Grade 12 Student - When should I start studying?

[s4mblue]

When should I start studying for the DAT? I have found partly free resources online such as "DAT Bootcamp" that provide a ton of notes on at least the biology notes for free but I'm not sure that I want to spend $350 to fully unlock it right now.

I just applied to undergrad in the last few weeks and I want to get ahead for my future years

Thanks,
Samuel

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[artist2022]

I'd focus on first taking the classes that the DAT covers, like Bio, Gen Chem, Ochem etc and upper divs like Immunology, Biochem, Pchem, etc. before studying for the DAT. It's hard to learn all that material on your own, and frankly it's not worth it to do it so early. Wait until you're a junior or senior in undergrad.

Also, since you're only a high school senior, if you're sure dentistry is what you want to do, look into applying to accelerated/combined programs. I know UoP has a couple, and there are 3-4 other schools that do it too. It only has you do like 2 years of undergrad (instead of 4) and 4 years of dental school, so that you can start practicing earlier.

 

[ab117]

No reason to even think about studying for it until you're getting relatively close to taking it. When you get to that point, studying should mostly be review of classes you've already taken. If you want to streamline a little bit, I managed to take Physiology, Bio II, and OChem II in the semester leading up to taking the DAT in May of my junior year. Killed two birds with one stone because all my dedicated DAT studying (bootcamp, destroyer, etc.) helped me prepare for finals and vice versa. Other pre-dents I knew spent weeks during the summer studying stuff they'd forgotten or hadn't taken yet, or were a lot busier than I was during the semester trying to get ready to take it earlier than I did. If you could plan ahead to end up in as many DAT-relevant classes as possible in the semester before the test, it worked well for me.

 

[s4mblue]

Thank you so much!

 

[themuffinman11]

Please, take it from a current 4th year undergrad student applying to dental schools, enjoy your high school years!! Don't even think about the DAT yet!!! I wish I could go back sometimes lol

 

[Glaucous]

Agreed! Enjoy your early college years and do well and understand the material in your classes. In terms of timeline, if you're going for the 4 year route, probably start to think about studying the summer before the 3rd year. Of course, the time it takes a person to study varies depending on the individual.

 

[PapaGuava]

@s4mblue
Like everyone has said, it is too early to consider studying for the DAT, and it is all about focusing on your core classes in the first few years of college. I wish you luck with applying to college, and be sure to visit SDN as you progress through undergrad because there is plenty of resources!