Is It Too Late To Start Studying Now?

[hazemynt]

The last accepted dat is in november but for some stupid reason I thought I could have used the february dat to apply this cycle. Am I too late or can I still manage a decent score between now and november?

[Dr.Watson]

The last accepted dat is in november but for some stupid reason I thought I could have used the february dat to apply this cycle. Am I too late or can I still manage a decent score between now and november?

 

Depends on many things. How well versed are you in the topics? I've personally heard of a vast array of study times for the DAT. Everything from 6 months to just a couple of days.  I chipped away at the sections fairly leisurely for about 3 months. Everyone is different. But I'd say, yeah go for it. If you work hard, theres no reason that you won't have enough time.  Best of luck!

 

There are many posts recently about what material to seek for studying. Look through those posts and get busy!

[Presh]

The last accepted dat is in november but for some stupid reason I thought I could have used the february dat to apply this cycle. Am I too late or can I still manage a decent score between now and november?

 

Stop posting and get moving!

 

My partner's a dental student and, considering discussions I've had with him and his class, I'd say that most people study casually for 4-6 weeks. Then again, if the science is brand spankin' new to you, you'll need to factor in more time. 

[hazemynt]

ooooboy ok i'm going to study hard and hope for the best

[knrosh93]

The last accepted dat is in november but for some stupid reason I thought I could have used the february dat to apply this cycle. Am I too late or can I still manage a decent score between now and november?

 

No, it's not too late at all. I started studying in October and wrote the November one and still got in. Assuming that you have a decent GPA, you can get an interview as long as it's above 20. I even saw some people who got in with scores below 18.

[WhatShouldMy]

It is possible. Here is my advice:

 

- Every day, do at least 5 questions of each style of PAT question. I personally loved dat bootcamp but I've seen people post here how it is not the best resource so each his own. Identify which areas you are weaker in and practice those more, but do NOT neglect doing the 5 questions of each type. You will improve slowly and when it goes to DAT day you will be prepared. If you neglect the sections and then go back to it you will find you have gotten WORSE at them!

- Identify weaker sections for bio and chem and focus on those. But still read at least once through the material for the other sections. When it comes to a week or two before the exam ramp up studying the sciences!! I really only studied these two sections just over a week before the exam, however I had a strong bio and chem background.

- Every day, read one scientific article. Depending on your program, you may be reading them in class so bam no need to do anything for this section. Reading scientific articles will help you build up speed but also you will get used to reading potentially dry material and focusing!

 

I personally did this and ended up with very high dat scores in every section.

 

Also, learn test taking strategies. In the dat, do NOT get hung up on one question, especially for PAT! Move on!

[cleanup]

Not too late at all. Admittedly I was one of those people that studied for several months (ie. over the summer) for my DAT but looking back, the PAT and RC are just about practice (which is easy to bang out quickly), so in reality all you have to study for is the science sections which I imagine will just be a refresher since you already took (and I'm assuming did well on) the February DAT.

 

My undergrad science knowledge is pretty poo now so I'd have to redo a lot of bio & chem but PAT & RC I could probably do very well on without studying. Those are more inherent skills.