I know the conventional wisdom is to take the DAT spring of junior year. Right now I'm a sophomore, and by the end of spring semester I'll have finished all the science covered on the exam. My question is, what are the cons to taking the DAT at the end of this coming summer (summer before my junior year)? I won't be applying until the 2012-2013 app cycle. I did a search for this and a couple old threads came up, but it seemed like they never reached a consensus.
As I consider it, here are my pros:
1) My junior year is (as planned) already very busy, I have a lot going on (lots of science classes) and a lot of difficult courses scheduled. I'm afraid that I won't have time to dedicate to studying for the DAT the way that I will this summer.
2) It will be fairly soon after finishing o chem and bio, so I'll have less to "relearn" while studying.
3) I have 3+ months to study, a luxury that definitely won't exist if I take it as a junior in the spring.
4) Plenty of time to retake in the spring/early summer of the following year if I'm unhappy with my scores.
My cons are:
1) If I don't get in my first cycle for whatever reason, I might have to worry about my scores expiring.
2) I won't have had anatomy, which from what I've heard is very helpful. (I did take a high school anatomy class that has helped me significantly on the practice tests I've taken, and I can definitely drill anatomy over the summer -- but it's not nearly the same as taking college-level coursework.)
So, what are your thoughts? Should I plan on taking the DAT next August, or push it off until Feb/March of 2012? What are the pros and cons that I haven't thought of? If you took it over the summer (or waited, for that matter) are you glad you did? Would you do things differently?
Thanks!
(I posted this over in DAT discussion and got no bites, so thought it might be more appropriate for here. Hope that's okay.)
As I consider it, here are my pros:
1) My junior year is (as planned) already very busy, I have a lot going on (lots of science classes) and a lot of difficult courses scheduled. I'm afraid that I won't have time to dedicate to studying for the DAT the way that I will this summer.
2) It will be fairly soon after finishing o chem and bio, so I'll have less to "relearn" while studying.
3) I have 3+ months to study, a luxury that definitely won't exist if I take it as a junior in the spring.
4) Plenty of time to retake in the spring/early summer of the following year if I'm unhappy with my scores.
My cons are:
1) If I don't get in my first cycle for whatever reason, I might have to worry about my scores expiring.
2) I won't have had anatomy, which from what I've heard is very helpful. (I did take a high school anatomy class that has helped me significantly on the practice tests I've taken, and I can definitely drill anatomy over the summer -- but it's not nearly the same as taking college-level coursework.)
So, what are your thoughts? Should I plan on taking the DAT next August, or push it off until Feb/March of 2012? What are the pros and cons that I haven't thought of? If you took it over the summer (or waited, for that matter) are you glad you did? Would you do things differently?
Thanks!
(I posted this over in DAT discussion and got no bites, so thought it might be more appropriate for here. Hope that's okay.)