How Angela Used Ari's Study Schedule to Ace her DAT

Meet Angela Adhikari, a happy DAT Bootcamp customer who recently conquered her DAT retake. I’ve asked Angela to share her DAT retake experience with us.

What did you change while studying for the DAT a second time that led to an improvement in your score?

My first piece of advice is to give yourself plenty of time for the test. The first time, I ended up pushing it back only a week and wasn’t comfortable with the timing at all. I also followed a 6 week study guide online. While that may work for some, it definitely didn’t work for me and left me feeling more stressed and anxious. The second time, I followed Ari’s study schedule and tailored it for my 12 weeks of studying that I allocated for myself. If I spent more time on reviewing material or something, I knew that I would be OK in terms of meeting my “study deadlines.”

I know on the guide it talks about reviewing EVERY concept after taking practice tests or solutions, and I took that to heart this time around and really think my score improved because of it. Even if I completely understood the question and why my answer was correct, I went back to my Chad’s video notes or Mike’s notes to review the concepts. This is the most valuable way to increase your score. The first time, I only reviewed when I didn’t understand the question or forgot key concepts.

What challenges did you face while preparing for your retake, and how did you overcome them?

Since my retake was over the summer, I was fortunate that most of my challenges were purely mental. I put a lot more stake in this test given the fact that it was my 2nd attempt. There were days that I felt pressured to meet up to my own expectations. Acknowledging my day-to-day successes gave me the confidence to move past those blocks.

What advice do you have for other students currently studying to retake the DAT?

Finally, I would HIGHLY recommend that students use the DAT Bootcamp. I strongly believe that the value of the program is far beyond what it costs. Similar prep classes cost upwards of $1000 and don’t offer the things that Bootcamp does. If anyone’s on the fence about it, I’d recommend doing the free generators and practice test available online to see if it’s for you. Secondly, I’d reiterate about timing. Be sure and give yourself plenty of time with as few of distractions for your test.

As a side note, I had to supplement Cliff’s with Kaplan Blue book for the major systems like Urinary, digestive, etc. Other than that, I followed the schedule pretty closely.