DAT... now or later?

[NuckingFutz]

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Hey guys, I've posted here and there a few times, and now I have a bit of a dilemma. I've decided to apply next cycle for dental school (you can see my old stats in a post i've made way earlier 😛) The reason behind this is due to the lack of proper LOR and subpar Cum and Science GPA (I can post the updated one later if requested)

Anyways, I was pondering if it would be best to take the DAT at the end of this year (i'll study hard for it obviously) or wait until the early summer of next year to take it. The choice is really overbearing for me since it's all i've been thinking about.

On one hand, if I take it early, i'll be getting it over with early (I'll assume I do fantastic 🙄). However, I don't know how Dental schools will view the scores since I took them earlier (I've read that they don't approve too well of older DAT scores).

If I take it late, i'll be taking the most recent (and probably assumingly more difficult) version of the DAT, but it'll be recent so i'll be up to par with all the other applicants.

This may seem like a DUH post, but i'm honestly stuck on what to do. Also, I recently bought the July edition of the DAT Destroyer and (call me ignorant 😳) I was wondering if having the July version would affect my test taking if I chose to wait until next spring ( I don't want to buy another 😀).

My sincerest apologies for the long post and thanks for any advice you give!

Love this forum 😀

😍😍😍

 

[denticus]

First off, I don't think that your scores would be considered old until after 2 years-ish. As long as you get you scores within a year of the application cycle you would be safe to consider them up-to-date. As far as when you should take the DAT (this winter or next spring-ish) I guess it just depends on how much you can get done and how much you're willing to study. You can never study "too much" for the DAT so really the more material you are very familiar with the better. At least that how it worked out for me anyway. If it were me (and that's just me), since you'll be waiting for the next years application cycle anyway, I would just wait to take the DAT sometime next spring BEFORE AADSAS OPENS so that you'll already have the DAT taken care of, allowing you to concentrate on applications etc...The way I figure it, it won't hurt you (will only help you) if you keep studying for like 4 more months next winter to phycho-prepped for the DAT. If you do you'll be MORE confident and MORE prepared. Since you're waiting a year, there really is no reason to take it so early unless you really do know everything you can possibly study and there are no more problems or study guides left that you haven't looked at. Nevertheless, like I said, that's just me and that's how I feel most prepared and confident for big exams like this. You may have a super busy schedule in the winter which prevents you from doing that so you may want to get done earlier: it's up to you. Good luck with everything!👍

 

[NuckingFutz]

Sounds like a plan 😀

Thanks for your quick advice!

 

[Regmata]

Take it when you will do the best