How Moloud Took Just 2 Weeks to Study for the DAT

Moloud only had her winter break to study for the DAT, but was still able to do well--we reached out to Moloud to ask her a few questions on how she did it.

1. How did you begin preparing for the DAT knowing you only had two weeks to study?

I took my last final exam on Dec 20th and knowing I have only 2 weeks to study, there was no time to waste. I had to change my traditional study system to something that gives a higher yield in a short amount of time.

Here are some strategies that worked for me:
- First off, I accepted the fact that 2 weeks is not enough time, and I should not care about the results no matter what! (just to take the pressure off)
- There was no time to create my personal schedule, so I studied 4 days worth of material on Ari’s schedule in 1 day by giving priority to biology and chemistry
- Reviewed and practiced as much as I could every day even if that meant, for example, 15 min of PAT
- Followed a routine to make my study effortless
- Went through each subject as fast as I could and invested more time in practicing
- Minimized note-taking and colour coding. Instead, invested time in active learning by making comparison tables and charts (highly recommended)
- Had a light meal for lunch and a healthy meal for dinner
- Took fewer snack breaks to avoid distraction

2. How did you manage the stress of studying for the exam in a short period of time?

There are a lot of things you need to know for DAT and what stressed me out the most was “how can I possibly fit everything into a 2-week schedule?” To cope with my stress I had to shift my focus from the whole picture to my daily schedule. So, I focused on what I needed to learn that day rather than thinking about how many chapters are left and will I make it or not. I went all in and didn’t waste time doubting myself.

Also as a perfectionist, it was hard to skip over some materials and prioritize the important ones. Knowing there are a lot of materials and details was stressful. So, I set daily goals that would cover 80-90% of what I actually needed to know and avoided all the unnecessary details.

3. What was your favorite part of DAT Bootcamp?

Many people asked me what resources I used. I only had time for one and it was DAT Bootcamp. What I loved about this platform is you can tailor it based on your need. It has a lot of great high yield notes for those who are on a time crunch like me and also a lot of complementary resources for those who have more time to invest in studying.

Being on an intense study schedule, my favourite features about DAT Bootcamp were their organized notes, fast response, high yield bio notes, question sorting system (mastered, reviewing, learning), and lastly the estimated times for each tutorial video was helpful to quickly decide how much time I need to invest for each section on that day.

I am a second language speaker and did it, so can you!