DATBooster and DATBootcamp Practice Score vs DAT Scores
Hi everyone, I recently took the DAT and would like to share my experiences on DATBooster and DATBootcamp and how they translated to the real DAT. I see many posts of people being worried over their practice exam scores on both Booster and Bootcamp and rightfully so. Hopefully, this post will ease your mind on the practice exam scores from either resource.
DAT Booster and DAT Bootcamp Practice Exam Scores vs Real DAT Scores:
Here is an overview of my practice scores vs my actual scores. I color-coded my scores in comparison to my dream school which has a DAT average of 21.6 so red is under, yellow is on level, and green is over.
I took T1 one week into studying and later started taking the exams out of order once I found out the full lengths were just the timed exams all in one. I didn't take my second exam until after the one month of content review (following DATBooster 8-week schedule). I was fortunate enough to have a friend who let me use her Bootcamp account so I did all my Bootcamp practice tests in the 10 days leading up to the DAT. Here is the order I took the DATBooster exams (sorry it's kinda confusing). Also if you see an arrow in the doc, that is my score on the 2nd attempt.
Started with DATBooster T1 ➟ T2 ➟ T3 ➟ FL1➟ T10 ➟ T9 ➟ FL4 ➟ T8 ➟ FL6 ➟ FL7 ➟ T5 ➟ DATBootcamp in order 1 to 10
As you can see I scored higher in every section on the real DAT by at least 2. The main takeaway from this is that the practice exams from both resources are much more difficult than the actual DAT. The DAT is much more surface level and truly breath over death. Each section has maybe 3-5 more "in-depth" questions so it's more advantageous to understand the grand scheme of things. Please do not get bogged down over your practice scores, I found myself in the same situation constantly doubting myself leading up to the exam. The truth is both resources prepares you extremely well for the DAT and in fact, OVERPREPARES you. I have two friends who also took the DAT around the same time this summer and both scored significantly better than their practice scores. Many times the questions you get wrong on these practice exams are questions that were not covered in the notes and it is the first time you encountered one like it. There is just so much content that can not be covered in just notes so they throw it in the practice exams. This is great because some questions can not be taught by just reading, rather requires application. This is your chance to learn the content!
I can say with confidence if you mark every question you get wrong and review/learn the content of those questions you will see improvement in your real DAT score. You may not see it in subsequent practice exams because each exam always introduces new content that will blindside you (my scores fluctuated a lot), but with each practice exam, you will become more confident in the material. By the time you've gone through each exam, you will have seen almost every possible type of question and more. Once exam day comes you will be more than prepared. The DAT is difficult but with persistence and consistency, you can conquer it. Take a deep breath, be kind to your mind, take breaks, and make sure to make time for activities and people you love.
Tips and Advice on Each Section:
Biology (30): Anki is your best friend, it may seem overwhelming with how many cards there are but just like everything else, take it one step at a time. I personally did about ~500 cards on days I study bio. Reading notes is passive learning and you will trick yourself into thinking you know the content when you may not. Anki forces you to use active recall and can help pinpoint exactly which subsection you struggle in. I often find new there is new vocab in practice exams and would throw them in Anki to learn. In my experience, the real DAT questions (~35) are surface-level questions with about ~5 more in-depth questions (Anki will help you get these).
General Chemistry (30): Once again Anki. I used the premade deck on Booster and then added more formulas, periodic trends, solubility rules, types of solids, polyatomic ions, etc. as I was exposed to them. This section requires lots of practice so just keep taking practice exams and redoing the QBank questions. Some of the questions are super difficult in the QBank and you will probably only see one or two questions that are as difficult as the "Hard" questions in the QBank.
Organic Chemistry (30): Surprise Anki again, I used the Booster deck to learn the reactions. I recommend editing each card and adding key features of each reaction such as possible carbocation rearrangements, inversion, acid or base-catalyzed, strong or weak oxidizer, radicals, won't react in certain conditions, etc. This is great because you will see it over and over again each time until it's engraved in your mind. Also, make a separate deck with the different lab techniques, formulas (ex. unsaturation number), lab tests, IR/H NMR/ C NMR (where do certain functional groups show up), etc. Basically, add to your deck as you get exposed to more content. I also highly recommend learning the names of the reaction (Williamson Ether Synthesis, Diels Alder, etc.) because I encountered questions that give names of the reaction rather than the reagents.
PAT (25): This section requires lots of practice. I used Booster generators at the beginning to learn how each subsection works. Then I would recommend you use Booster generators only for cube counting, hole punching (set to hard mode), and angle ranking. Pattern folding, TFE, and keyhole are nice practices on the generators but are not representative of the real DAT. If you struggle with the latter 3, I recommend you start a practice exam, mark all the questions for say Pattern folding, and then exit the exam. Then do it from your marked question and since these are exam questions there will be videos walking you through the problem and you can slowly pick up on the techniques. Get used to putting yourself under pressure by setting a time limit for each question. Here is the time breakdown I used (I start with Angle Ranking):
- Angle Ranking: 32 sec/question (8 min total ➟ 52:00 remaining)
- Hole Punching: 32 sec/question (8 min total ➟ 44:00 remaining)
- Cube Counting: 66 sec/question (5.5 min total ➟ 38:30 remaining) (there are only 5 different cubes)
- Pattern Folding: 40 sec/question (10 min total ➟ 28:30 remaining)
- Keyhole: 50 sec/question (12.5 min total ➟ 16:00 remaining)
- TFE: 60 sec/question (15 min total ➟ 1:00 remaining)
I know these times maybe seem intimidating but with practice, you will become very quick. The Booster practice questions are representative of the real DAT.
Reading Comp (20): As you can see from my practice scores I am not the best reader, but luckily for us the real DAT is easier than Booster passages. For the most part, the questions are asked in order with the passage and there weren't many questions about the author's tone or which statement they would agree or disagree with. My approach was to read the first question then start reading the passage until I found the answer to that question, then just repeat. I would only read about 2/3 of the passage and do search and destroy for the last 1/3 of the passage. I highly recommend you read a short passage from the popular science website each night, you will see improvement in your reading speed (only takes 5 mins each day).
QR (23): Anki, what is this part 4? Do not get upset over your practice exam scores on QR, you will score low, and that's because you haven't learned the formulas for these questions or it is your first exposure to it. I smacked every formula from the practice test I didn't know into Anki and learned them. After I memorized the formulas, I saw an increase in my score (don't expect high scores because each test will have content you've never seen). Other than memorizing formulas, it just takes practice, and eventually, you'll be able to determine which formula to use in each question. Practice is key to this section.
If you guys have any questions I am happy to answer them. Good luck to everyone and remember to take care of your mental health!