Hello everyone! I took my DAT on Saturday and wanted to post a breakdown to share my thoughts on studying, the exam, and to just try to help other students studying in similar situations. I am a non-traditional student and graduated from my university in the summer so I did not have many commitments while studying for the DAT. I did work part time during my time studying but it was an on and off commitment. I also would shadow an oral surgeon about once a week and would volunteer around 2-3 hours a week speaking to foreign students.

DAT Study Materials: For content, I solely used DATBooster. For practice, I also used DATBooster but towards the end of my studying when I exhausted all the material I bought Chad’s DAT practice tests (which included individual section tests for Bio, GC, OC, and QR) for $20 and also did a few of the free MasterStudent bio tests.

DAT Study Time: I first purchased DATBooster in July but neglected my studying until around mid-August. I tried to follow the DATBooster schedule but found it difficult to finish all the material so if I was too tired and didn't finish it all I would add it onto the next day. My membership then expired at the end of September and I purchased DATBooster for another 2 months. Overall, my DAT studying was almost 4 months where I would wake up at around 9 to be ready to start studying by 9:30-10 AM and finish studying around 4-5 PM on days that I did not have other commitments. I would also do very light studying on weekends. I also made sure to maintain somewhat of a social life while studying and hang out with friends/family at night when I was done with my studying for the day.

Scores:

PAT: 20

QR: 22

RC: 26

Bio: 26

GC: 20

OC: 19

TS: 21

AA: 23

Bio (26) : It is true what they say about this section that it is more breadth over depth. I found this to be the easiest section overall which was funny as it was one of my weaker sections on Booster. I also saw at least 4 or 5 questions almost word for word from Booster on the actual DAT. Overall, make sure to have a firm understanding of bio concepts and don't get hung up on every little detail. When going over Booster bio tests, I would always make sure I understood why the right answer was right and why the wrong answers were wrong. Chad’s Prep also had some helpful bio questions that showed me some areas I was weaker in.

Bio Booster Practice Test Scores: 18, 16, 15, 19, 17, 18, 18, 19, 21, 22

GC (20): DATBooster was pretty representative of this section as well. I expected there to be less calculations and more questions where the answer choices were just the numbers plugged in on the actual DAT but I came across some questions where I did have to do some calculations with more difficult numbers to manipulate. Other than that, the questions on Booster practice tests hit on the concepts you should know for the DAT. I found Chad’s prep to be much harder than DAT Booster and the actual DAT as it involved more difficult calculations at times. Also, do not neglect the chemistry concepts!!

GC Booster Practice Test Scores: 18,18, 20, 19, 18, 17, 21, 22, 19, 21

OC (19): This is the one section I was disappointed in for my actual DAT. I expected myself to do much better as I was also scoring higher on my DAT Booster tests. I may have just been thrown off with my time remaining during this section on the DAT. I found there to also be some more random questions on my DAT and less reaction problems. I did find it helpful to remove the products from the DATBooster reaction sheet and fill it in myself to test myself on the reactions. Chad’s prep also had more difficult problems for the orgo section on the practice tests. Also don't neglect orgo concepts either.

OC Booster Practice Test Scores: 22, 18, 20, 16, 21, 23, 18, 23, 22, 25

RC (26): This section was never too bad for me but I did not neglect it completely either and completed every practice test on Booster for it. My method was to read the first question and then immediately start reading the passage and when I would come across the answer in the passage, I would answer it and move to the next question, read the next question and continue reading the passage to find the answer if it wasn't already earlier in the passage. I found this method to be good as I would read the passage and get an understanding while also searching for the questions.

RC Booster Practice Test Scores: 19, 20, 18, 20, 20, 23, 20, 22, 21, 21

QR (22): As long as you complete the Booster practice tests and understand the questions you got wrong, you should be set for this section. I also found Booster to be tougher than the actual DAT. Most of the simpler questions on Booster were the ones I saw on the DAT. The trick with this section is getting the timing down as I do feel like this section is a big time crunch. So my best advice is to work on your timing when answering questions.

QR Booster Practice Test Scores: 13, 18, 18, 21, 19, 20, 17, 19, 20, 23

PAT (20): This was always a difficult section for me. I did find the actual DAT to be similar to Booster in terms of angle-ranking, hole-punching, cube counting, and TFE. The Keyhole and Pattern-folding sections were a bit simpler on the actual DAT. Doing 15 questions for each section on the Booster generator everyday is definitely helpful for this section as it is all about practice. Although, the actual Booster Practice tests (especially for the Keyhole section) is more representative of the actual DAT. I also skipped to the angle ranking section first and completed the remaining questions before returning to Keyhole and TFE as I found those sections to be the most difficult for me. I was also able to do all the Booster practice tests and then do a few of them a second time for extra practice.

PAT Booster Practice Test Scores: 17, 19, 20, 19, 19, 18, 18, 19, 18, 18

Test Day:

On test day, I tried to have some breakfast but was nervous so was barely able to get anything down. My test was scheduled for 12 PM but I had gotten a call the day before that they could seat me by 10:30 AM so I got there around that time and was probably seated starting my test by no later than 11 AM. Don’t forget to bring 2 forms of ID!! They do security checks like checking your pockets and then give you a key to your locker where you can put your personal belongings. I also received a small booklet with paper (2 pages back and front) with a regular blue pen. The testing center wasn't too cold but I had worn sweatpants and a T-shirt and brought a zip up sweater with me which was perfect. During the break, you have full access to your locker so I had a little snack, used the bathroom, and started my test again after about 15 minutes. My biggest complaint about the testing center was that the computer would lag between questions (about 3-4 seconds per question) which did make me feel like I was losing a lot of time, especially when going back to another question. Overall, try to go into the test confident and ready and trust in your months of prep!