The DAT Survey of Natural Sciences: Complete Guide (2026)

The Survey of Natural Sciences is the first and largest section of the DAT: 100 questions in 90 minutes. What makes it unusual is that it is not one subject but three, delivered back to back with no divider. Biology, General Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry all live inside this single section, and learning to pace across all three at once is a skill in its own right.

How the section is built

The 100 questions break down as 40 Biology, 30 General Chemistry, and 30 Organic Chemistry. They appear in that general grouping, but you control your own time across the whole section. There is no separate clock per subject, which means a slow start on Biology can quietly eat the minutes you needed for Organic Chemistry.

Pacing across all three subjects

With 90 minutes for 100 questions, you have just under a minute per question on average. The danger is spending too long early. A useful mindset is to move quickly through questions you know, flag anything that would eat more than 90 seconds, and come back if time allows. Do not let a hard genetics question in Biology cost you three easy Organic Chemistry points at the end.

1. 1
   Set rough time checkpoints.

   Know roughly where you should be at 30 and 60 minutes so you catch a slow pace early, not at question 90.
2. 2
   Answer everything you know first, flag the rest.

   There is no penalty for guessing, so never leave a question blank. Bank the easy points, then return to the hard ones.
3. 3
   Do not overspend on any one subject.

   A minute saved in Biology is a minute available for Organic Chemistry. Treat the 90 minutes as one shared budget.
4. 4
   Practice the full section timed.

   Drilling subjects separately is useful, but you also need reps at the real 100-question, 90-minute format.

How to study each subject

Each subject rewards a different approach. Biology is about broad coverage and retention, General Chemistry is about concepts plus no-calculator math speed, and Organic Chemistry is about reaction patterns rather than memorization. We have a dedicated guide for each:

How to study for DAT Biology · General Chemistry · Organic Chemistry

The best resources

DAT Booster and DAT Bootcamp both cover all three subjects with lessons, review notes, and large question banks, and either is a strong choice for the Survey of Natural Sciences. Because this section is content-heavy, a comprehensive bundle is the right tool. Natural Sciences is not our specialty; we focus on Reading Comprehension.

How this fits the whole test

The Survey of Natural Sciences is followed by the PAT, Reading Comprehension, and Quantitative Reasoning. See the full section breakdown for the whole picture.

A common mistake is pouring nearly all study time into these content subjects while neglecting Reading Comprehension, which is a trainable skill that often improves faster than another Biology pass. If RC is your weak section, that is frequently the quickest score to raise, and it is what we build for. See how to practice DAT RC.

Try our RC question bank free or see pricing.