Dental Admission Test (DAT)

What is the DAT?

The DAT (Dental Admissions Test) is a required standardized exam for admission into dental schools. It comprises six subjects : Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, PAT (Perceptual Ability Test), Reading, and Quantitative Sciences. The exam is scored out of 30 points; while the national average is a 19, the average for matriculating students is a 20. When taking this exam, you should aim to score a 20 or above on each section!

Registering for the DAT

  1. 1

    Get a DENTPIN

    A DENTPIN is an eight-digit personal identification code that is used to register for the DAT, apply for dental school, and take dental board exams. Click on the link to register for a DENTPIN. When it is processed, you should receive an email with a PIN number. Make sure the email you use to access your DENTPIN is one that you won’t lose access to. Your Duke email is not a good choice!

  2. 2

    Apply to take the DAT

    In this step, you will have to purchase the non-refundable testing fee. It is currently at $525. There is the possibility of a fee waiver (cutting the costs by around 50%) for people with extenuating financial situations. Your registration window is open for 6 months from the day of purchase!

    Through this site, you will also select all of the schools you want to send your scores to. If done at this stage THERE IS NO EXTRA FEE OR LIMIT to pre-send your scores. We recommend you select all schools so that you can save money in the long run. This does not mean you need to apply to all the schools you send your score to. If you wait until after you see your score to send, there is an associated EXTRA FEE to send your score for EACH school.

    After registering, you will receive an email from the ADA (American Dental Association) confirming the processing of your application. Your six month registration window is highlighted in this message.

  3. 3

    Scheduling Your Exam

    You will use the Prometric website to schedule your exam. Under “Test Owner Search,” look up “ADA”. Click on the American Dental Association, and then press “Schedule” on the left menu bar.

    You will select the country and state you plan on taking your exam. You will then enter your DENTPIN and the first four letters of your last name.

    Now, you can select your specific testing center and see a calendar of all the available testing dates and times at that center. There are several times you can take your exam (8:30 AM, 11:30 AM, etc.), so choose the one that is best suited for you.

  • HOW DO I RESCHEDULE MY EXAM?

    There are associated fees with rescheduling your exam; these costs depend on how many days before your exam you decide to reschedule:

    30 calendar days or more in advance: $40

    Between 5 and 29 days in advance: $70

    Between 1 and 4 days in advance: $150

    You CANNOT reschedule the day of your exam.

  • STUDY RESOURCES

    Before taking your exam, make sure you have a strong grasp of the basic sciences (biology, general chemistry, and organic chemistry). When studying, you can review books or notes from your science classes. However, the best and most recommended study method is by using an online study platform. These sites provide you with everything you need to ace your exam (lecture videos, practice problems, practice exams, etc.) The most recommended sites are DAT Booster and DAT Bootcamp. Check out their websites and see which is the better fit for you!

These study tools, along with the whole process of scheduling your DAT, are very costly. It’s best to look at this as an investment into your dental future. So after you register, make sure you are serious with your studying to decrease your chances of having to do a retake!

Now you have all the tools you need to conquer the DAT. You got this!

Member Testimonials

Annie Qin '25

  • Duration: 11 weeks
  • Time per day: 5 hours
  • One break day every 2 weeks
  • Followed the phase 1 schedule from DATBooster, then did my own thing once I knew where my weakest points were
  • ⅔ of the way into studying, I bought DAT Bootcamp because I wanted more practice tests, and it had the app
  • If I could do anything different: Not spend as much time reading DAT breakdowns on forums like SDN and Reddit. People are paid to write good reviews if they get high scores. By the time you’re ⅓ of the way in, you should know where your weak and strong points are.

Yedida Mesfin '24

  • Duration: 3 months
  • Time Studied Per Day: From October-mid December, I studied around 6-10 hours each week. Over the winter break, I studied 7-11 hours each day.
  • Resources: I used DAT bootcamp as my sole study resource. Ari’s 3 month plan didn’t work for me, so I amended it to best work with my schedule. I was also taking Human Physiology last semester, which helped me with some of the physiology in the Biology section.
  • If I were to do anything different, I would schedule my exam to be taken over the summer! I found such a difference in my quality of studying when I was in classes vs. when I was on break. The winter break really helped me to solidify concepts, as I could focus on studying without other responsibilities. Also, don’t be intimidated by your scores on your practice exams! I think the practice websites make them a bit harder than the actual exam will be. Most of my final scores were higher than any of the practice scores I had.

Alejandra Mella-Velazquez '24

  • Duration: 3 ½ months (2 months of full-time studying, 1 month of part-time studying)
  • Time per day: average of 8 hours for full time, ~4 hours for part-time studying (during a summer research internship)
  • Used DAT Booster and followed their study plan, supplemented with some YouTube videos (Chad’s Videos) for Chemistry. DAT booster is cheaper than DAT Bootcamp and from what I’ve heard they are pretty similar and people get good scores using either one
  • Advice: Do NOT read/take too seriously the Facebook/Reddit threads of people posting their score and experience taking the DAT. Focus on your own studying and success.

Roshen Amin '24

  • Duration: 4.5 weeks (winter break + first few days of the semester), took exactly 1 day off
  • Time per day: 12ish hours
  • Used DAT Bootcamp almost exclusively, looked a little at Booster for PAT stuff
  • Tried to follow a compressed version of Ari’s schedule, doing a little bit of different sections each day to keep things from getting too monotonous
  • Watched videos for everything except the bio section. For bio, I just used Bootcamp’s large “quick notes” document and watched videos only on topics I did not fully understand from that document
  • To do differently: Give yourself WAY more time than I did – studying for so long every day with no breaks was definitely mentally taxing
  • Tip: Do a little bit of PAT practice every day – the best way to get better at it is to just do as many practice problems as possible. Apart from specific techniques that you can learn to help solve these questions, a lot of your skill just comes from implicit learning

Sonia Gazula '24

  • Duration: 10 weeks
  • Time per day: I averaged about 5-6 hours of studying per day everyday alongside shadowing for 4-5 hours per day most weekdays.
  • Resources: Used Princeton Review and followed their study plan. They have
  • Tip: Stay regular with all of your studying and make sure to set realistic study goals and expectations to prevent burnout. Mimic your testing environment when taking full-length practice tests so you understand the testing day conditions. Start PAT practice as early as possible because it will definitely feel foreign at first.