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DENTAL ADMISSION TEST

WHAT'S ON IT?
The Dental Admissions Test (DAT) is a 4 hour exam that consists of four sections: Sciences, Perceptual Ability, Reading Comprehension and Quantitative Reasoning. The DAT is used as part of the admissions process for dental school. It tests general academic ability, comprehension of scientific information, and perceptual ability. While it is a required component of your overall application to dental schools, the DAT is only one piece of the elements considered by admissions committees. Click the link to find out more about each DAT section. 

 


WHEN SHOULD I TAKE IT?
The most common time to take the DAT is in your junior year of undergrad or the summer between your junior and senior year. Pay close attention to the deadline to take and submit your test scores for your school(s) that you are applying to. It is recommended to take the DAT sooner rather than later, especially if you plan to take the DAT more than once. Some have recommended taking the DAT the summer after your sophomore year if you have completed basic biology courses and chemistry courses through to organic chemistry, so that the information will be fresh in your mind as you prepare for and take the DAT. You will know a raw score immediately upon completion of the test, and dental schools can recieve an offical score report as soon as 3-4 weeks after the test date. The best advice is to take the DAT when you are ready, but make sure you ARE READY, and that you have studied quite a bit.

 

 


HOW SHOULD I PREPARE?
Preparing for the DAT should take you several weeks so that you properly become aquainted with the test. With this being said, START EARLY! First, you need to become familiar with the types of questions it is going to ask, the type of language it is going to use, and the timing of the test. The best way to study is to do as many practice DAT tests as possible, figure out what you are consistently getting wrong, study that material, and then go back and do more practice questions. Clicking the button will take you to Ari's Studyguide, a proven method to help you ace the DAT! You can check the bottom of the page for more very helpful test prep programs.

 

HOW WILL I BE SCORED?
The DAT scores are reported by the ADA (American Dental Association) as eight standard scores. Click the button to see the numbers broken down and each school's average scores!

 

 


 

NEED MORE DAT TEST PREP?
 

Check out Kaplan, DAT Bootcamp, and Crack the DAT for more DAT Test Prep Materials!

DAT Bootcamp has been said to be extremely helpful.  It provides many practice tests that are structured like the actual DAT.

Crack the Dat has been said to be very good at preparing you for the perceptual ability portion of the test.

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