nataliemint Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Hey all,Has anyone written the DAT while they were in grad school/working full/over-time? I'm finishing up the first year of my Master's and am thinking of studying for the November DAT beginning of May. Sounds pretty early, but my program is so demanding that I think I'll really need it. I'll be taking a first-year English course May-August and then hopefully TAing starting September, so scheduling everything well and ahead of time will be a top priority.If anyone can give their input with regards to scheduling and materials they used (I already have a bunch from the first time I wrote the DAT, but will really have to prioritize this second time around), then that would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottawaliquid Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 I was working quasi-full-time (self-employed, realtor) and doing my undergrad (thesis year) while studying for the DAT I used Kaplan blue book, Cliffs AP Biology & AP Chemistry (skipping the organic and non-relevant sections) and Crack the Dat Pat Nothing more, nothing less. I didn't use the Kaplan Blue book very much.. just the test quizzes. I didn't really study for RC at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nataliemint Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Thanks for the replies ottawaliquid and malkynn! Quick question though: how early did you start preparing? I'm not sure if it's necessary for me to start 6 months ahead of time; maybe I should leave it to mid-end of summer to begin... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottawaliquid Posted April 28, 2015 Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 I didn't start until the week before: my uni had reading week the week before the DAT. I did start the PAT off and on, in September though as it was the only area I had a lot of difficulty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nataliemint Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 Hahah malkynn I wish I could pull that off! It would make life so much easier (and I could actually see the sun over the summer ). Thanks to you both for letting me know, though! I guess I need to have a bit more self-confidence in what I've retained from Nov 2013. We'll see I guess! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nataliemint Posted April 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2015 That's very true. The first time around I spent maybe about a month and a half studying for it, but that was full-time. Did decently, though I felt like I could've covered bio and chem better. It's really a matter of predicting how much time my project and this English course will take, which is difficult since my schedule tends to be all over the place depending on my experiments >.> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nataliemint Posted April 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Yeah times are definitely changing...I'll have to apply to the States too because of how competitive it's getting here (especially for OOP applicants). Better to be safe than sorry, like you mentioned. At least if I start studying earlier everything will be more fresh by the time I start doing hardcore reviewing and practice tests! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harkonnen Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 I studied for it while working fulltime (mon-fri, 9-6) and mainly did so on weekends for a week or two. But I had done the American version twice within a year to when I did the Canadian, so I didn't need to study as much. I used Gold Standard and Kaplan. I liked Gold Standard better for most subjects because it didn't go into needless details that I won't remember or have to use on the exam like Kaplan did. Sometimes less is more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SK404 Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adhocdds Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 I did my DAT while working full time, but took 1 week vacation before the test date to cram. It was my compromise between work and DAT, since I told myself I was only attempting the damn thing once. Used pretty much the same resources as SK404 (except no DAT bootcamp, load of mcat books, princeton/EK/kaplan) and the DAT destroyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nataliemint Posted May 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 Thanks everyone! Really appreciate the input. The materials I used the last time I wrote the DAT were pretty much the same as SK404, minus the DAT Bootcamp. I'll give that one a try!How early on did you start preparing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baywatch123 Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 Thanks everyone! Really appreciate the input. The materials I used the last time I wrote the DAT were pretty much the same as SK404, minus the DAT Bootcamp. I'll give that one a try! How early on did you start preparing? Just curious, what is SK404??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stethescope Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 Just curious, what is SK404??? A member's name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dentsmiles Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 Heyy guys, I was just wondering, did any of you take the DAT as a non-science major? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dentsmiles Posted May 20, 2015 Report Share Posted May 20, 2015 Yep. BA psych Yes!! I'm not the only one! Do you mind listing the resources you used for bio and chem? I know everyone says to use Cliff's but it seems a bit more like a summary to me if anything. Also did you have a science background going into it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dentsmiles Posted May 20, 2015 Report Share Posted May 20, 2015 I took only the basic sciences I needed to apply, so just select chem and bio classes. I didn't study from anything other than the little booklet they sent along with my soaps. Sorry, i'm not much help, but certainly you don't need more than a few intro science courses for the DAT, it's very basic material. No worries! And thank you! For now, I can't really take anymore science courses before the test, so I'm really just trying to find out good resources to study for it as a non-science major Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dentsmiles Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 Have you taken basic bio and chem? Yes I have, but that's about all I've taken! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Fried Blaziken Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 I did the DAT while working 30 hrs + undergrad classes, I also had my 1st year courses like 5 years ago..... However I found the DAT to be not bad at all really, I did Chad's videos for chem, and memorizing the Cliff's and Kaplan blue book for bio (still didn't help much for the actual test, it had some super random questions about coelacanths). I bought the PAT package from crack the DAT, and I thought I was overprepared for that section. I also got the reading package from crack the DAT, but I recommend against it as it prepares you for MCAT style verbal, whereas DAT verbal is purely speed-read and scavenge hunting, minimal preparation needed. Overall time 2 months, did 1 full day per week, did 2 days per week in the last 2 weeks. (so I guess only 10 days total....., but repetition over time is really helpful vs cramming) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.