Meet Seo Won Kim, a happy DAT Bootcamp customer who recently conquered the DAT. I’ve asked Seo Won to share her DAT experience with us as the featured student of March.

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

Before you start studying for the DAT, convince yourself that you can conquer it! If you are really motivated and willing to put in your time and effort, then you’ve already conquered half of the DAT. Next, try to mentally prepare yourself from day one of your studies. If your exam is scheduled in the morning, then wake up at least an hour earlier. Be consistent with when you wake up, when you go to sleep and how long you study for so your brain understands when it needs to be working at its peak. Also, make sure to give yourself a pat on the back at the end of each week of your study. You don’t want to drive yourself too crazy and get burnt out. Not only will you find your two/three months of studying frustrating and stressful but it could also be inefficient. If on a lazy day, you don’t feel like studying, then take that day off and do something fun! Also, like many advise, don’t get discouraged by what you get on your practice exams. Practice exams are for PRACTICE and the more you practice, the better you get. Keep practicing the problems and they will eventually come to you!

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

I came across DAT Bootcamp about two weeks before my exam and I wasn’t too happy with how I did on the first BC practice exam. I realized that I still needed more time to study so I ended up postponing my exam and I am really glad that I did. After I had rescheduled my exam date, my goal was to go through all five BC practice exams. I made sure to review the answers and understand what mistakes I made. What I did with GC and OC sections, which I found really helpful, is that I went through all the questions again by topic after completing all five practice exams. By reviewing questions this way, I was better able to understand the concepts from each topic and how those concepts tie in together and relate to each other. TIP: Make sure to understand the GC conceptual questions addressed in Bootcamp if you want an impressive GC score on your real DAT. Overall, BC practice exams are all amazing! I believe DAT Bootcamp is a must for those who are aiming for 20 and above!

What would you do differently to prepare for the DAT?

Many say RC section is luck of the draw with the passages you get, but it also depends on how much you practice with the strategy that works best for you. I started to panic when I realized that S&D method, which many people have found success with on the real DAT wasn’t working for me. I then tried different versions of modified S&D method and they still weren’t working for me at all. With only a few weeks left before my exam, I realized that the best thing to do is just to read the passage in full at my own speed and make sure that I understand them. My mentality was, “If I need to go back, then go back and reread! Don’t freak out. Remain calm.” If I had found out the strategy that works the best for me a little sooner and practiced with it more, then I believe I would have done a better job in RC.

My score breakdown: 24 AA, 28 TS, 24 BIO, 30 GC, 29 OC, 19 RC, 19 QR, 23 PAT.

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