Ace the DAT 101

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The dental aptitude test is a significant factor in determining your career as a dentist however it is not the sole factor. Even though, many claim that the DAT is very significant in getting your admissions, it is not as important as your GPA.

According to current data DAT only plays a twenty percent stake in determining your admission, and some universities in Canada, such as Dalhousie don’t even look at your DAT mark until you have done the interview. Therefore, your DAT score is not the only factor in determining success in admission to dental schools. However, this is not a disclaimer that it is not important, it is merely a warning to all Canadian students that GPA is key, followed by shadowing, resume, DAT score and recommendations letters. I wish someone would tell me this when I was in undergrad that GPA is key. But it is never too late to work on your dreams and aspirations. Anyways, a starter guideline for all the students planning on going to dental school is to set a goal, set the date of the DAT examination and start setting goals for the days you need to study.

Okay, so there is this thing going around that you need to begin studying 6 months in advance. This is completely arbitrary, there is no exact guideline on the length of time for studying. This is individualized. Based on your individual studying habits and, learning abilities you must devise a plan to guarantee best results. The most efficient way you can study is to start 3 months prior to the date of the DAT examination, and dedicate at least 5 hours per day 5 days per week studying and doing tests, to get you in the mindset for preparing for the DAT. We will be posting a calendar guideline for 3 months span studying sessions to give you an idea of what you should do.

Next, you want invest in good resources for providing you with relevant content to study for the Canadian DAT. I will tell you this now, do not buy American subscriptions or American books for your guideline, as they are not representative of the content of the cDAT what so ever. The only thing that is free and helpful is Khan academy, which covers most of the biology and chemistry contents of cDAT. We will be talking about how to best prepare for the biology and chemistry content of cDAT in following posts in much more detail.

Lastly, the PAT section and the Reading comprehension segments are also very important in the overall score and assessment of knowledge and you need to score high in these sections to give you that competitive edge. These are determinant factors of your smartness and ability to comprehend the dentistry world. These sections require extensive practice, you need to start preparing your mind for academic content, and your perceptual abilities of your surrounding world. These two sections require constant practice and must be taken as seriously as the chemistry and biology segment. However, often students focus much more on the scientific content of cDAT and not as much as recommended on the RCT and PAT sections. You must give each individual segment its needed practice and learning time, and it must be equally divided between all the sections.