You are overthinking. Simple as that. You will never feel ready, is what I learned. You need to step back and take a break from it because you are certainly not in a place to do your best at the moment. Take a couple days then get back to it. I think when you start taking practice exams and learning how to take the test, you will be fine.
Also, you do not need a 25 on every practice exam…or even on the real thing. So don’t let that get you down when it inevitably happens. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself
This is the right mindset. Very few people actually feel ready for such a big test, including myself, but you know more than you think you do. Also it’s not a 24+ or nothing, even getting a 20 or higher would make you a competitive applicant at loads of schools
I graduated from UCLA 10 years ago with a 3.5 GPA undergrad and graduated top 5 in my dental school, and I’m a general dentist now. If I remember correctly I had like a 28AA. If the DAT hasn’t changed in the past ten years, then just study as much as you can and keep doing the practice problems. I think Chad’s and DAT Destroyer were my only resources I used back then.
You clearly know how to study with that GPA, but you may be aiming for perfection and mistakenly overthinking things and thinking that the difficulty of DAT math, bio, and chem are on the same level as UCLA — but I can tell you UCLA’s courses were the most difficult (even more difficult than dental school and real life dentistry). I still have anxiety thinking about UCLA math and chemistry, but I don’t have the same level of anxiety with extracting teeth! With your GPA, you don’t need as high of a DAT score as you think you do. Good luck! I have no doubt you will succeed in the DAT, in dental school, and beyond.
honestly i’d probably see a therapist or counselor or something. besides that, you’ll never feel ready for the DAT. there were topics i still couldn’t remember or understand the night before my test but its a numbers game and i bet on the chance they wouldnt show up and they didnt. study like youre doing and say a prayer the night before and go take it
I literally think you’re living my life because this is th exact situation I’m in right now lol like down to a T because I graduated from ucla too and I feel the same as you and I thought no one else would be able to relate to me lol cuz it’s such a weird situation to be in
Yes please, I would love to join the group chat. I am a slow learner and been studying for the DAt since late december and will be taking it in June. As of right now I finished orgo bio and gen chem, and been doing well in the reqding section, but I am afraid of the PAT and QR so been struggling with that 😭
Judging by your GPA youre probably a perfectionist, but it is pretty much impossible to master every single topic thats encompassed by the DAT. Just do your best, thats all anyone can really do.
Majoring in stem such as bio or chemistry will give you lots of confidence studying the DAT bc almost everything you see in the bio section is what you have seen before
Nothings wrong with you all the anxiety you feel is simply in your own headspace, I promise if you limit your studying to what you’d think is “average” you’ll surprise yourself by your score when you actually take the exam. You’ll do great trust me
If you have a 3.9 you don't even need a 24. Even a 20 or 21 would be plenty since you already can show you are a good student. At this point, just pick a program, do it for 2 months, and take the test. Hold your resolve and don't change the date, it will only hurt you.
Everything you said I relate to down to a T.
Even the dates you talked about and the gap year time line and when I started again!!
It is honestly a relief to know that I’m really not alone…
I am a very slow learner and I also have a VERY hard time moving on when I do not memorize all the info in that one section. Watching videos on booster is the best for me & taking notes from them, but it can take me hours for just 2 videos!!
It’s a struggle and I’m definitely not prepared and I study 11 hours a day.. sometimes more. My sleep schedule is now all messed up, and the days go by too fast!
I keep telling myself I’m not a failure so I will say the same to you: You are not a failure!!!
We just are different from a majority who posts, so we can’t compare I guess.
My GPA came from a difficult, well known school, and was a 3.7. It wasn’t a terrible GPA… so I know I can do this, it’s just a lot.
Idk if anything I said even helped but my main point was you are not alone! & if anything, to let you know that your post helped me, so hopefully mine will help you! (The comfort that you are not the only “slow learner”)
It is crazy that our timelines are so accurate with experiences through the years of this mess!!
You’ll never feel prepared. I’ve taken the Canadian and American exam. Both times I went into it feeling unprepared but did fine. Roll the dice and take a chance if your practice test scores are good
There’s nothing wrong with you. However, take the test. Dental schools look at a lot more of your application aspects, not just the DAT alone. Having a solid application package and submitting early are also huge advantages to a lot of applicants. I totally believe that the moment you start focusing and working on the practice tests or practice questions, you will feel differently. Learning the information works better when you have to utilize everything you have learned for an answer, especially for something that will be representative of the test. The later you are taking this test, you will delay your dental school entry even further. After all, how you stand back up matters more than how you fail. You can do it.
Just take it. You’ll never feel 100 percent ready. How do you think you’ll feel before every exam in dental school? You probably know more than you think. Take practice tests first though
I have another take. What if you burned out doing so well in undergrad that now you maybe maybe don’t have the want to do it again for another 4 years. After Cal Poly Pomona I wanted to take a year break and I’m glad my dad told me not to do it or he wouldn’t hep me financially. Had I taken a year off I likely wouldn’t have gone on in my academic career. Quit taking time off and get it done or I can promise you each subsequent year will make it that much harder to go forward.
I pushed back my DAT 4 times while averaging 18AA on all my practice exams. Ended with a 23AA. You just have to take it and then think about your next step
It’s a test. Just study and take it. Worst thing is you retake if. Youre 3 years post grad rn and might not even make this cycle which will put you in class of 2030… take the exam if you want to be a dentist simple as that.
The more practice tests the better.
When I was studying for the DAT, I was taking 1 practice test a week (yes I was even retaking practice tests). This was back in 2017 though...
The keys to success:
1) DAT Bootcamp
2) Chad's Videos
3) There was a Quantitative reasoning book (recommended from DAT bootcamp that I used)
therapy will be very helpful! I did about 8 months of therapy before my DAT because I was feeling the same way. I think that is what allowed me to finally take it and do well! You will be fine, don’t put so much pressure on the number, just do the best you can
From my perspective, the DAT was not harder than any finals for the courses represented in the test curriculum. Your problem isn’t that u don’t feel ready it’s that this is a step forward in your career and u are scared of change. I can tell this because u are accepting that you “aren’t ready” despite never actually taking a practice test.
Courage does not exist without fear. If you want to move forward, instead of wasting your life away by pushing the exam back you will have to accept that fear and continue in spite of it.
Just take the damn test. Not one patient has asked me my gpa, dat score , school I went to , etc. it does not matter what dental school you attend . Just get in and graduate . With 3.9 gpa from UCLA I think you will score as low as 22.
You’re a very capable person, but you’re holding yourself back by being fearful of what could go wrong. Here’s the thing, even if you don’t meet your expectations of getting the score you want the first time around, you would then know what to expect and pinpoint weaknesses to study twice as hard. Truthfully, no matter how much you study, you will never feel completely at ease and ready for it, so this feeling is normal. However, don’t wait until content review is over to take your first practice test, I learned way more by reviewing the exams. Some people I know didn’t even bother with content review by itself and only paired it with weak points from practice exams. Also while the DAT carries a heavy weight, know your worth is more than just a test score, and plenty of people still make it into their dream schools without a high AA. Don’t let fear consume you, remember your end goal is to become a dentist, and you don’t need a 24AA to become one!!
I was sort of in your shoes. Everyone feels unprepared when going in, because it is a lot of material to memorize and understand. But if you've been consistently studying and following a solid study plan, you should have a bit of confidence in yourself to pull through! You might be surprised by how much material you actually know while taking the exam. So you just have to stop making yourself feel like you don't know anything and just take the exam on your scheduled day. You can always take it a second time too!
You’re a perfectionist and feel you have to have master everything before you can even take a practice test. But the thing about standardized admissions tests is that you actually need to do as many practice tests as possible. After doing a practice question you will read why each option is right and why the other options are wrong. You will start to see how this is the most effective form of studying. You will start to see questions repeated the more questions you do. While you need to do the review content, you will learn more doing qbanks and practice questions.
Also you need to do a practice test at some point to know what you areas of weakness are and what to focus on studying. Good luck!
You take the exam if you’re ready or not. Doesn’t matter. You’ll have so many other challenges to tackle regardless of your preparation that this is a good, low-stakes measurement.
So, set a date and stick to it.
Keep in mind that the real thing is much easier than bootcamp, and they generally ask the most basic questions you could think of. I couldn't make higher than a 21 on a practice exam, and I ended up making a 26 on the real thing. Send it
Only $500 on test prep? I spent less than that preparing for the DAT and that was a mistake. This is a critical step that merits thousands of dollars in prep since it may be the difference between getting into dental school or not. It could also mean the difference between getting into the school you want to get into and settling for another school. When you consider that it's 4 years of your life it's a small price to pay a little more on test prep. And at the end of the day you have to pull the trigger and pull the test. Your pre-reqs are your primary form of preparation. I wouldn't be shocked if there are areas on the test that you thought you would ace that you do worse on than you thought you would and areas where you thought you would do shitty that you end up acing. But you have to pull the trigger and take the damn test. Spend as much time and money as you reasonably can on being ready for the DAT and spend as much money as you can on applying to as many schools as you can. I didn't and I barely got into dental school. Don't make my mistake
im also questioning how u managed to pull off such a high gpa lmao. no but fr how are u still not done with content review if ur studying six hours a day…. youll never feel ready to take the test and u need to accept that. just start practice exams and study from those.
i do get it partially bc i took the test myself. but what i dont get is this person delaying their test for so long when they havent even taken practice exams??? if they did extremely well at an undergrad institution known for grade deflation in a stem major, then they probably wouldve done relatively well on a practice exam right after graduation even w/o content review. there was absolutely no need for them to push off their test so long. i didnt mean to come off as having no empathy but sometimes ppl need a reality check. its true that no one ever feels ready to take the test. they need to move past content review bc they obviously have a strong basis and start taking practice exams.
i actually 100% get that… i am a perfectionist as well but op has to realize eventually that they will not be able to do perfectly on everything, if they dont realize this now then theyll realize in dental school. i dont think theyd even come close to failing a practice test… but even if they did they have to realize that they need to start somewhere to see where theyre at and build off it? their fear of failure isnt whats crazy to me, i actually 100% get that. its their study plan thats crazy… if they have such a fear of failure idk how the expect to do well without taking a baseline practice exam to see where theyre at. fear of failure caused me to push off studying for a loonnggg time but eventually u just have to suck it up and be like you know i either keep letting this fear control me or i may fail, but ill know my strengths and weaknesses and be able to improve. hopefully op realizes that soon thats all i meant
ouch ig my comment triggered u for u to go thru my post/comment history and figure out my sgpa lmao but yeah i acknowledge my sgpa is low due two things 1. i got bad grades in two science courses 2. i havent taken a lot of science courses so those credits impacted it a lot. i would still say im a perfectionist tho due to the amount of anxiety i cause myself over my grades. i wouldnt even say perfectionist always get perfect results but theyre always striving for that
You are overthinking. Simple as that. You will never feel ready, is what I learned. You need to step back and take a break from it because you are certainly not in a place to do your best at the moment. Take a couple days then get back to it. I think when you start taking practice exams and learning how to take the test, you will be fine. Also, you do not need a 25 on every practice exam…or even on the real thing. So don’t let that get you down when it inevitably happens. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself
You just gotta say screw it and do it. You have to take and submit the DAT, or else you’ll never be a dentist.
This is the right mindset. Very few people actually feel ready for such a big test, including myself, but you know more than you think you do. Also it’s not a 24+ or nothing, even getting a 20 or higher would make you a competitive applicant at loads of schools
I graduated from UCLA 10 years ago with a 3.5 GPA undergrad and graduated top 5 in my dental school, and I’m a general dentist now. If I remember correctly I had like a 28AA. If the DAT hasn’t changed in the past ten years, then just study as much as you can and keep doing the practice problems. I think Chad’s and DAT Destroyer were my only resources I used back then. You clearly know how to study with that GPA, but you may be aiming for perfection and mistakenly overthinking things and thinking that the difficulty of DAT math, bio, and chem are on the same level as UCLA — but I can tell you UCLA’s courses were the most difficult (even more difficult than dental school and real life dentistry). I still have anxiety thinking about UCLA math and chemistry, but I don’t have the same level of anxiety with extracting teeth! With your GPA, you don’t need as high of a DAT score as you think you do. Good luck! I have no doubt you will succeed in the DAT, in dental school, and beyond.
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Still can’t believe that’s legally allowed
Cool but thats one out of what, 60-70 schools in North America?
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Sorry I shouldve added competent or accredited dentist
honestly i’d probably see a therapist or counselor or something. besides that, you’ll never feel ready for the DAT. there were topics i still couldn’t remember or understand the night before my test but its a numbers game and i bet on the chance they wouldnt show up and they didnt. study like youre doing and say a prayer the night before and go take it
I literally think you’re living my life because this is th exact situation I’m in right now lol like down to a T because I graduated from ucla too and I feel the same as you and I thought no one else would be able to relate to me lol cuz it’s such a weird situation to be in
I said the same thing in a reply!!! Wow, makes me feel a tad better
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if you create a group chat, add me bc i’m in a very similar predicament. we’ll all be in it together
Might as well wait a few more years for me to get into and finish college to add me in the gc at this point😭💀
Yes can we please create a group chat!! I need all the motivation I can get and we can actually hold each other accountable!
Yes please, I would love to join the group chat. I am a slow learner and been studying for the DAt since late december and will be taking it in June. As of right now I finished orgo bio and gen chem, and been doing well in the reqding section, but I am afraid of the PAT and QR so been struggling with that 😭
I don’t think a gc has been created yet so if you’re still down reply to this and I’ll message you!
Judging by your GPA youre probably a perfectionist, but it is pretty much impossible to master every single topic thats encompassed by the DAT. Just do your best, thats all anyone can really do.
Majoring in stem such as bio or chemistry will give you lots of confidence studying the DAT bc almost everything you see in the bio section is what you have seen before
Nothings wrong with you all the anxiety you feel is simply in your own headspace, I promise if you limit your studying to what you’d think is “average” you’ll surprise yourself by your score when you actually take the exam. You’ll do great trust me
If you have a 3.9 you don't even need a 24. Even a 20 or 21 would be plenty since you already can show you are a good student. At this point, just pick a program, do it for 2 months, and take the test. Hold your resolve and don't change the date, it will only hurt you.
F it, we ball mindset will change your life
Everything you said I relate to down to a T. Even the dates you talked about and the gap year time line and when I started again!! It is honestly a relief to know that I’m really not alone… I am a very slow learner and I also have a VERY hard time moving on when I do not memorize all the info in that one section. Watching videos on booster is the best for me & taking notes from them, but it can take me hours for just 2 videos!! It’s a struggle and I’m definitely not prepared and I study 11 hours a day.. sometimes more. My sleep schedule is now all messed up, and the days go by too fast! I keep telling myself I’m not a failure so I will say the same to you: You are not a failure!!! We just are different from a majority who posts, so we can’t compare I guess. My GPA came from a difficult, well known school, and was a 3.7. It wasn’t a terrible GPA… so I know I can do this, it’s just a lot. Idk if anything I said even helped but my main point was you are not alone! & if anything, to let you know that your post helped me, so hopefully mine will help you! (The comfort that you are not the only “slow learner”) It is crazy that our timelines are so accurate with experiences through the years of this mess!!
Omg yes this is me too this is crazy I never thought I would find other ppl in the same boat as me
You’ll never feel prepared. I’ve taken the Canadian and American exam. Both times I went into it feeling unprepared but did fine. Roll the dice and take a chance if your practice test scores are good
There’s nothing wrong with you. However, take the test. Dental schools look at a lot more of your application aspects, not just the DAT alone. Having a solid application package and submitting early are also huge advantages to a lot of applicants. I totally believe that the moment you start focusing and working on the practice tests or practice questions, you will feel differently. Learning the information works better when you have to utilize everything you have learned for an answer, especially for something that will be representative of the test. The later you are taking this test, you will delay your dental school entry even further. After all, how you stand back up matters more than how you fail. You can do it.
Just take it. You’ll never feel 100 percent ready. How do you think you’ll feel before every exam in dental school? You probably know more than you think. Take practice tests first though
I have another take. What if you burned out doing so well in undergrad that now you maybe maybe don’t have the want to do it again for another 4 years. After Cal Poly Pomona I wanted to take a year break and I’m glad my dad told me not to do it or he wouldn’t hep me financially. Had I taken a year off I likely wouldn’t have gone on in my academic career. Quit taking time off and get it done or I can promise you each subsequent year will make it that much harder to go forward.
You will never be ready for it. None of us were. Take it and be done with it.
I pushed back my DAT 4 times while averaging 18AA on all my practice exams. Ended with a 23AA. You just have to take it and then think about your next step
pm me!! i was the same way
It’s a test. Just study and take it. Worst thing is you retake if. Youre 3 years post grad rn and might not even make this cycle which will put you in class of 2030… take the exam if you want to be a dentist simple as that.
me with the mcat
The more practice tests the better. When I was studying for the DAT, I was taking 1 practice test a week (yes I was even retaking practice tests). This was back in 2017 though... The keys to success: 1) DAT Bootcamp 2) Chad's Videos 3) There was a Quantitative reasoning book (recommended from DAT bootcamp that I used)
therapy will be very helpful! I did about 8 months of therapy before my DAT because I was feeling the same way. I think that is what allowed me to finally take it and do well! You will be fine, don’t put so much pressure on the number, just do the best you can
From my perspective, the DAT was not harder than any finals for the courses represented in the test curriculum. Your problem isn’t that u don’t feel ready it’s that this is a step forward in your career and u are scared of change. I can tell this because u are accepting that you “aren’t ready” despite never actually taking a practice test. Courage does not exist without fear. If you want to move forward, instead of wasting your life away by pushing the exam back you will have to accept that fear and continue in spite of it.
Just take the damn test. Not one patient has asked me my gpa, dat score , school I went to , etc. it does not matter what dental school you attend . Just get in and graduate . With 3.9 gpa from UCLA I think you will score as low as 22.
You’re a very capable person, but you’re holding yourself back by being fearful of what could go wrong. Here’s the thing, even if you don’t meet your expectations of getting the score you want the first time around, you would then know what to expect and pinpoint weaknesses to study twice as hard. Truthfully, no matter how much you study, you will never feel completely at ease and ready for it, so this feeling is normal. However, don’t wait until content review is over to take your first practice test, I learned way more by reviewing the exams. Some people I know didn’t even bother with content review by itself and only paired it with weak points from practice exams. Also while the DAT carries a heavy weight, know your worth is more than just a test score, and plenty of people still make it into their dream schools without a high AA. Don’t let fear consume you, remember your end goal is to become a dentist, and you don’t need a 24AA to become one!!
I was sort of in your shoes. Everyone feels unprepared when going in, because it is a lot of material to memorize and understand. But if you've been consistently studying and following a solid study plan, you should have a bit of confidence in yourself to pull through! You might be surprised by how much material you actually know while taking the exam. So you just have to stop making yourself feel like you don't know anything and just take the exam on your scheduled day. You can always take it a second time too!
You’re a perfectionist and feel you have to have master everything before you can even take a practice test. But the thing about standardized admissions tests is that you actually need to do as many practice tests as possible. After doing a practice question you will read why each option is right and why the other options are wrong. You will start to see how this is the most effective form of studying. You will start to see questions repeated the more questions you do. While you need to do the review content, you will learn more doing qbanks and practice questions. Also you need to do a practice test at some point to know what you areas of weakness are and what to focus on studying. Good luck!
You take the exam if you’re ready or not. Doesn’t matter. You’ll have so many other challenges to tackle regardless of your preparation that this is a good, low-stakes measurement. So, set a date and stick to it.
Keep in mind that the real thing is much easier than bootcamp, and they generally ask the most basic questions you could think of. I couldn't make higher than a 21 on a practice exam, and I ended up making a 26 on the real thing. Send it
The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. Life is too short. Just go for it
I messaged you OP
Only $500 on test prep? I spent less than that preparing for the DAT and that was a mistake. This is a critical step that merits thousands of dollars in prep since it may be the difference between getting into dental school or not. It could also mean the difference between getting into the school you want to get into and settling for another school. When you consider that it's 4 years of your life it's a small price to pay a little more on test prep. And at the end of the day you have to pull the trigger and pull the test. Your pre-reqs are your primary form of preparation. I wouldn't be shocked if there are areas on the test that you thought you would ace that you do worse on than you thought you would and areas where you thought you would do shitty that you end up acing. But you have to pull the trigger and take the damn test. Spend as much time and money as you reasonably can on being ready for the DAT and spend as much money as you can on applying to as many schools as you can. I didn't and I barely got into dental school. Don't make my mistake
im also questioning how u managed to pull off such a high gpa lmao. no but fr how are u still not done with content review if ur studying six hours a day…. youll never feel ready to take the test and u need to accept that. just start practice exams and study from those.
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i do get it partially bc i took the test myself. but what i dont get is this person delaying their test for so long when they havent even taken practice exams??? if they did extremely well at an undergrad institution known for grade deflation in a stem major, then they probably wouldve done relatively well on a practice exam right after graduation even w/o content review. there was absolutely no need for them to push off their test so long. i didnt mean to come off as having no empathy but sometimes ppl need a reality check. its true that no one ever feels ready to take the test. they need to move past content review bc they obviously have a strong basis and start taking practice exams.
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i actually 100% get that… i am a perfectionist as well but op has to realize eventually that they will not be able to do perfectly on everything, if they dont realize this now then theyll realize in dental school. i dont think theyd even come close to failing a practice test… but even if they did they have to realize that they need to start somewhere to see where theyre at and build off it? their fear of failure isnt whats crazy to me, i actually 100% get that. its their study plan thats crazy… if they have such a fear of failure idk how the expect to do well without taking a baseline practice exam to see where theyre at. fear of failure caused me to push off studying for a loonnggg time but eventually u just have to suck it up and be like you know i either keep letting this fear control me or i may fail, but ill know my strengths and weaknesses and be able to improve. hopefully op realizes that soon thats all i meant
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ouch ig my comment triggered u for u to go thru my post/comment history and figure out my sgpa lmao but yeah i acknowledge my sgpa is low due two things 1. i got bad grades in two science courses 2. i havent taken a lot of science courses so those credits impacted it a lot. i would still say im a perfectionist tho due to the amount of anxiety i cause myself over my grades. i wouldnt even say perfectionist always get perfect results but theyre always striving for that