Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Preparing for the DAT

The first question many people ask about the DAT revolves around the amount of time one should devote to do well on this exam. Some people like ten-week schedules that involve six to eight (or more) hours a day, and others like to space it out over a longer period of time.
Studying for the DAT is different for everyone, but I opted to devote my six month co-op as the time for getting down to the grind. I will be honest and say that the first two months were somewhat productive, as I trickled into the library after a nine hour day at work, but I didn't really efficiently studying. However, as July slowly crept to September, I maintained a schedule that ensured that I would cover all of content in order to practice for two months leading up to my exam.

Typically, I would spend four hours a day during a weekday and devoted my weekends to the grind. I rose at 6am and got to the library by seven to get in around 1-1.5 hours of studying. After I got back from work, I would eat dinner, attend club meetings, and then study from 8 to 11. Then I would go the gym, take a shower, and sleep. This doesn't mean I consistently churned out these hours, but I tried my best to stay at the library and follow this schedule. There were definitely weeks that weren't as productive as I would have liked them to be and distractions that deterred me from my schedule, but eventually, i would get back and plug out content and problems.

I will be reviewing the materials I used after I take my exam in January, but here are some pros/cons of studying during a co-op cycle:

1. Motivation
I'm not sure what your full-time job will entail but working at a dental implant company really motivated me to study after work.

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