Pre-Dental Advisor wisdom

[BulsangHanNamja]

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My pre-dental advisor told me that "everybody turns in their application and take their DAT around aug."

me: Isn't it better to turn in your application early? Perhaps around may?
Advisor : Don't listen to other ppl, they don't know what they are talking about.

:: sighs ::

 

[Sprgrover]

👍

My pre-dental advisor told me that "everybody turns in their application and take their DAT around aug."

me: Isn't it better to turn in your application early? Perhaps around may?
Advisor : Don't listen to other ppl, they don't know what they are talking about.

:: sighs ::

*sigh* Your predental advisor probably means well, but I have to side with you on this (afterall I went through an application cycle 🙄 ). I turned my application in on June 1st and was applicant # 49X - meaning that there were already 500 applicants ahead of me. It took them six weeks to process my application. By the time August had rolled around there were already a couple of thousand applications in AADSAS was already starting to take between six and eight weeks to get 'em out. August certainly isn't late, but it really isn't early. By the time AADSAS had sent out those August applications eight weeks later many schools were in the middle of interviews and some were already making admissions decisions for December 1st. What's the lesson? If you really want to have leg up in this upcoming cycle get your application out in May or June. You can take the DAT later on, such as July or August (it doesn't take the ADEA to long to get those scores out), but the critical point is AADSAS' application. Best of luck!

 

[drkt]

I wouldn't wait. i submitted mine at the beginning of august and aadsas didn't get it out until late september. If you know you are applying, then there really is no good reason to wait. At least not one i could think of. 😛

 

[rocknightmare]

if you can apply b4 august, by all means do it! but you can wait until mid september and still have a pretty good chance if you have good scores.

 

[Bullfan16]

👍

*sigh* Your predental advisor probably means well, but I have to side with you on this (afterall I went through an application cycle 🙄 ). I turned my application in on June 1st and was applicant # 49X - meaning that there were already 500 applicants ahead of me. It took them six weeks to process my application. By the time August had rolled around there were already a couple of thousand applications in AADSAS was already starting to take between six and eight weeks to get 'em out. August certainly isn't late, but it really isn't early. By the time AADSAS had sent out those August applications eight weeks later many schools were in the middle of interviews and some were already making admissions decisions for December 1st. What's the lesson? If you really want to have leg up in this upcoming cycle get your application out in May or June. You can take the DAT later on, such as July or August (it doesn't take the ADEA to long to get those scores out), but the critical point is AADSAS' application. Best of luck!

Congrats on the moderatorship....however...I have a few corrections to make:

1) The DAT is administered by the ADA here in Chicago, IL. They are the organization that you go to in order to sign up for the DAT, they are also the organization that works with Prometric (testing centers for DAT), and lastly they are the organization that sends the scores to the schools that you applied to (hence the boxes you check off on the ADA website when registering for the DAT). You can (and should) report the scores that you received on the DAT on the AADSAS application but if you havent taken it or dont want to report your scores (for whatever reason) you dont have to...the ADA will send the scores (in a very timely fashion) ASAP after you take the test.

2) I applied July 1st and I was #2,08X (via website) and my application was processed I believe on July 23rd or 24th (latest the 28th-30th of July). Point is, I would say an "early" application is categorized by those who applied the first day (June 1st I believe) through around mid-July. After that its anyone's guess. Some say August is the turning point when application numbers spike extremely high...some say September. On adcom advised that if I wanted to be competitive for this cycle, I should apply by the latest date of July 10th. So, I made it a goal to apply by July 1...and have received two offers of admission.

Thats all I have.

 

[Sprgrover]

...The DAT is administered by the ADA here in Chicago, IL....

My bad - I just had to slip in that extra vowel. 😀

 

[busupshot83]

My pre-dental advisor told me that "everybody turns in their application and take their DAT around aug."

me: Isn't it better to turn in your application early? Perhaps around may?
Advisor : Don't listen to other ppl, they don't know what they are talking about.

:: sighs ::

BulsangHanNamja: Isn't it better to turn in your application early? Perhaps around may?

Advisor: Don't listen to other ppl, they don't know what they are talking about.

Busupshot83: Mr./Mrs. Advisor, I think you got it twisted: You's the one that don't know what they are talking about! Turn you application in as early as possible!

 

[grant555]

My pre-dental advisor told me that "everybody turns in their application and take their DAT around aug."

me: Isn't it better to turn in your application early? Perhaps around may?
Advisor : Don't listen to other ppl, they don't know what they are talking about.

:: sighs ::

For all their good intentions, predental advisors are not dentists and are not always the best source for finding out how to apply to dental school. Another approach would be to contact the admissions office of a prospective dental school and ask questions and ultimately visit the school if at all possible.

One book that I found to be filled with great information is The Pre-Dental Guide by Joseph S. Kim DDS.

Also, it is always best to turn in your application early. Most dental schools advise that students with marginal stats will get a good look if their applications are turned in early. I hope this helps. Take care and GOD Bless.

 

[spc213]

My pre-dental advisor told me that "everybody turns in their application and take their DAT around aug."
QUOTE]

I submitted my AADSAS on AUG 12 and wound up in the 3800's. My application did not reach schools until the first week of OCT. I did fine getting in to schools, but knowing what I know now, I would have applied earlier.

I took the DAT in late AUG and I am sure my scores got to the schools long before my AADSAS app. did.

I am sure your advisor means well, but his information is not accurate.