Natural Sciences Timing/Tips Needed

[Ohsnap23]

Hey everyone,

So my DAT is in a week and now I'm trying to concentrate specifically on timing. I know the natural sciences section is 100 questions in 90 minutes. Is there specific strategies you used to manage your time? For example maybe mark all questions you find hard and leave 10 minutes for review, etc? Should the bio section really take say 30 minutes? Did you review marked questions at the end of finishing that section or when you were done with all problems? Any general tips would be appreciated. I've taken the DAT before but didn't have time to review before for the natural sciences. Need to be disciplined and kill it this time!

**sidenote** Are you allowed to write equations/PAT boxes in the 15 minutes prior? I didn't before.

Thanks!

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[malikhind]

I have not taken it yet, however, if i were you i'd try to give more time for gen chem rather than bio/orgo since there will be a decent amount of calculations required for gen chem as opposed to knowledge based things in bio/orgo.

 

[umich2018]

Leave time for the calculations for the gen chem, because they may take some thinking. Bio and organic should take you less time than gen chem. The order is bio, gen chem, organic. Don't overthink the bio questions. At that point you either know the facts or you don't, so try not to get hung up on them if you can't think of the answer right away! Pick an answer, mark it, and continue doing the rest of the test to make sure you get through as many of the questions you actually know later in the test! Good luck!!

 

[I-hate-alginate]

I was super nervous on my exam, my mind blanked for the first 15 mins of the exam. I marked the majority of the bio questions, multiple Gen chem, and few ochem questions. Finished the exam in 60mins, had 30 mins to go back and do the marked/incomplete questions. When I went back, I wondered why I marked so many questions that I knew.... wasn't nervous anymore. Took me 15 mins to do the marked questions. And 15 mins to review anything or go over any calculation for Gen chem. The mark button is your only friend on the DAT.

 

[Ohsnap23]

I was super nervous on my exam, my mind blanked for the first 15 mins of the exam. I marked the majority of the bio questions, multiple Gen chem, and few ochem questions. Finished the exam in 60mins, had 30 mins to go back and do the marked/incomplete questions. When I went back, I wondered why I marked so many questions that I knew.... wasn't nervous anymore. Took me 15 mins to do the marked questions. And 15 mins to review anything or go over any calculation for Gen chem. The mark button is your only friend on the DAT.

Oh wow, you just sped through those questions to have 30 mins left!! You must have really known your stuff, I never had any time to look over my answers the last time I took it haha. Definitely going to use that mark button more this time. Did you use the 15 minute tutorial to write anything down?

 

[I-hate-alginate]

Oh wow, you just sped through those questions to have 30 mins left!! You must have really known your stuff, I never had any time to look over my answers the last time I took it haha. Definitely going to use that mark button more this time. Did you use the 15 minute tutorial to write anything down?

They told me that I can't write anything down during the tutorial or break. And if you are not marking questions on the real exam, then you are doing it wrong

 

[baywatch123]

honestly, i never focused on my "timing" until i was fully ready. if you know your material, questions should come fairly straight forward to you. focusing on timing takes away the importance of knowing your material well-before hand.

when it was test day, i basically sped through the questions and left myself 5-10 mins to briefly review and review the ones i really didn't know

i took it twice and i definitely improved my scores 2nd time around
TS: 21
AA: 20
PAT: 19 ( i can deal with it)
RC: 18 (it is what it is)

 

[Ohsnap23]

Awesome scores mate! Appreciate the advice, yeah I guess when I mean timing it's utilizing the mark feature and not spending too much time on the hard questions so that I end up not rushing and making silly mistakes on the easy ones. Did you skip questions that you didn't know the answer right away to?

honestly, i never focused on my "timing" until i was fully ready. if you know your material, questions should come fairly straight forward to you. focusing on timing takes away the importance of knowing your material well-before hand.

when it was test day, i basically sped through the questions and left myself 5-10 mins to briefly review and review the ones i really didn't know

i took it twice and i definitely improved my scores 2nd time around
TS: 21
AA: 20
PAT: 19 ( i can deal with it)
RC: 18 (it is what it is)

wesome

 

[baywatch123]

actually since i did the cDAT i didn't "mark" just circled the questions and went back ot it. but first time around i did the american DAT. so yes i marked it right away then skipped. after about 10 or so questions i would check the time.

answer your best choice, then mark. never leave answers blank cause you might run out of time and forget to answer.

remember not to fret about timing so much right now. focus on the question and what it's asking - simple task, but much needed especially during these exams!

 

[ChemKitten3]

Hey everyone,

So my DAT is in a week and now I'm trying to concentrate specifically on timing. I know the natural sciences section is 100 questions in 90 minutes. Is there specific strategies you used to manage your time? For example maybe mark all questions you find hard and leave 10 minutes for review, etc? Should the bio section really take say 30 minutes? Did you review marked questions at the end of finishing that section or when you were done with all problems? Any general tips would be appreciated. I've taken the DAT before but didn't have time to review before for the natural sciences. Need to be disciplined and kill it this time!

**sidenote** Are you allowed to write equations/PAT boxes in the 15 minutes prior? I didn't before.

Thanks!

The best advice I received during my prep time was remember that you can skip around during sections. So for the natural sciences you don't have to go through each question in numerical order. Think ochem is a piece of cake? start with those. Think you can fly through bio in no time, start there! Use your practice exams as a way to find which order is most comfortable for you.

I personally started with the biology section. Those were the questions in which I felt like if I blanked, I wouldn't freak out and would just mark questions until I calmed down. I usually finished this section rather quickly. Any question you're confused on or don't know, mark and move on. You can review it later. Next, I jumped to ochem since there's no calculating. This left gen chem for last and I usually had about 50 min left on the clock to finish the final section.

ALWAYS take the entire time for each section, and always check your work! You may have read too quickly, and misinterpreted the question. And if you're still stuck on a question, take your best guess and move on! Get those "guaranteed points" on easier questions!

As for the 15min tutorial. Yes, I suggest using this time to prepare your board for your PAT section. I do not believe that you can write WORDS on the board during this time (i.e equations, mnemonics , etc.) but you can draw out your grids if you need those for PAT. TAKE the tutorial it gives you helpful tips about the exam and how it works, but also allows you time to relax in your seat before you actually start!

Best of luck!

 

[DAT Destroyer]

The best advice I received during my prep time was remember that you can skip around during sections. So for the natural sciences you don't have to go through each question in numerical order. Think ochem is a piece of cake? start with those. Think you can fly through bio in no time, start there! Use your practice exams as a way to find which order is most comfortable for you.

I personally started with the biology section. Those were the questions in which I felt like if I blanked, I wouldn't freak out and would just mark questions until I calmed down. I usually finished this section rather quickly. Any question you're confused on or don't know, mark and move on. You can review it later. Next, I jumped to ochem since there's no calculating. This left gen chem for last and I usually had about 50 min left on the clock to finish the final section.

ALWAYS take the entire time for each section, and always check your work! You may have read too quickly, and misinterpreted the question. And if you're still stuck on a question, take your best guess and move on! Get those "guaranteed points" on easier questions!

As for the 15min tutorial. Yes, I suggest using this time to prepare your board for your PAT section. I do not believe that you can write WORDS on the board during this time (i.e equations, mnemonics , etc.) but you can draw out your grids if you need those for PAT. TAKE the tutorial it gives you helpful tips about the exam and how it works, but also allows you time to relax in your seat before you actually start!

Best of luck!

Thanks for sharing your DAT experience, would you mind sharing your scores?

 

[ChemKitten3]

Thanks for sharing your DAT experience, would you mind sharing your scores?