How long did you study for the DAT?

[bing12]

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I want to help out those studying for the DAT by having this POLL. It allows students to get a better understanding of how long students generally take to study for their DAT.

 

[iamsyc]

Well I studied over the summer in 2009 for about 2 months but not seriously. Then the last two weeks before the exam i studied like CRAZY. 10+ hours a day nonstop. That was one of the most intense things I've ever done but it was worth it and I had a lot of self-motivation/determination kinda thing going on 😛

Hoping I can put that kind of energy, motivation into studying once I get to dental school, which I'm sure I will 🙂

 

[Osity]

I took about six weeks to study before I took it. I studied 4-5 hours each day except the weekends. I'm not a biology or science major, so I really had to hammer the sciences, especially biology (which I still think is the toughest section because of how broad it is).

I would also recommend taking off the day or two right before the DAT, or just very lightly go over everything. It has been proven statistically that people who do that perform better on that type of a test.

AA: 20
TS: 20 (Bio: 18, Gen Chem: 23, O-Chem: 22)

 

[DazzlingSmile87]

"9-10 weeks of studying"
BUT
only 6 weeks of truly efficient and serious studying

AA: 21
TS: 21
PAT: 19

Sci GPA: 3.5
Overall GPA: 3.7

The DAT is absolutely a do-able exam!

 

[Maygyver]

Holy crap haha. Someone studied for 1-2 months? I know doing it in 3-4 weeks was a little bad on my part, but wow. I think if it takes you that long to study, you could probably find a better study method.

 

[mdawg]

I studied for about 5-6 weeks. I tired to study about 6-8 hours each day, and I took Sundays off. I spent an hour or two on each subject each day and tried to take a practice test each week. I really tried to hammer the PAT so when I took breaks between subjects I did practice. Hope this helps

AA 21
TS 21
PAT 25
Science GPA 3.88 GPA 3.87

 

[Blarelli]

I gave myself 6 weeks, with the first 4 consisting of about 3-5 hours a day, and really hitting the books the last two weeks.

 

[shaiboy]

Just short of 4 weeks

22 PAT
20 TS
20 AA

 

[mdawg]

Holy crap haha. Someone studied for 1-2 months? I know doing it in 3-4 weeks was a little bad on my part, but wow. I think if it takes you that long to study, you could probably find a better study method.

Easy buddy....take a step back and look at what you just said before you criticize someone else's studying. If you said 3-4 weeks is a little bad, well last time I checked if you study one to two months then that would put you just over 4 weeks...again no offense just saying

 

[K9sbestfriend]

Easy buddy....take a step back and look at what you just said before you criticize someone else's studying. If you said 3-4 weeks is a little bad, well last time I checked if you study one to two months then that would put you just over 4 weeks...again no offense just saying

No kidding... quite a statement for not knowing any details of the individuals circumstances.

I studied from the middle of May til middle of August for about 2 hours a night 4 nights a week after I worked all day and put the kids to bed at 8:30. That puts me at around 128 hours of studying give or take. It worked for me.

Good luck to those taking the DAT this spring/summer.

 

[Cambo21]

one week here.

 

[Maygyver]

Easy buddy....take a step back and look at what you just said before you criticize someone else's studying. If you said 3-4 weeks is a little bad, well last time I checked if you study one to two months then that would put you just over 4 weeks...again no offense just saying

Whoops, I meant to say the 1 person who did 7+ months or whatever and wasn't thinking while I was typing. Sorry, buddy. But the point stands, 4-6 months and above? That's kind of insane.

 

[mdawg]

Whoops, I meant to say the 1 person who did 7+ months or whatever and wasn't thinking while I was typing. Sorry, buddy. But the point stands, 4-6 months and above? That's kind of insane.

Oh....hahaha no worries man. Its awesome if someone can study that long and not get burned out. I will be honest that is partially the reason why I only studied for 4-6 weeks, but considering the seriousness of the test I also understand those that take the time to do well.

 

[dhuh6738]

9 weeks for me, but the first 5 weeks were while i was still in school, so i had to study for my classes as well as the DATs. the day after i graduated, my friends all went to six flags and to hit the beaches over in cali.... i studied for the DATs... life gets depressing when the DATs are around the corner. good luck studying! it all pays off! i didn't get into dental school last year, but because of my improved DAT scores, i got into Midwestern-AZ!

 

[PreDent2012]

3 weeks of cramming, lots of practice tests, Kaplan prep book and Barron's DAT. Also I strongly suggest Crack DAT PAT, it brought my PAT from a 17 in practice to a 22 on the real thing.

 

[CANgnome]

maybe like 150 hours?