A few tips and questions about the DAT:
- May 28, 2021
How do I know if I'm accepted or rejected on an interview?
Sometimes students report that they feel their interview at a certain school went bad but afterward, they got accepted; also some students say their interview went good but they got rejected.
This could have various reasons. Some interviewers are so-called tough, they may want to put the interviewee under pressure to see how they react. Some other interviewers are friendly, this could mean that they are friendly with everyone and not just you so you can’t assume it is because the interviewer likes you more than others so be prepared.
Do not assume that you got rejected or accepted based on your interview experience. In some schools, the interview itself could be just one factor along the rest of the requirements expected from an applicant like extracurricular, GPA, DAT score, and so on. Some schools don’t put too much emphasis on the interview. This could be the reason an applicant gets accepted to a school that s/he thought s/he did poorly on the interview and gets waitlisted/rejected on an interview s/he thought it was her/his best.
You just have to wait to hear from the schools you have interviewed with.
How many questions in the real DAT can you get wrong in a given section to get 18 score?
Each test is scaled differently depending on the difficulty of the questions in that test, the scaling also depends on the performance of other students. Therefore, it is not easy to say.
We suggest you take a different approach and try for scoring as high as you can.
How Should I Prepare for Dental School After Getting Accepted?
Once you are accepted to dental school, make sure to prepare well for your first year, as it will be challenging and you want to do everything possible before the year starts to position yourself for success during the academic year.
- Attend the pre–first-year experience if you’re able to participate at your school.
- Hardcore studying within the summer prior to entering dental school.
- Focus. Dental school may have a tough time, so it is important that you take some time for yourself before school starts.
- Brush up on your reading. Once you are in a dental program, the amount of reading that you will do will be different from what you did as an undergraduate student. Try reading more books, magazines, newspapers, etc. Anything, where you can work on reading speed and comprehension, will help you prepare for dental school.
- Keep working on your hand skills. Continue to play your instrument, participate in your sporting activity, knit, etc. Don’t stop doing all those things that you were doing to demonstrate your hand skills once you have been accepted into dental school.
- Develop and maintain good healthy eating habits, exercise on a regular basis, learn how to relax, and find things that are fun to do. All of these things will help you maintain a healthy lifestyle so you can prepare yourself mentally and physically for the challenges ahead. Also, forming healthy habits before starting school will help you to maintain healthy habits during the year.
Prerequisites
According to the ADEA, dental schools usually accept candidates with the following prerequisites:
– Two semesters (three quarters) of Biology with the lab.
– Two semesters (three quarters) of General Chemistry with the lab.
– Two semesters (three quarters) of Organic Chemistry with lab.
– Two semesters (three quarters) of physics with lab.
Some dental schools require courses like English composition, and additional upper-level biology courses, like anatomy and physiology, microbiology, and biochemistry. Some dental schools will substitute one semester of biochemistry for the second semester of organic chemistry. Many schools strongly encourage applicants to take courses in the arts and social sciences.
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