parkerpilat22
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2023
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
PAT: 21
Quant: 23
Reading: 20
Biology: 21
General Chemistry: 22
Organic chemistry: 27
TS: 23
AA: 23
The study resources that I used:
Kaplan for DAT: So, I started studying in January and took my DAT in June. I used the Kaplan resource for the first 4.5 months of my studying, unfortunately. I really do not recommend this resource at all. It is ridiculously expensive compared to other programs out there. I used their book for my content review early in my studies which was helpful only for organic chemistry. The practice exams were very unrealistic and I think the program as a whole is just extremely outdated and not representative of the real DAT. I would certainly stay away from Kaplan for many reasons.
DATbooster: Thankfully, I switched to booster a little bit over a month before my test day. My only regret was not doing it sooner. This is easily the best resource. I have heard extremely similar to bootcamp, but half the price so it is a no brainer. The practice tests are the best resource you could possibly have for the DAT no doubt. If I were to start from starch, I would only get DATbooster and do all of my content review and practice tests from them. I wasn’t really able to explore the videos that they have for content review because I did not have the time once I started booster as it was too close to my test day. However, they seemed very thorough and helpful, so I would watch those if I did it over again. However, I used the cheat sheets and study notes for all science sections which were really helpful, I highly recommend those. Also, use the practice generators at least once a day and you will do just fine on the PAT section. Get this resource and you will not be disappointed with your score.
Anki: I used this daily to review biology and organic chemistry. It is especially helpful for orgo because knowing the reactions and using space repetition to solidify the ones you struggle with make it much easier to cement the reactions in your brain.
Real DAT sections:
PAT: I thought the real test was much easier than booster. The last 3 practice tests on booster are really hard for perceptual which prepares you for the real test. If you are scoring anything above 20 on those practice tests, you will be just fine for the real thing.
Quant: Again, very straight forward questions. I got a lot of algebra and not much applied math questions. I honestly only had 3 or 4 questions marked so I thought I did better than 23 but I guess not. On the practice tests for booster, I usually only had about 1 or 2 minutes left when I finished, but on the real test I had like 6 minutes so I got through them pretty quick.
Reading: This one was frustrating because I scored so high on all of my booster practice tests (average about 24) in this section, but the real test seemed much more dense, I had a hard time getting through the first passage and then started to abandon my strategy. I felt like I had to search hard for each question in the first passage and it chewed up a lot of my time. The second and third passage was much easier, but it did not matter because the first one lowered my score so much. My advice is find a strategy that works for you and stick with it no matter what because confidence is key in reading comp.
Biology: Again, kind of a frustrating score for me because I did better on the practice tests. I got a very heavy evolution, ecology, diversity of life biology section which made it feel like there were so many random questions that could have gone either way. I got very minimal body systems questions which was frustrating. I think you just have to get lucky with what questions you get here and if it matches your strong suit in biology which diversity of life was not mine.
Gen chem: Minimal calculations in this section. Know periodic trends, gases, and equations well. I felt like the practice tests were pretty representative of what you will see.
Orgo: It was very similar to the booster practice tests. It also helped that I had a strong background in orgo from undergrad, but more than memorizing reactions, I would focus on knowing mechanisms and what the reactive sites are in reactions. Make sure you know acid/base strength, that seemed to come up a lot.
Overall, I would worry less about reviewing all of the content available (even though it is tempting) and spend more time on practice tests. There are in depth explanations to each question on the practice tests and I found that to be a better way to do the content review. I wouldn’t spend more than a month doing content review. My biggest advice is get DATbooster and write out the dates you are going to take your practice tests. Take every practice test at the time of your real DAT (probably 8 AM) and stick to the schedule. Get in the routine of taking the test at 8 AM, you will be surprised how much this will help you. Hope this helped!
Quant: 23
Reading: 20
Biology: 21
General Chemistry: 22
Organic chemistry: 27
TS: 23
AA: 23
The study resources that I used:
Kaplan for DAT: So, I started studying in January and took my DAT in June. I used the Kaplan resource for the first 4.5 months of my studying, unfortunately. I really do not recommend this resource at all. It is ridiculously expensive compared to other programs out there. I used their book for my content review early in my studies which was helpful only for organic chemistry. The practice exams were very unrealistic and I think the program as a whole is just extremely outdated and not representative of the real DAT. I would certainly stay away from Kaplan for many reasons.
DATbooster: Thankfully, I switched to booster a little bit over a month before my test day. My only regret was not doing it sooner. This is easily the best resource. I have heard extremely similar to bootcamp, but half the price so it is a no brainer. The practice tests are the best resource you could possibly have for the DAT no doubt. If I were to start from starch, I would only get DATbooster and do all of my content review and practice tests from them. I wasn’t really able to explore the videos that they have for content review because I did not have the time once I started booster as it was too close to my test day. However, they seemed very thorough and helpful, so I would watch those if I did it over again. However, I used the cheat sheets and study notes for all science sections which were really helpful, I highly recommend those. Also, use the practice generators at least once a day and you will do just fine on the PAT section. Get this resource and you will not be disappointed with your score.
Anki: I used this daily to review biology and organic chemistry. It is especially helpful for orgo because knowing the reactions and using space repetition to solidify the ones you struggle with make it much easier to cement the reactions in your brain.
Real DAT sections:
PAT: I thought the real test was much easier than booster. The last 3 practice tests on booster are really hard for perceptual which prepares you for the real test. If you are scoring anything above 20 on those practice tests, you will be just fine for the real thing.
Quant: Again, very straight forward questions. I got a lot of algebra and not much applied math questions. I honestly only had 3 or 4 questions marked so I thought I did better than 23 but I guess not. On the practice tests for booster, I usually only had about 1 or 2 minutes left when I finished, but on the real test I had like 6 minutes so I got through them pretty quick.
Reading: This one was frustrating because I scored so high on all of my booster practice tests (average about 24) in this section, but the real test seemed much more dense, I had a hard time getting through the first passage and then started to abandon my strategy. I felt like I had to search hard for each question in the first passage and it chewed up a lot of my time. The second and third passage was much easier, but it did not matter because the first one lowered my score so much. My advice is find a strategy that works for you and stick with it no matter what because confidence is key in reading comp.
Biology: Again, kind of a frustrating score for me because I did better on the practice tests. I got a very heavy evolution, ecology, diversity of life biology section which made it feel like there were so many random questions that could have gone either way. I got very minimal body systems questions which was frustrating. I think you just have to get lucky with what questions you get here and if it matches your strong suit in biology which diversity of life was not mine.
Gen chem: Minimal calculations in this section. Know periodic trends, gases, and equations well. I felt like the practice tests were pretty representative of what you will see.
Orgo: It was very similar to the booster practice tests. It also helped that I had a strong background in orgo from undergrad, but more than memorizing reactions, I would focus on knowing mechanisms and what the reactive sites are in reactions. Make sure you know acid/base strength, that seemed to come up a lot.
Overall, I would worry less about reviewing all of the content available (even though it is tempting) and spend more time on practice tests. There are in depth explanations to each question on the practice tests and I found that to be a better way to do the content review. I wouldn’t spend more than a month doing content review. My biggest advice is get DATbooster and write out the dates you are going to take your practice tests. Take every practice test at the time of your real DAT (probably 8 AM) and stick to the schedule. Get in the routine of taking the test at 8 AM, you will be surprised how much this will help you. Hope this helped!
