Meet Shane Radford, a happy DAT Bootcamp customer who recently conquered the DAT. I’ve asked Shane to share his DAT experience with us as the featured student of January.

What is one piece of advice you would give to another student preparing to take the DAT?

The most important thing is to give yourself ample time to study and organize a schedule. This test is going to determine the next four years of your life so you want to get it right. I would suggest you spend somewhere between 6-to-10 weeks to prepare, depending on your schedule. Also, I would not suggest completely focusing on one subject and then moving on to the next. Mix it up everyday so that everything remains fresh in your mind. Each week, I set goals for what I wanted to accomplish by the end of the week. In the last two weeks, I did practice tests. I tried to replicate the real testing environment as closely as possible, timing myself as you would be timed at testing center. Make sure you go over everything you miss and understand why! Near the end of my studies, I found myself putting in a lot less hours compared to the beginning. For me, this was an indication that I was getting to the point of being ready. I believed I knew all that I would no matter how much I kept studying.

For the QR section, be sure to skip problems that you may not be immediately able to answer; timing is of the essence. A lot of the QR problems are simple calculations and you should knock out those problems first and then come back to the more difficult ones. The last few days before my test date, I did content review for one subject each day. The day before my test I did not study besides looking over a few math formulas to keep them fresh in my mind.

How did you use DAT Bootcamp to prepare for the DAT?

I would do a different subject test each day after reviewing the content for that subject. Sometimes, I would take two. The questions on DAT Bootcamp are wonderful. I would always take the time to review both the questions I got correct and incorrect. I would make notes for all of the questions I missed so I could study them later when I reviewed. I would retake tests multiple times until I was able to answer every question correctly; this really helped me commit the questions and solutions to memory. I took the five reading tests in the final week before my test date. Bootcamp was the ONLY resource I used for studying for the reading section of the DAT and it paid off wonderfully.

What would you do differently to prepare for the DAT?

I would devote more time to studying for the PAT section. After taking the DAT, I realized I could have scored higher in this section if I took more advantage of the PAT subject tests provided by Bootcamp. I was expecting the image quality on the real DAT to be nicer, especially for the keyhole section. Bootcamp does a great job of reflecting how the real DAT’s image quality looks. Initially, the PAT section can be quite stressful when you start studying but do not give up. Practice truly does make perfect with this part of the test. Keep doing problems and you will get the hang of it. Also, I would become more familiar with the “one-third” folds on the hole punch section.

My score breakdown: 25 AA, 26 TS, 24 BIO, 25 GC, 29 OC, 26 RC, 23 QR, 21 PAT.

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