DAT: All About Dental Admission Test

Dental Admissions Test popularly known as DAT is a standardized test to get an admission into dental schools in the United States. The test is prepared and conducted by the American Dental Association (ADA). DAT is a computer-based test that can be administered almost any day of the year at Thompson Prometric Centers throughout the United States, its territories, and Canada. Dental Admission Test evaluates the knowledge and skills deemed directly applicable to success in dental school.

DAT is designed to measure the general academic ability, comprehension of scientific information and the perceptual ability of candidates.

Eligibility Criteria for DAT:

• American Dental Association (ADA) does not discriminate based on race/ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, or marital status.
• Candidates should have completed at least one year of collegiate education, which should include courses in biology and general and organic chemistry. Advanced level biology and physics are not required.
• Candidates should keep in mind that test scores are developed in relation to all examinees participating in the test and that most applicants complete two or more years of college before taking the test.
• Applicants to dental school should participate in the DAT Program well in advance of intended dental school enrollment.
• Candidates who want to apply in C0dian dental schools they should confirm that either that school accept DAT score or not.
• Each applicant may only take the test a total of three times before having to ask special permission to take the exam again. After taking the exam you must wait 90 days before repeating it.

DAT Structure and Duration
The duration of the DAT test is 4 hours 15 minutes. DAT test is in a multiple-choice format and is separately timed. DAT Test is consists of four sections. In all, there are 280 testing items and all are of multiple-choice type.

Survey of Natural Sciences: This test consists of 100 questions including 40 on Biology, 30 on General Chemistry and 30 on Organic Chemistry. The test has to be completed in 90 minutes.

Perceptual Ability: This test consists of 90 items. These are spread across six subtests on apertures, angle discrimination, 3D form development, view recognition, paper folding, and cube counting. There are 15 items based on each subtest. Candidates will have to complete this section in 60 minutes.

 Reading Comprehension: There are 50 items in this test based on three passages which test the student’s ability to read, classify, evaluate and recall new information in dental sciences and basic sciences. The passages are of the level of the first year of a dental course and do not require any prior knowledge in the subject. Candidates will have to complete this section in 60 minutes.

Quantitative Reasoning: There are 40 items in this test which test your abilities related with solving mathematical problems, numerical calculations, conversions, probability and statistics, geometry, trigonometry, and applied mathematics or word problems. 10 items are based on word problems and 30 on computations. The test has to be completed in 45 minutes.

DAT Score Format:

• DAT scores are based on the number of correct responses and reported as standard scores, not raw scores.
• Standard scores allow the comparison of one examinee’s performance with the performance of other DAT examinees.
• Standard scores range from 1 to 30; a score of 17 typically signifies the average national performance.
• There is no negative marking on the wrong answer.  

DAT Preparation:

• The DAT preparation materials contain samples of the four tests used in the DAT and are available at official website. These materials are available at free cost to test applicants as a means of discovering possible areas of weakness in their comprehension of subjects covered on the test. They also enable examinees to become familiar with the types of materials included in the test, as well as the general format of the various parts of the test.
• The tutorial does not include sample DAT content, but it does provide the opportunity to become familiar with the basic steps involved in proceeding through the test.
• At the Prometric Test Center, candidates will also have an opportunity to become familiar with the workings of the computer by taking a brief optional tutorial before beginning the actual test.

Cost for DAT Test:

• The DAT testing fee is $225
• If you are requesting that official DAT scores be sent to more than five dental schools, you will have to multiply the number in excess of five times $25 and enter the total amount.

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