Is Early July Too Late To Take The DAT?

[ice4804]

I know the obvious answer is no, but I'm talking about if I want to get my completed application to the schools as soon as possible after the AADSAS application becomes available.

So, I believe the AADSAS application for this upcoming application cycle comes online June 1. My question is, if I wait until the beginning of July to take the DATs (I'm having trouble finding adequate time to study for it during this current semester), will that significantly delay my application review at the schools I apply to? I know it is crucial to complete your application as early as possible, and I want to try my hardest to do this.

I have read on this forum that schools don't start looking at your application until July, but considering DAT score reporting takes 3-4 weeks, that means they wouldn't have my complete application until August. By that time they may have come to my application, saw that it was complete, and put it at the bottom of the pile.

Should I shoot for the beginning of June instead of July? This would give me considerably less time to study for the test but I feel I can handle it.

Any opinions/advice is greatly appreciated.

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[collegeboy30000]

Here come the flurry of, "NOs"

I think the application becomes avial. sometime in mid May.
Complete and submit you application first, then worry about your DATs. General rule of thumb, try to have everything done before the end of Summer.

Good luck in the upcoming cycle.

 

[bvf]

YES!! that is WAY too late!! you have to have your DAT taken before May 1st and your AADSAS submitted on May 15th at 12:01 am or you have no chance of being accepted to any dental school. You might as well just wait until the 2009 cycle. Have a nice day.

"I'm picking up your sarcasm."

"Well you should, because I'm laying in on pretty thick."

 

[Drpr1982]

Too late. No later than June 1st to be early enough to be looked at.

 

[sumluck]

I know the obvious answer is no, but I'm talking about if I want to get my completed application to the schools as soon as possible after the AADSAS application becomes available.

So, I believe the AADSAS application for this upcoming application cycle comes online June 1. My question is, if I wait until the beginning of July to take the DATs (I'm having trouble finding adequate time to study for it during this current semester), will that significantly delay my application review at the schools I apply to? I know it is crucial to complete your application as early as possible, and I want to try my hardest to do this.

I have read on this forum that schools don't start looking at your application until July, but considering DAT score reporting takes 3-4 weeks, that means they wouldn't have my complete application until August. By that time they may have come to my application, saw that it was complete, and put it at the bottom of the pile.

Should I shoot for the beginning of June instead of July? This would give me considerably less time to study for the test but I feel I can handle it.

Any opinions/advice is greatly appreciated.

I submitted aadsas ~june 10, took DAT last week in July.....received first round interviews at every school i applied to. take the DAT when you are ready, because if for some reason you don't do as well as you hoped or planned you have to wait 90 days to retake. That 90 days would be much more of a hinderance versus the 2-3 weeks you postpone in the summer. My DAT scores were sent out and received by schools within 2 weeks from when I took the exam. The real key is submitting the perfected AADSAS application early...this takes up to 6-8 weeks to be received by schools. if you submit AADSAS early june, take DAT late july, the two should arrive around the same time and your file will be complete the first time they look at it...imo this is the key, to have a completed file the first time they look, so that way they can decide on an interview right away. good luck

 

[Mila]

I submitted aadsas ~june 10, took DAT last week in July.....received first round interviews at every school i applied to. take the DAT when you are ready, because if for some reason you don't do as well as you hoped or planned you have to wait 90 days to retake. That 90 days would be much more of a hinderance versus the 2-3 weeks you postpone in the summer. My DAT scores were sent out and received by schools within 2 weeks from when I took the exam. The real key is submitting the perfected AADSAS application early...this takes up to 6-8 weeks to be received by schools. if you submit AADSAS early june, take DAT late july, the two should arrive around the same time and your file will be complete the first time they look at it...imo this is the key, to have a completed file the first time they look, so that way they can decide on an interview right away. good luck

I couldn't agree more! Took the words right out of my mouth.

 

[Luv2Golf]

I agree with sumluck, it is important to get your application in as soon as you can but mainly before the middle to end of june. As far as the DAT goes I would take it sometime in july or when you feel ready. the only advantage to taking it early is that you would get an idea of what schools to apply to based on your GPA and your dat score rather than just your gpa.

 

[bassman65]

i submitted my application in mid-july, but I didn't take my DATs until Sept. 17th. I waited because I didn't think I would be ready before then. I recieved interviews at 4 of the 8 schools I applied too. The only ones I really didn't hear from were state schools in which i wasn't a state resident. If you want to go to a state school that is not in your home state, take the DATs as soon as possible to give yourself a shot...but if not, don't worry, you have plenty of time.

 

[djeffreyt]

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[1992Corolla]

Timeline for application.

 

[SFPredent]

I turned in AADSAS May 21 and finally took my DAT on July 10th. I came home, punched the scores into AADSAS and my application was mailed to schools that day (by chance, not because they wait for your scores or anything). So it worked perfectly for me but it is a bit risky. Also, I started studying back in March and was orig planning to take it in early May, and for sure I was going to be done by early June. So if you are planning for July, keep in mind that you may not feel ready until August. There is a whole lot of learning to be done for that test.

 

[Turnerjo13]

I submitted my AADSAS after spring quarter grades came out at the end of June. My letters did not get to sent til middle to late July and I did not take my DAT until Aug 11th. I did not get some secondaries done until early September. I had everything done in plenty of time. I even had secondaries before my DAT was taken. and interviews before my secondaries were turned in.

you will be fine just do good on you DAT and submit everything before the middle of summer.

 

[wizziefiend]

July is fine. Just do awesome and get those scores sent right away! Don't even think about taking it a second time though!

Good Luck.

 

[pacbum]

July's not too late at all. i took it in mid october. yes, you heard me right...October, and so far i've interviewed at 11/14 schools i applied to. so it's by no means too late in July. take it when you're ready.

 

[IheartTeeth]

i would submit as soon as the app becomes available (may 15th), so within the next week. and take your dats within a month of submitting because it takes a few weeks for the ADA to send your dats to the schools. That way the school will get your app about 6 weeks after submitting...but may not get to it for 1-2 weeks and when they do, they should have your scores and your app will be complete. If they get to your app and the DATs aren't there....it delays you.

And besides, you really only need a good month to study for the DAT. More than that, you'll forget what you studied in the beginning. The best thing to do is right now practice the PAT stuff and have a good start on that when school lets out and you can focus on the science stuff. Plus doing a little PAT a few times a week doesn't take much time. The PAT isn't that hard, it just takes lots of practice if you don't get it right away.


(also make sure you find out which schools want money right away and send after you submit, and which schools will send you a letter notifying you that they have received your app and need money)

 

[ice4804]

Thank you so much to everyone who gave serious reponses. After the first two or three sarcastic remarks I thought the point of my question had been missed and it was just going to turn into a flame war. Thankfully that didn't happen.

sumluck, awesome post! This is exactly the info I was looking for.

 

[dddsmack]

I received interview invites to Case and Nova in Early/mid July. If you take the DAT around this time, you will NOT be part of those first invites. They will invite people who have everything in already and wait for official scores on you from the ADA. This can take three to six weeks, especially if there are tons of students taking the DAT at that time.

If you aren't applying to those early private schools, then worry about your other schools timelines. But again, in general, the more you wait the more you have to lose.

 

[PumpNO2]

As some of the above post have mentioned, Fill out the aadsas application the day it becomes available (usually ~may 15) and submit it as soon as you can, no later by the end of May or so to be consider in the first round of reviews. The timeline might be different for different schools but the earlier the better. Try to take your DAT before May if you can that way, if you don't like your scores you can take it 3 months later instead of waiting until later to take it and risk not having your application being process on time. However if you feel confident you can always submit your application in and have your DAT scores match up later. I submitted my aadsas in July and took the DAT at the end of August and 2 of the schools I applied to pretty much had all their interview spots fill up till january. So in short, Do it as soon as you can. Study hard

 

[kev4455]

Definitely not late to take DAT on July. I am going to be enrolling a dental school this coming fall (2007 entering class) and I took my DAT on late-september 2006. My aadsas was submitted on mid July. But by all means, try to take DAT as soon as possible. Submitting everything in early is half the battle (maybe quarter, lol). I regret taking DAT so late but it still came through for me. G'luck!

Kev