New predent, DAT, and 2020 application cycle

[Hamburger Hammy]

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Hello all! I was just looking for some advice regarding the 2020 application cycle. I intend to apply this summer and if all goes well, matriculate in 2020. I only decided on dentistry a few months ago after falling in love with it over physicians, physical therapists, PA's, etc. I am currently a junior was a 3.6 cumulative GPA and my science GPA is slightly lower (maybe 3.5ish). I have about 50 dental shadowing hours but I am working hard to increase this number and by the time I apply I should have about 150 hours. I have research experience from working in a lab for 2 years, was a TA for a general biology class, have been tutoring elementary and middle school students throughout undergrad, and I have about 250 hours of volunteering in a hospital. I have taken all the dental school prerequisites but my next biggest task is the DAT. My predental advisor who is closely affiliated with our state dental school said I am on the right track but my last big task would be crushing the DAT and everything should fall into place. Coming into the semester I told myself I was going to study for the DAT all semester and take it after finals and I did study for the DAT for 2 weeks when the semester started for about 5-7 hours a day but this was not sustainable because homework, lab reports, exams, and extracurriculars were getting in the way. My predental advisor said that a solid option for me would be just improve my GPA as much as I could this semester and when finals end (the first week of May), I put DAT study mode into full throttle and take the DAT at the end of June or first week of July at the LATEST. This should give me 6-8 weeks of summer break to just study hard all day. I will have my application in on time but the only thing that would be remaining would be my DAT score which I can self-report the day I take my exam. What do you guys think of my plan? I am just a bit hesitant about taking the DAT in the end of June but my predental advisor assured me that I would be totally fine if I were to do that. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ASPEN'S NIGHTMARE]

Hello all! I was just looking for some advice regarding the 2020 application cycle. I intend to apply this summer and if all goes well, matriculate in 2020. I only decided on dentistry a few months ago after falling in love with it over physicians, physical therapists, PA's, etc. I am currently a junior was a 3.6 cumulative GPA and my science GPA is slightly lower (maybe 3.5ish). I have about 50 dental shadowing hours but I am working hard to increase this number and by the time I apply I should have about 150 hours. I have research experience from working in a lab for 2 years, was a TA for a general biology class, have been tutoring elementary and middle school students throughout undergrad, and I have about 250 hours of volunteering in a hospital. I have taken all the dental school prerequisites but my next biggest task is the DAT. My predental advisor who is closely affiliated with our state dental school said I am on the right track but my last big task would be crushing the DAT and everything should fall into place. Coming into the semester I told myself I was going to study for the DAT all semester and take it after finals and I did study for the DAT for 2 weeks when the semester started for about 5-7 hours a day but this was not sustainable because homework, lab reports, exams, and extracurriculars were getting in the way. My predental advisor said that a solid option for me would be just improve my GPA as much as I could this semester and when finals end (the first week of May), I put DAT study mode into full throttle and take the DAT at the end of June or first week of July at the LATEST. This should give me 6-8 weeks of summer break to just study hard all day. I will have my application in on time but the only thing that would be remaining would be my DAT score which I can self-report the day I take my exam. What do you guys think of my plan? I am just a bit hesitant about taking the DAT in the end of June but my predental advisor assured me that I would be totally fine if I were to do that. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

You're fine. I only studied about 3 and a half weeks for mine and got a 20! As long as you really learned everything while you were taking the classes, 3-5 weeks of reviewing and taking practice tests should be enough!!

Only thing I would say is start practicing PAT in your free time. That's the only thing that you probs haven't seen before and it was pretty hard for me in certain categories like pattern folding!

 

[pma96]

It's possible, but it will require a lot of discipline and dedication during those 6-8 weeks. It depends on the person. I know that personally I couldn't study for the DAT everyday for 10+ hrs for so many consecutive days, on top of the pressure of knowing that I have to do well if I don't want my application to be delayed. But, I've heard of multiple people who have done it and it worked out for them. Just make a detailed daily study schedule and stick to it. You could also start reviewing some material during the semester in your free time. Good luck!🙂

 

[Pearl E. White]

I did mine over the summer after school. It was a grind, but I'm glad I didn't sacrifice my grades. Good luck.

 

[Mcat__cat!!!]

I had a similar plan but it didn’t work out. I studied really hard for 8 weeks after finals but only disappointed with an 18. Then it’s just too late to retake for the cycle. I end up have to write the DAT again for the next cycle with longer studied time. Killed it and applied again this cycle and got in.

Everyone studies differently so be honest with yourself and know what is your most effective study style. If it take 8 weeks, great! But if it take 3 months then so be it. Best of luck!

 

[bigboikhoa]

Last year, I was in the exact same position as you are. I decided on doing dentistry around February of last year and I finished basically all my pre-reqs, had a pretty good gpa. Like you, I had 2 years of clinical research and about 250 hours of hospital volunteering. I basically tried doing what you are doing and study in addition to taking classes and that definitely did not work as well as I thought. I finished up the quarter around June 15th and had my DAT scheduled for July 14th. This was definitely not enough time, so I moved my test to July 30th. So in all, I studied about 5-6 weeks for the DAT and actually ended up with a 24 AA, 24 TS. I think its totally doable and I submitted my application before taking my DAT so that I could just send in my scores right afterward and get things processed ASAP. I got into USC December 3rd and am currently waiting for my number 1 choice on the waitlist. So its possible, you just gotta grind pretty hard.