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

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

Making both short term and long term study schedules and posting them within sight is crucial to DAT success. Study schedules are dynamic and never go exactly how you initially perceive them. That is why making short term study schedules are important. Short term schedules keep you focused and if done right can allow you to shift and rearrange topics depending on your needs. Be honest with your schedules, you have to respect the difficulty of the material and realize that going over the topics will take a considerable amount of time, especially for subjects you are weak in. The short term schedules are ultimately pushing you to stay on track of your long term schedule. You need to set deadlines to reach major study milestones. If you start falling behind these major milestones, you need to make one of two decisions: buckle down and try to catch up or schedule your DAT for a later date. Taking the DAT unprepared is not an option. I put my study schedules above my desk and they were sobering reminders of how much effort the DAT requires. Fear is a powerful motivator, but staying confident and determined is a must. Use your short term and long term schedules to evaluate your progress and make adjustments as you go. I took my DAT half a month later than I initially thought I would. My schedules allowed me to realize I would need those additional two weeks even before I scheduled my seat for the DAT.

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

Bootcamp was especially pivotal to my success in PAT and RC. For two and a half months I would use the PAT generators right before bed. The generators create an endless amount of novel PAT questions which continues to challenge you and forces you to build your PAT skills. In the mornings I would read the scientific articles Bootcamp suggests reading. The week building up to the DAT I went through all 5 complete tests. The tests built my stamina and allowed me to perfect my reading comprehension strategy. I owe my RC score to the tests in Bootcamp. The Bio, G-chem, and O-chem tests are fantastic at finding knowledge gaps and push you to better understand the topics. The QR portion taught me how critical it is to work fast and to never let my pace waiver. By working the Bootcamp tests I perfected my timing and become comfortable with the style of questions that the DAT poses.

What would you do differently to prepare for the DAT?

I regret not exercising when studying for the DAT. If I could go back, I would schedule at least an hour of exercise each weekend. Studying for many hours on end and many days back to back can be very stressful and even physically unhealthy. Jogging, playing basketball, soccer, or some other aerobically and cardiovascular intensive sport is a great way to release this stress and help keep your body toned and fit. Just one athletically intensive event each week can make you more consciences of your diet and the necessity to stay active. I honestly gained ten pounds during my studies. I hope other test takers can heed my advice and make their physical health a priority, even while studying – I wish I had.

I’m frequently on SDN and my username is: w4nt2baDDS – feel free to message me.

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

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