I took the DAT for the second time and it improved from before, but not as good as i hoped. The first time I took it, I got 17AA, 17TS, 18BIO, 17CHEM, 17OCHEM, 18RC, 16 QR, and 20 PAT. This second time around, i got 18AA, 19TS, 19BIO, 19CHEM, 18OCHEM, 16RC, 18 QR, and 22 PAT. Of course, these scores are not so great compared to the average DAT scores that are accepted by most dental schools. I’m upset with myself that my RC score went down considering I was getting 19-20 while taking practice exams. Should I just apply with this score or should I retake it again? Thank you for taking the time to read this!

I’m planning to apply this coming cycle and I’m having major anxiety man. LOL. Can anyone give me some outside perspective and help me better my chances on getting accepted this cycle?

GPA: 3.51

SGPA: 3.34

DAT: 22AA, 24TS, 21 PAT (only score below a 20 was 18 QR)

LOR: they will be strong

Shadowing hours: 140+ by application time

Volunteering hours: 150+ by application time

Clinical Experience: 2000+ working hours as a dental assistant

EC: 2 years in a predental fraternity with one year as a Board member in charge of operations for our student run free dental clinic during under grad; 2 years competing in college level tennis with one year as captain(also won state championships that year); worked as a tennis instructor to children for 3 years

Non traditional student

I think I’m freaking out the most about my GPA cuz it’s not the worst but it’s definitely not the greatest. Any advice or reassurance would be appreciated!

Hello everyone I hope you all are doing well!

I am a pre dental student and I have come here with a few questions that I am in need of getting answers to.

1- If I wanted to apply this cycle to Dental School, but I take my DAT at the end of June, how bad would it be on my end if I submit my application first and then my DAT score afterwards? Would this hinder my chances of getting accepted?

2- I currently have a week left of my undergraduate semester, so after finals I plan on devoting all my time to studying for the DAT. I also work and in all honesty I am unable to quit, does anyone have good advice on how I can avoid burn out or feeling overwhelmed with managing both?

3- Also, if anyone has any good DAT tips for trying to follow the DAT study schedule on DAT Booster, I would love to hear it!

Thank you guys and stay blessed!

Was planning on studying for the dat this summer while also taking orgo 2+ lab as well as do research and shadow for a couple hours a week. I know it depends on me but has anyone had experience with this or just doesn’t recommend it at all?

Hey guys so I’ve been seeing these programs for a 1 year masters at several different university’s that guarantee interviews. I wanted to know if anyone here has done these programs and if show how difficult are they?

Hi all,

19F applying to dental school this cycle. I’ve taken an average of ~20 credit hours per semester and 11 every summer. It wasn’t my choice to load up so much, I was in a rigorous medical program prior to deciding on dentistry. My gpa kinda suffered in result though, and I’ll be applying with a ~3.4ish, maybe 3.5.

Any advice on the following would be greatly appreciated: How negatively will my gpa affect my chances at getting in this cycle? Will I catch slack for my age? What should I aim for on the DAT to compensate? (I take it late May) Is there anything I can do to look better? 🥹

I think graduating in 2.5 years is lowkey screwing me over, my gpa has improved significantly this semester compared to last, but is that enough to consider it a positive trend and look good to dental schools?

Thx sm!!

So im getting ready to take the DAT and feel mostly ready I'm thinking of taking it next week(I still need to register for the test). However my Datbooster is expiring next week and I've already extended it twice and I don't want to spend 180$ to use it for a couple of days. If I email booster when my test date is and let them know that my test is soon and my subscription is about to end will they just let me use my subscription till the day of my test?

Hello, one of my family member owns a dog grooming salon, and I have worked there as a dog bather during my gap year. Would this be considered as a unique experience? Should I write this or not?

Would this be viewed negatively by adcoms since this was a family business?

-I’m pretty sure this is the correct place to post, but anyways I would love some help and guidance.

-So I am an upcoming college freshman and dental school has been something I’ve been thinking about really heavily as i transition into college. I plan on going two years at my state school and either transferring to a better school or finishing my other two years at the main campus. But I also want to get a degree in data science/computer science/software engineering something along those lines if at the end of college, applying to dental school didn’t work out so I would have something to work with and fall back on. I would have taken additional classes to complete all the prerequisites for dental school as well. I’ve looked at other people opinions of applying to dental school with a computer degree along with the additional classes and most say this is a pretty good plan and idea as long as u have a high DAT score and GPA that’s what schools really look at. But I really want some assurance to from people who have pursed and gone down this path and others who haven’t.

-My question essentially is there have any advice that can be given for me about dentistry and how you guys have pursued dentistry in terms of a plan? Also is going down this route a good plan ?

-I’d really appreciate any advice since it would help me tremendously going forward with future plans and decisions.

This might be a dumb question but I was wondering if I took a series of sewing classes, would this be considered an extracurricular activity that I can put on my application?

I have graduated and no longer can join clubs but am looking for a way to boost the extracurricular side of my application

Thank you!

Hello everyone! I just took my DAT recently and after being an avid Reddit lurker, I thought I would share some insight on how my exam went. Since I did poorly on the practice exams initially (usually getting <19), I was really nervous about the actual exam but it went smoother than I expected.

Scores:

PAT - 20

QR - 20

RC - 30

Bio - 25

GC - 24

OC - 22

TS - 24

AA - 24

Background:

A junior with a 3.90~ GPA.

Materials Used:

1. ANKIIII:

• I used DAT Booster’s Biology + Feralis-Booster Expanded ANKI decks to study for the Bio section. I thought it was overall really representative of the content needed for the exam. FYI, some sections of the biology section on Booster did not have any video lessons yet when I studied, so you do have to study them independently. However, the ANKI decks do include those sections as well, so you don’t have to make cards for them. I personally found that the cards were enough for me to study (I didn’t really need to personalize them).

• For the OChem and Gen Chem section, I used DAT BOOTCAMP’s ANKI deck. DAT Booster’s ANKI decks for those sections did not suit my style. DAT Booster would have the whole mechanism in the picture with stickers covering up the reaction, product, etc. When you answered, ANKI would remove the sticker to reveal what was hiding behind the sticker. In contrast, DAT BOOTCAMP would only show a picture of part of the reaction and the answer could be a picture of the product only, for example.

• I did not use ANKI for the QR section.

• I had a total of 4710 cards. I really regretted doing reviews since I would get fatigued before I even started the new flashcards. I recommend doing 200 NEW cards a day until you run out of them and then doing reviews of sections that you found the most difficult.

2. DAT Booster:

• If you’re wondering whether to buy BOOTCAMP or Booster, I really recommend Booster. It’s cheaper and there’s always some kind of promotion happening. There is an app version so you can watch videos and practice questions when you don’t have access to your computer. In addition, their website layout is really smooth.

• In terms of content, I thought that Booster was really thorough in teaching every section of the DAT. I recommend that you look at the explanations of the questions that you got wrong and compile a notebook (WRITE IT DOWN) where you redo the question with the right answer this time with explanations on WHY that is the correct answer. This is something I did towards the end of my studying and I wish I did it when I first started studying so I could save a lot more time reviewing at the end.

• The PAT section on Booster is amazing. Trust me. I got a 20 on that section and I had no idea what I was doing and I only started practicing a month before the exam. I am sure that if I did the 5 to 10 questions a day (in each section T.T) that they recommended that I would have done better. Practice really does help in this section since memorization won’t help you much here.

• The Booster Bio Cheat Sheet is a godsend. Personally, I only finished my ANKI deck for Bio a week before my exam and I haven't touched it since. I only went over the Cheat Sheet provided by Booster to review and it helped a lot. If you know, you know, and if you don’t know, cramming it in can hurt you.

3. Feralis Notes: Do you need to memorize it? No. However, I recommend that you read through it at least once. There were a lot of details in the notes that I personally didn’t need for MY exam but it’s hard to say that it wouldn’t show up on yours. All I can recommend is to use ANKI and the Cheat Sheet to know which topics to focus on when you read the notes. Do not stress about memorizing every detail on the notes like I did. Remember, Booster aims to over prepare you so you are not surprised when you take the exam. (Breadth over Depth!)

4. QR Booster and Bootcamp Cheat Sheets

• I hate math but you should know the general conversions and formulas on the cheat sheet. Personally, I had a lot of probability and stat questions on my exam so you should review them if you struggle with them (seems like a general consensus). I personally didn’t review much for it and only focused on questions that I didn’t know how to solve. I cross referenced Booster and Bootcamp’s QR sheets and saw equations on Bootcamp’s that were not included on Booster’s and vice-versa. Just make sure you know them and you will be alright.

5. OCHEM BOOTCAMP CHEAT SHEET

• It really is a holy grail. Most of the reaction mechanisms are on there and all of the reactions are on there too. It was glorious to look over before bed.

Study Timeline:

I originally scheduled my exam for March 16, 2024.

1. December 2023: Once Winter Break started, I began studying for the DAT using the 10 week schedule that was provided by DAT Booster. However, I started slowing down after about a week. It was a lot of information that I needed to learn and I was burnt out from the Fall semester. I would suggest that you try out the schedule, see if you like it, and change what doesn’t work for you. Personally for me, I had to catch up almost every day with the previous day’s material because of how often I would give up after a study session. If I could go back in time, I probably would have allotted more time for the learning phase since I ended up rushing through the day’s material and having to relearn the information during the review phase. I would recommend using ANKI during this phase but you can delay it until the review phase.

2. January 2024: I was really burnt out by January. I broke up with my partner earlier in January and school started in mid-January. I took easier classes this semester but the dread of having to juggle school with studying for the DAT + crying meltdowns made this one of the toughest months for me. Thankfully, I had completed the learning phase by this month so all I did was look at my notes and do ANKI.

3. February 2024: I was almost done with my BIO ANKI deck when I realized that there was an Expanded deck. I also hadn’t started reviewing for OCHEM/GCHEM/QR/PAT/RC yet so I was stressed. Needless to say, I pushed my exam back till April.

4. March 2024: I implemented learning 200 new cards a day on ANKI and it helped me finish my cards faster so I could focus on reviewing ANKI and not the whole learning aspect. During this time, I began to spend some time with PAT, doing about 15 questions per section everyday (or trying to at least). I did not finish all of my PAT questions on the Booster website by the time I took my exam.

5. April 2024: I only finished reviewing most of the topics that I was uncomfortable with on ANKI a week and a half before the DAT. Then I focused on retaking all the practice exams in one day for each section except QR/RC/PAT. I would write down all the questions I got wrong in a notebook and write the explanations after watching the very thorough videos. I didn’t need to study much for the RC since I had an “it is what it is” mindset. It helped that I am an avid bookworm who likes to read so I didn’t have troubles with the reading/analysis part. QR was a disaster. I hated math so I cried after doing the first 4 QR practice exams and didn’t do the rest. I just focused on reviewing the questions I got wrong and memorizing the cheat sheet formulas. PAT was really discouraging to say the least. I was doing poorly on the practice exams and I wished I did more practice but I had already resolved to accept my fate.

Day of Exam

● Bio (25): Booster definitely over prepares you for this section but it’s really worth it in the end. The questions were a lot more straightforward than Booster. Honestly, I only had two questions that I wasn’t sure about. Whatever you do, don’t overthink it and move on because you still have to do GChem and OChem.

● GC (24): There was a mix of conceptual and calculation questions. Just know how to determine pH, gasses, etc. Booster was overall representative for this section since it really did feel like another Booster practice exam.

● OC (22): It was a little easier than Booster but still! You know how everyone was talking about carbocation stability and acidity? They were right. There were some normal “what is the product” from these reagents but also a sprinkle of conceptual questions too. Just know how each mechanism works and why. I wish I studied more about substitution and elimination reactions cause I really sucked at them.

● PAT (20): I guessed on half of them. The angle ranking was really hard so I just yolo’d it. I spent more time doing the TFE which I lowkey enjoyed since it was more simple. Everything on the PAT section was like the Booster practice exams but just a tad bit easier.

● RC (30): SEARCH AND DESTROY! While I can’t say that it will work for everyone, it worked for me. My passages weren’t really long from what I can remember but the order I had them was easy-hard-easy. There was barely any figure analysis on mine but there was a really in depth text about the nervous system in which my eyes glazed over and search and destroy really helped. I finished 15 minutes and I rested my eyes after reviewing my highlighted questions before the QR section started.

● QR (20): Did I mention I hate math? There were a lot of rates and probability questions on mine so I would highly recommend reviewing them. I skipped all of the hard problems and did the easy ones first. I had about 15 minutes to do 7 problems that I found difficult so I tried to solve the ones I knew how to do but would take a lot of time before doing the questions that I had no clue how to solve and guessing.

Ending Advice:

Take as much time as you need preparing for the exam. Don’t feel like you have to get it done in a set time span because you are human and you NEED breaks. I ended up going on vacation during the learning phase and I didn’t touch my materials during it so it is 100% possible and okay for you to take a break. Please take care of yourself and budget your time accordingly. I never felt ready for my exam - heck I was crying that I was going to fail the exam the night before. You will never feel ready to take the DAT but when you feel tired of studying and you are ready to just get it over with, that’s a good indicator that you are ready.

(I also didn't do any FULL length exams and I don't regret it. I was consistently completing the practice exams (all but PAT/QR) before the allotted time ended so I didn't really want to do a full length. In the end, it didn't hurt me but YMMV.)

https://preview.redd.it/pwinq1y4fpuc1.jpg?width=2759&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5ed08f3e5184c006459a29da792fc8455e72ac6d

Recently my wife applied for dental hygiene course at CNIH Ottawa. She did her mature test and two hours entrance exam and the next week received mail she passed the exams and asked to attend phone interview. She did well..

But later next week we received rejection email with no explanation why. Anyone had similar experience?? Can we apply again?

#CNIH #dentalhygiene

guysss i finally got accepted to dental school today!! i can’t believe it! wanted to know if creighton has a group chat or anything for the class of 2028? would love to get to know ppl before school starts

DAT: 25 AA, 23 TS, 21 PAT

GPA: 3.83, sGPA: 3.70

VOLUNTEER: will be around ~150 when I apply, ~115 sorting donations at a thrift store whose proceeds go to a local hospice center, ~20 dental assisting, ~15 tutoring/teaching

ECs: club-hopped in college (rec sports, philanthropy, radio for a semester or so each), didn’t do anything health/dental related, no leadership or research

~2500 hours dental assisting, ~2400 hours medical assisting (prior to dental assisting)

SHADOWING: 120 hours with the dentist I now assist

LORs: 1 very strong from the dentist I work for, 3 from science profs who probably don’t remember me well as I graduated in 2021 and didn’t go to office hours often

PS: not a huge writer, it’ll be good but maybe not great

WI resident! planning to apply first day! most important factors for me are cost, location (near family in the midwest), and clinical experience!

should i add or remove any schools from my list?

Marquette Ohio State UNC Iowa IU UCLA UMich Louisville Creighton Temple Tennessee

Hi I’m nearing the end of sophomore year of college and I have a 2.85 sgpa without my classes from this semester! Am I screwed if I get it up to a 3.0 and get a really good score on the DAT will I have a chance? For extracurriculars, I have shadowing, volunteer, dental club, and I started my own dental club. IS THERE STILL A CHANCE???

She is my advisor, but I also took one class with her that was focusing on changing my major to biology department.

feel like my stat is very average, if anything lower than average and would appreciate some insights what schools I should apply for to increase my chance of getting in. I want to apply broadly to OOS friendly schools. Any tips or list of schools I should apply for with my stats?? 🙏

Hello! I'm looking to apply this next cycle and I was just curious to see where I stand and if there's anything I need to add to my application before application season comes around!

Half White Half Asian

Junior; Tennessee Resident

sGPA and GPA (3.9, 3.86), DAT (AA: 21, PAT: 21, TS:21)

Experience List

Shadowing (125 hours)

Volunteering

Dental Missions Trip/Volunteering (100 hours)- worked on a dental team in a remote village in Guatemala providing care to an underserved community.

Musician for several philanthropy events as a volunteer (60 hours)

Serving at a inner city church in the youth ministry (75 hours)

Serving on my churches worship team (75 hours)

Work/Miscellaneous

Session Musician (6000 hours)- Have been doing this since high school so that's why there are so many hours. Have worked as a musician in Nashville going on multiple tours tracking for artists, being in music videos for some bigger artists.

Research (600 hours)...Won an award at a conference for poster presentation

CNA in hospice and hospital (350 hours)

Pharmacy Technician (600 hours)

Social Club Coordinator (100 hours)

Thank you in advance for any feedback, purely just looking to strengthen my application. I'm also looking to hopefully go to Boston University so any feedback specifically for that school would be greatly appreciated as well :)

I'm stressing about letters of rec. I need one more science professor. I find it difficult because I never struggled too much in a class that I had to consistently go to office hours. (should've gone anyway though, this is 100% my fault)

The way I got to know one of my professors was because he hosted optional "field trips" outside of class where he would talk about the different animals/plants around the city. He agreed right away but I have not been getting responses from the two others I asked.

The dentist I shadowed told me she would write me a very strong letter but the thought of not being able to get another one from a science professor is keeping me up at night lol.

Anyone in a similar situation? Any advice? Should I follow up with the two professors that ignored my request?

I’m in 2nd year of pre dental (but I am going back to 2nd year as I am switching programs) and my gpa rn isn’t the best but I do believe it will be better as I got the groove of uni now.

So far I haven’t done too much in my uni years for building a resume.

All I have right now is working at a dental clinic in 2022 for a summer, and growing up I would always go volunteer at my uncles dental clinic when they would have Free Dental Days. Also in Grade 11 I did Co-Op at a dental clinic.

I’m not exactly sure what I should be doing, this year I’m going back to work at a dental clinic and I’m thinking of asking for some shadowing as well.

Other than that, what advice can anyone give me to start building my resume really well so in a few years I can start my applying to schools? Any help would be appreciated I’m pretty lost.

In a weird spot for letters of recommendation. I took the same professor for Physics 1 & 2 and Chemistry 1 & 2 and he is writing a letter of recommendation for me. I know schools say 2 letters, but does anyone know if this will suffice since I took him for 4 pre req courses

Does anyone have a list of the cutoffs each dental school has for their dat??

For some reason, my application status for midwestern Illinois is still at "none", is there any reason to why that is? And does anyone know if they are still interviewing for this cycle? thanks

Anyone who received an acceptance from USask for DMD plan to reject the offer because they applied to med or what not?

Hey guys, I am currently finishing up my junior year and plan to start the application in May. My gpa is on the lower side, 3.3, and I have not taken the DAT. Doing well on the DAT is my biggest concern now. However, I wanted to know of any other ways I can boost my application. I am an Army veteran and I am hopping that looks good. As far as extracurriculars I’m in the pre-dental club, and in a very inactive student veterans club. I don’t have any official volunteering hours but I was an assistant coach (unpaid) for a youth boxing club, I’m not really sure if I can use this or not. I have worked for the past year as a dental assistant, and worked as a medical assistant for a total of 3 years before that. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can make myself a more competitive applicant?

I was offered an admission to my top school. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances, I must swap my major from biomedical science to Biological science, both of which are Honours B.Sc.. However, my conditional offer states the following:

"The degree or diploma upon which admission was offered must be obtained by July 31 prior to commencing the undergraduate dental education program and the academic performance in the degree or diploma program must be comparable to the academic performance upon which admission was offered. In the case of non-compliance with those conditions, the University reserves the right to withdraw the offer of admission or cancel registration."

Both majors are an honours B.Sc. so will that still be okay? When they say degree, do the refer to the B.Sc. or the major in which I was enrolled?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

after fafsa is processed do we just wait for the financial aid package offered from the schools? Generally, when do they send them out?

Hello,

Is it okay to take the CASPer exam after I receive secondaries from schools that require it? Or would I have to take it before I submit my primary application? Would taking it after secondaries delay my opportunity of an interview?

I’ve been a pre-dental student for almost 4 years now and have always been excited about my career choice and pursuing dentistry, until recently. I feel like everything I see or hear about dentistry is negative. I’ve seen so many posts saying it’s not worth it financially and dentists salaries will not meet up with inflation rates due to a decrease in insurance reimbursements and an increase in overhead. I really enjoy the field but i guess I’m just scared that I put so much money and schooling to pursue something that won’t pay off. Not only this, but whenever I tell people I’m pursuing dentistry, they all ask why I didn’t pursue medicine like my sister. I love dentistry, but It’s just very frustrating to get these comments so often and feel that you may have made the wrong decision. For those of you in the field, what is your perspective?

Hi all, I finished undergrad with a 3.3 overall gpa and 3.1 science. I am taking a masters and will be finishing this spring most likely with a 3.9 gpa. I went to a votech high school and have been dental assisting since graduating,during my school breaks (~4 years) on top of doing consistent shadowing throughout my dental assisting program in high school. I ended up having to balance studying for the DAT on top of carrying a full course of masters work, and another online anatomy course, and didn’t get the best but also not the worst score for my course load? (19AA,20TS,21 RC, 21 PAT, 21 GC, 18 OC, 16 QR, 21 BIO). I’ve been doing volunteer work pretty consistently since middle school, working in soup kitchen, senior centers, stuff through my church and dental related volunteer throughout my dental assisting program. I’ve also been closely involved with the art volunteer/leadership (help start an art club at college, worked for the art building at school, and was also a teachers assistant for the art department as well, and volunteer at a local art center ). I originally got an early conditional acceptance into UNE’s dental school, but went through a lot of personal struggles with mental health, and losing a family member in my latter end of undergrad, so unfortunately my dental school acceptance got revoked and my application cycle was not very successful. My dental experience is pretty well rounded according to the admissions committee at schools I talked to as I have worked with pretty much every specialty, and have also been training under dentists who are professors at BU, Tufts, and Harvard, so I’ve learned a lot from them. I think my breaking factor from my last application cycle was more so my grades. With the combination of undergrad and masters grades, my new science gpa should be around 3.2/3.3 and overall gpa 3.4. Still not very strong but I’m hoping that schools will consider my growth, as well as other ECs and dental experience. Trying not to lose hope with dental school, but if anyone has recommendations for how many and what schools to apply to as an out of state resident from MA, that would be wonderful. My current contingent list is UNE, ASDOH, midwestern IL and AZ, Missouri school of dentistry, Touro, West Virginia university, Western, Indiana, University of Colorado, was thinking UF but probably not with my gpa, medical university of South Carolina, and then Lincoln memorial. Thank you everyone and hope you have a wonderful day:)