it definately helped! I applied in june thinking I would take the DAT earlier, but then Kaplan freaked me out cause I kept getting really low scores so I ended up taking it late in Nov. which didn't get sent to schools till december. I would definately apply early NO MATTER what.
And don't take Kaplan unless you have 1000 dollars to waste! It's a confidence killer and the material's not worth that much.
good luck!