Hey everyone! I took the DAT a few days ago and wanted to share my experience and how I studied since similar posts helped me out when I was going through the prep process! I scored a 27 AA, 26 TS, 25 PAT. I used DAT Bootcamp and followed the 2.5 month study plan in order to space out my studying.
Scores by section:
I started studying over my winter break from college in January and took the test in mid-march. I loved using the 2.5 month plan because I am someone who needs structure when studying in order to keep myself on track. This study plan gives you a LOT to do each day, so that is something that took getting used to. I ended up studying for around 3-6 hours each day in order to stay on track with the plan (more on weekends), giving myself one day off each week so that I wouldn’t go crazy since I was also taking classes while studying for the DAT.
PAT (25)
To start with the PAT, I watched all the videos on Bootcamp’s website giving tips and tricks as to how to approach each section. After learning how to do each section, I would do the question banks until I felt comfortable with the new skill. I kept doing practice problems from each section whenever I had the time. I felt that the PAT practice tests that Bootcamp provides are what really helped me master the section and find what tips and tricks worked for me. After taking a practice test, I would make sure to watch the video explanation for each question I missed. I did not start out doing this, but noticed that my scores began to improve once I started watching the video explanations since new instructors would give new strategies which allowed me to find which one worked best for me. For the keyholes section, practice questions were the main way I improved my score - there was no “trick” that worked for me. For TFE, I improved by watching the video explanations for various questions and using the feature matching trick. For angle ranking, I noticed that it really helped me to move my face further from the screen. For hole punching, I drew grids on my scratch paper and then would also draw in each axis of folding so that I could reflect the hole punches on my paper and get an accurate answer. For cube counting, I would go through each cube in the structure and tally how many sides were exposed so that I could easily answer the few questions on each structure. For pattern folding, I would use the process of elimination and try to match edges in my head. Repetition is the key to success on the PAT, which is something I wish I learned earlier in my studying. Overall, I thought the DAT bootcamp practice tests were harder than the actual test. I scored an average of 20 (range of 19 - 21) on the Bootcamp tests, but ended up scoring a 25 on the real test.
QR (28)
To start, I mainly just did a few practice questions from each of the topic-based question banks on Bootcamp. Most of this was review for me and just re-memorizing formulas so it did not take long for me to pick back up. I did all of the practice tests on Bootcamp and then made sure to go over what I got wrong. I made a document of all the questions I got wrong so that I could review it before the test. I also went over Bootcamp’s QR equation sheet which was a helpful review right before taking the test. Overall, I thought the DAT bootcamp practice tests were harder than the actual test. I scored an average of 22 (range of 20 - 25) on the Bootcamp tests, but ended up scoring a 28 on the real test.
RC (25)
I have never been good at reading comprehension questions so this section was originally tough for me. In regards to prep, I followed the 2.5 month plan pretty exactly in regards to the RC section. I first watched all the strategy videos, did the practice passages, and then moved to the practice tests. I would read a question and then look for it in the passage, skipping questions and marking them if they were taking too long (which is what Bootcamp calls the search and destroy method). Overall, I thought the DAT bootcamp practice tests were pretty similar to the actual test. I scored an average of 25 (range of 23 - 28) on the Bootcamp tests and ended up scoring a 25 on the real test.
BIO (30)
There is so much bio information that I was super overwhelmed going into studying. I ended up watching the videos for each section and taking notes on the provided slides as I watched. After watching, I would go back through the slides and make notes of things that were new to me or that I needed to review. Rewriting notes is the way I always study for tests, so this is what I decided to do to study for the bio section. I would also do the bio bites and question banks after watching the video for each topic. Prep for this section took up a good chunk of my study time each week because of the high volume of information. After I had finished watching all the videos, I dedicated a weekend to going back through the high yield document that bootcamp provides and trying to memorize as much information as possible. After that I focused on taking the practice tests and going over each question I missed. I also made a document of all my missed questions so that I could review them before test day. Overall, I thought the DAT bootcamp practice tests were pretty similar to the actual test. I think I just got lucky with some of my guesses on the questions that I wasn’t totally sure about on the real test. I also noticed that a lot of the information on the real test was more basic bio, but with a few complex and integrative questions thrown in. I scored an average of 22 (range of 19 - 25) on the Bootcamp tests and ended up scoring a 30 on the real test.
GC (30)
Same as biology, I started by going through each of the Bootcamp videos and taking notes on the provided slides. After watching the videos, I would rewrite the notes that I wasn’t confident with and would do all the questions in the question banks. I took all of the practice tests and made a document of everything I missed so that I could review it before the test. The week before the test, I also went back through all of the notes I had taken and picked out things I still wasn’t confident with to try and memorize. The GC equation sheet on Bootcamp and the lab techniques site were also super helpful. Similar to biology, I think I got lucky with some of my guesses on questions I wasn’t totally sure about but I thought that overall the Bootcamp practice tests were pretty similar to the actual test (I even had some repeat questions). I scored an average of 24 (range of 20 - 30) on the Bootcamp tests and ended up scoring a 30 on the real test.
OC (22)
This is a section that I struggled to make myself study and wish I had spent more time on. When watching the videos originally, I did not retain much information. I wrote down all the reactions as I went through the videos, but none of them really stuck. After finishing all the videos, I started doing the practice tests but stopped because I was scoring so low. I decided to go back through the OC outline on bootcamp and tried to memorize as many reactions as I could before resuming practice tests. I started going better on these tests, but still wasn’t confident with all the content. I got burnt out towards the end of studying, so some of my OC study time was sacrificed. Overall I thought the Bootcamp practice tests were pretty similar to the actual test. I scored an average of 20 (range of 17 - 23) on the Bootcamp tests and ended up scoring a 22 on the real test.
SUMMARY
Overall, I was shocked to see my actual score. I was not super confident in how I had felt about any of the sections so I honestly expected a score lower than what I had been scoring on the Bootcamp full length practice tests. For reference I had taken 5 full length practice tests on Bootcamp and had scored an average of 23 (range of 22 - 24). The score that Bootcamp predicted for me was 23-24, so I improved or maintained my average scores in every section. Honestly I can not recommend Bootcamp enough. I loved how they had videos, powerpoints, summary sheets, practice tests and TONS of practice questions. My biggest piece of advice would be to focus on the practice tests - I thought they were much more representative of the actual DAT than the bio bites and question banks (the question banks and bio bites were better for learning the information but the real practice tests were better to use at the end of studying). I also highly recommend taking advantage of the in-depth explanations and videos that Bootcamp provides for every question - they helped me learn so many concepts that I had missed during my initial review. A bunch of my other pre-dent friends also used Bootcamp to prepare for the DAT and said that their scores were either the same or higher than what they had been scoring on Bootcamp practice tests. My last piece of advice is not to waste your time studying just to study - make sure you’re actually focused or it will just be wasted time. I found myself stuck in this trap many times so I would just take a step away and come back when I was more focused. I hope this helped and good luck on the DAT!
Scores by section:
- PAT: 25
- QR: 28
- RC: 25
- BIO: 30
- GC: 30
- OC: 22
- TS: 26
- AA: 27
I started studying over my winter break from college in January and took the test in mid-march. I loved using the 2.5 month plan because I am someone who needs structure when studying in order to keep myself on track. This study plan gives you a LOT to do each day, so that is something that took getting used to. I ended up studying for around 3-6 hours each day in order to stay on track with the plan (more on weekends), giving myself one day off each week so that I wouldn’t go crazy since I was also taking classes while studying for the DAT.
PAT (25)
To start with the PAT, I watched all the videos on Bootcamp’s website giving tips and tricks as to how to approach each section. After learning how to do each section, I would do the question banks until I felt comfortable with the new skill. I kept doing practice problems from each section whenever I had the time. I felt that the PAT practice tests that Bootcamp provides are what really helped me master the section and find what tips and tricks worked for me. After taking a practice test, I would make sure to watch the video explanation for each question I missed. I did not start out doing this, but noticed that my scores began to improve once I started watching the video explanations since new instructors would give new strategies which allowed me to find which one worked best for me. For the keyholes section, practice questions were the main way I improved my score - there was no “trick” that worked for me. For TFE, I improved by watching the video explanations for various questions and using the feature matching trick. For angle ranking, I noticed that it really helped me to move my face further from the screen. For hole punching, I drew grids on my scratch paper and then would also draw in each axis of folding so that I could reflect the hole punches on my paper and get an accurate answer. For cube counting, I would go through each cube in the structure and tally how many sides were exposed so that I could easily answer the few questions on each structure. For pattern folding, I would use the process of elimination and try to match edges in my head. Repetition is the key to success on the PAT, which is something I wish I learned earlier in my studying. Overall, I thought the DAT bootcamp practice tests were harder than the actual test. I scored an average of 20 (range of 19 - 21) on the Bootcamp tests, but ended up scoring a 25 on the real test.
QR (28)
To start, I mainly just did a few practice questions from each of the topic-based question banks on Bootcamp. Most of this was review for me and just re-memorizing formulas so it did not take long for me to pick back up. I did all of the practice tests on Bootcamp and then made sure to go over what I got wrong. I made a document of all the questions I got wrong so that I could review it before the test. I also went over Bootcamp’s QR equation sheet which was a helpful review right before taking the test. Overall, I thought the DAT bootcamp practice tests were harder than the actual test. I scored an average of 22 (range of 20 - 25) on the Bootcamp tests, but ended up scoring a 28 on the real test.
RC (25)
I have never been good at reading comprehension questions so this section was originally tough for me. In regards to prep, I followed the 2.5 month plan pretty exactly in regards to the RC section. I first watched all the strategy videos, did the practice passages, and then moved to the practice tests. I would read a question and then look for it in the passage, skipping questions and marking them if they were taking too long (which is what Bootcamp calls the search and destroy method). Overall, I thought the DAT bootcamp practice tests were pretty similar to the actual test. I scored an average of 25 (range of 23 - 28) on the Bootcamp tests and ended up scoring a 25 on the real test.
BIO (30)
There is so much bio information that I was super overwhelmed going into studying. I ended up watching the videos for each section and taking notes on the provided slides as I watched. After watching, I would go back through the slides and make notes of things that were new to me or that I needed to review. Rewriting notes is the way I always study for tests, so this is what I decided to do to study for the bio section. I would also do the bio bites and question banks after watching the video for each topic. Prep for this section took up a good chunk of my study time each week because of the high volume of information. After I had finished watching all the videos, I dedicated a weekend to going back through the high yield document that bootcamp provides and trying to memorize as much information as possible. After that I focused on taking the practice tests and going over each question I missed. I also made a document of all my missed questions so that I could review them before test day. Overall, I thought the DAT bootcamp practice tests were pretty similar to the actual test. I think I just got lucky with some of my guesses on the questions that I wasn’t totally sure about on the real test. I also noticed that a lot of the information on the real test was more basic bio, but with a few complex and integrative questions thrown in. I scored an average of 22 (range of 19 - 25) on the Bootcamp tests and ended up scoring a 30 on the real test.
GC (30)
Same as biology, I started by going through each of the Bootcamp videos and taking notes on the provided slides. After watching the videos, I would rewrite the notes that I wasn’t confident with and would do all the questions in the question banks. I took all of the practice tests and made a document of everything I missed so that I could review it before the test. The week before the test, I also went back through all of the notes I had taken and picked out things I still wasn’t confident with to try and memorize. The GC equation sheet on Bootcamp and the lab techniques site were also super helpful. Similar to biology, I think I got lucky with some of my guesses on questions I wasn’t totally sure about but I thought that overall the Bootcamp practice tests were pretty similar to the actual test (I even had some repeat questions). I scored an average of 24 (range of 20 - 30) on the Bootcamp tests and ended up scoring a 30 on the real test.
OC (22)
This is a section that I struggled to make myself study and wish I had spent more time on. When watching the videos originally, I did not retain much information. I wrote down all the reactions as I went through the videos, but none of them really stuck. After finishing all the videos, I started doing the practice tests but stopped because I was scoring so low. I decided to go back through the OC outline on bootcamp and tried to memorize as many reactions as I could before resuming practice tests. I started going better on these tests, but still wasn’t confident with all the content. I got burnt out towards the end of studying, so some of my OC study time was sacrificed. Overall I thought the Bootcamp practice tests were pretty similar to the actual test. I scored an average of 20 (range of 17 - 23) on the Bootcamp tests and ended up scoring a 22 on the real test.
SUMMARY
Overall, I was shocked to see my actual score. I was not super confident in how I had felt about any of the sections so I honestly expected a score lower than what I had been scoring on the Bootcamp full length practice tests. For reference I had taken 5 full length practice tests on Bootcamp and had scored an average of 23 (range of 22 - 24). The score that Bootcamp predicted for me was 23-24, so I improved or maintained my average scores in every section. Honestly I can not recommend Bootcamp enough. I loved how they had videos, powerpoints, summary sheets, practice tests and TONS of practice questions. My biggest piece of advice would be to focus on the practice tests - I thought they were much more representative of the actual DAT than the bio bites and question banks (the question banks and bio bites were better for learning the information but the real practice tests were better to use at the end of studying). I also highly recommend taking advantage of the in-depth explanations and videos that Bootcamp provides for every question - they helped me learn so many concepts that I had missed during my initial review. A bunch of my other pre-dent friends also used Bootcamp to prepare for the DAT and said that their scores were either the same or higher than what they had been scoring on Bootcamp practice tests. My last piece of advice is not to waste your time studying just to study - make sure you’re actually focused or it will just be wasted time. I found myself stuck in this trap many times so I would just take a step away and come back when I was more focused. I hope this helped and good luck on the DAT!
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