I am glad "DAT" is over!

June 6^th 2009 I took the most important test of my life thus far. Now, I know that once I get into dental school and have to take boards and all that jazz that the DAT is probably going to seem like weak sauce but for right now it is the biggest and most important test I have ever taken. In my preparation for the DAT I often reflected on the other standardized tests I have been forced to take. My mind found the memories of the SAT and ACT exams that I took to get into college. I thought that if standardized tests were food, the DAT would be a nice multiple course meal and the SAT a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This thought terrified me because I had to take the SAT three times just to get a decent score. I have never prided myself on my test taking abilities. I also had one other fear: I was afraid that for some reason I really wasn’t supposed to become a dentist and that God had some other plan for me and bombing the DAT was going to be the sign that I needed to rethink my life choices. So in order to counter these feelings I studied like a mad man. For the last month I have been in the library doing nothing but studying for the DAT. I picked out the back corner of the computer lab so I would have to turn all the way around to be distracted by other people in the lab. However, I did take notice of the other guy frequently in the lab who was also studying for the DAT and I would keep an eye on him, making sure I didn’t go home before he did. I know that is a little over the top but a little competition never hurts to keep me motivated. One time I was feeling a little sleepy, and we all know studying with droopy eye lids is never beneficial, so I decided to lay my head down and take a quick power nap then refocus. But as I laid my head down on my hands I looked back under my arm and saw “my competition” studying away behind me. When I saw him my mind snapped awake out of shear competitiveness and I was able to continue studying. Then a few minutes later I looked back and he wasn’t there. So I don’t know if he left or I was more asleep then I realized and imagined him there to subconsciously wake myself up.

Enough about me. I would like to introduce everyone to the DAT.

The DAT consists of 4 sections all of which are taken on a computer. The first section is the survey of natural sciences. You are given 90 minutes to complete 100 questions: 40 biology, 30 general/inorganic chemistry, and 30 organic chemistry. Then, as soon as your time runs out or you finish all of the questions the test moves straight into the Perceptual Ability section. This section is lovingly referred to as the PAT (now that I write it out I am not sure why the “T” is necessary). In this section there are 90 questions in 60 minutes. This section of the test is broken down into different sections as well. There are 6 different types of questions, all of which test how you can visualize 3D images that are given in 2 dimensions. For example, one of the sections shows you a folded paper with holes punched in it that you have to tell where all the holes are going to be in the unfolded paper. After the PAT section you are given an optional 15 minute break. When the 15 minutes are up, the reading comprehension section starts. This section consists of 50 questions over 3 scientific or other technical articles and you are given 60 minutes (my articles were on secondary cascade processes specifically cAMP and G proteins, Pianos, and aspirin and its effects on the body). The last section is the quantitative reasoning section where you have 45 minutes to complete 40 algebra, geometry and other word problems without a calculator (needless to say, I had to relearn how to do long division). The DAT is scored out of 30. All of the questions on any DAT are drawn from question banks. After each test is compiled the test makers go through the test and rank it as easy, medium, or hard. To get a 30 on the DAT one would have to get a perfect score on a hard exam. Dental schools look at the total academic average scores and the PAT score. For the Medical College of Georgia, the dental school I really want to go to, the average of the accepted students is 19 for both academic average and PAT. On Saturday I earned an academic average of 19 and a PAT score of 21. So that puts me at average and above average of the accepted students.

I am very happy with these scores and feel very blessed. I know that I had divine help, I felt the many prayers that all of my friends and family offered for me. Thank you everyone for your prayers and support.