DAT without OChem II?

[egerbegy82]

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Can I take the DAT without taking OChem II? I could take it in the summer (after I take OChem I) but then I would have only a month left to study for the DAT. Has anyone taken the DAT without OChem II? Will one month be enough to study for the DAT? I'm a junior (with transferred credits from a foreign country, but prerequisites taken in the US) and planning to take the DAT at the end of Aug. Thank you so much!!!

 

[DentPilot]

I took the DAT last summer before I took Organic II in the fall, and did ok (18 Ochem). It is definitely possible to do, but it will take a good bit of studying so that you can have a better chance on some of the aromatic reaction problems (Our Ochem II was all the aromatic stuff if I remember correctly). If you are very solid on your other sciences, QR and reading, then you should be ok, but if in doubt, you might want to go ahead and take the second one before the DAT.

 

[dent2014]

Although possible, I think you should take the second part of organic chemistry. Think of it this way, you won't need to study much for ochem after you're done with the class!

 

[egerbegy82]

Thank you so much!! The problem is that I have never taken a DAT practice test yet. I'm taking a full load of classes this semester (Genetics, GenChem, AnatomyII all with lab, plus others) and I'm planning to take OChemI in the summer. Then, to take the DAT at the end of August and apply to dental schools at the beginning of September. How much time will I need to study for the DAT? I been doing great in my science classes...have a 4.0 GPA.
I cannot decide if I should take OChem II after OChemI in the second session of summer classes, or it's not necessary and use that time to study for the DAT.....thanks.

 

[dent2014]

Thank you so much!! The problem is that I have never taken a DAT practice test yet. I'm taking a full load of classes this semester (Genetics, GenChem, AnatomyII all with lab, plus others) and I'm planning to take OChemI in the summer. Then, to take the DAT at the end of August and apply to dental schools at the beginning of September. How much time will I need to study for the DAT? I been doing great in my science classes...have a 4.0 GPA.
I cannot decide if I should take OChem II after OChemI in the second session of summer classes, or it's not necessary and use that time to study for the DAT.....thanks.

Hmmm... maybe take a practice test and see how you do? Try Kaplan, TopScore, or DAT Achiever. It will gauge how much you need to know.

As for how long you need to study... it really varies from person to person. I don't know how busy you will be when you start studying, but if you can, dedicate 6+ hours each day. I did this for a month. By looking at your GPA, it seems that you got the science portion down. Now get familiar with the other sections on the test, like RC, PAT, and QR. Then, get your hands on a bunch of practice exams. It's all about practicing your pacing. Good luck!

 

[pumpUup]

Although a friend of mine got 20+ without taking orgo2, I wonder how that was possible when I saw so many IR or whatever orgo2 lab questions I saw.

 

[doc toothache]

Since you want to tackle the DAT without orgo II as is indicated, why not try to enter ds without any of the preliminaries?

 

[dentalWorks]

Every DAT version is different. Some require very basic rxns mostly from orgo 1 where as some others are in between. In my DAT from last october, I ended up with 21 on orgo but I had a very strong orgo backgrond with 4.0s in both orgo 1 & 2 ...I'm telling u right now, If I didn't have orgo 2 under me, I would probably ended up with a 17-18 on orgo cause it had A LOT of orgo 2 stuff

So its you and ur luck. I would stay safe and take orgo 2 before the DAT

 

[egerbegy82]

thanks guys. Yeah..it's a tough decision for me..but I think I will end up taking OChemII and have less time to study for the DAT. Although, even if I can do well on the science section, I could be awful on the PAT,RC (especially that English it's my sec. language and I'm slow) AND QR sections. So maybe I will need more than a whole month to study for the DAT. I will take a DAT practice soon and see how I do on it. Thanks for opinions!!!
I wonder what is the average time to prepare for the DAT. I know that it totally depends on the person, but if you are devoted and study on a reg. basis - every day 8 hours - is it a month enough???

 

[dentalWorks]

I took the DAt without having taken any organic chemistry classes and I scored a 19 on that section. Since you already took orgo I, you could probably scoring 21 or over

This is the kind of advice that shouldn't be listened to. These is a reason why the folks who write the DAT strongly suggest you have taken ALL of your pre-dents BEFORE taking the DAT..... You only got 3 legit chances to take this test in your whole life, you sure you wanna advice someone to take it before completing thier pre-reqs?

 

[jyc]

The first time I took the DAT (September) was w/o Orgo II and I got a 15 - I just reviewed the material that I knew from Orgo I in hopes that that was enough. The second time I took it (February) was after Orgo II and I got a 26, but the drastic increase probably had little to do with the actual class (I barely passed the ACS Orgo final). My studying for the two tests was totally different. For the second one, I just watched Chad's videos from coursesaver.com (in high-pitched 2x speed ) and did a few sample problems. If your ability to retain info is similar to mine, then you can perhaps do pretty well w/o Orgo II if you watch Chad's videos and are able to understand it. I think he explains well enough for someone w/o Orgo II to understand - hell, most of the material he went over seemed practically new to me!!!

If you take it in August, and you don't think the score is good enough, but are still able to get some interviews, see if you can retake it after Orgo II. If the timing is right, it can help you get off a wait-list, or you can bring your updated scores to the interview to show that you've improved and that you are serious about getting in. That is what I did.
Good luck! 👍

 

[kponenation]

Can I take the DAT without taking OChem II? I could take it in the summer (after I take OChem I) but then I would have only a month left to study for the DAT. Has anyone taken the DAT without OChem II? Will one month be enough to study for the DAT? I'm a junior (with transferred credits from a foreign country, but prerequisites taken in the US) and planning to take the DAT at the end of Aug. Thank you so much!!!

My simple answer is YES.
I took it last summer before OChem II and got 20. 3 weeks of studying for the DAT. But now that I've taken OChem II, I'm 100% positive I can get 22+ on Ochem II.
You just need to get comfortable with the material. The questions were not harder than my OChem I or II final.

 

[Fincayra]

I wonder what is the average time to prepare for the DAT. I know that it totally depends on the person, but if you are devoted and study on a reg. basis - every day 8 hours - is it a month enough???

Yikes I spent 4 months, 5 hrs/day every day, more on the weekends, preparing for the test. I could not imagine taking the test in a month.

 

[dentalWorks]

Yeah, but the material on the o-chem portion is extremely extremely basic and can be easily self-studied.

Oh yeh? maybe for YOUR exam portion the orgo was basic. I had reactions in my orgo that I don't ever remember seeing that s*** anywhere in my orgo notes or even DAT destroyer. It was stuff I had to use deductive logic from my orgo 1 AND 2 knowledge to come up with the answer.

 

[mx41]

And another person who didnt take ochem II but ochem I and scored an 18 or 19
It's doable, but requires a lot of time to learn what you missed