how long to prepare for the DAT?

[Guest gonzo23]

Hey.

 

I'm considering dentistry as a profession. I've written the MCAT twice now. I just wanted to find out how much time most people devote to studying. I did really well (80-90th percentile) on the sciences on the MCAT so I'm not too worried about that angle. But I'll have to get up to speed on the other sections.

 

Any thoughts? I'd be considering the feb. DAT. And, does anybody think I'd have a problem getting to write it in TO even registering this late?

 

Cheers.

[Guest blingblingdentist]

I don't think you will have a problem getting a spot in Toronto for February because I heard barely anybody writes it in Feb. (compared to Nov). I also heard the Feb. one last year was much easier than the Nov. one last year.

 

So why is it that you have decided to pursue a career in dentistry now? Please don't say because you couldn't get into medicine, because that would be a disservice to the profession.

 

As a side note, I think Ontario schools don't have a proper admission process. I believe if letters of recommendation and dentist observation hours were required, the number of applicants would cut in half. I can certainly bet all of those med applicants wouldn't apply to dentistry as their back-up and all the true devoted future dentists would have a better chance.

 

Good luck on the test and if you are only applying to UofT you do not need to worry about practicing your carving.

[Guest alexis411]

blingblingdentist: Does UofT not consider your carving score whatsoever? Do they take into consideration your overall DAT score /150 or do they only look at your AA and PAT scores?

[Guest gonzo23]

Bling,

 

I was actually going to mention that in my first post, but figured I didn't want to seem too neurotic about people's judgements.

 

But, it did come up. Yes, I have had issues getting into medicine. Logically, all I can do is search for other professions that I can see myself enjoying. Dentistry is only one option. I have also been looking into many professions that are health-related and less directly health-related. I have never understood this big stigma with people who apply to many programs. Competition is fierce, and what is one supposed to do if they don't get in, and want to move on with their life doing something that may be considered a "backup plan"? Life is full of twists, and I feel people are fairly closed minded if they think there is only ONE thing they can do as a career that will make them happy. I don't consider it a disservice to the profession for me to consider dentistry alongside medicine if I'm willing to devote myself to the profession as much as I would medicine if I were accepted. I know many people who would make great doctors, but great dentists or health administrators or researchers just the same. I thought through my decision to apply to medical school and am thinking through my other options just as carefully.

 

Thanks for your response though. But do people usually spend a good 3-4 months preparing for the DAT? Should I consider writing it (if I even decide it's what I want) next November instead?

[Guest blingblingdentist]

Alexis: UofT says they do not look at carving score at all, but what they say and do might be different, but I have heard of people getting into UofT with carving scores in the single digits. They do not look at total score out of 150, that is what Western does. UofT only looks at two scores: AA and PAT, they don't even care about individual section scores.

 

Gonzo: Don't think I am ragging on you, I was just curious for why you were switching into dentistry. Though you have to admit that there are many med students who simply go into dentistry because they couldn't get into med. Well at least there are a lot at UofT anyways. Regarding the DAT, I say you write it this february for sure because you will just need to brush up on your science since you already wrote MCAT and that might take couple of weeks at most. Then there is the reading and how much practice can one do in that. I just went over a few sample test passages to get used to the speed factor, so that shouldn't take more than a week. Lastly there is the perceptual and there is nothing to memorize, its all practice and I think 2-3 weeks is just about right. I don't know what schools you are applying to so I don't know how much you want to practice the carving. So all in all, 4-6 weeks is very optimal, especially if you have done the MCAT. Leave the last week just to do practice tests. Lastly, don't worry about nailing every detail in sciences when studying, because you will always get a few questions that there will be no way you have come across in your study preparation (like that genomics question this Nov). I think I way over-studied the sciences, I did get 24 in both bio and chm, but I felt even if I studied a couple of weeks less, I would have gotten the same score, because there were a couple of questions that I had never seen before.