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- May 8, 2017
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Hey everyone!
So a few months ago when I first learned I would have to be studying for the DAT while taking a summer class, I have to admit that I was really worried and tried looking for some comfort in SDN threads from others who have done this in the past. However, reading some of the posts lead me to believe that doing so would jeopardize my chance of admission because studying for the DAT and taking a class would yield a low DAT score.
Although I did not get an amazing DAT score, I am still proud of the one I did end up getting (AA-21, TS:22, PAT:19, Reading:20, QR:18). The purpose of this thread is not to encourage taking summer courses while you are preparing for the DAT, but instead, I felt the need to post it for morale and support for many of you who do not have a choice but to study for the DAT + summer class, like it was in my case. I am sure many of you would benefit from this sort of post as it can provide you with the encouragement needed during such an overwhelming time in the application cycle.
So I do admit, this was definitely a stressful journey from studying, to going to school, to completing and submitting your AADSAS application + supplementals, but it is doable. You just have to focus, disconnect yourself from your fcb/twitter or whatever other social media you have so that it is a little easier for you to stay focused. For me, it was really tempting to watch the new season of Orange is the New Black when it came out in June
but I used it as a motivational tool instead, telling myself that I wouldnt let myself watch it until I scored well on the DAT.
If anyone is curious as to how I managed to do study for both, I always kept a daily goal to achieve in terms of my studying. I would make sure I did a certain number of Destroyer questions a day and delegated one full day of the week for that class I was taking, as well as the commute to and from school which was about 1h30 each way (I know, I live far). I divided it unequally this way because I felt like my DAT was more important than the class I was taking, but just make sure you are spending enough time on that class of yours to pass it (you dont want to have to retake it lol)!
Aside from that, when I wrote the final exam for my class on June 30th, I had almost 3 whole weeks to study only for the DAT. I used this time to go over Destroyer a second time, and go through the full-length bootcamp tests. For me, the trick here was to study as much as I could the core concepts and finish going over Destroyer once before those 3 weeks of exclusive DAT studying. This way, I had 3 weeks to refine my studying and simply practice my test-taking strategies.
All in all, my summer course lasted from May- approx. July 1st, any my DAT was scheduled for July 19th. I guess you can say I studied for the DAT for almost 2.5 months, but any more than that would have been wayy to much. I was really getting burned out towards the end.
If anyone has any questions or any similar stories to share, Im sure we would all appreciate to hear them
So a few months ago when I first learned I would have to be studying for the DAT while taking a summer class, I have to admit that I was really worried and tried looking for some comfort in SDN threads from others who have done this in the past. However, reading some of the posts lead me to believe that doing so would jeopardize my chance of admission because studying for the DAT and taking a class would yield a low DAT score.
Although I did not get an amazing DAT score, I am still proud of the one I did end up getting (AA-21, TS:22, PAT:19, Reading:20, QR:18). The purpose of this thread is not to encourage taking summer courses while you are preparing for the DAT, but instead, I felt the need to post it for morale and support for many of you who do not have a choice but to study for the DAT + summer class, like it was in my case. I am sure many of you would benefit from this sort of post as it can provide you with the encouragement needed during such an overwhelming time in the application cycle.
So I do admit, this was definitely a stressful journey from studying, to going to school, to completing and submitting your AADSAS application + supplementals, but it is doable. You just have to focus, disconnect yourself from your fcb/twitter or whatever other social media you have so that it is a little easier for you to stay focused. For me, it was really tempting to watch the new season of Orange is the New Black when it came out in June
but I used it as a motivational tool instead, telling myself that I wouldnt let myself watch it until I scored well on the DAT. If anyone is curious as to how I managed to do study for both, I always kept a daily goal to achieve in terms of my studying. I would make sure I did a certain number of Destroyer questions a day and delegated one full day of the week for that class I was taking, as well as the commute to and from school which was about 1h30 each way (I know, I live far
). I divided it unequally this way because I felt like my DAT was more important than the class I was taking, but just make sure you are spending enough time on that class of yours to pass it (you dont want to have to retake it lol)!Aside from that, when I wrote the final exam for my class on June 30th, I had almost 3 whole weeks to study only for the DAT. I used this time to go over Destroyer a second time, and go through the full-length bootcamp tests. For me, the trick here was to study as much as I could the core concepts and finish going over Destroyer once before those 3 weeks of exclusive DAT studying. This way, I had 3 weeks to refine my studying and simply practice my test-taking strategies.
All in all, my summer course lasted from May- approx. July 1st, any my DAT was scheduled for July 19th. I guess you can say I studied for the DAT for almost 2.5 months, but any more than that would have been wayy to much. I was really getting burned out towards the end.
If anyone has any questions or any similar stories to share, Im sure we would all appreciate to hear them
