Accuracy in Dat scoring

[camr]

Hey sdn: I read these posts and I always see people scoring aa above 19. That correlates to like 75-80 percentile. Is it just me or does it seem like more than 25% people get a score of that or better? Do you guys think the percentiles are accurate or do you think there is a curve or something. I do not see how it is possible for roughly 50% to get under a 17. Let me know what you guys think.


Thanks

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[gigawatt]

SDN isn't a representative sample of all pre-dental students. Not even close. People scoring below average are unlikely to come onto an online forum and brag about it.

 

[Kahr]

SDN isn't a representative sample of all pre-dental students. Not even close. People scoring below average are unlikely to come onto an online forum and brag about it.

That implies those that do come on the forum are bragging about it!

Edit: But in response to the OP, despite the truth in what gigawatt said, it is pretty amazing that the average is as low as it is, it makes you wonder who those 1000s of people are, do they just not study or not care? Anyway, not really a question, but it is something I've thought in my own bewildered mind.

 

[camr]

To me: something doesnt add up.

approx 8000 people take the dat every year. Which implies that only 1600 people score a TS of 19 or higher and 4000 score a AA of 17 or lower. The total number of US dental school seats is around ~5000. Averaging every schools DAT score of accepted students is around 19/20. I do not get how these numbers add up. Based on those "rough" numbers it is impossible for all these schools to post 19/20 accepted averages. Also, consider a very high percentage of accepted students took the DAT within the year they were accepted and that only 1.7% have a score of above 23 to help push averages up.

I have trouble believing the percentiles associated with the scores. What do you guys think?

 

[camr]

Also on a separate note: I do not like the way the DAT is scored. If the reported percentages are accurate it would mean an AA of 17-20 represents ~40% of the test pool population within 4 numbers out of 30. That clumps too many people together and it is hard for schools to accurately differentiate how people really did on the test. It should be scored 1-100 and each number corresponds to your true/ accurate percentile based on data that goes back exactly one year from when you take the test.

 

[drgummybear]

actually i think around ~14000 took the dat 2009 if i remember correctly, and that there are actually closer to 4000 available seats for dental schools in the nation not 5000. so yea, ...4000/14000 is roughly 28%. i think i have the pdfs somewhere if you want to confirm lols.

 

[camr]

Initially I saw the 8000 figure on Wikipedia which is what got me thinking because the math doesn't add up in my head. Wikipedia...damn it. But after you posted I did a little more research and found the total population of test takers was a little above 14,000. But the # of seats is actually closer to 5k at about ~4800 i believe. It makes much more sense now with the 14000 figure but still a bit gray. They should score the DAT with even distribution of percentiles. Like even if they wanted to keep a lower high score, like what they have now at 30, they could do it out of 25 with each number corresponding to 4% percentile. That would avoid a lot of instances of people guessing on some questions and moving up a full point and being in the same score category of some other more deserving candidates with the same score who know more material but just got the short end of the stick.

 

[americanpierg]

To me: something doesnt add up.

approx 8000 people take the dat every year. Which implies that only 1600 people score a TS of 19 or higher and 4000 score a AA of 17 or lower. The total number of US dental school seats is around ~5000. Averaging every schools DAT score of accepted students is around 19/20. I do not get how these numbers add up. Based on those "rough" numbers it is impossible for all these schools to post 19/20 accepted averages. Also, consider a very high percentage of accepted students took the DAT within the year they were accepted and that only 1.7% have a score of above 23 to help push averages up.

I have trouble believing the percentiles associated with the scores. What do you guys think?

Some people may take the DAT 2 years before applying, some 1 year before applying, and some the year of application. The DAT of those accepted every year doesn't always come from DAT exams taken that same year. Also, the stats become more screwed up as some are retakers and some take the DAT but never persue a dental degree.

I remember when the average ACT score was like a 19 or something but the average for my highschool was like a 27.