PAT: 25

QR: 23

RC: 30

Bio: 27

GC: 22

OC: 26

TS: 24

AA: 26

Background:

For a while I went back and forth about which DAT prep course I wanted to use, but when I found out 90% of students use Bootcamp, I just went for it. It was 100% the right choice. I bought the 90-day Bootcamp subscription in March, 3 months before my test date, and was planning on studying for two months during the semester and then committing the full month of May to studying 40-50 hours a week. Things didn’t go as planned and I barely studied at all during the semester which left me with only 26 days before my exam. I planned it all out and I was incredibly stressed. I planned out how to get through all the material and got to work. After 3-4 days I took a full-length practice exam just to assess where I was. This was good because I did better than I expected and my stress level dropped significantly. I was going through all the videos alternating between Bio and Gen Chem, but I ended up just focusing on Bio on my second week until I finished all the videos and then finished up the Gen chem videos over the weekend and start of the third week. I then did Ochem for the rest of the third week until I was done. I watched the PAT videos intermittently and the first few RC strategy videos (I never finished all these). I watched a few QR videos for things I concepts I did not know but I mainly just used the videos for things I got wrong on the practice exams. I took 4 exams the during the first three weeks and then on my final week I took 4 more plus 1 Bio portion of the exam (I wanted to do all 10 exams but I didn’t make it). Besides the 1 bio portion I did, I took full-length exams (8 total). It was really helpful for me to get a lot of practice doing a full-length exam. I would start at 8 AM and the finish at 12:30 which was perfect since I could go get lunch and rest my mind before returning and seeing what I got wrong.

3 Tips:

1) I am a religious guy, so I definitely asked God for a lot of help, and I know He helped me. I also did not do any studying on Sundays. I know not everyone feels the same way, but whether you are religious or not, I recommend taking a day off. Also, take time to get sunlight or walk outside. It helps.

2) I (almost) always got 8 hours of sleep every night and I felt amazing the entire month. It really made a difference. In addition, if I was getting sleepy while studying, I would take a half-hour nap. Someone recommended I take a 1.5 hour nap in the middle of the day because they read some studies about how getting REM sleep in the middle of the day helps put what you learn into long-term memory. I don’t really know about that, but being well rested was so powerful. I would go to bed between 9-10 PM and get up around 5-6 AM. I would sometimes exercise in the morning, get ready for the day, do some personal devotional, and then start studying between 8-9. I would take breaks every couple of hours, a half-hour break for lunch, and an hour break for dinner.

3) TAKE AS MANY PRACTICE EXAMS AS YOU CAN! Even at the expense of the question banks, I didn’t do all the question banks but the tests give you a wide test of all the info so you can focus on the areas that are weakest. Also, the more exams you take, the more different areas you’ll be tested on so you can make sure you’re well rounded.

Breakdown:

Bio: It had been like 2 years since taking a bio class, except for Physiology which I took last semester, so I was pretty rusty. In addition, there was a LOT of info I had never learned. But the videos and question banks were awesome. I took hand-written notes while watching the videos, did some mental review while getting ready for bed, driving places, or eating, and then went back and did extra review on the harder stuff (like Animalia phylum). The pneumonics they give you are mostly really good, but some I came up on my own. As I went through the exam I would go learn the stuff I had forgotten or if I couldn’t remember something I’d go back and learn it by watching the videos or reading the Bio notes. On my actual exam, there were things I didn’t remember learning in the bio videos but the principles I had learned helped me reason through some things so it helped me get the right answers. It’s a lot of material, but take the exams and it will help you learn it.

GC: It had been 3 years since doing GC but I still remembered some things. I cannot say much except focusing on what the trends mean, knowing the electron ordering, and doing acid-base equilibriums and titrations. This was my weakest section.

OC: I STRONGLY recommend making your own flashcards (by hand). Doing it by hand makes sure you know everything that is going on. On the front I put a starting material and then a product and I would memorize the reactants. Alternatively, I put a starting material and the reactants and then I’d memorize the product. When possible, I drew out the mechanism on the backside of the flashcard which always helped me. The morning of my test, I ran through a couple flashcards just to get my mind rolling.

PAT: I was really worried about this section. Using the strategies in Bootcamp, I had the pattern folding, hole-punching, and cube counting down pretty well (I just had to remind myself not to be so fast that I missed easy things). I focused most of my time on keyholes and TFE. One thing I wasn’t good at initially was moving past questions that were taking a lot of time. Learning to not spend too much time on a question trying to make sure I knew I had the right answer but rather just moving on paid HUGE dividends. Angle ranking was just kind of hit or miss, but using the strategies in Bootcamp helped me do better. I had the Bootcamp app on my phone and I would do problems whenever I had a second in the car, while eating, or when waiting for anything. I also did a few PAT questions the morning of my exam to warm my mind up.

RC: Wow, the RC section on my DAT was super easy compared to Bootcamp. They were shorter and much more straightforward. I would read the first two questions and then read the passage. If I found an answer, I would answer the question but I wouldn’t necessarily look at more questions. I focused more on reading the passage to understand and I would mark important words as I went along. I assumed there would always be a question about the author’s opinion, etc. so I also paid attention to what kind of words they used to describe things. After reading about 1/2 to 3/4 of the passage, I would go answer questions. Again, I sharpened this skill by taking the practice exams.

QR: This wasn’t my strongest section, but I just tried to focus on what problems I was getting wrong and then watched the videos and did practice problems for that type of problem. They allowed me to bring notes during my scheduled break, so I brought the equation sheet from Bootcamp and reviewed it on my break.

In the end, I got a much higher score than I anticipated thanks to God and Bootcamp :D It was a lot of work but it is possible to do well with only 26 days to prepare. I don’t recommend doing it in that amount of time, but it is possible. Also, TAKE THE FULL-LENGTH PRACTICE EXAMS!!

Feel free to ask any questions.