should i retake it?

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swtcatastrophe

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i'm applying for this cycle and i haven't heard anything yet--interview or rejection. i took DAT in june, submitted aadsas on 8/30, and schools have had the hard copy since the first week of october ~1 month. i'm a bio major at MIT with 3.3 cum/3.2 sci with a lot of exposure to the dental field--research, internship, and shadowing.

my DAT scores are reasonable but not fabulous. should i try to retake it if i haven't heard anything by dec 1st? would it be a waste of time at this point? i took kaplan in jan and studied mostly after school got out memorial day weekend with just kaplan materials.

AA: 19
TS: 18
PAT: 18
Bio: 17
OC: 17
GC: 21
QRT: 18
RC: 22

what do you guys think?
 
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You come from a great school, but your stats is kinda what I would consider borderline. Dont get me wrong though, those are still good stats. I dont think you should have problem getting a couple of interviews with that stat, but it would be up to you to nail those interviews.

If you can retake the DAT and pull off a 21+, I'd say your chance of gaining acceptance would be much safer.
 
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jigabodo said:
You come from a great school, but your stats is kinda what I would consider borderline. Dont get me wrong though, those are still good stats. I dont think you should have problem getting a couple of interviews with that stat, but it would be up to you to nail those interviews.

If you can retake the DAT and pull off a 21+, I'd say your chance of gaining acceptance would be much safer.
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how late is too late to retake it in the cycle? i don't want to retake it when rejection/interview letters are already in the mail. is that a question for the schools?

if i no longer have access to kaplan tests online--which i'd already taken twice before the first exam--what should i do? i assume i'm familiar enough with the format to not worry about that too much.
 
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swtcatastrophe said:
i'm applying for this cycle and i haven't heard anything yet--interview or rejection. i took DAT in june, submitted aadsas on 8/30, and schools have had the hard copy since the first week of october ~1 month. i'm a bio major at MIT with 3.3 cum/3.2 sci with a lot of exposure to the dental field--research, internship, and shadowing.

my DAT scores are reasonable but not fabulous. should i try to retake it if i haven't heard anything by dec 1st? would it be a waste of time at this point? i took kaplan in jan and studied mostly after school got out memorial day weekend with just kaplan materials.

AA: 19
TS: 18
PAT: 18
Bio: 17
OC: 17
GC: 21
QRT: 18
RC: 22

what do you guys think?
Click to expand...

i called one of my schools today to ask some questions. i think some of what they said definitely convinced me to retake it. the woman who answered the phone said that turn around time for interview invites is usually around 2 weeks and they are looking for 20s in this cycle. i think it's worth it to me to put my application on hold until january if it'll improve my chances of getting in. i've already started studying again, so wish me luck. i hope i can juggle it all with finals coming up.
 
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swtcatastrophe said:
i called one of my schools today to ask some questions. i think some of what they said definitely convinced me to retake it. the woman who answered the phone said that turn around time for interview invites is usually around 2 weeks and they are looking for 20s in this cycle. i think it's worth it to me to put my application on hold until january if it'll improve my chances of getting in. i've already started studying again, so wish me luck. i hope i can juggle it all with finals coming up.
Click to expand...

Good luck!
 
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Which schools said they are looking for mid 20s? I guess we're both in similar circumstances with respect to test scores. I have a 18TS,19AA, 24PAT (more specifically 17BIO, 29GC,15OC, 19QR, 17RC). I'm curious if the individuals you spoke to gave any specific cut-off numbers.
 
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jigabodo said:
Good luck!
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haha, so after some more back and forth, and talking to some other schools, my advisors, friends, my parents... i'm just going to wait it out and retake it if i don't get in this cycle. gosh, this has been the hardest decision ever.
 
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You have great RC but if I had your score, I'd totally retake. Bring TS up about 19~21 range.
 
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delsol7 said:
You have great RC but if I had your score, I'd totally retake. Bring TS up about 19~21 range.
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that would be my goal if i did retake it, but i'm concerned that i wouldn't have enough time to study and prepare before new year's, which is about when i would retake the test, along with my school schedule this semester. i'm taking 3 biology classes and a reading/writing intensive history class. i don't have much spare time, and i think retaking it and doing worse will only hurt me--especially since schools won't get my updated scores until mid-january. i'm comfortable with my decision, finally. i think at this point i have to take my chances for this cycle and hope for the best. if i don't get in, i know exactly what i need to do for next year.
 
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I think you should apply to more schools. There are more schools out there that would look in favor to your stats. Since you are only limited to 4 schools, I'm sure you'll get interview from NYU, but I don't know about any ohter schools. If you are willing to go to other state for your d-school, do some research and find out the incoming average gpa/dat and see where you would get in. (Arizona, Midwestern would be good as a start)
 
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john9192 said:
I think you should apply to more schools. There are more schools out there that would look in favor to your stats. Since you are only limited to 4 schools, I'm sure you'll get interview from NYU, but I don't know about any ohter schools. If you are willing to go to other state for your d-school, do some research and find out the incoming average gpa/dat and see where you would get in. (Arizona, Midwestern would be good as a start)
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i have a strong preference to being in the NYC/NJ area, which is why i only applied to those 4 schools. i do realize that applying to more schools would help me, but i'm not even sure if it would this late in the cycle. dec 1 is only 6 days away.
 
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i think applying to 4 school is what was hindering you. even if you applied to more and maybe got an interview or 2, you still probably would not have been the school's top choice and it would have been a drawn out waiting game. i'm a reapplicant with similar stats last year (slightly higher DAT scores first time around though than you) and did not get accepted despite a couple of interviews. even though people say NYU is a back up school, i did not recieve any good news from them both times i have been applying.

although i am not a bio major, i went to a similar high power engineering school, your neighbor in the way dirty south (GA)😀 so i can relate to your "low" gpa. goodluck with the remaining cycle. you still might receive a late interview after the first round of offers go out in a week.
 
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retake. If you have applied earlier and applied to more schools, maybe not...but yea, competition will get even harder since it started "rolling"
 
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always retake the dat! Just go all out preparing for the second try!
 
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swtcatastrophe said:
i'm applying for this cycle and i haven't heard anything yet--interview or rejection. i took DAT in june, submitted aadsas on 8/30, and schools have had the hard copy since the first week of october ~1 month. i'm a bio major at MIT with 3.3 cum/3.2 sci with a lot of exposure to the dental field--research, internship, and shadowing.

my DAT scores are reasonable but not fabulous. should i try to retake it if i haven't heard anything by dec 1st? would it be a waste of time at this point? i took kaplan in jan and studied mostly after school got out memorial day weekend with just kaplan materials.

AA: 19
TS: 18
PAT: 18
Bio: 17
OC: 17
GC: 21
QRT: 18
RC: 22

what do you guys think?
Click to expand...

I am in the similar situation! My gpa is 3.3/3.1 and DAT 19/20/18! I've applied to 20 schools...10 rejections and no interviews so far:scared: I am thinking about taking the DAT for the 3rd time!!!
 
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