DAT Requirements for student applying post college

[DS3777]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi, I graduated college with a engineering degree two years ago, and am interested in attending dental school starting August/September 2019. From the DAT Guide I've seen the DAT covers Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chem, Perceptual Ability, Reading Comprehension, and Quantitative Reasoning. As my degree only covered the physics and first bio requirement , I'm planning on taking:

Spring Semester 2018: Chem II, Bio I, Psych
Summer 2018 First Semester: Organic Chem, Bio II (finishes end of June)
Summer 2018 Second Semester: Inorganic Chem, possibly BioChem (finishes end of July)

I believe the ADEA AADSAS admission cycle is June 2018 - February 2019, and I've read it hurts your chances to apply later in the admission cycle.

A few questions:
1. Am I required to take all the courses before sitting for the DAT or is it just recommended?
2. Would you recommend sitting for the DAT end of June, and sending my application in after receiving my scores back or sitting for it end of July?
3. Would applying end of August hurt my chances of getting in schools compare to end of July?

I really would appreciate any guidance, thanks!

 

[Dr.CinnamonRoll]

1.) I'm pretty sure there's no course requirement to take the DAT. It's just STRONGLY recommended because the material on the DAT is vast and often very detailed. People will less background in science tend to struggle more. Take a look at some of the questions on the DAT and see for yourself if it's something that you think you could challenge.
2.) Uhh not sure tbh. I doubt that one month will make that big a difference.
3.) Will applying at the end of august hurt your chances compared to July? Yes. will applying in september hurt your chances more than applying in august? yes. As a rule of thumb, applying later will hurt your chances no matter what. This does not mean it's impossible to get accepted, assuming you have the credentials to get in. It just means your chances are lower than if you applied earlier.

but seeing that you'll have just finished orgo by the time you want to apply, are you sure that you've hit all the required courses to apply? Make sure you go on the school website to make sure you've taken all the required courses because some schools differ in what they want (psych, sociology, lvl of bio).