One of the reasons some students don’t perform well on the Dental Aptitude Test is because they don’t study from DAT preparation materials that are up-to-date.
The syllabus covered on the DAT exam changes over time, and some publishers simply don’t update their preparation material to keep up with changes in the DAT syllabus. You want to make sure you don’t end up studying from out-dated material that’s not covered on the DAT exam.
For the list of topics covered on the DAT, go here.
Strategy:
A powerful strategy for this section is to count all the cubes with painted surfaces by making a tally chart on the test sheet.
Start counting from the top-front (the cube closest to you on the highest level) and work your way back on the same level. Once you are done with that level, go down a level below and repeat the process. This strategy will ensure you don’t miss any cubes, and you’ll also have answers for the next 2-3 questions, since a cube structure is used in more than one question.
Make sure you pay close attention to the hidden cubes as well!
In Ontario, the GPA is calculated based on a Grade Conversion Scale released by OMSAS (Ontario Medical Schools Application Service).
Outside of Ontario, each school has their own GPA chart.
To calculate GPA, you take every course that is on your transcript, convert it to the number of points assigned in the conversion table (for example 90+ = 4.0, 85 – 89 = 3.9, etc).
Full courses (1.0 credits or 6 credit hours) count twice, half courses count only once. You then add up all the points, and divide by the total number of courses you have taken in each semester.
For example:
Rob’s final marks at the of his school year are:
English – 1.0 credit – 80
Social Psychology – 1.0 credit – 77
Organic Chemistry – 1.0 credit – 88
Statistics – 0.5 credit – 90
Cell Biology – 0.5 credit – 83
Biochemistry – 0.5 credit – 86
History of Medicine – 0.5 credit – 77
Rob goes to University of Western Ontario. He looks at the table, and goes through the conversions in column 3.
Now, for each course, kook at the table and convert it into the number of points that each mark corresponds to.
English – received an 80 – look at the chart to see it corresponds to 3.7.
His English course is a 1.0 credit, so it counts twice:
3.7*2 = 7.4
Social Psychology
3.3*2 = 6.6
Organic Chemistry
3.9*2 = 7.8
Statistics (0.5 credit, half credits count only once)
4.0
Cell Biology
3.7
Biochemistry
3.9
History of Medicine
3.3
Now add up all the points, and we get: 36.7 points
Divide 36.7 by 10 because Kevin took 5 classes each semester, so in total he took 10 classes during the school year.
36.7/10 = 3.67
Kevin’s GPA is 3.67
Schools outside of Ontario calculate the GPA a bit differently, but the principle is similar. Go to the dental school websites, and find out what conversion scale they use. Additionally, check to see if they have any weighting formulas that apply to your GPA. For example, some schools drop lowest marks, some schools weigh later years more, some schools only consider two years, etc…
For list of Canadian Dental Schools, click here.
The Dental Aptitude Test is a standardized exam administered by the Canadian Dental Association (CDA).
The DAT is designed to help students determine their aptitude for a career in Dentistry and to assist Dental schools in selecting applicants.
The Canadian DAT (English) consists of 4 sections.
The English DAT consists of a Survey of Natural Sciences, a Perceptual Ability Test, a Reading Comprehension Test and a Manual Dexterity Test.
The Canadian DAT (French) consists of 3 sections.
The French DAT consists of a Survey of Natural Sciences, a Perceptual Ability Test and a Manual Dexterity Test. There is no Reading Comprehension Test on the French DAT.
As of November 2011, the Manual Dexterity Test is optional. Some Dental schools do not use the manual dexterity test results.
Please check on the Dental school websites to determine if the school you are interested in applying to requires the manual dexterity test score.
There are a total of 210 questions on the English DAT, plus the Manual Dexterity Test (Soap carving).
There are a total of 160 questions on the French DAT, plus the Manual Dexterity Test (Soap carving). There is no reading comprehension test on the French DAT.
TS = Total Science. Weighted Average from Biology and Chemistry.
AA = Academic Average. Weighted Average from Biology, Chemistry, Reading Comprehension and Perceptual Ability Test.
PAT = Perceptual Ability Test (angle discrimination, form development, cubes, orthographic projections and apertures)
Each score may range from 0-30 . Ideally you would want a score in the 20-30 range.Unlike the American DAT, the Canadian DAT has the optional carving portion but there is no Organic Chemistry or Quantitative reasoning section. The Canadian DAT is also completely paper-based, whereas the American DAT is computer-based.
For the list of topics covered on the DAT, click here.
For more information about the Dental Aptitude Test, please go to CDA’s website for more information.