90th percentile on DAT?

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WKhan

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roughly what score on the DAT puts you in the 90th percentile?

I got a 22 and that was the 98.9th percentile. Where do you hit 90?
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WKhan said:
roughly what score on the DAT puts you in the 90th percentile?

I got a 22 and that was the 98.9th percentile. Where do you hit 90?
Click to expand...


Really? I got a 23 and I was in the 98.1 percentile. How does that work???

As far as the 90th percentile, I would guess a 20 or 21 would probably be close to it.
 
I think the percentile varies based on the version of the test that you got. I had a 22 and it was ~96th or 97th percentile.
 
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I had a 20AA when I took it the first time last July. That was 93rd percentile for my version.
 
WKhan said:
roughly what score on the DAT puts you in the 90th percentile?

I got a 22 and that was the 98.9th percentile. Where do you hit 90?
Click to expand...

I also got a 22 AA and was the 98.9th percentile.
I think it just means we got a harder version of the test and missed more questions (than people who got the same percentile with different/easier tests) so our standard scores went down.

My TS score was a 23 and I was in the 99.3 percentile but I've seen peoples breakdowns this year with higher scores and lower percentiles. I guess the percentiles tell you how you did compared to the average test taker who took your test and the standard scores tries to tell you how you did across all test takers.


Edit: I found some stuff about how they score the test but I'm too busy to look through it/make sense of it right now. Hopefully it's useful to the OP.


Wikipedia

The mean (average) score for any scored section is set at 17. Scores above and below this represent fractions of standard deviations from the mean. This probabilistic scoring system results in the maximum not occurring for the compiled section scores (natural sciences and academic average) in a given year. For example, in 2003 a 25 academic average was labeled as 100.0th percentile, such that less than 8 people received this score, and none higher (approximately 8,000 people take the DAT per year).
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_Admission_Test#Scores


ADA DAT Testing Program/Users Manual

Scoring the Dental Admission Test
Each of the tests used on the Dental Admission Test battery yields a raw score which is the sum of the examinee's correct answers. The raw score is converted to a standard score so that it is possible to compare an examinee's performance across tests on the battery and across different editions.
Since the adoption of the Rasch psychometric model in 1988, each part of the DAT contains a set of anchor items, which has been used in previous administrations of the test. Difficulty parameters of these items are used to equate the test. The conversion of raw scores to the standard score scale is based on the underlying log ability scale used by the Rasch psychometric model (Rasch, 1960; Wright, 1977; Wright & Stone, 1979). The log ability scale offers several advantages. First, it makes no assumptions about the underlying distribution of scores. Second, the person abilities and the item difficulties in this model are on a common metric that allows for the interpretation of the log abilities in terms of the skills or tasks represented on the tests. Third, the log ability scale is a linear metric. This means that the difference between a score of 3 and 4 represents the same ability as a difference between the scores of 16 and 17. A complete description of the new standard score scale can be found in Smith, Kramer, and Kubiak (1988), and a description of equating procedures can be found in Larkin (1992).
Because the current standard score scale was first used with the October 1988 test edition, the cumulative frequency distributions for the October 1988 test results are provided in order to facilitate the comparison among groups (See Tables 2-9). For the Reading Comprehension Test, the cumulative frequency distribution for the April 1989 which is the base year is presented. The frequency distributions for the year 2009 are also supplied in the same tables for an easy comparison with previous years' distributions.
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Content Evidence
Content relevance and representativeness, narrowly defined, refers to the quality of the sample of content from a specific content domain. It is based on professional judgments about the test content and the content domain. For this aspect of validity, the Survey of the Natural Sciences on the DAT reflects how well the test items cover areas of general biology, and general and organic chemistry typically contained in the undergraduate curriculum. For the Dental Admission Test battery, this aspect of validity is assessed primarily by the evaluation and judgment of its test construction committee members, who are subject matter experts. The committee members judge the appropriateness, the relevance, and the representativeness of the test content based on what is being taught in predental courses. The validity of the Reading Comprehension Test is based on the judgment of dental faculty, who write reading passages and items representative of reading material encountered in the first year of dental school.
External Correlational Evidence
External correlational evidence is also investigated to determine the extent to which an individual's future level on various criteria is predicted from prior test performance. It is desirable that the test be related to future performance in dental school and later on the National Board Dental Examinations (American Dental Association, 2009). The performances on these external variables can provide some evidence of the relationship between the test and different methods for measuring the same and distinct constructs or traits (Messick, 1989, pp. 16-46).
Evidence indicating the validity of the DAT is available from two sets of criteria: dental school performance and performance on the National Board Dental Examinations. Each year the relationships between DAT scores and first year dental school grades are analyzed by means of Pearson product moment correlations. Table 11 indicates the percentage of dental schools whose first year grades (2007-2008) have significant positive correlations with quantified admission criteria. Table 12 indicates the median correlation coefficients obtained between 2007-2008 first year dental school grades and admission criteria. Both Tables 11 and 12 indicate that, for the most part, Dental Admission Test scores have a significant positive relationship to performance in the first year of dental school.
In most cases, the DAT Academic Average and Total Science score have a stronger relationship with first year performance than predental grade point averages. As indicated in Table 12, multiple regression using the individual DAT test scores (Quantitative Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Perceptual Ability) result in better prediction of first year GPA than the Academic Average. Multiple regression using individual DAT scores, predental GPA, and predental science GPA result in the best combination of predictors for first year GPA. This multiple R, on the average, almost doubles the amount of explained variance of the best single predictor of dental school first year GPA. The Perceptual Ability Test scores have the strongest relationship with technique performance as compared with the other variables. See Kramer (1986) for a further discussion of the validity of the DAT.
In addition to the validity of the DAT in relation to dental first- and second-year performance, the DAT has provided correlational information periodically between DAT and National Board Dental Examinations scores. There is consistent evidence, as seen in Table 13, that DAT scores have a significant positive relationship with the scores on the National Board Dental Examinations. This relationship provides evidence that the DAT is valid for predicting performance beyond the first year.
The construct validity of the DAT battery is in part evaluated by the Perceptual Ability Test (PAT). The PAT was constructed in the belief that perceptual abilities are important requirements for successful completion of the technique courses in dental school, and that perceptual abilities have a direct relationship to a person's measure of eye-to-hand fine motor coordination, also required in the curriculum. The reader is referred to the research conducted by Kramer, Kubiak, and Smith (1989) and Kramer and Kubiak (1990) for discussions of the validity of the PAT in the DAT battery.
Reliability Evidence
Reliability is a primary type of validity evidence. It is often defined as the precision or consistency of the test scores. The assumption that the DAT is a sufficiently precise instrument to permit meaningful descriptions of the abilities measured is based on the reliability of the scores. The reliability, or internal consistency, of the scores traditionally is evaluated by the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 (KR20). The reliability coefficients of the scores derived from the four tests are as follows: Quantitative Reasoning Test (40 items), 0.79; Reading Comprehension Test (50 items), 0.81; Survey of the Natural Sciences Test (100 items), 0.93; and Perceptual Ability Test (90 items), 0.90. These reliability coefficients are well within the acceptable range and are typical of standardized tests and of the DAT battery used in this program since the early 1970s. Also, it has been customary to report some of the descriptive statistics from the test results. Table 10 shows the means and standard deviations for the 2009 DAT.
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http://www.ada.org/sections/educationAndCareers/pdfs/dat_users_manual.pdf



Like I said, I don't really have the time to wrap my head around it right now but after skimming through it....

I feel like it's a bit odd to only report standard scores and not percentiles to schools. Different tests may have varying difficulties, so how someone performs compared to the average person (on their particular test) is relevant information for adcoms to know.

:shrug: Hopefully I won't have to care about it in 39 days.
 
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I got a 20 and that was 87th percentile
 
if people read Double Bonded's post, then they'd realize that a 20 might be a 87th precentile or 91 percentile depending on when you took your test...

in general, a 20 is 90th percentile +/- 5.

but who cares?

i honestly don't know why that is relevant :laugh:
 
I agree that it seems foolish not to report the percentile to the school. This seems more "standard" than the standard scoring (to me at least). I got a 21 which was a 97.2 percentile, whereas I have seen others with a 21 get around 93rd percentile. While these seem pretty close, they are in fact quite different percentiles! That said, I know that schools cannot rely on percentiles because they are only telling if the student was after a large group of student who already took that same test. So, what would you do with the first group who took those test questions?... You could not give them an "accurate" percentile, even though you could still report it.

OP: I am guessing its right around a 20 or so.
 
WKhan said:
roughly what score on the DAT puts you in the 90th percentile?

I got a 22 and that was the 98.9th percentile. Where do you hit 90?
Click to expand...

Depends on the exam version. Most 21s I've seen are between 91-93% range, mine was 97.x%

The percentile is a worthless piece of info, the schools don't even receive the percentile, only raw scores
 
dentalWorks said:
Depends on the exam version. Most 21s I've seen are between 91-93% range, mine was 97.x%

The percentile is a worthless piece of info, the schools don't even receive the percentile, only raw scores
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, why do you think it's worthless?

You did better than 98% of all the people who had your version of the test but you weren't seen as different from people who only did better than 90% of test takers (for their unique test). Someone with a different version could've also done better than 98% of testers and gotten a 25 or 26 instead of a 21.

I don't think it should be the "end-all, be-all" or a huge factor in deciding admission...but the more information that adcoms have about you is better, right?
 
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Double Bonded said:
Out of curiosity, why do you think it's worthless?

You did better than 98% of all the people who had your version of the test but you weren't seen as different from people who only did better than 90% of test takers (for their unique test).

I don't think it should be the "end-all, be-all" or a huge factor in deciding admission...but the more information that adcoms have about you is better, right?
Click to expand...

i agree with you. i feel like people who were on the lower end of a 21 would not want it to be sent and people on the higher end would. they should either not tell the students or tell everybody.
 
This topic comes up every month..
Percentiles are just for fun, your standard score is more indicative of your performance on the DAT. Here's what I got from reading the DAT User Manual, summarized in layman terms 😉

1. Not all question you answered on the DAT will be marked. There are experimental questions that will be asked, and are eligible to enter into pool of marked questions on future tests. For example, only 75 out of the 90 questions on the PAT is marked. The 15 will be assessed on the difficulty, judging by how many people get it right or wrong. A difficulty parameter is assigned to every question, and questions that have difficulty parameters of 0.4 to 0.7 will be used as future test questions, with questions closer to the 0.7 being preferred.

2. So from these questions, a test is constructed, and scored. The sum of the difficulty parameters is used to gauged the difficulty of the test. There are multiple versions of the test, and if you have a certain version, then ALL of the questions, from the natural sciences to QR, will be the same.

3. You get a raw score from your performance on the DAT. The percentiles are relative to test takers who took the exact same test as you and received the same raw score.

4. Your individual score for each section is then standardized. Let's use Biology as an example. If person A got 37/40 on Biology, they would get a higher percentile than someone who took test B and got 35/40. But what if the sum of the difficulty parameter on test B is higher, should person B be punished for getting a harder test? of course not. When they do the standardization, the numbers will be closer together.

That's why percentiles are there, just to give a measuring stick on how you performed on that particular test. Standardizing will adjust for test difficulty, giving adcoms numbers so they can compare applicants who took different versions of the test.
 
I'm really sick of this topic. Mainly, the original poster's way of putting it felt SO arrogant. Let's just leave it! Stop talking about it, please!! :annoyed:
 
Double Bonded said:
Out of curiosity, why do you think it's worthless?

You did better than 98% of all the people who had your version of the test but you weren't seen as different from people who only did better than 90% of test takers (for their unique test). Someone with a different version could've also done better than 98% of testers and gotten a 25 or 26 instead of a 21.

I don't think it should be the "end-all, be-all" or a huge factor in deciding admission...but the more information that adcoms have about you is better, right?
Click to expand...

From a pre-dental stand point, anything not directly involved with the admission process is.... pointless.

I guess someone can feel better about having a high 90s percentile, but at the end of the day, its the raw scores that matter the most... since thats the only thing DS offices receive. A 21 is a 21 no matter the percentile.... A 25 with 98% looks alot better than a 21 with 99%
 
i got a 22 ts and it said 94.8% The percentiles are pretty random, huh?
 
camr said:
i got a 22 ts and it said 94.8% The percentiles are pretty random, huh?
Click to expand...

so we got 2 points different but the same percentile. i wish i had your test 👎
 
20 TS/AA (my score) was a 90.5 and 91.5 %, respectively. i think that means the difficulty level of my exam was avg/a tad bit on the harder side?
​
 
wantveneers said:
I'm really sick of this topic. Mainly, the original poster's way of putting it felt SO arrogant. Let's just leave it! Stop talking about it, please!! :annoyed:
Click to expand...

Maybe you shouldn't open up the post if you're so sick of this topic.

I only asked because someone I know who isn't pre-dental asked me this question and I had no idea and sdn is usually a quick and helpful way to get answers.
 
AlbinoPolarBear said:
This topic comes up every month..
Percentiles are just for fun, your standard score is more indicative of your performance on the DAT. Here's what I got from reading the DAT User Manual, summarized in layman terms 😉

1. Not all question you answered on the DAT will be marked. There are experimental questions that will be asked, and are eligible to enter into pool of marked questions on future tests. For example, only 75 out of the 90 questions on the PAT is marked. The 15 will be assessed on the difficulty, judging by how many people get it right or wrong. A difficulty parameter is assigned to every question, and questions that have difficulty parameters of 0.4 to 0.7 will be used as future test questions, with questions closer to the 0.7 being preferred.

2. So from these questions, a test is constructed, and scored. The sum of the difficulty parameters is used to gauged the difficulty of the test. There are multiple versions of the test, and if you have a certain version, then ALL of the questions, from the natural sciences to QR, will be the same.

3. You get a raw score from your performance on the DAT. The percentiles are relative to test takers who took the exact same test as you and received the same raw score.

4. Your individual score for each section is then standardized. Let's use Biology as an example. If person A got 37/40 on Biology, they would get a higher percentile than someone who took test B and got 35/40. But what if the sum of the difficulty parameter on test B is higher, should person B be punished for getting a harder test? of course not. When they do the standardization, the numbers will be closer together.

That's why percentiles are there, just to give a measuring stick on how you performed on that particular test. Standardizing will adjust for test difficulty, giving adcoms numbers so they can compare applicants who took different versions of the test.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but I am a complete ***** and need some clarification. Are you saying that the official scores may differ from the unofficial ones? I have the exact same concern as the topic creator.
 
wantveneers said:
I'm really sick of this topic. Mainly, the original poster's way of putting it felt SO arrogant. Let's just leave it! Stop talking about it, please!! :annoyed:
Click to expand...

WTF...Where do people like you even come from???? 😕




I agree with double, I think it is an important stat. It puts your score into much more perspective to people than just saying, oh, "I got a 2x."

If I got a 14 but that was the highest damn score on the DAT that year it's going to be important that they know I was 99.9%.
 
Seahawk said:
WTF...Where do people like you even come from???? 😕




I agree with double, I think it is an important stat. It puts your score into much more perspective to people than just saying, oh, "I got a 2x."

If I got a 14 but that was the highest damn score on the DAT that year it's going to be important that they know I was 99.9%.
Click to expand...

I think your confusing what you feel is important vs what they see as important.

The percentage is a useless stat, it contributes NOTHING to the admission game.
 
dentalWorks said:
I think your confusing what you feel is important vs what they see as important.

The percentage is a useless stat, it contributes NOTHING to the admission game.
Click to expand...

When did I say anything about admissions, :laugh:.

I like to know how well I am doing against my peers.



But back to admissions.... What if, lets say, RC was REALLY hard one year, lets say they changed something on the test....You got a 15, that was 95th percentile....Is it still useless?
 
Seahawk said:
But back to admissions.... What if, lets say, RC was REALLY hard one year, lets say they changed something on the test....You got a 15, that was 95th percentile....Is it still useless?
Click to expand...

rest assured, you will have no competition that cycle if the RC top score is 15....
 
Seahawk said:
When did I say anything about admissions, :laugh:.

I like to know how well I am doing against my peers.



But back to admissions.... What if, lets say, RC was REALLY hard one year, lets say they changed something on the test....You got a 15, that was 95th percentile....Is it still useless?
Click to expand...

well...., the test is designed such that a standard score of 17 is obtained by 50% of the testers FOR THAT PARTICULAR version. Therefore a 15 can NEVER be a top 95% score.

As far as how your doing against your peers, again, thats irrelevant. Whats more important is how the schools see you AGAINST the competition (and to them, the percentile is a non-usable measure)
 
Seahawk said:
When did I say anything about admissions, :laugh:.

I like to know how well I am doing against my peers.



But back to admissions.... What if, lets say, RC was REALLY hard one year, lets say they changed something on the test....You got a 15, that was 95th percentile....Is it still useless?
Click to expand...

a standarized test will prevent that from happening. thats the reason everyone gets scaled scores. so they can be comparable. hence schools dont see % because %s are not scaled, they only compare how you did vs. people who took your version of the exam. meanwhile a scaled score accurate compares you with applicants who took all the other versions.
 
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I know that this forum was from over 3 years ago, but how do you figure out what percentile you are in? I just took the test last friday and received a 21 AA and 21 TS. Do I wait for the ADA to mail me the official scores in order to see the percentile? Just curious....
 
I'd be curious to hear how you determine this as well. I never got anything mailed to me and I took my test the beginning of July. I'm thinking that ADA doesn't inform you on your percentile anymore.
 
They removed percentiles from the exam. What you receive is only the raw scores, which is exactly what dental school receive.
 
how do you know what percentile you were for the test you took? neither of the two pieces of paper with my score show that. (the one printed immediately at the exam center or the one mailed like a month later)
 
if you had read above, they had stop putting percentiles recently.
 
haha. thanks guys. got a 23 on RC. my bad on not looking at the old dates. i was confused because asusundevilll responded on friday that his 20 was an 87%, so i thought some more recent test takers had access to this information.
 
Yeah and @dawg289 posted like a day later, saying the same thing I was saying.

We're not ragging on yo ufor the old posts, we're ragging on you because the answer was literally right before your post.

I just didnt understand how you couldve posted without seeing his post.
 
I took my test on the 30th, but I haven't received anything saying what percentile I'm in. Am I supposed to get something in the mail?
 
shyfox9p said:
I took my test on the 30th, but I haven't received anything saying what percentile I'm in. Am I supposed to get something in the mail?
Click to expand...

Yes you are. Although due to security issues, they will not release the percentiles until Dec 3rd.

Make sure you register your Unofficial Score Report at ADA.org using the promo code: ADADAT2014
 
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This thread amazes me...this is not in a good way.
 
Thats what they get for bringing up a 3 year old topic.
 
Why did the ADA take the percentiles off of the paper? Is there any good reason for that? I don't care if the schools get a different set of data, it seems silly not to leave the percentile on there.
 
techyguy said:
Why did the ADA take the percentiles off of the paper? Is there any good reason for that? I don't care if the schools get a different set of data, it seems silly not to leave the percentile on there.
Click to expand...

The percentiles listed on the score reports were for that specific exam only, not overall. It was a bit misleading because people with the same scores would have varying percentiles due to exam differences.
 
So they went from slightly misleading percentiles, to completely out of context numbers on the *unofficial* printout. The old printout even had a paragraph explaining the percentile where they could've added, "...for this specific exam, not overall." This sounds like a downgrade.

On the other hand, maybe their phone lines were swamped with people panicking about their percentile differences. Hopefully this will help.
 
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