Postponing DAT exam

[Girigiri]

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Hi, I'm new to this forum.

This might be a stupid question and I kind of have a feeling of what I want to do. I have my American DAT on January 11th. I have only barely finished studying Biology and have yet to start on O.chem and Chem. I did some of DAT Destroyer questions and I tried my best to keep studying everyday. But I always got something coming up for me and I have to head out no matter what...>.>

I don't exactly feel ready to take the test within 30 days. Should I postpone the test? Problem is that my parents are pushing me to take the DAT first and get the first feel. They said I should retake the test if I didn't do well. They felt like I will slack off if I postpone my test. What should I tell them?

I intend to apply for next year, for 2018, if I extend my exam to perhaps April, would that be too late?

I looked at other parts of the forums that it is better to take the DAT and do very well the first time, than doing a bad job at the first and do well the second time. Is that true?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[averageasian]

if youre not ready, youre not ready. dont take it until you've sufficiently studied for the DAT. no point in taking it twice when you can stay for it once and kill it

 

[cavateez]

Imho, I think it is much better to postpone and take the DAT when you feel ready/confident/so annoyed with studying that you just want to get it over with. The DAT is a pretty expensive test, so why waste money on it if you don't feel confident? Furthermore, depending on the school you apply to, they may take an average of your scores or at least see all of your DAT attempts. While it is not necessarily "bad" to do poorly the first time and improve the second time you take the DAT, why give dental school any doubt on your intellectual abilities when they are debating whether to accept you? From what I've heard, it is also fairly difficult to significantly change your score unless you really commit to improving your score. Do you really want to take that unnecessary risk? If you really want to get a feel for the test, take a practice exam on DAT Bootcamp. Also, I do not think that taking the exam in April is late at all. If anything, it is quite early. I took my exam much later than that and still got acceptances this cycle. Just get a study schedule set up and commit.

Best of luck! 🙂

 

[Girigiri]

Thank you for all your replies. I had similar thoughts about the extension, since I seriously do not want to waste my parents' money and do a crap job at it. It's $430USD.

I definitely need to talk to my parents about it, since I'm financially dependent on them. I thought that if I returned back to my home country and study, I would get some good studying done, but i was totally wrong...

Off topic for this section, what are some recommendations for helping to ace the reading comprehension? My friend taking the MCAT recommended me some speed reading software to train up my reading speed, would that be helpful?

 

[Faefly]

You can postpone it easily and take the test when you are ready. This is part of your future.
You should take the test when you feel you can do good in it, via your practice exams on bootcamps and other websites like datgenius and qvalut +the ada dat 2009 and 2007, when you see your grades are good, then you are ready physically. As for the mental part, I bet if you postpone it to early February, you'll be more relaxed and ready

 

[Girigiri]

You can postpone it easily and take the test when you are ready. This is part of your future.
You should take the test when you feel you can do good in it, via your practice exams on bootcamps and other websites like datgenius and qvalut +the ada dat 2009 and 2007, when you see your grades are good, then you are ready physically. As for the mental part, I bet if you postpone it to early February, you'll be more relaxed and ready

Agreed. Thanks for the reply. I just told my parents about the extension and more or less gave me the green light. I'm just wondering, how can I order the DAT 2009 exams. I'm confused on how to order it with a bank cheque that's only payable in Canadian currency, while ADA needs it in USD.