Does anyone know if organic chemistry is a big part of the DAT?? I'm thinking about taking the DAT before I finish taking Organic.
Organic Chemistry
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Yes!
Organic Chemistry is a major component on the DAT. You should wait until you finish your organic classes first... and then take the DAT. Understanding ALL the organic concepts will be the whole idea when it comes to the DAT (with the exception of detailed reaction mechanisms)... and without knowing them, its not going to do you any good.
Good Luck.
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Also, some dental schools look highly on your organic chem score in your DAT so I agree with Mo007 in suggesting that you should complete your orgo course before taking your DAT. You can also borrow/look up some DAT study books on the organic section to gauge your readiness for this section.
O Chem is a big part of the DAT. Unless you can get yourself to cover lots of materials ahead of your class, I would suggest you listen to all the other responders and wait until you've finished your class. Here's a link to the ADA for what's on the DAT.......
click here
Good Luck!
The science section of the DAT is 100 questions long and only 90 minutes to complete. Organic is 30 of those questions and starts on question 71. I would definitely recommend listening to these other folks about finishing your class. The DAT is not like the PCAT which a trained monkey could ace with little or no prep.
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...just in case you were thinking about ignoring the advice given here (taking the DAT before finishing your OChem coursework), you might also want to consider taking a few pretests - like those from Top Score just to see what kind of OChem score you're getting. If you get a consistent score and you're satisfied with it, it is probably okay to take the DAT. I only say this because 1) I thought about taking the DAT (last year) in the middle of my 2nd semester of OChem and 2) based on my experience, I think it is possible to do so, although it will take a lot of hard work and committment on your part.
Good luck.
Good luck.
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It depends on the order your instructor or book chooses to cover the material. For instance, I didn't get to electrophilic aromatic substitution until 2nd semester, but I would say it's a major part of the OChem section. That is just one example, and there are others.
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sorry, but i totally disagree with you on this one. i think it is exactly the opposite of that. all most all of the schools put little importance to how well you do on Ochem. they care more about how well you do on your PAT/AA/SCI/BIO.
i don't know where and how you heard that ochem was looked upon heavily but i really don't think that thats the case.
on the other hand, i do agree that you shouldn't take the DAT without taking the class.
Perfect,
Actually, UT San Antonio, for example, looks at organic very closely and quite a few schools use it as a guage of a persons ability to apply concepts. Bio is basically wrote memory and gen chem is a lot of formula manipulation. As far as bio is concerned I only got an 18 on that, but I got a 25 on the organic. The interviewers at all three schools I applied to told me that they were very impressed with my organic score and never mentioned my ho-hum bio score. Another example, my buddy got about the same DAT score as me, his bio was a 24 , but his orgo was a 17, he didn't get into San Antonio and I did. We had very similar transcripts, as well.( I think his science GPA was higher than mine)
Actually, UT San Antonio, for example, looks at organic very closely and quite a few schools use it as a guage of a persons ability to apply concepts. Bio is basically wrote memory and gen chem is a lot of formula manipulation. As far as bio is concerned I only got an 18 on that, but I got a 25 on the organic. The interviewers at all three schools I applied to told me that they were very impressed with my organic score and never mentioned my ho-hum bio score. Another example, my buddy got about the same DAT score as me, his bio was a 24 , but his orgo was a 17, he didn't get into San Antonio and I did. We had very similar transcripts, as well.( I think his science GPA was higher than mine)
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calculus,
i totally understand what yo uare saying. what i am trying to say is that sure there are a couple of schools that look at your Ochem as important. However, the majority of schools don't do that.
may be i am wrong, but i have thotoughly looked at the "official guide to med and dental school" and saw that breakdown of how certain schools look at your gpa, dat, ochem, bio, etc etc.
i scored 25 in ochem as well, but no one (4 interviews) ever said anything about that. now, 3 out of 4 told me that they were impressed with my Bio and sci (both 21) score.
i totally understand what yo uare saying. what i am trying to say is that sure there are a couple of schools that look at your Ochem as important. However, the majority of schools don't do that.
may be i am wrong, but i have thotoughly looked at the "official guide to med and dental school" and saw that breakdown of how certain schools look at your gpa, dat, ochem, bio, etc etc.
i scored 25 in ochem as well, but no one (4 interviews) ever said anything about that. now, 3 out of 4 told me that they were impressed with my Bio and sci (both 21) score.
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I scored 19 on the Organic section - and to some schools, thats more than acceptable. I have met someone on SDN who scored 12 and got into some of the top schools, but their other DAT scores were very strong.
So, do well to avoid giving an opportunity to be rejected by the adcoms on the organic section alone.
So, do well to avoid giving an opportunity to be rejected by the adcoms on the organic section alone.
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It really depends on the school. If there is any section that you can get a "passing" score on it is PAT. However, with organic I know for a fact that some schools look at it closely. I had a friend go a particular private school in Ohio and they told him that they look at the organic DAT score closely. You can survive with a low organic score at some schools if the rest of you acedemic scores are high.
As for organic on the DAT, it is predominantly first semester material. It goes to about where you need to understand acetal, hemiacetal formation which is the basis for pretty much all of the semester of O Chem.
To ace DAT organic, you really just need to know about 5 or 6 things very well. You need to master stereochemistry, markovnikov and anti-markovnikov reactions, electrophilic aromatic substituition, carbonyl chemistry and Grignard reactions. This isn't a comprehensive list please consult your DAT study materials to be safe, but that's what I remember as being very important to master to do well on the DAT organic section.
Overall it's a very easy test if you know those basic reactions like the back of your hand.
As for organic on the DAT, it is predominantly first semester material. It goes to about where you need to understand acetal, hemiacetal formation which is the basis for pretty much all of the semester of O Chem.
To ace DAT organic, you really just need to know about 5 or 6 things very well. You need to master stereochemistry, markovnikov and anti-markovnikov reactions, electrophilic aromatic substituition, carbonyl chemistry and Grignard reactions. This isn't a comprehensive list please consult your DAT study materials to be safe, but that's what I remember as being very important to master to do well on the DAT organic section.
Overall it's a very easy test if you know those basic reactions like the back of your hand.
