How Madison Got a 30 in Biology

Hi everyone! I took my DAT on 02/13/2024, and I wanted to share my breakdown for everyone that is currently studying for the DAT because I know it can be a stressful time! I studied for 2.5 months and I only used DAT Bootcamp to study.

Actual Scores:

PAT: 23

QR: 24

RC: 23

BIO: 30

GC: 24

OC: 25

TS: 26

AA: 25

Background:

I took the DAT just after my winter break of my Junior year. I started to study at the end of fall semester (beginning of December - Feb. 11). I am a biology major, so I took intro bio courses, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry before I took the DAT. I definitely needed refreshed on gen chem and ochem because I felt like I forgot practically everything. I also haven’t taken a math course since high school, so I was rusty on math too. I followed Ari’s study guide pretty consistently, but I tweaked it around my finals, so I wasn’t studying that much during finals week.

PAT 23 (Bootcamp Range: 20-21)

Going into the test, this was the section I was most nervous about, especially because one hour for 90 questions is not a lot of time. From the beginning, I tried to do 20 questions of each section every day. Practice is KEY for this section. I could not rank angles for the life of me, so I tried to make up for it by really nailing down cube counting and hole punching. I also recommend trying to go through the test in different orders, it didn’t work for me but I know that worked for a lot of other people. Also, after each practice test I looked at the time breakdown to see which sections I was struggling with for time, and I think that helped me know what to focus on. I think the question banks on Bootcamp were more difficult than the actual DAT, so use those to practice as much as you can.

QR 24 (Bootcamp Range: 18-22)

Definitely do not put off studying for this section because you think it will be a breeze because that is what I did, and when I started taking full length tests it was consistently my lowest scoring section. I haven’t done math in awhile, so I was definitely rusty. I watched the video explanations and did all the practice questions. I tried to focus on learning question types and how to attack each question, which saved me time. I tried to do 10-20 practice problems a day. If I missed something, I focused on why I got it wrong. I recommend utilizing the equations cheat sheet they provide on bootcamp, and memorize the equations there.

RC 23 (Bootcamp Range: 20-28)

Reading Comprehension is pretty straight forward. The most important thing is to figure out what method works for you. I read the first couple paragraphs to get an idea about what the passage was about, and then I did search and destroy, which seemed to work for me. One of my passages had 22 paragraphs, which kind of threw me off. The timed practice tests on bootcamp helped me practice, so I recommend doing all of those.

BIO 30 (Bootcamp Range: 20-25)

I have a pretty good background in bio since I’m a biology major, but I was worried because I didn’t take physiology before taking my test. I am a visual learner, so watching the videos on bootcamp was the easiest way for me to learn the material. After each practice test, I went through every question again. I focused primarily on the questions I bookmarked and got wrong. I also reviewed the answer choices for the questions I missed. I think this was a great way to review a lot of topics at once. I reviewed the High-Yield Bio Notes too, and went read through those probably twice before my test date. There is so much information and they could ask you practically anything in this section, so reviewing the practice tests is super important. There were some similar questions that I saw on Bootcamp. Also, I felt the questions on bootcamp were more challenging than the ones on the actual dat.

GC 24 (Bootcamp Range: 19-26)

I was SO worried about gen chem because I felt like I forgot practically everything I learned my freshman year of college, but Dr. Mike’s videos were SO beneficial. I watched all of Dr. Mike’s videos and took notes. I also recommend making “cheat sheets” for each chapter. I pretty much just wrote down the key points of each chapter. I recommend looking at the breakdown bootcamp gives you after each test, so you know what types of questions you need to focus on. There were probably 5-7 math questions on my exam.

OC 25 (Bootcamp Range: 20-23)

I watched all of Dr. Mike’s videos, and memorized all the reactions. I recommend learning the mechanisms too because if you are stuck on a question drawing out the mechanism can help. I used the anki deck to memorize all the reactions. I took notes over each chapter. Repetition is key for memorizing the reactions. I reviewed all the questions on the practice tests that I took. The video explanations helped me a lot for this section.

Overall, Bootcamp prepares you so well for the DAT. There was nothing on my test that I haven’t seen before. Practice problems and understanding why you got questions wrong is essential! Everyone is different and will struggle with different sections, so be sure to practice a lot for sections you are struggling with. Studying for the DAT is stressful and overwhelming, so make sure you have a good support system and take care of yourself! You got it, and it will all be worth it in the end!