If I'm about to go into college, and I was just wondering, should I start preparing for the DAT and get familiar with it's contents? Being a dentist is my dream and I just want to do everything possible to make it happen. Thanks in advance SDN!
Is this a good idea?
- Thread starter vapperss
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Take the classes first. You will be so lost if you try to learn anything now. Most people will take the DAT between 3rd and 4th year, maybe a little earlier since you want your application out in early June (the summer before 4th year).
Take this time to make yourself a well-rounded person. Join a club, play sports, become socially active at your school, volunteer, you may even want to start shadowing a dentist. For all of these things, the earlier you do them, the less stressed out you will be about them once its time for you to make your application. Getting into D-school is more then just GPA and DAT. They want to see that you are more than someone who studies all day. I would also suggest picking up a hobby that requires manual dexterity (painting, carving, jewelry making etc.)
Thanks those were amazing replies 🙂 but I have a question, I've seen quite a bit of people using the term dental (or dentist) shadowing.. I have a nebulous idea of what it is so can someone tell me what it really is? Does it mean to like follow a dentist or something?
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That's exactly what it means. You will want to "shadow" or follow at least 2 or three dentists to get an idea of what they do on a day to day basis. All you do is stand there and watch, ask a few good questions and stay out of the way. A nice number to accumulate is about 100 hours.
As a matter of curiosity, how do you know that being a dentist is your dream job if you've never shadowed a dentist?
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You should shadow other dentists than just your uncle, though. Some schools specify that your shadowing can't be with a family member. And it just looks good to have variety, so you get a broader scope of dentistry
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Well, there are only 2 areas you can prepare for anytime you want (even if its 2-3 years away from the DAT date): Math and Reading.
For math, just keep doing math problems, everyday, allocate 10-20 minutes a day doing math problems (from a QR resource like MATH destroyer or whatever).
For reading.... yeh I don't know what you can do, maybe someone else can give you a suggestion for magazines or articles to read.
M
mitrieD
IMO if you're going to use that time studying for the DAT that early, maybe use it to study your current science classes to stay ahead of the curve...
DAT without current knowledge might make you lost
DAT without current knowledge might make you lost
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yes
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It would be helpful to find out which sciences are tested on the DAT so you can take those classes (ecology, evolution, genetics, etc...)
My best advice is to do especially well in the chemistries and make a study journal of condensed notes for the sole purpose of DAT review. Before every test you take in chemistry/bio go to your DAT journal in the chemistry section and write down the concepts from that chapter. During breaks between senesters you can take just one day reading over the past semesters notes. 2 years later as you are reviewing for the DAT this will save you a lot of time.
My best advice is to do especially well in the chemistries and make a study journal of condensed notes for the sole purpose of DAT review. Before every test you take in chemistry/bio go to your DAT journal in the chemistry section and write down the concepts from that chapter. During breaks between senesters you can take just one day reading over the past semesters notes. 2 years later as you are reviewing for the DAT this will save you a lot of time.
