Need advice.

[jdenney741]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey all future dentists (I sound cheesy when I say that). I'm new here, have been working my butt off to get to this point and I'm stressed as all heck as the DAT approaches. I'm going to try and schedule for July 8 and have all my early apps in.

My delima is unlike some of my classmates and maybe some here, I'm not in the position to be able to study 8hrs a day. Currently I'm taking 15 credits, working full time and have a family. My gpa is not bad, the 3.4-3.5 range per semester which I consider ok with my work load.

I'm not naturally the most gifted student, I have to work hard for where I'm at, this is my second time in school and I was fortunate enough to be able to still be alive and get back into school.

I have a hard time focusing when I study, I start to go stir crazy and end up getting up and finding things to do because I can't sit still for long periods of time.

Any advice to be able to study for the test? What helped you?

Ps- I just bought cliffs ap 3rd, got the 2009 Ada dat practice exam, purchased dat and math destroyer, and will be signing up for boot camp when those arrive, I'm still trying to figure out what Chad's videos are.

 

[veryhappylabrador]

Hello,

I think that between now and July 8th is plenty of time to study, and you won't need to study 8 hours per day, but you will have to work efficiently. The DAT is, as Ari from DAT Bootcamp says, more about breadth rather than depth. All the materials you have work very well for countless other students.

Try to minimize distractions. Lock yourself in a room, have your family not disturb you, put in earplugs, install browser extensions to limit time on non-essential websites. Be sure you understand what you are studying and learn from your mistakes. And don't be discouraged by your results on practice questions; that's why they're practice (especially the Destroyer).

 

[JLT223]

Push it back a few weeks. Study your tail off when you get out of school. You'll still be "early" enough if you take it by the end of July.

 

[jdenney741]

Push it back a few weeks. Study your tail off when you get out of school. You'll still be "early" enough if you take it by the end of July.

I cannot push it back until the end of July only the middle of August if I do. That is because I will be taking organic chemistry 2 from July 11-August 12.

My current plan is to start with the materials now, then once this semester is up in 4 weeks do 6hrs per day at the library. Then maybe an hour or so after work before bed.

Many of my dental contacts say also not to worry about my bachelors being finished before matriculation next year. This being my second time in school, I have 130 credits as it is just no degree until he science courses are finished. To finish next year I will have to take 6 classes in the fall and spring.

 

[iAwesomE]

If you can't sit still for a long time, then just do shorter study time with more repetitions on your study. You have a solid three months starting now until july so hang in there, and having a good metality always help when studying (I would suggest think about how you want to aced this test more than you want to breath, but still breath while you're at it).

 

[jdenney741]

If you can't sit still for a long time, then just do shorter study time with more repetitions on your study. You have a solid three months starting now until july so hang in there, and having a good metality always help when studying (I would suggest think about how you want to aced this test more than you want to breath, but still breath while you're at it).

Thanks! I have ordered everything, will be signing up for the online courses when my books get in. I also was able to get the Kaplan blue book and crush the dat books for free from a dentists at my wife's work. So I will be reading many books.

You're right, I have 3 months. I can do this.