Hey y'all, I took the DAT August 16th, 2023 and received the following scores:
26AA/25PAT/25TS/30BIO/21GC/27OC/25RC/28QR
TL;DR: Do DAT Bootcamp's practice tests
General Thoughts
I had quite a bit of variability in my studying (nothing some days and entire days other times) but on average I would say I studied ~3hrs/day 6days/week for just over 2 months. For the most part, I followed DAT Bootcamp and Dr. Ari's study schedule exactly. It is great at making sure you learn the information at a solid pace while still hitting the TONS of info they can ask about on the test. I would say the question banks, bio bites, videos, and notes are great if you have the time for them, but the most efficient way I found to spot what I needed to study more was the practice tests. On top of that, I refuse to believe anyone can feel comfortable in that testing atmosphere without taking the practice tests in a similar manner beforehand. If you do not have time to hit every single practice question, skip what you are comfortable with and take the practice tests.
Biology
Bio was probably the section I was most worried for and the one I hit the hardest. I followed the Bootcamp study schedule, which means I did all of the bio bites, question banks, and videos with the quizzes in between. After that, I did the first 5 bio full tests individually and the last 5 as a part of full practices DATs. The stress really hit about a week before where I started to read through and highlight the Bootcamp bio notes repeatedly. I think I ended up reading through them 3 times that week. I would not recommend this. Bootcamp is quite thorough and I think most people would agree makes their tests slightly harder than the actual DAT. Frantically trying to know everything about everything only causes undo stress, so stick with the practice tests near the actual test date.
General Chem
I was a bit surprised about this one, as I had been getting high 20s and even a 30 on practice gen chem tests. That said, I think this section of my test was simply a very difficult one. I have been tutoring in chemistry for multiple years now and it has been my most comfortable section while studying aside from math. Therefore, I do still think Bootcamp has fantastic general chemistry videos and Dr. Mike will always be iconic.
Organic Chemistry
Organic has probably been my favorite subject in school, and I think trying to find fun in it really does help. Again, Dr. Mike's videos are very comprehensive, but this subject especially is one where you just have to do tons of practice questions to improve. I do recommend the Bootcamp reaction bites to help boost your confidence in that large section of OC.
PAT
If you practice the PAT on Bootcamp you will have a hard time doing badly on the actual test. Although Bootcamp's questions are much harder in my opinion, they are still certainly doable and help you hone your skills in to the point where you have extra time on the actual test to check ones you marked. I think it was most helpful to do full practice tests because the fatigue of staring at a screen for 190 questions straight is an important factor in this section especially.
Reading Comprehension
I had a bit of trouble with this section at first, but the search and destroy method is a godsend. I highly recommend anyone who is having trouble with this section try it out because the passages are on the borderline of too long to try and read the whole thing then read for individual answers. This section is really about finding the strategy that works for you. Bootcamp's passages and questions were also highly representative of what I saw on the actual test in this section.
Quantitative Reasoning
This was definitely my favorite section. This is also the section that is by far most similar between Bootcamp's practice tests and the actual DAT. The questions are essentially identical between the two, and it is possible to do very well on this section only doing Bootcamp's practice tests.
Best of luck to you all! Let me know if you have any questions.
26AA/25PAT/25TS/30BIO/21GC/27OC/25RC/28QR
TL;DR: Do DAT Bootcamp's practice tests
General Thoughts
I had quite a bit of variability in my studying (nothing some days and entire days other times) but on average I would say I studied ~3hrs/day 6days/week for just over 2 months. For the most part, I followed DAT Bootcamp and Dr. Ari's study schedule exactly. It is great at making sure you learn the information at a solid pace while still hitting the TONS of info they can ask about on the test. I would say the question banks, bio bites, videos, and notes are great if you have the time for them, but the most efficient way I found to spot what I needed to study more was the practice tests. On top of that, I refuse to believe anyone can feel comfortable in that testing atmosphere without taking the practice tests in a similar manner beforehand. If you do not have time to hit every single practice question, skip what you are comfortable with and take the practice tests.
Biology
Bio was probably the section I was most worried for and the one I hit the hardest. I followed the Bootcamp study schedule, which means I did all of the bio bites, question banks, and videos with the quizzes in between. After that, I did the first 5 bio full tests individually and the last 5 as a part of full practices DATs. The stress really hit about a week before where I started to read through and highlight the Bootcamp bio notes repeatedly. I think I ended up reading through them 3 times that week. I would not recommend this. Bootcamp is quite thorough and I think most people would agree makes their tests slightly harder than the actual DAT. Frantically trying to know everything about everything only causes undo stress, so stick with the practice tests near the actual test date.
General Chem
I was a bit surprised about this one, as I had been getting high 20s and even a 30 on practice gen chem tests. That said, I think this section of my test was simply a very difficult one. I have been tutoring in chemistry for multiple years now and it has been my most comfortable section while studying aside from math. Therefore, I do still think Bootcamp has fantastic general chemistry videos and Dr. Mike will always be iconic.
Organic Chemistry
Organic has probably been my favorite subject in school, and I think trying to find fun in it really does help. Again, Dr. Mike's videos are very comprehensive, but this subject especially is one where you just have to do tons of practice questions to improve. I do recommend the Bootcamp reaction bites to help boost your confidence in that large section of OC.
PAT
If you practice the PAT on Bootcamp you will have a hard time doing badly on the actual test. Although Bootcamp's questions are much harder in my opinion, they are still certainly doable and help you hone your skills in to the point where you have extra time on the actual test to check ones you marked. I think it was most helpful to do full practice tests because the fatigue of staring at a screen for 190 questions straight is an important factor in this section especially.
Reading Comprehension
I had a bit of trouble with this section at first, but the search and destroy method is a godsend. I highly recommend anyone who is having trouble with this section try it out because the passages are on the borderline of too long to try and read the whole thing then read for individual answers. This section is really about finding the strategy that works for you. Bootcamp's passages and questions were also highly representative of what I saw on the actual test in this section.
Quantitative Reasoning
This was definitely my favorite section. This is also the section that is by far most similar between Bootcamp's practice tests and the actual DAT. The questions are essentially identical between the two, and it is possible to do very well on this section only doing Bootcamp's practice tests.
Best of luck to you all! Let me know if you have any questions.
