Best time to take the DAT

[Lavoon]

Hello!

How much time did you reserve for purely studying for the DAT? I finish classes May 7 the two dates Im looking to take it are June 10 or July 15. Do you think June 10th gives me enough time or should I wait until July 15th. I do want to be apart of the first batch of people that they look at so Im not sure which date works best. What do you think?

Thanks!!

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[DogeDDS]

Well, it's different for everyone. If you have a strong science background, then the time required to review everything might not be as long. It also depends on how strong the other aspects of your application are. If your GPAs are stellar, then you probably don't need to score as high as someone like me, with below average GPAs.

I personally set aside 2.5 months. 1 month of review, 1.5 months of practice.

 

[customx]

If you're not working and you have a strong science background, then a month is possible, provided you make studying for the DAT your life. You can also submit your application and then update it with your DAT score if you take it in July.

 

[Sharon914]

Ask yourself if you are ready enough for the exam, that's it. Go thru all the materials you have, just open at any page and test yourself. You definitely know better than me

 

[mkhan27]

Estimate the time it would take for you to study everything. It is a lot of material, but you have to make a schedule and stick to it. Try to set a test date and stick to it as well. If the test date is approaching and you feel that you are not ready or have not covered everything or have not been doing well on the practice tests, then push it back. You want to make sure you stay committed and not give up. Good luck!

 

[Dotoday]

Best time to take the DAT is when you are absolutely ready. When you answer questions in your study books and get most of them right without guessing, that is when you are ready to take the DAT. What materials do you use?

 

[ToBeDDSS]

Take the DAT when you dream you got 30 on each section
Just kidding. take it when you are ready !!! don't rush

 

[Glimmer1991]

July 15th is early enough and will allow you to have all of your application materials submitted by August, which is generally recommended.

If you have noticed the scores that have been posted lately, one thing is clear--the competition is getting stiffer. You want to have ample time to prepare. I had a 3.97 GPA and still took three months to prepare (I had the luxury of doing this because I took the DAT after my sophomore year). I wanted to do my very best! I would never suggest taking any less than two months to prepare.

 

[kingseven]

i have seen that a lot of people take dat in august. can that have an affect on your score on the dat? Can that be good or bad?

 

[wannabedmdds]

Like everybody else mentioned it depends on the study habit and the level of knowledge you have, but generally speaking in order to take entrance exams (MCAT, DAT, PCAT etc etc) minimum 400hours of study time are recommended (Other people might have different opinions, but this is what by my advisor and professors told me). For my personal experience, I started studying for DAT early June and took it early August (8+hours a day). My test score was 21AA/22TS/23PAT. When you study, you will reach a point where you just want to be done with DAT and want to test how well you can do on the actual exam. I say that's that's the sign of your readiness. But set up a date first so you can motivate yourself and keep up with your study pace. If I were in your shoes, I'll take my exam on July 15 and have other documents ready to submit in June. But that's just me.