Taking a semester to prepare for the DAT

[hiovrtx]

I recently realized that I likely won't be prepared to take the DAT as soon as I thought. I am wondering if I should take a lighter course load (6 hours) next semester in order to focus on DAT study so I can take it around next April. I will still be able to graduate when I originally planned.

Will one semester with a lighter course load look bad to dental schools? Any other reasons why this might not be a good idea?

Thanks!

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[Jaa_]

It will look bad in the sense that if you are asked about why you only took 6 credits one semester and your answer is "to prepare for the DAT", the school will think that you can't manage your time because most applicants do not need to go part time to study for the test.

April is a really long time from now. Are you sure you need that long? If you're already part-way into studying for it why don't you just postpone till around January?

 

[DDShemi]

I recently realized that I likely won't be prepared to take the DAT as soon as I thought. I am wondering if I should take a lighter course load (6 hours) next semester in order to focus on DAT study so I can take it around next April. I will still be able to graduate when I originally planned.

Will one semester with a lighter course load look bad to dental schools? Any other reasons why this might not be a good idea?

Thanks!

Set aside 4-6 weeks where you only study for the DAT something like a winter break or first portion of a summer breaK. Going part time to study for over 12 weeks would look incredibly bad unless it was integrated in with heavy service hours/shadowing, etc. Also, saying you took that much time to study, they would expect you score to be way above average.