Help! Need Advice As A Non-Science Major Taking The Dat!

[dentsmiles]

Hey guys!

 

I’ve browsed the forum quite a bit to look at the resources recommended for the DAT. It seems that for biology, most people recommend Cliff’s (or Feralis) and for chemistry, most people recommend Chad’s videos.

 

However, I was wondering if Cliff’s is enough to study for the biology section for a non-science major. I have taken first year biology and first year chemistry, but that was a long time ago (in my first year, which was about 3 years ago), so I have a tiny bit of background, but not much. I skimmed through Cliff’s and it mostly seemed like an outline or summary of something more. I was wondering if you guys think Cliff’s alone is literally enough to study from for bio for a non-science major, and if not, what else I should use. Also, I’d be forever grateful if any non-science major that has taken the DAT would explain what resources they used for the biology section, or if anyone else has suggestions as well.

 

Thank you so much for your inputs!!

[dentsmiles]

Bumping for responses! Anyone have any insight on this?

[dentistry<3]

no book is enough for the bio section (if your lucky on your test date you would have at least seen all the words on the bio qs).

-cliff for me was way too much in depth and stupid to read. mcat princton's bio was absolutely amazing! i loved it. so easy to read and you hardly get bored. i sometimes did like 4-5 sections a day (physiology sections since they were the easiest for me). chem anybook is good...even kaplan's blue book should be enough.

 

imo read the princton bio and kaplan bio and chem. you should be set for the exam (this is least number of books to read with the most information) believe me i've ready almost any book out there lol

[dentsmiles]

no book is enough for the bio section (if your lucky on your test date you would have at least seen all the words on the bio qs).

-cliff for me was way too much in depth and stupid to read. mcat princton's bio was absolutely amazing! i loved it. so easy to read and you hardly get bored. i sometimes did like 4-5 sections a day (physiology sections since they were the easiest for me). chem anybook is good...even kaplan's blue book should be enough.

 

imo read the princton bio and kaplan bio and chem. you should be set for the exam (this is least number of books to read with the most information) believe me i've ready almost any book out there lol

 

Thank you so much for the reply!! I'll definitely look into Princeton bio now. I'll use Chad's and Kaplan chem for chem - thank you so much! 

[themanoncampus]

I took the DAT after only completing my first year of uni (w/ 1st yr bio and chem under my belt only for sciences) in November a couple years back and got a 21 on my AA. Out of all the resources, I thought Princeton was the best for BIO--enough info and consice. If you know anyone who could give you notes for genetics, prokaryotes (and plants/phys??) that would be optimal because a lot of that stuff is tested on the DAT but not in much of the prep books to a great degree. Hope that helped.

[marwii]

To be honest, the chemistry stuff was mostly like challenging but highschool level, with some being first year uni chem (lots of combining stoich, balancing equations, quite a bit of calculations I'd say). So just do a lot of practise questions and make sure you can do them fast! I barely finished and didn't even check over --- got 25 on this section in the feb 14 DAT.

 

As for bio, I don't think the readings and whatnots I did were THAT useful... sure it was a review of prior topics, but I still had terms I have never seen before in my life and questions on topics I am positive were never part of the curriculum. However, most of it was straight forward and you either know it or you don't, and memorizing the entire glycolysis/CAC/photosynthesis for the 2 questions on there doesn't really make sense. I do seem to recall some physiology/anatomy questions, which I'd say were the ones I didn't learn yet in my uni courses. (I think I got 23 or 24 on bio...)

 

So my suggestion would just to do lots of practise questions and remember those answers.

[dentsmiles]

I took the DAT after only completing my first year of uni (w/ 1st yr bio and chem under my belt only for sciences) in November a couple years back and got a 21 on my AA. Out of all the resources, I thought Princeton was the best for BIO--enough info and consice. If you know anyone who could give you notes for genetics, prokaryotes (and plants/phys??) that would be optimal because a lot of that stuff is tested on the DAT but not in much of the prep books to a great degree. Hope that helped.

Wow thats 2 recommendations for Princeton bio, I'll definitely check it out! How did you guys even know to look that up if its for the MCAT? Or is this like Cliffs (for SATs) but made by Princeton? And thank you so much, I really appreciate it!????

PS congrats on a great AA score, especially for right after first year????

[dentsmiles]

To be honest, the chemistry stuff was mostly like challenging but highschool level, with some being first year uni chem (lots of combining stoich, balancing equations, quite a bit of calculations I'd say). So just do a lot of practise questions and make sure you can do them fast! I barely finished and didn't even check over --- got 25 on this section in the feb 14 DAT.

 

As for bio, I don't think the readings and whatnots I did were THAT useful... sure it was a review of prior topics, but I still had terms I have never seen before in my life and questions on topics I am positive were never part of the curriculum. However, most of it was straight forward and you either know it or you don't, and memorizing the entire glycolysis/CAC/photosynthesis for the 2 questions on there doesn't really make sense. I do seem to recall some physiology/anatomy questions, which I'd say were the ones I didn't learn yet in my uni courses. (I think I got 23 or 24 on bio...)

 

So my suggestion would just to do lots of practise questions and remember those answers.

Wow those are amazing scores despite the fact that there were Qs you've never seen before! Thank you so much for the advice, I'll def do a lot of practice Qs and add to my notes! Also, do you mind me asking what resources you used to learn the material and what resources you used for practice? So far i got some IQ pubs, Kaplan and DAT destroyer

[Tdent]

For me cliffs ap bio was definitley my go to for the biology section and chads videos for chemistry. Once I went through all of cliffs and all chads videos I did the dat destroyer questions. I ended up scoring 25 in bio and 21 in chemistry neither of which I am super strong at.

[dentsmiles]

Thank you so much dubs I'll def be using Ciff's to fill in all the gaps in my notes

[nizzyr]

This is what worked and didn't work for me. 

 

BIO:

I was a biology major, so all I really wanted was to review the material. I used the Kaplan blue book and DAT destroyer. I also used the DAT bootcamp tests, and found that the questions on the test looked a lot like the ones they had. The Kaplan book is by no means sufficient for test prep, I wouldn't recommend it. DAT destroyer was great. It had very detailed questions, but it really helped me understand and consolidate material. 

 

CHEM: DO NOT use the Kaplan blue book. I had to spend a lot of time re-studying chemistry because of how little it taught me. Some formulae they have given are downright wrong. I used the Princeton review (MCAT), which saved my life. I took detailed notes and got all the theory down. Then I used the DAT bootcamp tests, and they were extremely helpful. DAT destroyer was (in my opinion) harder than what I saw on the test. However, it really helped me understand what I was doing wrong. Just don't feel bad if you don't get everything right on it 

 

DO NOT USE Crack DAT for the science section. It will make you want to pull your hair out. Complete waste of time. 

 

PAT: This was my biggest fear when I began preparing for the test. I used Crack DAT and DAT bootcamp to prepare for it. Crack DAT is representative of the test more so than DAT bootcamp in terms of difficulty. BUT, DAT bootcamp was unbelievably helpful. It trains you to be confident by making you practice material that is slightly more difficult than what you'll be tested with. I highly recommend it. Read their solutions, and keep practicing   I went in to the test feeling like I could make it.

 

RC: I used DAT bootcamp, but thought it was much more difficult than the actual test. I also used Crack DAT, which was a little bit more representative of the test. I read quite fast, so I didn't really do much prep for this...

 

So I guess my conclusion is:

 

Crack DAT for PAT and RC ONLY

DAT bootcamp will help you SO MUCH

Don't use the Kaplan blue book

Use Princeton review for chem

DAT destroyer optional.

 

Good luck with your studying!

[dentsmiles]

 

This is what worked and didn't work for me. 

 

BIO:

I was a biology major, so all I really wanted was to review the material. I used the Kaplan blue book and DAT destroyer. I also used the DAT bootcamp tests, and found that the questions on the test looked a lot like the ones they had. The Kaplan book is by no means sufficient for test prep, I wouldn't recommend it. DAT destroyer was great. It had very detailed questions, but it really helped me understand and consolidate material. 

 

CHEM: DO NOT use the Kaplan blue book. I had to spend a lot of time re-studying chemistry because of how little it taught me. Some formulae they have given are downright wrong. I used the Princeton review (MCAT), which saved my life. I took detailed notes and got all the theory down. Then I used the DAT bootcamp tests, and they were extremely helpful. DAT destroyer was (in my opinion) harder than what I saw on the test. However, it really helped me understand what I was doing wrong. Just don't feel bad if you don't get everything right on it 

 

DO NOT USE Crack DAT for the science section. It will make you want to pull your hair out. Complete waste of time. 

 

PAT: This was my biggest fear when I began preparing for the test. I used Crack DAT and DAT bootcamp to prepare for it. Crack DAT is representative of the test more so than DAT bootcamp in terms of difficulty. BUT, DAT bootcamp was unbelievably helpful. It trains you to be confident by making you practice material that is slightly more difficult than what you'll be tested with. I highly recommend it. Read their solutions, and keep practicing   I went in to the test feeling like I could make it.

 

RC: I used DAT bootcamp, but thought it was much more difficult than the actual test. I also used Crack DAT, which was a little bit more representative of the test. I read quite fast, so I didn't really do much prep for this...

 

So I guess my conclusion is:

 

Crack DAT for PAT and RC ONLY

DAT bootcamp will help you SO MUCH

Don't use the Kaplan blue book

Use Princeton review for chem

DAT destroyer optional.

 

Good luck with your studying!

 

Wow thank you so much for the detailed tips nizzyr! Yeah, I definitely can't use Kaplan for content b/c I don't have enough background to fill in the gaps and get all the random Qs on the DAT. I'll definitely use Destroyer though, I've heard a lot of positive feedback on that. Thank you again!!