Time Management and Being Competitive

[eric23]

SDN,

I know there was just a similar post, but I really needed some advice on my own situation.

I am in my second semester of my junior year. I will be applying this june as soon as the application is available. I have not taken the DAT yet...and studying for it this semester and taking it before I apply seems difficult. Would it be totally reasonable for me to take the DAT at the end of July for example. I understand that it takes a while for the application to go though which would give me plenty of time to take the DAT so that dental schools get everything on time. (Sorry bout the run on sentence). I will apply with a 3.4 GPA 3.3 Science...and I want to be as competative as possible. Should I rush, cram, and take the DAT before I apply? Or will I still be competative taking the DAT after I apply?

Many Thanks,

Eric

 

[airvent]

Most schools wait until your application is complete. DAT + LOR + ADSAS befor they evaluate you and invite you for an interview.

If it is complete in the Adcoms hands by:
July = awesome
Aug = very good
Sept = still good but Aug is better
Oct = Ok
Nov = pushing it

so take the dat in late July if you like. I took it Aug 8... My LORs were not sent until late mid september thanks to my slow Pre-Professional advisor. But,had interviews in November anyway

 

[egpndoc]

SDN,

I know there was just a similar post, but I really needed some advice on my own situation.

I am in my second semester of my junior year. I will be applying this june as soon as the application is available. I have not taken the DAT yet...and studying for it this semester and taking it before I apply seems difficult. Would it be totally reasonable for me to take the DAT at the end of July for example. I understand that it takes a while for the application to go though which would give me plenty of time to take the DAT so that dental schools get everything on time. (Sorry bout the run on sentence). I will apply with a 3.4 GPA 3.3 Science...and I want to be as competative as possible. Should I rush, cram, and take the DAT before I apply? Or will I still be competative taking the DAT after I apply?

Many Thanks,

Eric

do NOT rush the DAT. apply in late May, study for the next two months about 6 hpurs a day every day, take practice tests, review courses, computer verison tests, and read the kaplan and princeton review DAT review books, then take the DAT. DO NOT rush the DAT, your GPA is good enough that it wont get tossed out the window without DAT scores. if you get nothing below an 18, u will get in somehwere, just apply to a lot of schools (as many as you can) good luck

 

[IWuvTeef]

your stats look good. DO NOT rush your DAT. having to take it a second time will suck. def get your application in by may. if you have your DAT scores and your rec letters in by the end of july at the latest, you'll be set.

good luck!

side note: i sent my application in may, letters of rec in aug, and dat scores in sept. that was kinda pushing it. try to aim for july.

 

[wimmcs]

I took my DAT on Sept 18th and I still had plenty of interview invites/acceptances. However, taking it earlier is always an advantage, IMO and like someone else pointed out... don't rush the DAT.. take it when you are ready.

 

[nothen2do]

I was in a similar situation. I took the Kaplan review course towards the end of my junior year. I wasn't really able to put enough time towards kaplan though due to a hectic school schedule. My practice tests were pretty low by the end of may and so I decided to hold off until early july. After finals (june 10 around) I studied for a good 3 and half weeks, 6 hours a day and I did a whole lot better once July 2 came around. Its better to do well on the dat and take an extra month sending in your application then sending in your app with low DAT scores. I sent my app in around july 10 and got 9 or 10 interviews. Hope this helps, good luck.

 

[JakeMUSC]

Dont rush the DAT and take it in July. In case you dont achieve your desired score, you can retake the DAT in October/November, which can still help your acceptance a lot.

 

[Sprgrover]

Yes, take it in July when you don't have so much on your dance card. It will take AADSAS at least four weeks to turn your application around and your DAT scores will be available in a few days. Best of luck!

 

[Irene010]

You have absolutely nothing to worry about. I did the exact same thing that you're planning on doing, and my GPA's were pretty similar to yours. I had my application, LORs, transcript...everything was sent in to AADSAS by June 11th. Originally, I had planned to take the DAT at the end of June, but I didn't feel ready at all, so I decided NOT TO RUSH IT and take it at the end of July instead. But before I came to that conclusion, I called a bunch of the schools that I was applying to and made sure that delaying my DAT scores wouldn't put me at a disadvantage, and they assured me that it would not be detrimental at all for me to delay taking the DAT for a month. Less than 2 weeks after I took the DAT, I found out that the schools had already recieved my scores. Between the months of August and November, I had five interviews, and got accepted to all five schools by the first week of December. So, really, it all worked out. If you can take the DAT any time before you start your Fall semester, you're in good shape. The most important thing you can do for yourself is get all the rest of your application materials in as early as possible, because if you delay any of those, AADSAS has a tendency to start getting swamped with applications and they'll end up taking up to 6-8 weeks to process your app and get everything out to all your schools. Then you're in trouble. But as long as you get all that stuff sent out early...no worries...and just take the DAT whenever you're ready for it over the summer! Don't worry, you'll do great...