DAT TEST
The Dental Admission Test (DAT) is a standardization test for candidates aspiring to get admissions in any American Dental college. It is conducted by the Prometric on behalf of the American Dental Association (ADA). Throughout the year this test is conducted everyday on a computer. The DAT test measures the general educational skills and abilities, knowledge of scientific information, and the ability to understand simple questions. IT has been conducted from the year 1950. A student who has completed at least one year at college with courses in biology and general and organic chemistry candidate appear for the DAT test. Knowledge pf advanced levels of Physics is not required for the test. Many students prefer to complete 2 or more years of college before taking the DAT test. The ideal time to take the DAT test is one year before entering the dental school. The DAT test mostly has multiple choice questions. It takes more than half a day just for the registration process. The DAT test has four exams in it.They are
- Survey of the Natural Sciences (Biology, General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry)
- Perceptual Ability
- Reading Comprehension and
- Quantitative Reasoning
There is no negative marking for wrong answers. The score range is 1 to 30. The standard or average score is 16.This score is according to the national range. Every dental school has it own requirement of pre-dental education courses. The student needs to check on this before applying to a particular dental college. The ADA Council on Dental Education and Licensure supports the acquisition of a baccalaureate degree prior to dental school admission. For more information on the AADAS (American Association of Dental Schools Application Service) please check American Dental Education Association .
Dental colleges use the DAT test scores and academic scores to give away admissions. More the DAT test score better it is. Registrations for the DAT test candidate be done by online registration throughhttp://www.ada.org/prof/ed/testing/dat/Online/index.html
Why DAT Test?
The DAT test of the Dental Admission test is a measure to set a standard for students aspiring to join dental colleges in US. The required knowledge for proper results in the dental college is analyzed through this DAT test. Other than the DAT test scores, the universities also consider undergraduate grades, undergraduate course study difficulties, letters of recommendation and sometimes based on personal interviews. Computer is the only medium through which a student can take a DAT test today. The ideal time to take a DAT test is April, May or June. It is better to take the test much before joining the dental college since this will enable the student to go in for a re-test in case of low scores.