datdentalgirl99
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Hello everyone!!
I took my DAT yesterday, and am so happy with my scores! I found breakdowns so helpful before and during my exam prep, so I wanted to share my experience.
Resources I used: DAT Booster, DAT Destroyer, Bootcamp, and Anki. I bought Booster and Destroyer and the start of my studying, and I only used Bootcamp the last month or so before my exam.
Biology (30): this was probably the section I studied the most for, and I’m absolutely over the moon with my score. Honestly, the Feralis notes are absolutely killer for biology content review. I started off by reading each section of the Feralis notes and making an Anki deck for each one (including one for each body system in the anatomy chapter). If I felt the deck was too big, I would try breaking it up into smaller decks that were more manageable. In total, I probably had like 15 decks for biology alone. I know a lot of programs have their own Anki decks, but I decided to make my own as a replacement for hand written notes. This allowed me to format cards so that there were clearer connections between topics, and as a visual learner, I included lots of pictures that helped me to understand each topic. I knew if I took hand written notes, I wouldn’t never look back at them. The Anki algorithm is really great though for helping you memorize all of the stuff in this section, so I would really recommend it for anyone who is on the fence. After I finished content review for this section, I moved onto content review for Ochem and gen chem. Meanwhile, I did 30 biology questions a day from DAT destroyer before going to bed to apply what I was learning. Afterwards, I started taking the booster practice tests. In other breakdowns, other students would say that they had questions that seemed to come right out of the booster practice tests, but I didn’t relieve believe them. THEY WERE COMPLETELY RIGHT. I had multiple questions that were almost exactly like the booster tests, which really helped to calm my neves for the rest of the exam. Bootcamp also has some super great biology material. I went over the bio bites for subjects I was a bit iffy on, and that really helped me to cement in that information. I also loooove the Bootcamp chrome extension. I always have a million tabs open, so I made sure to try and answer each question after opening a tab. Lastly, the Bootcamp app is amazing. There were manyyyy days where I wanted to just lay down and watch tik toks, but instead, I would open the Bootcamp app and do the bio bites on there as a way to do some more casual studying. I think this really helped to keep me sane during the last month of my studying lol.
Gen Chem (22): this was the section I was probably most worried about. I didn’t do great in my university gen chem classes, so I was really nervous about this section. I began studying by watching all of the booster videos and taking hand written notes. In hind sight, I wish I would have kept my same biology technique and made Anki decks for each section, but it seemed to have worked well enough. After content review, I started doing the extra practice problems, but found some of these to be more difficult than anything on the actual exam. The questions on both the Bootcamp and booster practice exams were really representative on what was on my exam. I think that Dr. Mike’s video explanations at the end of each Bootcamp question were really thorough, which allowed me to really understand why I got that question wrong and why the other answer was correct. I made Anki cards for any conceptual questions that I struggled with to help me grasp these concepts. Overall, I felt that the actual exam was easier than both Bootcamp and Booster.
Ochem (22): I began studying for this section by watching the booster Ochem videos and taking hand written notes. Again, I regret using my time to take hand written notes, but I later made an Anki deck for it anyway. Professor Dave is great at giving you the information you need for the exam. However, I was struggling a bit to really conceptualize the reactions. To help with this, I spent quite a bit of time using my old reaction mechanisms from my Ochem classes that way I could see how the reactions work. I began to pick up on them patterns of the reactions a bit more by doing this. Do not neglect all the study material you already have from your college classes. Those are great resources that can really help with your studying!! After going through the mechanisms, I started doing the practice tests. Again, I think Dr. Mike does a great job at breaking down the answer for the Ochem questions in a way that’s really easy to understand, so I would highly recommend watching all of those after your practice tests (not just for the one questions you got wrong). I also used the Bootcamp app a lot to study for this section by laying in bed and doing the reaction practice problems when I didn’t feel like studying anymore. I again made Anki decks for conceptual questions that I struggled with and reviewed those throughout my study time. Overall, I would say that the booster exams are more challenging than the Bootcamp exams, and are more representative of the actual exams, but Dr. Mike’s explanations at the end of the Bootcamp tests were golden.
PAT (21): I was so nervous for this section. My biggest recommendation would be to start studying early. I began prepping for the PAT on day 1 of my study journey by doing 25 of each of Booster’s generators each day. Somewhere in the middle of my study time, I went down to 15 a day. The generators are great for practice, but please do not see them as a replacement for the practice tests! If nothing else, please try and complete all of the PAT practice tests under TIMED conditions. I always started my exams with cube counting and patter folding before jumping back to hole punching. Angle ranking was the section I fluctuated the most on, so I would next do a few angle ranking questions to see if my brain was in an angle ranking mood or not. If it wasn’t, I would skip over to TFE and do those problems. I always finished with Keyholes because that was my worst section, and I wanted to devote more time to the sections I was better at. The reason I made a point of explaining all of this is because you should not be afraid to jump around between sections. The PAT section is about maximizing your correct answers, so if you are having a hard time with any one section, go ahead to one you are better at! Lastly, I also used the Bootcamp app a lot to study for this section by doing the generators when I had some free time and wasn’t at my laptop.
QR (22): I honestly neglected this section until I started doing full length practice tests about a month before my exam. I am pretty decent at math, but I had a really hard time getting the timing right. As a result, my biggest recommendation for this section is to not spend too much time on any one problem. I tried to do 3 sweeps of each exam. I spent the first 15-20 minutes doing the easy problems that would take me a minute or less to do, skipping over any that were long or required more extensive calculation. I spent the next 15-20 minutes doing the questions that were of medium difficulty and timing. Then i spent whatever time I had left over answering/ guessing on any remaining questions. I found my actual exam to be much easier than both the booster and Bootcamp exams. The highest I had ever scored on a practice test was a 21, so my actual exam was a bit higher.
Reading Comp (26): this is the section I practiced the least. I only did 6 timed passages for this section. I come from a liberal arts background, so I wasn’t too worried about this one, but this is another section where timing is killer. I wish I had done more of the practice tests to get my timing down, but overall I’m really happy with my score. My exam was almost completely recall, so I used the search and destroy method, which I found to be really effective in helping me stay in time. I had one passage that was really difficult. Rather than spend too much time searching for the answer, I made a best guess and moved on to the next question. Fortunately, my last passage was really easy, which gave me time to go back to the questions I struggled with on the other two.
Overall Comments and recommendations: I studied for about 3 months, treating it like a full time job. I already graduated, so I fortunately didn’t have to worry about classes on top of studying. I can’t imagine having to study on top of doing coursework, so I would recommend studying over the breaks for any of you who are still in school! Leading up to my exam, I only did 5 full length, all day exams to get the feel of what it would be like on test day. I think it’s valuable to do this at least once before your exam if you have the time. Otherwise, I did every single practice test on both booster and Bootcamp to become familiar with as many question types as possible. Going over the answers of the questions you got wrong and understanding why you got them wrong is absolutely crucial! The tagging tools on booster and Bootcamp and great, so flag down any questions you have concerns about and return to those during your review. Your mental health is so important, so don’t be afraid to take some time off if you get overwhelmed or burnt out. I definitely did, and I think it helped me come back ready to study!
I have really bad test anxiety, so here are some recommendations I have for others who may struggle with this. Try to limit any variables before your exam that way you’re not having to worry about little details. The week before my exam, I drove to my test center to get the lay of the land. The night before my exam, I filled my gas tank, grabbed my two forms of ID, chose the clothes I wanted to wear to the exam, and packed the snacks I would eat during my break. I know a lot of people recommend not to study the day before your exam, but I was too anxious to do this. However, I knew better than to actually answer any practice questions the day before my exam because I knew that I would immediately panic the second I inevitably missed a problem. As a result, i spent the day before my exam simply looking over practice tests (not actually taking them) and reading over the QR/ gen chem formula sheets. This was a really nice way to get some studying in without getting overly stressed.
My last piece of advice is to remember that studying for the DAT is not a one size fits all! Everybody learns differently, so find what works for you and stick to it. You can do this!
I took my DAT yesterday, and am so happy with my scores! I found breakdowns so helpful before and during my exam prep, so I wanted to share my experience.
Resources I used: DAT Booster, DAT Destroyer, Bootcamp, and Anki. I bought Booster and Destroyer and the start of my studying, and I only used Bootcamp the last month or so before my exam.
Biology (30): this was probably the section I studied the most for, and I’m absolutely over the moon with my score. Honestly, the Feralis notes are absolutely killer for biology content review. I started off by reading each section of the Feralis notes and making an Anki deck for each one (including one for each body system in the anatomy chapter). If I felt the deck was too big, I would try breaking it up into smaller decks that were more manageable. In total, I probably had like 15 decks for biology alone. I know a lot of programs have their own Anki decks, but I decided to make my own as a replacement for hand written notes. This allowed me to format cards so that there were clearer connections between topics, and as a visual learner, I included lots of pictures that helped me to understand each topic. I knew if I took hand written notes, I wouldn’t never look back at them. The Anki algorithm is really great though for helping you memorize all of the stuff in this section, so I would really recommend it for anyone who is on the fence. After I finished content review for this section, I moved onto content review for Ochem and gen chem. Meanwhile, I did 30 biology questions a day from DAT destroyer before going to bed to apply what I was learning. Afterwards, I started taking the booster practice tests. In other breakdowns, other students would say that they had questions that seemed to come right out of the booster practice tests, but I didn’t relieve believe them. THEY WERE COMPLETELY RIGHT. I had multiple questions that were almost exactly like the booster tests, which really helped to calm my neves for the rest of the exam. Bootcamp also has some super great biology material. I went over the bio bites for subjects I was a bit iffy on, and that really helped me to cement in that information. I also loooove the Bootcamp chrome extension. I always have a million tabs open, so I made sure to try and answer each question after opening a tab. Lastly, the Bootcamp app is amazing. There were manyyyy days where I wanted to just lay down and watch tik toks, but instead, I would open the Bootcamp app and do the bio bites on there as a way to do some more casual studying. I think this really helped to keep me sane during the last month of my studying lol.
Gen Chem (22): this was the section I was probably most worried about. I didn’t do great in my university gen chem classes, so I was really nervous about this section. I began studying by watching all of the booster videos and taking hand written notes. In hind sight, I wish I would have kept my same biology technique and made Anki decks for each section, but it seemed to have worked well enough. After content review, I started doing the extra practice problems, but found some of these to be more difficult than anything on the actual exam. The questions on both the Bootcamp and booster practice exams were really representative on what was on my exam. I think that Dr. Mike’s video explanations at the end of each Bootcamp question were really thorough, which allowed me to really understand why I got that question wrong and why the other answer was correct. I made Anki cards for any conceptual questions that I struggled with to help me grasp these concepts. Overall, I felt that the actual exam was easier than both Bootcamp and Booster.
Ochem (22): I began studying for this section by watching the booster Ochem videos and taking hand written notes. Again, I regret using my time to take hand written notes, but I later made an Anki deck for it anyway. Professor Dave is great at giving you the information you need for the exam. However, I was struggling a bit to really conceptualize the reactions. To help with this, I spent quite a bit of time using my old reaction mechanisms from my Ochem classes that way I could see how the reactions work. I began to pick up on them patterns of the reactions a bit more by doing this. Do not neglect all the study material you already have from your college classes. Those are great resources that can really help with your studying!! After going through the mechanisms, I started doing the practice tests. Again, I think Dr. Mike does a great job at breaking down the answer for the Ochem questions in a way that’s really easy to understand, so I would highly recommend watching all of those after your practice tests (not just for the one questions you got wrong). I also used the Bootcamp app a lot to study for this section by laying in bed and doing the reaction practice problems when I didn’t feel like studying anymore. I again made Anki decks for conceptual questions that I struggled with and reviewed those throughout my study time. Overall, I would say that the booster exams are more challenging than the Bootcamp exams, and are more representative of the actual exams, but Dr. Mike’s explanations at the end of the Bootcamp tests were golden.
PAT (21): I was so nervous for this section. My biggest recommendation would be to start studying early. I began prepping for the PAT on day 1 of my study journey by doing 25 of each of Booster’s generators each day. Somewhere in the middle of my study time, I went down to 15 a day. The generators are great for practice, but please do not see them as a replacement for the practice tests! If nothing else, please try and complete all of the PAT practice tests under TIMED conditions. I always started my exams with cube counting and patter folding before jumping back to hole punching. Angle ranking was the section I fluctuated the most on, so I would next do a few angle ranking questions to see if my brain was in an angle ranking mood or not. If it wasn’t, I would skip over to TFE and do those problems. I always finished with Keyholes because that was my worst section, and I wanted to devote more time to the sections I was better at. The reason I made a point of explaining all of this is because you should not be afraid to jump around between sections. The PAT section is about maximizing your correct answers, so if you are having a hard time with any one section, go ahead to one you are better at! Lastly, I also used the Bootcamp app a lot to study for this section by doing the generators when I had some free time and wasn’t at my laptop.
QR (22): I honestly neglected this section until I started doing full length practice tests about a month before my exam. I am pretty decent at math, but I had a really hard time getting the timing right. As a result, my biggest recommendation for this section is to not spend too much time on any one problem. I tried to do 3 sweeps of each exam. I spent the first 15-20 minutes doing the easy problems that would take me a minute or less to do, skipping over any that were long or required more extensive calculation. I spent the next 15-20 minutes doing the questions that were of medium difficulty and timing. Then i spent whatever time I had left over answering/ guessing on any remaining questions. I found my actual exam to be much easier than both the booster and Bootcamp exams. The highest I had ever scored on a practice test was a 21, so my actual exam was a bit higher.
Reading Comp (26): this is the section I practiced the least. I only did 6 timed passages for this section. I come from a liberal arts background, so I wasn’t too worried about this one, but this is another section where timing is killer. I wish I had done more of the practice tests to get my timing down, but overall I’m really happy with my score. My exam was almost completely recall, so I used the search and destroy method, which I found to be really effective in helping me stay in time. I had one passage that was really difficult. Rather than spend too much time searching for the answer, I made a best guess and moved on to the next question. Fortunately, my last passage was really easy, which gave me time to go back to the questions I struggled with on the other two.
Overall Comments and recommendations: I studied for about 3 months, treating it like a full time job. I already graduated, so I fortunately didn’t have to worry about classes on top of studying. I can’t imagine having to study on top of doing coursework, so I would recommend studying over the breaks for any of you who are still in school! Leading up to my exam, I only did 5 full length, all day exams to get the feel of what it would be like on test day. I think it’s valuable to do this at least once before your exam if you have the time. Otherwise, I did every single practice test on both booster and Bootcamp to become familiar with as many question types as possible. Going over the answers of the questions you got wrong and understanding why you got them wrong is absolutely crucial! The tagging tools on booster and Bootcamp and great, so flag down any questions you have concerns about and return to those during your review. Your mental health is so important, so don’t be afraid to take some time off if you get overwhelmed or burnt out. I definitely did, and I think it helped me come back ready to study!
I have really bad test anxiety, so here are some recommendations I have for others who may struggle with this. Try to limit any variables before your exam that way you’re not having to worry about little details. The week before my exam, I drove to my test center to get the lay of the land. The night before my exam, I filled my gas tank, grabbed my two forms of ID, chose the clothes I wanted to wear to the exam, and packed the snacks I would eat during my break. I know a lot of people recommend not to study the day before your exam, but I was too anxious to do this. However, I knew better than to actually answer any practice questions the day before my exam because I knew that I would immediately panic the second I inevitably missed a problem. As a result, i spent the day before my exam simply looking over practice tests (not actually taking them) and reading over the QR/ gen chem formula sheets. This was a really nice way to get some studying in without getting overly stressed.
My last piece of advice is to remember that studying for the DAT is not a one size fits all! Everybody learns differently, so find what works for you and stick to it. You can do this!
