General Timeline

[notsowisetooth]

Hi. I'm started to get worried as my time to go through the gauntlet of applying to dental school is fast approaching..

I'm currently a second-semester Junior and was planning on taking a Kaplan class this spring semester, review over summer, and taking the DAT sometime over early summer while I fill out my application.

Could someone just outline a general timeline I should be following to be able to get my application in time?

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[vlct0ria]

Hey, I am in the same boat as you...I actually didn't decide on dentistry until about a year ago, so I have been playing the catch-up game in terms of extracurriculars and dental experience. Anyway, I have a busy semester with research, shadowing, meetings, and classes, but I am planning on doing a few hours a day of DAT studying throughout the whole semester. I am not 100% sure on my DAT testing date, because I am going more by when I think I am ready...most likely not going later than late June-early July. But I still plan on doing the app as early as possible!

Spend the semester studying for the DAT, keeping up with your extracurriculars (and keeping your GPA up), and making connections with professors, because you'll need to ask for recommendation letters early on (many people around the forums say rec letters are THE biggest headache of the application). Take care of your application as soon as possible (AADSAS opens May 15, 09). Good luck this cycle!

 

[JamesOSU]

A lot of people come in thinking to take the DAT in summer. My advice would be to take the DAT in early May if you can. This gives you the option of retaking (you have to wait 3 months) before too late in the cycle, and it completes your application at the earliest time possible. After the DAT it takes a couple weeks for schools to get your scores, so taking it in May allows the scores to reach them before or around the same time as your application (if you submit on June 1st). Recommendation letters do not have to be submitted for your application to be considered 'complete' by AADSAS's standards, but each school will wait to make a decision, so start getting those set up now.

Tell your professors/dentist who writes one to hold on to it on their computers and they will get an email May 15th from AADSAS where they can electronically submit their recommendation. In the application you enter their email and AADSAS sends them one. That's by far the fastest way, much easier than printing out a reference letter matching form and snail-mailing it.

Good luck!

 

[whlee84]

Ask for recommendations ASAP, so that you can give your professor the submission info as soon as AADSAS opens on May 15th, and they can send it right away.

Take your DAT early as possible, right after your Kaplan course ends. There's no need to "review" over the summer if you've taken a semester of kaplan. I know it gets tough with school work and finals etc, but you should take the DAT in May or June LATEST.

 

[beastmode]

I disagree with the previous posters. Take the DAT when you feel like you are completely ready (although you will never truly have this feeling) and considering that you are still in school that probably wont be may/june. It is hard to productively study when you have grades to worry about. Don't think like you are going to have to retake it, if you prepare the best that you possibly can then a retake probably will not help anyways. Ask the majority of retakers and they will tell you that they did not prepare effectively the first time. They would have rather just taken an extra month to study instead of taking the exam when they did.

If you don't take the DAT until july/early august that is fine in my opinion. Even though AADSAS opens in May schools will not receive your completed app for at least a month...but definitely submit your app in May. Besides for schools like Case who fill up their April inteview slots in September, you will def still be in consideration for pre-december interviews.

You are going to have to contact kaplan to have them keep your online account open after your classroom course ends. I believe that they shut you down a month after the course ends. I didn't take my DAT until late september because I didnt feel ready and I still recieced a few pre-decembers, but I would def not recommend taking it past the first week of August. Good luck

 

[WOAHHI]

Hey beastmode -

How did you get kaplan to extend your online service? I have been trying to get them to extend mine since it ends in March and I do not think I will be ready to take the test until May/June/July and I want to have it available - Did you call your local center or the main kaplan headquarters? What did you tell them? I tried discussing this with them but they wouldn't budge...

 

[choiorg]

Hey beastmode -

How did you get kaplan to extend your online service? I have been trying to get them to extend mine since it ends in March and I do not think I will be ready to take the test until May/June/July and I want to have it available - Did you call your local center or the main kaplan headquarters? What did you tell them? I tried discussing this with them but they wouldn't budge...

hey i am wondering how to have them extend it.

If I want to retake the courses I am allowed to so does that mean there is an extension?