DAT in 24 Hours. ANY Tips, Regrets, etc.

[moose786]

So I take it in 24 hours. Anyone have ANY tips or stories to share about test day? What should I focus on doing? I'm aiming for about 6 hours of sleep, so I'm good on the sleep suggestion. Haha. But I plan to be studying all day, as I still have to review Lab Techniques again (I didn't go back to them yet since I wanted to save time and read them a day before so they are fresher in my head). There's much I wanted to do that I didn't do, but I guess that's just how it goes. I really want to make sure I get high GC and OC scores to make up for Bio. Aiming for at least an 18 in Bio. Did decent on the Bootcamp exams for Bio (average 20 or 21) - and consistently somehow, but I thought that was just luck. I know I've seen posts where people got higher scores than me and ended up doing worse . Anything I should really focus on for the chemistry? Especially Orgo - I've done Destroyer twice and last time I did it was 2 weeks ago. I spent the past 5 days doing Chad's Quizzes for both OC and GC - which I had never done before in my life. I got 85% on Chad's OC (haven't done his Lab quiz yet). And have yet to do 3 more quizzes for Chad's GC (currently 90% correct on the quizzes I've done so far). They have definitely helped since they are honestly even trickier than Destroyer sometimes. Or maybe doing Destroyer twice has helped me look for little things?

I'm also generally looking for tips about testing center, what you wish you did at the center, what problems you faced that could have easily been avoided-type. I know there's other posts, too, but some of the posts are years old and some things have changed. Thank you all in advance!

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[okiedokeartichoke]

The OC & GC on the DAT seemed pretty straightforward, especially OC so I think doing over Chad's quizzes is a great idea since he reinforces the basics. Make sure you don't eat a heavy dinner the night before and have a light breakfast on the day of your exam. You don't want to have an upset stomach throughout a 5 hour exam. During the break, don't go overboard with the water like I did haha. My mouth was so dry after the sciences/PAT so I gulped down a good amount of water, and although I went to the bathroom before resuming my test, I still had to pee so badly during the reading/math section. I'm not sure if you're aware, but the break is now 30 minutes, there is a highlighting feature for the reading, and a cross-out feature to eliminate your options. It's handy, but I didn't utilize it as much as I should have. I honestly forgot about it. Also, don't forget to bring a snack!

 

[Accordion]

Review the basic, high impact, areas. Don't try to cram muscle insertions or something, just refresh on the concepts you know will be tested.

 

[Charles_Darwin]

Don't study, relax and eat healthy! Working out will take away some jitters. Don't study for more than 4ish hours

 

[fayevalentine]

The OC & GC on the DAT seemed pretty straightforward, especially OC so I think doing over Chad's quizzes is a great idea since he reinforces the basics. Make sure you don't eat a heavy dinner the night before and have a light breakfast on the day of your exam. You don't want to have an upset stomach throughout a 5 hour exam. During the break, don't go overboard with the water like I did haha. My mouth was so dry after the sciences/PAT so I gulped down a good amount of water, and although I went to the bathroom before resuming my test, I still had to pee so badly during the reading/math section. I'm not sure if you're aware, but the break is now 30 minutes, there is a highlighting feature for the reading, and a cross-out feature to eliminate your options. It's handy, but I didn't utilize it as much as I should have. I honestly forgot about it. Also, don't forget to bring a snack!

Haha I forgot about the highlighting too and I was pissed!

 

[fayevalentine]

So I take it in 24 hours. Anyone have ANY tips or stories to share about test day? What should I focus on doing? I'm aiming for about 6 hours of sleep, so I'm good on the sleep suggestion. Haha. But I plan to be studying all day, as I still have to review Lab Techniques again (I didn't go back to them yet since I wanted to save time and read them a day before so they are fresher in my head). There's much I wanted to do that I didn't do, but I guess that's just how it goes. I really want to make sure I get high GC and OC scores to make up for Bio. Aiming for at least an 18 in Bio. Did decent on the Bootcamp exams for Bio (average 20 or 21) - and consistently somehow, but I thought that was just luck. I know I've seen posts where people got higher scores than me and ended up doing worse . Anything I should really focus on for the chemistry? Especially Orgo - I've done Destroyer twice and last time I did it was 2 weeks ago. I spent the past 5 days doing Chad's Quizzes for both OC and GC - which I had never done before in my life. I got 85% on Chad's OC (haven't done his Lab quiz yet). And have yet to do 3 more quizzes for Chad's GC (currently 90% correct on the quizzes I've done so far). They have definitely helped since they are honestly even trickier than Destroyer sometimes. Or maybe doing Destroyer twice has helped me look for little things?

I'm also generally looking for tips about testing center, what you wish you did at the center, what problems you faced that could have easily been avoided-type. I know there's other posts, too, but some of the posts are years old and some things have changed. Thank you all in advance!

Use the restroom right before you go in. I didn't and I had to pee all through SNS & PAT. Don't click right through to the next section if you finish early. Use the time to take some deep breaths and recharge.

 

[gangazi]

bring chocolate or something to eat even if you don't think you would need it.

unexpected things happen on the test day

 

[okiedokeartichoke]

Haha I forgot about the highlighting too and I was pissed!

I used it, but honestly, it didn't help for me. Probably because I was frantically highlighting anything and everything that seemed important, but wasn't in actuality. I then gave up using it after the first passage