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How Hard Is The Dat?


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I'm writing my DAT in 2 weeks and I haven't really started studying yet because I was so busy with the school stuff...

I tried the bio practice questions from the DAT bootcamp and it says my estimate biology score 19 lol

I still have one more chance at it in November, but I'm so nervous because there's no guarantee that I will do any better in November.

 

I am kind of comfortable with the PAT section but I am very worried about the chemistry section because I can't remember a thing from the first year chem :( I don't think I'll have any time to study for chem because i have so many midterms. Is the chem/bio section fairly easy to guess if you have some basic knowledge?

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Of course more studying can't hurt you  :P

 

I did both Cliffs AP Biology and Cliffs AP Chemistry (omitting organic and other sections that weren't on the DAT)

 

The Chemistry section was really easy in my opinion although I had a decent chemistry background.

 

The questions are pretty broad-based so I think reading a review type book like Cliff's, Kaplan etc would help.

 

Best of luck!  

 

Just remember to fill out all the bubbles before the time is up.. At our test one girl ran out of time and didn't fill out her Scantron.  I've never felt so bad for anyone... 

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Not to be discouraging but I would seriously consider sitting out on the Feb DAT if you really haven't started studying yet. The bio and chem is straightforward for the most part sure, but if you want a high score you need to get the not-so-straight-forward questions right too. Keep in mind that to get a score in the mid-high 20s (or even low 20s) in bio and chem you can literally only get ~2-3 questions wrong, depending on the difficulty of your exam that day. On the other hand, you can get a LOT of questions wrong and still score 17-19... the scaling is not linear. I had about 5 months to study for the Nov DAT and I still found there were quite a few bio questions that were very random and there were definitely some tricky chem questions too. Though I scored 100%tile in bio and 99%tile in chem, I would hardly call it easy that you can guess the answers with basic knowledge. You're almost guaranteed to do better in Nov if you study properly for it as opposed to rushing it in 2 weeks, especially since there is literally no advantage of writing in Feb compared to Nov, especially if you are not prepared.

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Lol 2 weeks is plenty for most people to get competitive scores. But you know yourself. I would take it anyways since there is no penalty for a low score.

 

The poster above me studied for 5 months? Never met anyone who studied that long for the DAT lol

I used 3 months to study in the summer (around 2-4 hours a day on weekdays) and reviewed/did practice mostly during Sept and Oct when I was back in school. I know tons of people who did this and they all did extremely well. Personally I found that worked best for me, especially since I never really had to cram for the DAT or felt unprepared, so the associated stress was relatively low. I'm naturally bad at RC, if I were better at reading I probably would've used less time overall for sure.

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Not to be discouraging but I would seriously consider sitting out on the Feb DAT if you really haven't started studying yet. The bio and chem is straightforward for the most part sure, but if you want a high score you need to get the not-so-straight-forward questions right too. Keep in mind that to get a score in the mid-high 20s (or even low 20s) in bio and chem you can literally only get ~2-3 questions wrong, depending on the difficulty of your exam that day. On the other hand, you can get a LOT of questions wrong and still score 17-19... the scaling is not linear. I had about 5 months to study for the Nov DAT and I still found there were quite a few bio questions that were very random and there were definitely some tricky chem questions too. Though I scored 100%tile in bio and 99%tile in chem, I would hardly call it easy that you can guess the answers with basic knowledge. You're almost guaranteed to do better in Nov if you study properly for it as opposed to rushing it in 2 weeks, especially since there is literally no advantage of writing in Feb compared to Nov, especially if you are not prepared.

There is literally no downside to taking it now, already paid and aren't getting the money back.

 

Cram for 2 weeks and give it your all for 8hr days etc. And if you don't do as well as you need to, take it again in November and prep more

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Not to be discouraging but I would seriously consider sitting out on the Feb DAT if you really haven't started studying yet.

 

I'm kind of concerned about this now :(

Is there any disadvantage of re-writing the DAT after failing one? Or is there absolutely no drawback as most people say?

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I'm kind of concerned about this now :(

Is there any disadvantage of re-writing the DAT after failing one? Or is there absolutely no drawback as most people say?

For Canadian schools there is absolutely no draw back. If you ever plan on applying to US schools, they may look unfavourably at rewrites, as they do for the MCAT. However, if you're not applying to the top tier US schools, you really don't need that high of a DAT to get in.

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I used 3 months to study in the summer (around 2-4 hours a day on weekdays) and reviewed/did practice mostly during Sept and Oct when I was back in school. I know tons of people who did this and they all did extremely well. Personally I found that worked best for me, especially since I never really had to cram for the DAT or felt unprepared, so the associated stress was relatively low. I'm naturally bad at RC, if I were better at reading I probably would've used less time overall for sure.

Fair enough to each their own is my point. Maybe the op will be fine as is. Most people I know in my social group spend 2-3 weeks max and all scored very well or enough for Canada. Sample size is low but I'd say at least 15-20 people all who were fairly average students(none of the genius types).

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Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

I'm probably going to just write it with what I have from first year science. I wish I could spend the next 2 weeks studying but I have 4 midterms to study for :(

I have one more chance to write it in November so hopefully I'll be fine.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think many people are in the same situation. I have 3 midterms next week and am set to write this Saturday. I haven't really studied for the DAT however i did 2 practice tests for PAT, Bio and Chem and scored 19 in each. I'm planning to rewrite in November but figured I might as well see how this one goes. 

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For me PAT was the biggest learning curve... However once I got it, it became a lot easier for me.

 

If English is your native language I don't see how RC is such a big deal. I got 24 on RC with no preparation other than doing the CDA sample booklet

thanks! I was thinking that PAT seems to be more of a skill rather then memorization, I was thinking of taking a look at it near the end of summer break so I don't have to study so much during the term, since it doesn't seem like something you'd forget how to do entirely?

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For anyone who's written both-how much time would you recommend studying for the DAT (during undergrad, next Nov) having written the MCAT recently if you had 12/13 on those sciences? And how much time does PAT/RC stuff take?  

you'll score well above 25 for chem, bio if you want 25+ skim the blue kaplan book...bio is in more depth than mcat, though princton's bio i really enjoyed. PAT learn the little tricks and do 2 practice tests...you should be good (after all...you'll rather know it on the test or you won't...can't really prep much for PAT nor reading)

 

goodluck

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you'll score well above 25 for chem, bio if you want 25+ skim the blue kaplan book...bio is in more depth than mcat, though princton's bio i really enjoyed. PAT learn the little tricks and do 2 practice tests...you should be good (after all...you'll rather know it on the test or you won't...can't really prep much for PAT nor reading)

 

goodluck

thanks for the advice! Good to know about the bio section

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Bio section is all memorization based mostly unlike the MCAT. Get DAT destroyer for biol and chem. And chads videos for Chem but if you got 13 on PS you probably dont need it at all. Just don't make the mistake of not prepping at all and blow it haha! PAT is practice, natural ability comes into play as well for sure but Crack DAT pat will help a lot. Well worth it.

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And almost a year later isn't very recent but you know yourself best on how much you'll need to refresh :)

Yes I was thinking for along how would it compare in terms of prep time/difficulty to MCAT sciences-I worked full time when I did that but being in school during the DAT time seems way tougher. I was thinking to tackling PAT in late August and then brushing up on my sciences in october :)

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Lol 2 weeks is plenty for most people to get competitive scores. But you know yourself. I would take it anyways since there is no penalty for a low score.

 

The poster above me studied for 5 months? Never met anyone who studied that long for the DAT lol

I know lots of people who were successful only after studying for many many months. Don't knock it!!

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