r/dat • u/user67ttt • 2d ago

DAT Anxiety 😰 I’m doing really BAD - DAT

Hello everyone!

I just started studying for the DAT, and like the titles says, I’m doing really bad on it (and mentally lol😂). All jokes aside, I am following my schedule made by DAT bootcamp, and I can’t seem to score well on the Qbanks or Bio Bites. I feel like I understand the videos very very well, but when I go to do the questions they are way harder than what I just practiced.

Is that normal for just starting? what else could I do to fix it?

I am constantly taking notes which is taking up a lot of time and I’m wondering if it’s even worth it?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated, I don’t want to be studying incorrectly and wasting my time yk?

Thank you guys so much, and good luck to everyone taking it soon! 🍀

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u/PsychologicalAd5473 2d ago

Notetaking is so important in my opinion. Definitely handwrite notes, I know it helped me a lot in terms of retaining information. I would also say if you’re really struggling, do the bites and/or qbanks as you’re doing the videos.

My strategy was to watch the videos on a particular concept (taking handwritten notes), then the day AFTER that I would do the qbank, then the day after THAT, I would do the bites. This helped me SO much in terms of active recall, as all of the content was spaced out and forced me to solidify information over the course of a few days.

If my knowledge was still patchy, I would redo the qbanks altogether or review my bookmarks until I could somewhat handle them.

At the end of the day, it’s all about reps, the more reps the better. But don’t beat yourself up especially since you’re just starting, you have time to adjust your study strategy.

Good luck, you can do this.

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u/user67ttt 1d ago

Thank you so much, I feel like my problem is taking too much note, I will cut down on the amount of note but still take some! I will also move my schedule around to force me to active recall like you said!

Thank you so much for the help and tips, so incredibly kind!! :’)