Did you take Kaplan course and made it to Dental school?

[BentalScholar]

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please answer and you can add your score if you like

 

[786mine]

please answer and you can add your score if you like

no i didn't and i got 21 on all three, AA, TS and PAT. all I used was the kaplan book and topscore cd. I am selling them both if you are interested.

 

[berryfremont]

hmm you need to do a little touching up on the poll...what about the people who took kaplan and didn't get in?..don't see as spot where they can vote..or do only the people that took kaplan vote?

 

[food4thots]

it may be too early to know if you're not getting yet.

 

[PickMe]

my advisor told me it was a waste of money. i think hes right. i studied the kaplan blue book for a week and got a 20. im not saying that would happen for everyone or that kaplan wouldnt help at all, but i think you should only take the course if you cant motivate yourself to do the studying on your own. the $1000 i saved was my motivation.

 

[jaerob]

I always tell people to there's no reason to take Kaplan unless you really can't do stuff on your own. I can't justify $1000 to take the class for myself at least, and I can only give advice from my experience..

 

[toothealer12]

my advisor told me it was a waste of money. i think hes right. i studied the kaplan blue book for a week and got a 20. im not saying that would happen for everyone or that kaplan wouldnt help at all, but i think you should only take the course if you cant motivate yourself to do the studying on your own. the $1000 i saved was my motivation.

i partly agree....I really dont' think the classroom option is necessary, but the online resources, book, and flash cards are great. If you have to be willing to put the in the work then it will help....but you have to be motivated like pickme said.

 

[Demeter]

I tried to bypass Kaplan and bought the Barons DAT book. and the TOp score and only made 15's and 16's. waste of money. I took the Kaplan course and scored in the 97th percentile. For me it paid off. I got to choose which school I went to.

 

[hellOKiTTyrox]

i used nothing. just stuydied my own textbooks. 😴 did not have money to purchase kaplan book. 😳 although i wish i had the kaplan , as people say it really helps the PAT. i didn't make but a 17 😱 on that. 👎

 

[syn_apse]

remember, kaplan doesn't offer tutoring during dental school. if you really need to give somebody $1K to help you prep for the DAT, dental school is going to be a long 4 years. knowing how to teach yourself and motivate yourself is crucial to your success (both in d-school and in life). preparing for the DAT without Kaplan holding your hand is a good time to put those skills to work 👍

 

[BentalScholar]

bump

 

[coral2005]

I took the class in summer of 2004 and didn't like it. I was thinking about applying to enter in 2005, but after taking the class and completing it...I was not very impressed. I stopped studying for the DAT that summer and put it off until summer of 05. That summer, I studied only using what they supplied to me when I took the class (the practice tests, the homework problems, the notecards, and the review book). I thought the class was a waste of time and it would have been just as helpful to take the online class, if anything at all.

 

[toothealer12]

I studied only using what they supplied to me when I took the class (the practice tests, the homework problems, the notecards, and the review book). I thought the class was a waste of time and it would have been just as helpful to take the online class, if anything at all.

I agree!!

 

[jmac44]

It gave me a schedule and helped structure my preperation. I took the DAT last august, so I had basically one shot to do well and get into D-school. I thought about not taking the course but I'm 30 and I didn't want to have to reapply a year later and then spend the $1000 to reapply instead. Mostly I really liked the study materials, so if you can get those without the class, go for it. It worked for me...22/22/22.

As far as equating using Kaplan with not being able to handle dental school, that might be a tad of a stretch...just because you use Kaplan doens't mean that you need Kaplan. But if you can afford the fee, why not give yourself the best shot possible.

Coral2005, see you in the fall.

 

[howui3]

Kaplan has some great DAT recourses, their reviews, practice tests, etc.

If you are an independent, structured, and very motivated type of person then getting the Kaplan blue book and some online practice exams (Topscore and DATachiever) will be enough to do well on the DAT.

Others need the structure of a classroom and learn much better when they listen to an instructor. These students can really get a lot out of the Kaplan course. Plus if you think about it 1K is VERY VERY small compared to the application costs, tuition, etc. and you can easily make that up with a dentist’s salary.

Think of all the MCAT takers that take a review course (A LOT) and they seem to do fine in med school, so a pre-dent taking a Kaplan course to raise their DAT will be fine in dental school.

Bottom line, the better your DAT scores the better schools you can get into, and if you feel a Kaplan class will help you with that DO NOT hesitate to take it. But if you feel hard studying on your own can get the job done, then do it. Plus you raise your scores by practice, so if you take the class but don't do shi* you will not see the results.

Personally, I got the Kaplan blue book, Topscore, and DATachiever and studied for 5 weeks hardcore (6-8 hours/day). It paid off. Now I teach at Kaplan and see first hand students that are really helped by the course, but I also see those that don’t (mostly because they don’t put in the time). And then there are those that could have done just as well on their own because of their great studying habits.

 

[coral2005]

Coral2005, see you in the fall.

See you there!!

 

[Fulcrum77]

I think Kaplan is a great thing for non-traditional applicants. I have a degree in engineering and just took the bare minimum classes in order to fulfil dental school pre-reqs. There was no way that I would have touched upon all of the different subjects covered on the DAT from classes alone. After finishing the Kaplan course, I still did the whole "study for a month straight, 8+ hours a day" thing before the test. I'm really glad I took the course but the extra month studying was vital. The course helped me to focus in on the different subjects but then it was up to me to really hammer the ideas home. If you are a traditional bio major then I'm not sure how important the classroom course would be for you, but the study materials provided are great. Definitely, the most important way to be successful on the DAT is to have the motivation and dedication to study on your own, whether you take Kaplan or not.