Breakdown:
PAT: 21
QR: 20
RC: 19
Biology: 27
General Chem: 26
Organic Chemistry: 30
Total Science: 28
Academic Average: 24
Hey guys! Just finished my DAT this weekend and I thought I'd try to pass along the big points that helped me through this process and give my input on the various DAT resources that helped me get my scores while also hopefully giving you guys some relief about the real exam!
Studying process:
I definitely had an unconventional method of studying that may not work for everyone but it definitely was a big factor in my success, so I would first consider what works best for you and take it from there!
Despite that, I started using Anki decks that were made from DAT bootcamp and they were very detailed and helpful for becoming familiar with a lot of the different biology concepts before I even got to actually learning the content. However, it ended up getting very overwhelming with the review cards so I had to decrease the number of review cards I would go through so I'm not going over 1000 flash cards a day.
I heard bootcamp was the best to learn from and booster was the best in practicing your knowledge and getting a good understanding of how the questions would be asked so I started using bootcamp a little before winter break and I went through every video and wrote my own notes down for everything that was mentioned in the videos and also notes on questions banks. I got through all of this by the end of winter break.
Once my last semester of senior year began, I could only do a little amount of studying because I was taking biochem and other classes so it was a tough year to put a lot of dedication into DAT studying. I ended up doing ~3 practice tests a week till the end of the spring semester. I first started with the booster practice tests and then I heard many people felt that bootcamp practice tests were also very representative of the test so I had to really cram to get those practice tests finished as well. After each practice test I would write down notes on any question I thought I wasn’t 100% clear on as well as other notes that were mentioned in the solutions. I personally felt that bootcamp solutions were more comprehensive but explanations explained by booster chat support were stronger in how they helped me understand specific kinds of questions. Once I had made lots of notes on a couple practice tests I would review then take more practice tests and basically go through this cycle. I used Anki throughout (with moderation) and found it extremely helpful in retaining some of the more high yield concepts that needed to be read multiple times until it sticks.
I also took some of the booster crash courses and found bio to be really helpful but not sure if the others really made any impact on my scores but I did realize the bio one helped increase my practice test scores.
I finished practice tests by the week before and basically just went over all the practice tests and reviewed them. Anything that was still unclear I went to do question bank problems on them and try to master it. This took an IMMENSE amount of time and I probably only got like 24 hours of sleep that whole week so I wouldn’t recommend doing it in such a short period of time. But I would admit, cramming helped me really engage myself in everything I needed to be familiar with in a short period of time so it helped in its own way.
Day of the test:
Made the mistake of focusing on studying 5 AM before my exam instead of having a sufficient meal so my stomach was not feeling too good when I was waiting in the prometric center to be seated. Also made the mistake of studying QR during my break instead of having a snack so my mind during RC and QR was kinda all over the place and I almost fell asleep during RC … which really freaked me out. So, bottom line, DON'T FORGET TO EAT.
Science Section:
What everyone else is telling you is completely right – the exam is so much easier than practice tests and I even had to second guess myself because I was confused at how simple the questions were for all the science sections. I definitely saw several similar questions in the bio section that I saw on practice tests. I wouldn’t say verbatim but the same idea/ concept being asked in a very similar way so really use those practice tests ! Everyone says breadth over depth and to some degree I agree but I felt that confidence influences your scores a lot as well. I thought that I could be asked any small or specific question so I tried to understand as much as I could for the bio section and this helped me find confidence in myself when I went into the actual test. But depending on how much time you have to devote to your studying, just do what you think will make you feel the most comfortable. I would still say that the bio questions were very straightforward and not super specific as you would see in bootcamp and booster practice tests so I hope that can give you some relief because those tests were giving scores sometimes that was somewhat worrisome, but don't worry, if you learn from those mistakes then the bio section will be a piece of cake.
When it came to gen chem, just be very familiar with those equations and trends. I had 2 questions that I was unsure about in terms of how to go about solving the questions but I found that it could sometimes be helpful to go backwards using the answer choices to see if it works and instead of wasting time trying to find the right method to solve the answer I was eventually able to get the answer.
I was kinda surprised for orgo since there was literally only like 4 reaction questions for me and the rest was acidity, acids/bases, and NMR, which by the way, were 100% easier than on any of the practice tests. I definitely studied the most for orgo (and then chem and bio) so im glad it paid off but Anki for orgo was a big help in memorizing those reactions, despite barely seeing any synthesis or reactions questions.
PAT:
I was very shocked when I got to this section. Ive scored ~18-20 in the practice tests, never been able to finish, and sometimes even added a few minutes cause I got so depressed by how little I was able to complete those practice tests. I really neglected this section because I only started studying for it like 3 weeks before my exam like a few hours a week, so dont do that. Its true that its all about practice and so eventually when I got to the day before my test I was hitting a 19 more consistently. I also only did like 5 or 6 practice tests, which was also another mistake. The generators are super helpful on bootcamp. This was the first time I finished the entire exam. Also, there were some issues with my exam where some questions were blank and had a small little box with and an X. I showed the lady from the center and she said she had to report that so I'm not sure what they’re gonna do about it (if anyone knows please let me know) but it definitely threw me off for a second. I think angles were always pretty difficult for me and I would say that was the hardest on the PAT, at least for me. Hole punching was fine, not as difficult as booster or bootcamp. All the other sections were significantly easier than bootcamp or booster and it gave an immense amount of confidence when I was going through them so I'm really glad I was getting more challenged on the practice tests because it really set me up for success on the PAT section.
RC and QR:
Pretty disappointed here, honestly. I was scoring 24/25 in these sections in my practice tests. Booster I think wasn’t challenging enough as the real test but the questions were not difficult really, its just all about balancing your time. As I mentioned before, I made the mistake of not feeding myself during my break and I really realized that once I got to the reading section. Everything was straight in the passage (for the most part) and didn’t get hard inference questions that you would see on practice tests. But my energy started to really take a toll on me once I got to the last passage and I had to slap myself to keep myself up. I didnt notice only around more than 5 mins that I had like 10 questions left in RC and I was scrambling to figure out the last 4 questions (which were also graph questions that I wasn’t too familiar with) and so I ended up guessing for like 3 questions. Math was pretty simple as well but I was neglecting to pay attention to how much time I was spending on each question and then ultimately ended up guessing on the last 5 questions, which was heartbreaking to be honest.
I'm obviously very happy with my score but if I had to do anything differently I would try to take better care of myself throughout it. I barely ate in the 2 weeks before my exam and I neglected this in the chances I had during the exam and I'm trying not to beat myself up on it but its a painful thing to know that it could’ve been easily prevented so PLEASE dont make the same mistake I made.
Ultimately, you guys are all set up for success, whether it be using booster or bootcamp or both, because they are both very representative of the exam if not much harder than what you will be dealing with so dont be discouraged if you’re not doing well in your practice tests– you will only learn and grow from it! Hope I could give you guys some relief and tips to get your dream scores and I'm happy to answer any questions
Thank you booster and bootcamp for everything!
PAT: 21
QR: 20
RC: 19
Biology: 27
General Chem: 26
Organic Chemistry: 30
Total Science: 28
Academic Average: 24
Hey guys! Just finished my DAT this weekend and I thought I'd try to pass along the big points that helped me through this process and give my input on the various DAT resources that helped me get my scores while also hopefully giving you guys some relief about the real exam!
Studying process:
I definitely had an unconventional method of studying that may not work for everyone but it definitely was a big factor in my success, so I would first consider what works best for you and take it from there!
Despite that, I started using Anki decks that were made from DAT bootcamp and they were very detailed and helpful for becoming familiar with a lot of the different biology concepts before I even got to actually learning the content. However, it ended up getting very overwhelming with the review cards so I had to decrease the number of review cards I would go through so I'm not going over 1000 flash cards a day.
I heard bootcamp was the best to learn from and booster was the best in practicing your knowledge and getting a good understanding of how the questions would be asked so I started using bootcamp a little before winter break and I went through every video and wrote my own notes down for everything that was mentioned in the videos and also notes on questions banks. I got through all of this by the end of winter break.
Once my last semester of senior year began, I could only do a little amount of studying because I was taking biochem and other classes so it was a tough year to put a lot of dedication into DAT studying. I ended up doing ~3 practice tests a week till the end of the spring semester. I first started with the booster practice tests and then I heard many people felt that bootcamp practice tests were also very representative of the test so I had to really cram to get those practice tests finished as well. After each practice test I would write down notes on any question I thought I wasn’t 100% clear on as well as other notes that were mentioned in the solutions. I personally felt that bootcamp solutions were more comprehensive but explanations explained by booster chat support were stronger in how they helped me understand specific kinds of questions. Once I had made lots of notes on a couple practice tests I would review then take more practice tests and basically go through this cycle. I used Anki throughout (with moderation) and found it extremely helpful in retaining some of the more high yield concepts that needed to be read multiple times until it sticks.
I also took some of the booster crash courses and found bio to be really helpful but not sure if the others really made any impact on my scores but I did realize the bio one helped increase my practice test scores.
I finished practice tests by the week before and basically just went over all the practice tests and reviewed them. Anything that was still unclear I went to do question bank problems on them and try to master it. This took an IMMENSE amount of time and I probably only got like 24 hours of sleep that whole week so I wouldn’t recommend doing it in such a short period of time. But I would admit, cramming helped me really engage myself in everything I needed to be familiar with in a short period of time so it helped in its own way.
Day of the test:
Made the mistake of focusing on studying 5 AM before my exam instead of having a sufficient meal so my stomach was not feeling too good when I was waiting in the prometric center to be seated. Also made the mistake of studying QR during my break instead of having a snack so my mind during RC and QR was kinda all over the place and I almost fell asleep during RC … which really freaked me out. So, bottom line, DON'T FORGET TO EAT.
Science Section:
What everyone else is telling you is completely right – the exam is so much easier than practice tests and I even had to second guess myself because I was confused at how simple the questions were for all the science sections. I definitely saw several similar questions in the bio section that I saw on practice tests. I wouldn’t say verbatim but the same idea/ concept being asked in a very similar way so really use those practice tests ! Everyone says breadth over depth and to some degree I agree but I felt that confidence influences your scores a lot as well. I thought that I could be asked any small or specific question so I tried to understand as much as I could for the bio section and this helped me find confidence in myself when I went into the actual test. But depending on how much time you have to devote to your studying, just do what you think will make you feel the most comfortable. I would still say that the bio questions were very straightforward and not super specific as you would see in bootcamp and booster practice tests so I hope that can give you some relief because those tests were giving scores sometimes that was somewhat worrisome, but don't worry, if you learn from those mistakes then the bio section will be a piece of cake.
When it came to gen chem, just be very familiar with those equations and trends. I had 2 questions that I was unsure about in terms of how to go about solving the questions but I found that it could sometimes be helpful to go backwards using the answer choices to see if it works and instead of wasting time trying to find the right method to solve the answer I was eventually able to get the answer.
I was kinda surprised for orgo since there was literally only like 4 reaction questions for me and the rest was acidity, acids/bases, and NMR, which by the way, were 100% easier than on any of the practice tests. I definitely studied the most for orgo (and then chem and bio) so im glad it paid off but Anki for orgo was a big help in memorizing those reactions, despite barely seeing any synthesis or reactions questions.
PAT:
I was very shocked when I got to this section. Ive scored ~18-20 in the practice tests, never been able to finish, and sometimes even added a few minutes cause I got so depressed by how little I was able to complete those practice tests. I really neglected this section because I only started studying for it like 3 weeks before my exam like a few hours a week, so dont do that. Its true that its all about practice and so eventually when I got to the day before my test I was hitting a 19 more consistently. I also only did like 5 or 6 practice tests, which was also another mistake. The generators are super helpful on bootcamp. This was the first time I finished the entire exam. Also, there were some issues with my exam where some questions were blank and had a small little box with and an X. I showed the lady from the center and she said she had to report that so I'm not sure what they’re gonna do about it (if anyone knows please let me know) but it definitely threw me off for a second. I think angles were always pretty difficult for me and I would say that was the hardest on the PAT, at least for me. Hole punching was fine, not as difficult as booster or bootcamp. All the other sections were significantly easier than bootcamp or booster and it gave an immense amount of confidence when I was going through them so I'm really glad I was getting more challenged on the practice tests because it really set me up for success on the PAT section.
RC and QR:
Pretty disappointed here, honestly. I was scoring 24/25 in these sections in my practice tests. Booster I think wasn’t challenging enough as the real test but the questions were not difficult really, its just all about balancing your time. As I mentioned before, I made the mistake of not feeding myself during my break and I really realized that once I got to the reading section. Everything was straight in the passage (for the most part) and didn’t get hard inference questions that you would see on practice tests. But my energy started to really take a toll on me once I got to the last passage and I had to slap myself to keep myself up. I didnt notice only around more than 5 mins that I had like 10 questions left in RC and I was scrambling to figure out the last 4 questions (which were also graph questions that I wasn’t too familiar with) and so I ended up guessing for like 3 questions. Math was pretty simple as well but I was neglecting to pay attention to how much time I was spending on each question and then ultimately ended up guessing on the last 5 questions, which was heartbreaking to be honest.
I'm obviously very happy with my score but if I had to do anything differently I would try to take better care of myself throughout it. I barely ate in the 2 weeks before my exam and I neglected this in the chances I had during the exam and I'm trying not to beat myself up on it but its a painful thing to know that it could’ve been easily prevented so PLEASE dont make the same mistake I made.
Ultimately, you guys are all set up for success, whether it be using booster or bootcamp or both, because they are both very representative of the exam if not much harder than what you will be dealing with so dont be discouraged if you’re not doing well in your practice tests– you will only learn and grow from it! Hope I could give you guys some relief and tips to get your dream scores and I'm happy to answer any questions
Thank you booster and bootcamp for everything!
