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DAT Bootcamp Review
Our in-depth review of the DAT Bootcamp course, covering the key strengths and weaknesses that we found
DAT Bootcamp gets a ton of hype in the DAT prep space, with close to 90% of pre-dental students using their course to help them prepare. And we can see why. With an attractive price point, more practice material than any other prep company, and a comprehensive study plan, DAT Bootcamp has a ton of appeal on paper. But does it live up to the hype, and is it worth it? We cover our thoughts on just point that in this detailed review, where we lay out all the pros and cons.
Given that this is a long and detailed review, we’ve included jump-to links above for your convenience.
Video Review: Is The DAT Bootcamp Course Good?
In the video above, John (from the Test Prep Insight team) covers everything you need to know about the DAT Bootcamp prep course in under 10 minutes, including whether we think it’s worth it. Please continue reading our full written review below for more detail.
DAT Bootcamp Price & Course Options
Let’s get this review started by quickly discussing the different course options that Bootcamp offers, and how much they cost.
First, on the more budget side, you’ve got Bootcamp Pro, which costs approximately $520. This gives you access for 90 days to their primary study materials, including video lessons, practice tests, the study schedule, and just about everything else.
Then you’ve got the Bootcamp Plus package, which is the same as the Pro package, but kicks in 5 additional full-length practice tests and gives 180 days of access instead of 90 days. This more premium offering costs $920.
DAT Bootcamp practice problem video explanation
Putting these price tags in perspective, that’s slightly more than DATBooster, about the same cost as Kaplan, and hundreds less than the courses from Princeton Review.
All in all, Bootcamp is one of the more affordable options for DAT prep. It costs more than a prep book or Qbank, but is definitely on the more affordable end of full courses.
On that point, I would just briefly note that despite the pretty approachable price point, Bootcamp still frequently run sales and special promotions, and a lot of times you can find their two packages on sale, so be sure to check for coupon codes before buying.
DAT Bootcamp Course Overview (How It Works)
With the stage set, let’s next talk about how this course works. From a high-level, structural point of view, Bootcamp is sort of a massive library of study materials. You get video lessons, notes and cheat sheets, question banks, subject-specific tests, full-length tests, strategy guides, and a few other features.
Organizationally, this is all grouped by DAT subject – Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Perceptual Ability, Reading Comprehension, and Quantitative Reasoning.
DAT Bootcamp material is broken down by subject
The materials, apart from the full-length mock exams, are bucketed into these subject-based modules, and you access your study tools under each subject tab. Without any guidance, this would give it a sort of unstructured feel; however, overarching everything in the course is the study schedule.
As a staple of the course, DAT Bootcamp has created a study schedule that guides you through all of the study materials. It’s super nitty gritty and gives a day-by-day breakdown of exactly what you need to be completing, even including which days to rest. Honestly, it’s very, very thorough.
You follow this checklist-style study schedule and work your way through all of the materials in the course. An average day can take anywhere from 3 to 7 hours depending on how quick of a studier you are, what’s being covered, and just how deep you want to go that day.
The DAT Bootcamp study schedule
And that’s about it for the CliffNotes version. You take it day-by-day and work your way through the various features of the course, with the calendar being heavily back-weighted for full-length practice tests.
So that’s how the DAT Bootcamp course works. Next, let’s discuss the pros and cons of this course, at least as I see them. I’m going to give you four things that I really like about DAT Bootcamp, as well as two things I also wasn’t crazy about.
When evaluating courses, I usually try to provide three pros and three cons to help give a balanced review, but there’s really only two things I wasn’t crazy about with DAT Bootcamp. In any event, let’s get to those pros.
Awesome Practice Problem Video Breakdowns
The first strength of DAT Bootcamp’s package is their practice problem video breakdowns. For what seems like a majority of their practice questions, Bootcamp gives you a video breaking down the problem and explaining the solution. These videos also generally cover all answer choices.
PAT problem breakdown
Most other DAT prep companies only provide text explanations, which, when you’re dealing with complex chemistry questions and PAT problems, just don’t cut it. As such, these 2-3 minute videos explaining practice problems are awesome.
Dealer’s Choice Content Review
The second pro for me is the multiple angles from which you can review content. Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching, Bootcamp uses this cool structure of allowing you to review how you learn best.
For Biology, for example, you can get your content review by reading a condensed outline of high-yield Bio notes, reading a full-length digital text with graphics and diagrams, watching video lessons, or working practice problems (called Bio Bites) and reviewing the accompanying explanations.
Basically, it’s a dealer’s choice where you can pick your type of review based on whether you’re a visual learner, text-based learner, or an experiential learner.
Realistic Practice Tests
DAT Bootcamp’s practice tests are my third noted strength. In my opinion, Bootcamp has maybe the most realistic practice exams in DAT prep, even down to the interface.
Their mock exams look and feel just like the real Prometric exam, and the substance is on point. The questions are dead ringers for the difficulty, content and length of real problems. I seriously loved these practice exams.
So Much Study Material
Lastly, the final highlight of the Bootcamp program is the depth of coursework. There is simply a ton of study material offered here.
You get 13,000+ practice problems, 10 or 15 full-length mock exams (depending on which package you choose), hundreds of short video lessons, cheat sheets and notes, and other cool features like flashcards and quizzes.
DAT Bootcamp practice session
The depth of this curriculum is simply unparalleled in the DAT prep space. Therefore, if you want a really immersive experience, Bootcamp might be a great option.
What We Don’t Like About DAT Bootcamp
Alright, now that we have covered the positives, let’s talk about the negatives I have with this course (spoiler alert: there’s more positives than negatives).
No Live Classes Or Office Hour Sessions
My first noted weakness is that there are no live classes, or even live office hours for that matter. Everything in the Bootcamp course is on demand and self-paced. This means that there’s nothing really holding you accountable and keeping you organized.
Of course, the study schedule is intended to provide just that, however, it’s totally self-driven. Thus, if you’re the type of student that struggles to get motivated or stay committed on your own, Bootcamp might not a be a great fit. You might need a course with a fixed, live class schedule.
No DAT Prep Books
The other big thing I wasn’t crazy about is that there are no hardcopy prep books with this course. Everything is digital and accessible through the Bootcamp portal, which is cool and saves trees 🌲, but I do think there is a benefit to printed materials.
No written materials, just digital
You can highlight key points, drop in post-it notes, and you can haul your study materials to places where a laptop isn’t practical like the beach or a bus. I suppose I’d just like to see Bootcamp roll all their text-based materials, like notes, study guides and cheat sheets, into a comprehensive, printed textbook.
Verdict: Is DAT Bootcamp Worth It?
That about covers all of the detail that I wanted to touch on in this review, so let’s get to my final verdict. Is DAT Bootcamp worth it?
My answer to that question is – yes, without a doubt. DAT Bootcamp provides probably the most practical bundle of study materials I’ve seen. For those that don’t even know where to start, the study schedule gives you a ton of detailed guidance, and the materials themselves are on point.
The videos lessons, practice problems, explanations, notes, and everything else they offer is rock solid. Now, I do have a couple issues with this course around their lack of live class sessions and hardcopy prep books, but all in all, I think there’s a good reason why Bootcamp gets so much hype.
DAT Bootcamp is an all-around effective course at a very reasonable price point. There’s a reason why DAT Bootcamp takes the top spot on our list of best DAT prep courses of the year.
FAQ
How much is DAT Bootcamp?
DAT Bootcamp offers two packages, including a base level package called their Pro which costs around $520, and a more premium package called the Plus, which costs around $920.
DAT Bootcamp QR vs Real DAT: Is it close?
The DAT Bootcamp quantitative reasoning (i.e. math) practice questions are very close to what you’ll see on the real DAT. We found DAT Bootcamp’s problems to be a close match for content, difficulty, and length.
Is DAT Bootcamp worth it?
After using and thoroughly reviewing this course, I can say without a doubt that DAT Bootcamp is worth it. Between their video lessons, study notes, practice problems, and study schedule, there is a ton to like.
