasn't easy neither. I thought this section is nothing related to luck. if you do well on bootcamp, you do well on the real exam! Not really a suggestion, but just do as many questions as possible to get yourself at the spot where you needed to be. i personally got a 23 for this section.
i apologize its a hella long essay. the last thing i wanted to say is thank you Ari for creating bootcamp, it really did prepared me well for the exam. my membership expired a month before my exam date, and Ari was able to help me out on that! From this i can see that he really wants to help you succeed as a person, but not a website owner! Let me know if you have any questions. DON'T panic, you are going to do great!!!
Bio 23
GC 24
OC 24
RC 20
QR 20
PAT 23
Tot. Science 24
Academic Avg. 22
