How Malachi Balanced Post-Surgery Recovery with the DAT

To provide some context, I recently just got out of the hospital about three months ago. I was in the middle of my last semester trying to graduate Summa Cum Laude from Towson University in Towson, Maryland. I underwent routine inguinal hernia surgery, which became an 8-hour surgery, resulting in both my arms and right leg being temporarily paralyzed. I stayed in the hospital for eight days, learning to stand and walk again. Once I was discharged, I had a difficult time walking down the hallway. I used a walker for over a month before transitioning to a cane and struggled to perform basic tasks, like standing for 30 mins for meal prepping, sitting to use the bathroom, and climbing stairs. With the months of physical therapy, multiple CAT scans, and numerous follow-up appointments, I knew my time would be limited. I, like many, did not want to have to wait for another cycle to apply to dental school, so I came up with a plan that allowed me to balance work, my relationship, and recovery.

After missing four weeks of school, I knew I had to balance studying for the DAT, catching up in school (I was taking 16 credits), continuing my physical therapy, creating lesson plans for my students, and much more. I only used DAT Bootcamp to study for the DAT, and I used this program for seven weeks. I HIGHLY recommend only using DAT Bootcamp to study for the DAT; it is the only resource you need to do well on the DAT! I studied for 6-7 hours on Monday- Friday, while I worked on Saturday and Sunday or took that time off to relax and catch up on life.

For Biology, I watched all the videos in Bio Academy and took handwritten notes; then, I did the BioBite questions. At the end of the week, on Friday, I would reread all of these notes to ensure that I filled in any gaps in the content. I did this each week until the last two weeks when I completed four full-length practice exams and reviewed them thoroughly.

For General Chemistry, I watched all of Dr. Mike's videos and did each practice question twice. I also reviewed the content from the full-length practice exams I took. I scored around a 22 on my practice test in this section and believe I would have done better if my computer did not malfunction during my actual exam. Nevertheless, DAT Bootcamp will fully prepare you for this section on the DAT.

For Organic Chemistry, I only used DAT Bootcamp. I watched all of Dr.Mike's videos and reviewed the reaction sheet religiously. I recommend watching the SN1, SN2, E1, E2 videos twice if this is an area of weakness for you. I found that on the DAT, the questions were very straightforward! Everything I saw in the Organic Chemistry Sections was something I saw on DAT Bootcamp. If you know your reactions inside and out and understand the concepts, you can get a 30 in this section.

For reading comprehension, PAT, and QR, I used the practice exams to understand where I was lacking and adjusted accordingly. I saw multiple questions from the PAT section on DAT Bootcamp on my actual DAT exam. The QR section of Bootcamp overly prepares you for the actual DAT; I believe if I had spent more time in this section, I could have surely scored higher.

Without DAT Bootcamp, I would not have been able to score in the top 10% of test-takers. If I can do it, I know you surely can! Remember, the hardest part is getting started, but once you start, make sure you run!

Feel free to reach out at my Instagram page @malachiwright_pdds if you have any questions!