Taking the Dat in July

[RedDevil202013]

Hello everyone!
I have a small question regarding the DAT and application process. I'm finishing my winter semester for my Junior year this may and going on a 10 week study plan before taking the DAT mid July. Is that late? I asked some of the dental admission officers and they said that I'll be fine as long as I apply around a week or two before taking the DAT. Will my chances to get in be effected? Thanks in advance!

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[FeralisExtremum]

I don't think it's too late (make sure you give schools your unofficial scores as soon as you take the test if they accept them!), but definitely have the rest of your application submitted and ready to go so that when the schools receive your scores they can process your application immediately, instead of having to wait on AADSAS to process your application for weeks after you take it. Keep in mind there is some delay between when you take the DAT and when your 'official' scores are sent out.

 

[Incis0r]

Mid-July is fine. Interview waves REALLY started last week of August if I remember correctly. So taking the DAT in mid-July puts you in a fine position. Just study hard and knock it out of the park!

 

[Faefly]

I might take it in July as well. I hope it's not gonna be late for us by then, best of luck. I think the main thing right now is to do well in the rest of your semester and try your best at the DAT.

 

[TLV-TUS]

I took it late August and I was ok, I applied well before I took the DAT. Schools got the official scores around mid September while some schools took forever to process others were very quick. Indeed some schools were able to accept unofficial scores and move forward with the application. Make sure you finish your AADSAS application before you even begin your 10 weeks DAT marathon, it can easily drain your time otherwise.
Good luck!

 

[Faefly]

I took it late August and I was ok, I applied well before I took the DAT. Schools got the official scores around mid September while some schools took forever to process others were very quick. Indeed some schools were able to accept unofficial scores and move forward with the application. Make sure you finish your AADSAS application before you even begin your 10 weeks DAT marathon, it can easily drain your time otherwise.
Good luck!

can you please help us with more information, how many schools did you apply too
which schools were fast and which schools were slow
which school gave you a chance and which schools ignored you
do you mind telling us your dat scores or an estimate ( did you get a high DAT with good gpa that will make them favor you even if you were late)

what do you mean to finish the AADSAS application before the 10 weeks DAT marathon, I was under the impression that if you applied without dat scores, schools will not wait too long for your dat and you will miss your chances, and some people said apply before the dat in a week or so.

 

[TLV-TUS]

can you please help us with more information, how many schools did you apply too
which schools were fast and which schools were slow
which school gave you a chance and which schools ignored you
do you mind telling us your dat scores or an estimate ( did you get a high DAT with good gpa that will make them favor you even if you were late)

what do you mean to finish the AADSAS application before the 10 weeks DAT marathon, I was under the impression that if you applied without dat scores, schools will not wait too long for your dat and you will miss your chances, and some people said apply before the dat in a week or so.

I scored 20 aa 21 ts 22 pat. I had about 6-7 weeks to prepare. I applied to 19 schools and I can tell you that some private ones were quick and some were slow, very slow. Same goes to public ones... some schools are yet to contact me and some schools work in a wsy that you need to call and make sure they updated your file(UNLV) and did it right (Nova and LECOM ie). UMB were fairly quick and also UWSOD.

I mean that the application process is very time consuming and you want to know that it's all ready to go before you start preparing for the DAT, since you want to focus on that. Putting all your grades and classes could take a whole day, chasing LOR's could be annoying and require going to the office if emails don't work, PS is extremely important and I had about four drafts until it was done... to sum it up... you don't want to have to deal with it during your preparation or after your DAT.
If you do so, you WILL get a bunch of seconderies from schools that automatically send them out, don't worry about it too much nor get too excited, use it to motivate you to well on your DAT and during breaks from DAT prep you could work on them.
On my cycle I can testify that mail out from AADSAS is on Fridays, same for when your DAT scores are submitted and after academic update. Always on Friday... my DAT scores were uploaded on a Friday and mailed out the following friday.
I hope that answers everything for you, feel free to AMA , I have some free time until school starts

 

[dentalabscessed]

Mid-July is just fine, but finish your application before you begin studying for the DAT. I can't stress this enough! Personal statement, letters, etc.. have them all ready! I made the mistake of juggling the DAT (taken July 19th) and struggling with an essay/worrying about getting LOR in on time. In the end, I couldn't handle both at the same time so I did the DAT first and focused on the personal statement after, which bumped me back a month. Transcripts got delayed 4 weeks because I was a ******* and forgot to send one in from a community college I attended in a summer. Then delayed another 4 weeks because I forgot about a second community college I attended for college credit during high school. Supplementals rolled around late September. Had 8 interviews from mid-December to the first week of March, and got into 5 schools. Your chances won't be affected as long as you prepare everything on your application before the DAT. And even if you royally mess up like I did, you still have good chances.

 

[RedDevil202013]

Mid-July is just fine, but finish your application before you begin studying for the DAT. I can't stress this enough! Personal statement, letters, etc.. have them all ready! I made the mistake of juggling the DAT (taken July 19th) and struggling with an essay/worrying about getting LOR in on time. In the end, I couldn't handle both at the same time so I did the DAT first and focused on the personal statement after, which bumped me back a month. Transcripts got delayed 4 weeks because I was a ******* and forgot to send one in from a community college I attended in a summer. Then delayed another 4 weeks because I forgot about a second community college I attended for college credit during high school. Supplementals rolled around late September. Had 8 interviews from mid-December to the first week of March, and got into 5 schools. Your chances won't be affected as long as you prepare everything on your application before the DAT. And even if you royally mess up like I did, you still have good chances.

Thank you for the reply! I have a question, I am planning to be shadowing/volunteering while studying for the DAT (I wanna do something outside of studying everyday for 10 weeks!) How would I go about adding those to the application before applying?

 

[RedDevil202013]

I might take it in July as well. I hope it's not gonna be late for us by then, best of luck. I think the main thing right now is to do well in the rest of your semester and try your best at the DAT.

Yea the DAT is gonna be a rough road, we can do it tho!

 

[RedDevil202013]

I scored 20 aa 21 ts 22 pat. I had about 6-7 weeks to prepare. I applied to 19 schools and I can tell you that some private ones were quick and some were slow, very slow. Same goes to public ones... some schools are yet to contact me and some schools work in a wsy that you need to call and make sure they updated your file(UNLV) and did it right (Nova and LECOM ie). UMB were fairly quick and also UWSOD.

I mean that the application process is very time consuming and you want to know that it's all ready to go before you start preparing for the DAT, since you want to focus on that. Putting all your grades and classes could take a whole day, chasing LOR's could be annoying and require going to the office if emails don't work, PS is extremely important and I had about four drafts until it was done... to sum it up... you don't want to have to deal with it during your preparation or after your DAT.
If you do so, you WILL get a bunch of seconderies from schools that automatically send them out, don't worry about it too much nor get too excited, use it to motivate you to well on your DAT and during breaks from DAT prep you could work on them.
On my cycle I can testify that mail out from AADSAS is on Fridays, same for when your DAT scores are submitted and after academic update. Always on Friday... my DAT scores were uploaded on a Friday and mailed out the following friday.
I hope that answers everything for you, feel free to AMA , I have some free time until school starts

I see that you did well with 6-7 week of prep for the DAT, how many hours a day did you study? Do you believe 10 weeks is sufficient for the DAT? Thanks in advance!

 

[dentalabscessed]

Thank you for the reply! I have a question, I am planning to be shadowing/volunteering while studying for the DAT (I wanna do something outside of studying everyday for 10 weeks!) How would I go about adding those to the application before applying?

That's a good idea, I did the same (shadowed in the morning, studied in the afternoon/evening). The hours I put in my app included all the hours I had done + all hours in progress.

 

[TLV-TUS]

I see that you did well with 6-7 week of prep for the DAT, how many hours a day did you study? Do you believe 10 weeks is sufficient for the DAT? Thanks in advance!

Since I did ok with 6-7 weeks I have to say that 10 is usually enough. Depends how much time you need to review the material vs. practice questions. Most importantly is how effective you are during your study time. If you are concentrated and achieving your daily goals of improving yourself all the time or taking an hour break after every half hour of light study there's a difference and the overall time you'll need will vary.

 

[Alpha Centauri]

Thank you for the reply! I have a question, I am planning to be shadowing/volunteering while studying for the DAT (I wanna do something outside of studying everyday for 10 weeks!) How would I go about adding those to the application before applying?

That will keep you motivated, good idea. I would just add the total number of hours you plan to shadow to your app when you submit (before you take the DAT, get AADSAS done in June)