Question Regarding Bio Section of DAT

[bluejay14]

On the CDA website, it says the following topics will be covered on the Biology section of the DAT:

"origin of life; cell metabolism (including photosynthesis); enzymology; cellular processes; thermodynamics; organelle structure and function; mitosis/meiosis; biological organization and relationship of major taxa (using the five-kingdom system: monera, planti; anamalia; protista; fungi); Vertebrate Anatomy and Physiology - structure and function of vertebrate systems (integumentary, skeletal, muscular, circulatory, immunological, digestive, respiratory, urinary, nervous/senses, endocrine, and reproductive); Developmental Biology - fertilization, descriptive embryology, and developmental mechanisms; Genetics: molecular genetics; human genetics; classical genetics; Chromosomal genetics; Evaluation, Ecology, and Behaviour: natural selection; population genetics/speciation; cladistics; population and community ecology; ecosystems; animal behaviour (including social)."

However many people have said that Cliffs AP Biology 3rd edition is sufficient for studying the biology portion. I noticed this book doesn't cover topics like the anatomy/physiology part. Could someone comment on this? Is Cliffs enough for the bio section? Are these topics simply not asked on the DAT usually? Am i okay just studying from the cliffs ap book? I also bought the Kaplan Blue Book. Should I look through the Bio section in this book as I go through the cliffs book? Any tips would be appreciated from someone who has succeeded in this section of the DAT

[Askmeanything]

I took mine couple of years ago and I can confirm that anatomy and physiology is on it. I studied using Cliffs but I also used MCAT bio to brush up on the vertebrate systems you listed. I can't remember if Cliffs cover ecology, population, animal behaviour, and etc but I remember reading some materials and taking notes on it. I say you study Cliffs mainly and use additional sources to study those topics not covered by Cliffs. Also, study wisely. Don't get stressed or overstudy a section because it's simply impossible. You will face questions on the DAT that you did not study for and cannot answer. In those times just use your science background and sound judgement to pick the best answer. Good luck!

[Dentistry101]

I took mine this Feb and did well on the bio section. Let me tell ya, no one will tell you when to stop studying when it comes to standardized tests. I only read Cliffs AP bio and took tests on datbootcamp. It's good to note that I'm also in a biomedical major so it helped a lot. Point is, I realized that majority of the questions that were asked were simple knowledge questions scratching the surface of each of these topics that the CDA mentioned. They will most certainly ask you at least one questions on each of the topics listed above. However, there seemed to be at least 4 questions that were extremely specific and didn't feel like they were of equal difficulty to the rest. Those questions will in no way be included in the ap cliff bio, or maybe some of them but I managed to answer a few only because I was taking a third year physiology and genetics class at the moment.

But the DAT standardized scale works in a way where your score really shoots up towards the highest percentiles. it's not linear. it would be like 22 if you get the 92nd percentile but 27/30 if you get 100th percentile.. so what I think is that the CDA is aware of those difficult questions and awards the ones that get all of them correctly a higher score than usual.

CONCLUSION!!!!

AP BIO will allow you to get up to the 92nd percentile, but studying a variety of other sources will take you the extra mile!

This is so subjective, so take it with a grain of salt and most importantly study the basics of all the topics mentioned under the CDA website.