How Kira Utilized Bootcamp to get a 28 AA

Meet Kira, a happy DAT Bootcamp customer who recently conquered the DAT. I’ve asked Kira to share her DAT experience with us as the featured student of November.

What is one piece of advice you would give to another student preparing to take the DAT?

I think one thing that made the biggest difference in my score was uninterrupted study time. Unfortunately, I fell off of my study schedule track and was several weeks behind. I was studying for the DAT during the spring semester of my junior year, and on top of studying, I was still a full time student and participated in extracurriculars, research, etc. Luckily, I had budgeted for this and had two weeks where I did nothing else but study, from the time I woke up until the time I went to sleep. It was during these two weeks that I made the greatest jumps simply because I was so focused. To summarize, the one piece of advice I have is to study smarter, not harder: anticipate your own shortcomings and habits, and try to really focus when you’re studying so you don’t need to spend extra time reviewing something that you blankly watched a video of but didn’t really absorb. If possible, try to clear your schedule the two weeks before your exam so you can focus solely on the DAT. Oh, and also don’t forget to sleep and have some way to destress!

How did you use DAT Bootcamp to prepare for the DAT?

I utilized all of DAT Bootcamp’s resources, which were incredibly helpful, and only modified the schedule a little: I spaced out the full length tests a bit more. From the 10-week schedule to the practice tests to the videos, DAT Bootcamp has everything you need. If I had to choose only one resource to use to study for the DAT, it would definitely be Bootcamp! Also, the question format for all sections is very similar to the real DAT. This is really important because the DAT isn’t just about having all the knowledge – you also need to know how to take the test itself.

What would you do differently to prepare for the DAT?

I would have started studying biology earlier, and used Anki decks or something to help retain the knowledge. Memorization is not my strong suit, and it would have helped if I didn’t cram all of that bio knowledge into the last few weeks.