19AA 19TS....Eh

[100%fruitsmoothies]

Hey guys,

I just took my DAT yesterday. I thought the test went better (I was expecting at least a 20, maybe getting a 21), but got 19. I was so excited to have my own breakdown and have ecstatic emoticons next to my scores and give back to the SDN community with advice of my own. I lurked SDN pretty hardcore the month before my DAT occasionally and googling things like, "How is the BIO destroyer sdn dat' or 'Bootcamp PAT.....is killing me', etc. Honestly, I got a lot of great advice and pick me ups from this site and I'm really grateful for it. I'm definitely still willing to tell you guys what I did, but idk if i would feel credible enough.

I'm not gonna lie. I feel kinda bummed about this score. If I was working full time and taking care of kids at the same time, then maybe I would be relatively happy with the scores. But I studied for 3 months this summer and don't think even the 19 would have been possible if it wasn't for my parents. They were so supportive by getting me food, not demanding many tasks out of me, and pretty much gave me my time at home so I could focus. They even got me enrolled in a Kaplan test. Whenever I had free time, I would help out around the house to show my gratitude.

Initially, I was scheduled to take the test at the end of July. But I took kaplan practice test 2 in the begining of July and I had this gut feeling that there was no way I would be ready by the end of july, so I postponed the test by a month. So at least at that point, I kinda figured out what I was doing wrong and changed up some studying habits and techniques and it went more smoothly from there. So I guess in comparison, getting myself up to a 19 was pretty good for needing to adapt.....but idk, I thought the real RC and QR could have bumped me up to 20 or 21 since I was doing pretty well on Bootcamp.

I have a 3.2 cumulative GPA, and my science GPA is probably lower. Even then, my 3.2 is still probably lower because I retook some classes. I have one more semester to go, and my parents said they're willing to support me to take the DAT again in the spring while looking for a job (I was a senior last year, so this is an extra semester). The extra semester is to hopefully bump my GPA by a bit (if it even goes up), but also to really know profs well for some letters of rec.

I know I need to retake. There's no question about it. But...Idk, I can't help but to feel would it be worth it again? Part of me feels like I could get the 20/21. Part of me feels maybe I'd bomb it. And another part of me feels even if I got a good score, could I get in with my weird GPA situation?

I know I wanna do this but you know sometimes those internal conflicts come up. Got any advice/suggestions/criticisms? I would have posted how I studied but this post is already pretty long....so I might show that in another post if you guys want.




KAPLAN PRACTICE TESTS: BIO/GCHEM/OCHEM/PAT/RC/QR/TS/AA
Diagnostic: 13/13/14/13/18/13/13/14
Practice test 1: 14/16/15/14/17/12/15/15
Practice test 2: 17/17/14/17/19/13/16/16
Practice 3: 15/15/17/17/19/14/15/16

BOOTCAMP: BIO/GCHEM/OCHEM/PAT/RC/QR/TS/AA
Practice test 1: 19/16/17/19/20/22/17/18
Practice test 2: 18/19/19/20/21/20/18/19
(didn't really do 3 I studied 12 hrs/day for 4 straight days before taking it, so it was kinda half assed, but I went through it independently before test 4 and 5)
Practice test 4: 21/18/24/19/22/18/21/20
Practice test 5: 19/20/20/18/21/20/19/20

Real test
BIO: 18
GCHEM: 20
OCHEM: 19
PAT: 20
RC: 19
QR: 18

Materials: Kaplan Course+ Review Notes, Chads, DAT Destroyer, Math destroyer, Cliffs bio, Bootcamp, Crack the DAT PAT.

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[ThunderSplash]

First off, 19 isn't a bad score. One thing to worry about when considering the retake though is your free time. You seem like you had nothing but free time your first time and if you won't have all that free time for the retake, you may need to reconsider. Granted, you'll retain a lot of things you studied but will that balance out having obligations other than studying? Be realistic. Best of luck!

 

[MolarDentist]

19AA 19TS isn't that bad. Since you only had 3 months to study, how many times you went through the DAT destroyer?

Best of luck to you

 

[100%fruitsmoothies]

Thundersplash, if I take it a second time, I would still have the free time to do it. I think if I could re-evaluate more on my study habits, I could score better on the DAT.

MolarDentist, 1.5 times through the chemistries and bio, once through math destroyer and then another round through the problems I was weak at.

 

[ThunderSplash]

Thundersplash, if I take it a second time, I would still have the free time to do it. I think if I could re-evaluate more on my study habits, I could score better on the DAT.

MolarDentist, 1.5 times through the chemistries and bio, once through math destroyer and then another round through the problems I was weak at.

I say retake it then. If you studied all those materials for three months you should be good so I definitely recommend looking at how you study and maybe think about trying something new. Good luck! You can do it

 

[dentovermed]

You don't need to retake!! Your dat score is average! People need to understand that you don't need a 30 to get into dental school. Just make sure you apply to as many schools as you can. Look at last years threads, people with your stats got into many schools. If your aiming for one particular school, that's a different story. But you did fine, as a matter of fact- you did average! Good job!

 

[zammyd]

Good job and thank you for posting your breakdown. Your scores can still get you into dental school, don't be so hard on yourself. Apply broadly and I'm sure you'll be okay. Remember, SDN represents a small portion of the people who write the DAT. Just because you didn't score a 22+ doesn't mean you didn't do well compared to the rest of the people who write the DAT.

 

[100%fruitsmoothies]

Thanks for all the help and support guys! It really means a lot. I'll keep working hard, stay positive, and try to give back to the SDN community as much as I can.

 

[determinedstudent]

Hey guys,

I just took my DAT yesterday. I thought the test went better (I was expecting at least a 20, maybe getting a 21), but got 19. I was so excited to have my own breakdown and have ecstatic emoticons next to my scores and give back to the SDN community with advice of my own. I lurked SDN pretty hardcore the month before my DAT occasionally and googling things like, "How is the BIO destroyer sdn dat' or 'Bootcamp PAT.....is killing me', etc. Honestly, I got a lot of great advice and pick me ups from this site and I'm really grateful for it. I'm definitely still willing to tell you guys what I did, but idk if i would feel credible enough.

I'm not gonna lie. I feel kinda bummed about this score. If I was working full time and taking care of kids at the same time, then maybe I would be relatively happy with the scores. But I studied for 3 months this summer and don't think even the 19 would have been possible if it wasn't for my parents. They were so supportive by getting me food, not demanding many tasks out of me, and pretty much gave me my time at home so I could focus. They even got me enrolled in a Kaplan test. Whenever I had free time, I would help out around the house to show my gratitude.

Initially, I was scheduled to take the test at the end of July. But I took kaplan practice test 2 in the begining of July and I had this gut feeling that there was no way I would be ready by the end of july, so I postponed the test by a month. So at least at that point, I kinda figured out what I was doing wrong and changed up some studying habits and techniques and it went more smoothly from there. So I guess in comparison, getting myself up to a 19 was pretty good for needing to adapt.....but idk, I thought the real RC and QR could have bumped me up to 20 or 21 since I was doing pretty well on Bootcamp.

I have a 3.2 cumulative GPA, and my science GPA is probably lower. Even then, my 3.2 is still probably lower because I retook some classes. I have one more semester to go, and my parents said they're willing to support me to take the DAT again in the spring while looking for a job (I was a senior last year, so this is an extra semester). The extra semester is to hopefully bump my GPA by a bit (if it even goes up), but also to really know profs well for some letters of rec.

I know I need to retake. There's no question about it. But...Idk, I can't help but to feel would it be worth it again? Part of me feels like I could get the 20/21. Part of me feels maybe I'd bomb it. And another part of me feels even if I got a good score, could I get in with my weird GPA situation?

I know I wanna do this but you know sometimes those internal conflicts come up. Got any advice/suggestions/criticisms? I would have posted how I studied but this post is already pretty long....so I might show that in another post if you guys want.




KAPLAN PRACTICE TESTS: BIO/GCHEM/OCHEM/PAT/RC/QR/TS/AA
Diagnostic: 13/13/14/13/18/13/13/14
Practice test 1: 14/16/15/14/17/12/15/15
Practice test 2: 17/17/14/17/19/13/16/16
Practice 3: 15/15/17/17/19/14/15/16

BOOTCAMP: BIO/GCHEM/OCHEM/PAT/RC/QR/TS/AA
Practice test 1: 19/16/17/19/20/22/17/18
Practice test 2: 18/19/19/20/21/20/18/19
(didn't really do 3 I studied 12 hrs/day for 4 straight days before taking it, so it was kinda half assed, but I went through it independently before test 4 and 5)
Practice test 4: 21/18/24/19/22/18/21/20
Practice test 5: 19/20/20/18/21/20/19/20

Real test
BIO: 18
GCHEM: 20
OCHEM: 19
PAT: 20
RC: 19
QR: 18

Materials: Kaplan Course+ Review Notes, Chads, DAT Destroyer, Math destroyer, Cliffs bio, Bootcamp, Crack the DAT PAT.

Hey, just wondering what ever happened to you?

I am in a similar situation right now....
I was wondering if you think I should re-take the DAT?
My AA: 19, TS: 19, QR:19, RC: 19, PA: 18
I went to an ivy league university and have a overall gpa of 3.68

I am ready to apply today, however I am worried about when I would need to re-take the DAT by/if it is worth it. Is it necessary to put my future prospective DAT date on the application? Can I change this later? Would it hurt me to take the DAT by August 1st rather than my application being complete now?

Thanks!