Concern about the DAT

[ArchDDS]

Hi all, I'm a prospective dental student and new to SDN. I will soon be receiving my Bachelor's degree and I will start taking pre-requisites for dental school in the Fall of this year. I will be applying to dental school next year hoping to enroll in the 2011 class. My concern comes mainly because of the DAT. You see, I will take General Chemistry I in the Fall of this year, then General Chemistry II in the Spring of next year and Organic Chemistry I in the Summer 2010 and as soon as I'm done with that, I will immediately take the DAT in August. I'm aware that august is not the ideal date to take the exam but I need to have as much knowlege as possible before taking the exam. The problem is that it leaves one important class out of the equation which is Organic Chemistry II. I was wondering as to what kind of suggestions any of you can give me as to what I can do in order to learn the material for Orgo II before the DAT. Unfortunately I won't be taking that course til after the DAT and I wanted to know if you can recommend some good books or any other way which can help me learn the material for the class on my own. I appreciate any suggestions.

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[ArchDDS]

Come on guys!! show some support for others like you!

 

[BaylorDDS]

OChem II is an important part of the test, you need to have all the pre-reqs before you attempt the test. Take Chem I & II in the fall and spring, and OChem I & II in each summer school session, then take the DAT in August. Or you can do what your doing now and read the second half of your OChem text book and learn it on your own. But no review book will teach you what you need to know well enough.

 

[4thMolar]

I agree, you will find it tough to go through the Ochem section of the DAT if you will not have taken orgo II. If it is not late, you can probably sign up to take Gen Chem 1 this summer (2nd summer session), gen chem 2 in the fall, orgo 1 next spring, and then orgo 2 for the first summer session.

 

[ArchDDS]

You guys are right, ideally I should be taking all those classes before the test...My advisor told me that I HAD to take them in order, General Chemistry I, II, Orgo I, and Orgo II and that I could take only 1 per semester. It's too late to register for any courses as of now and besides even if I could, I'm trying to finish my Bachelor's degree this semester and I will be pretty busy. Hmmm, maybe I could get an override for next semester and actually take Gen Chemistry I and II...hey, has anyone done this??? I mean it doesn't really make absolute sense but if I could do that It'd be perfect...do you think it's a smart idea to take both at the same time, that is if I'm permitted by my school?

 

[4thMolar]

You guys are right, ideally I should be taking all those classes before the test...My advisor told me that I HAD to take them in order, General Chemistry I, II, Orgo I, and Orgo II and that I could take only 1 per semester. It's too late to register for any courses as of now and besides even if I could, I'm trying to finish my Bachelor's degree this semester and I will be pretty busy. Hmmm, maybe I could get an override for next semester and actually take Gen Chemistry I and II...hey, has anyone done this??? I mean it doesn't really make absolute sense but if I could do that It'd be perfect...do you think it's a smart idea to take both at the same time, that is if I'm permitted by my school?

I've never heard of any school allowing this. Gchem 1 will have to be a pre-req for gchem 2, mainly b/c the principles you learn in gchem 1 will be applied in chapters during gchem 2. If you do not know material from 1, you'd be hard-pressed to do well in 2. Are you sure it's too late to register now? At my university you can apply to class even a day before it starts, even if it may be full (b/c people usually drop classes a few days before).

 

[ArchDDS]

4thMolar, you're right and I know...it's like taking French I and French II at the same time...c'est fou!! that's crazy! it doesn't make sense...but like I said before I'm really worried about the DAT, and I'm a more than a year away from it!!! **sigh** I don't know what I should do.

 

[4thMolar]

You can probably still take the DAT sometime in August, if you take the orgo courses during both summer sessions. I'm thinking it will end in late Julyish, and then you can take August to study and take it during that month. Since orgo and gen chem will be fresh in your mind, you won't have to go over it again in great depth, so you can focus on the other sections of the DAT. I know it is still late, and your application won't be considered until your DAT scores are sent, but this is the only option I can see if you really want to apply during the 2010 cycle. It also kind of depends on your GPA and other parts of your app as well. If you have good ECs and a really high GPA, you may be still have a good chance at being granted interviews. You can submit early next June and then have your DAT scores sent to the schools once you take it. Also, it may not be bad to take another year to take upper level science courses. Since you haven't taken any chem pre-reqs, you obviously do not have upper level courses in chem. How are you doing in bio? Have you taken upper level bio courses yet?

 

[ArchDDS]

You can probably still take the DAT sometime in August, if you take the orgo courses during both summer sessions. I'm thinking it will end in late Julyish, and then you can take August to study and take it during that month. Since orgo and gen chem will be fresh in your mind, you won't have to go over it again in great depth, so you can focus on the other sections of the DAT. I know it is still late, and your application won't be considered until your DAT scores are sent, but this is the only option I can see if you really want to apply during the 2010 cycle. It also kind of depends on your GPA and other parts of your app as well. If you have good ECs and a really high GPA, you may be still have a good chance at being granted interviews. You can submit early next June and then have your DAT scores sent to the schools once you take it. Also, it may not be bad to take another year to take upper level science courses. Since you haven't taken any chem pre-reqs, you obviously do not have upper level courses in chem. How are you doing in bio? Have you taken upper level bio courses yet?

Well, unfortunately no, I have not taken any bio courses...you see, I've been an Architecture student for the past 5 years or so...I started the career with the goal of becoming an Architect but somewhere in between I realized this is not what I wanted for my professional life. Don't get me wrong, I love the study of architecture and with the knowledge I have, I can one day design my own house but I decided to pursue Dentistry which I also had an interest in since the beginning of my career. I'm passionate about Dentistry and I think I will be a happier Dentist than Architect..anyway, I just wanted to give some background info so you understand where I'm coming from...so, no, I've taken very little science courses throughout my career and those I have under my belt don't count as pre-requisites...but hey, I recently thought of another idea...maybe taking General Chemistry 2 and Organic Chemistry I in the Spring could work!? and then Orgo 2 in the summer 2010 and then DAT on August 2010! Hopefully I can do this!...I'm also taking this opportunity to ask something else...I took a Physics(w/out calculus) course about 2 years ago and got a C grade...would it be smart to retake it now asap and try to get an A or should I just concentrate on the pre-requisites that I'm about to start?

 

[4thMolar]

Well, unfortunately no, I have not taken any bio courses...you see, I've been an Architecture student for the past 5 years or so...I started the career with the goal of becoming an Architect but somewhere in between I realized this is not what I wanted for my professional life. Don't get me wrong, I love the study of architecture and with the knowledge I have, I can one day design my own house but I decided to pursue Dentistry which I also had an interest in since the beginning of my career. I'm passionate about Dentistry and I think I will be a happier Dentist than Architect..anyway, I just wanted to give some background info so you understand where I'm coming from...so, no, I've taken very little science courses throughout my career and those I have under my belt don't count as pre-requisites...but hey, I recently thought of another idea...maybe taking General Chemistry 2 and Organic Chemistry I in the Spring could work!? and then Orgo 2 in the summer 2010 and then DAT on August 2010! Hopefully I can do this!...I'm also taking this opportunity to ask something else...I took a Physics(w/out calculus) course about 2 years ago and got a C grade...would it be smart to retake it now asap and try to get an A or should I just concentrate on the pre-requisites that I'm about to start?

No, I would not re-take physics. I would concentrate on your other pre-reqs and try your hardest to make A's in all of them. One C in a pre-req will not hurt you. As for taking gen chem 2 and orgo 1 during the same semester, I'm not sure if you need to take gen chem 2 as a pre-req to orgo, you'll need to check with your school on that. If you can do that, I would suggest taking both of them during the spring, that way you'll have more time to study during the summer for the DAT and may be able to take it earlier.

 

[Dental Mom]

Take Organic I in the summer. I took it last summer in 8 weeks and I'm still in therapy..just kidding.

I'd not recommed to take both in the summer. Way too much information to absorb. I'm sure some people have done it and they are still alive, but for us the average hard working students is better to take it not so accelerated. Few schools require Biochemistry and most schools will require that you take Organic II before Biochem I....

You know, as hard as it may sound if you need to stay in school another year, do that. If not, ask your adviser if you can take Chem II and Organic I together in the spring? These 2 classes are not really related and Chem II is easier than Chem 1. Then take Organic II in the summer. I found Organic II to be way easier than Organic 1.

Good luck!

 

[iwannabadentist]

what if you take GChem 1 this summer, Gchem 2 fall, Orgo 1 spring, and orgo 2 next summer?

 

[toothytay]

Hmmm...at my school they sometimes allow students to take Gen Chem I and II together--I had a friend who did that! However, she had taken Chem I before and failed ....I do think it would be difficult to pull that off though.

 

[ArchDDS]

what if you take GChem 1 this summer, Gchem 2 fall, Orgo 1 spring, and orgo 2 next summer?

That would have been the best thing to do..unfortunately, classes started at my school about a month ago.

 

[ArchDDS]

Take Organic I in the summer. I took it last summer in 8 weeks and I'm still in therapy..just kidding.

I'd not recommed to take both in the summer. Way too much information to absorb. I'm sure some people have done it and they are still alive, but for us the average hard working students is better to take it not so accelerated. Few schools require Biochemistry and most schools will require that you take Organic II before Biochem I....

You know, as hard as it may sound if you need to stay in school another year, do that. If not, ask your adviser if you can take Chem II and Organic I together in the spring? These 2 classes are not really related and Chem II is easier than Chem 1. Then take Organic II in the summer. I found Organic II to be way easier than Organic 1.


Good luck!

Yeah, I think I might try to take General Chemistry II and Organic Chemistry I in the Spring of next year. Hopefully I can do this, if not I'll have to try to learn as much as I can on my own of Organic II but I know it'll be hard without someone teaching me the material. And if worst comes to worst I guess I'll wait another year but I'm hoping I don't have to do that.

 

[ArchDDS]

No, I would not re-take physics. I would concentrate on your other pre-reqs and try your hardest to make A's in all of them. One C in a pre-req will not hurt you. As for taking gen chem 2 and orgo 1 during the same semester, I'm not sure if you need to take gen chem 2 as a pre-req to orgo, you'll need to check with your school on that. If you can do that, I would suggest taking both of them during the spring, that way you'll have more time to study during the summer for the DAT and may be able to take it earlier.

Yeah Physics was a pain for me because I took it during a hard semester. I think I'll do what you recommend and concentrate on my other pre-reqs..besides, from what I've learned, Physics is not even covered on the DAT.