another opinion thread with low DATs...please help!

[dentalme]

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Hey all, so heres another opinion thread for ya. Im nervous about my dat scores...to keep it short and to the point heres my stats:
Community college transfer: GPA -4.0
Transfered to UCLA: around a 3.0 gpa now(only been there for a year)

AADSAS GPA:
Science: 3.35
Overall: 3.42

DATs
AA:18
PA:20
QR:15
RC:20
Bio:17
OC:19
GC:18
TS:18

My extra currics:
200+ shadowing hours
over a year of research at ucla dental school
all kinds of leadership/community service
4 very very solid letters of recommendation

I applied to:
All cali schools (im thinking i only have a chance at usc?)
temple
tufts
bu
nyu
michigan
upenn
nova

i would really like nova, tufts, or michigan considering my scores....

so..the standard question...do u guys think i have a chance? is usc totally out of the question? im hella nervous about my QR 15 and i dont plan on retaking the dats.

thanks guys, i really appreciate it.

 

[Generallee]

I've got pretty similar stats...I too am getting a little anxious/concerned. All I see on SDN is twentys across the board with high GPA's. I thought my DAT scores were a little above average, but I guess they are either average or even below average. I got a 15 on QR as well. I just hope to get into a school because I don't want to re-take the DAT again! 😳

AA: 18
TS: 19
PA: 18
RC: 19
QR: 15
BIO: 18
CHM: 21
OCHM: 19

 

[etan4]

Find comfort in the fact that Quantitative Reasoning is perhaps the least relevant subject matter in determining success at dental school.

 

[jk5177]

My guess is that the low QR 15 is due to lack of time approrpriation.

My suggestion is that if you have the time, the confidence to believe that you can improve, then retake it. 18s, and 15s is not spectacular. My advisor told me to get at least 19s across the board to even have a chance, otherwise don't bother. I will relay the honest msg from her to you as well. If you have the time, and know that you can improve, then retake it.

 

[katdds]

Hey all, so heres another opinion thread for ya. Im nervous about my dat scores...to keep it short and to the point heres my stats:
Community college transfer: GPA -4.0
Transfered to UCLA: around a 3.0 gpa now(only been there for a year)

AADSAS GPA:
Science: 3.35
Overall: 3.42

DATs
AA:18
PA:20
QR:15
RC:20
Bio:17
OC:19
GC:18
TS:18

My extra currics:
200+ shadowing hours
over a year of research at ucla dental school
all kinds of leadership/community service
4 very very solid letters of recommendation

I applied to:
All cali schools (im thinking i only have a chance at usc?)
temple
tufts
bu
nyu
michigan
upenn
nova

i would really like nova, tufts, or michigan considering my scores....

so..the standard question...do u guys think i have a chance? is usc totally out of the question? im hella nervous about my QR 15 and i dont plan on retaking the dats.

thanks guys, i really appreciate it.

my friend got acccepted to usc with an 18AA and 3.5 GPA.. urs isn't too far off.. i think you had more experience in the dental field and volunteer hours than she did.. but she got an interview and the interview went well.. and she got acccepted.. even though all the other schools she applied to rejected her because at the interviews they asked her to retake her DAT so it can look good for their records.. but she didn't want to...I think it should get u an interview and from there, depends on how well the interview goes.. but overall.. ur dental experience should help u a lot..

good luck! =)

 

[dentalme]

hmm that sucks i really dont want to take the dats over, nor do i plan on it. hopefully we will see what happens. I applied at the end of may, it said everything was sent out but then for those of u following on all the "aadsas revisions" threads, aadsas sent out two revisions for my applicaiton. WHAT those revisions are i have no idea since i never revised the app....they proly lost something or forgot soemthing like whats happening to everyone else. so whatever

anyway,
has anyone else had dental schools ask them to retake the dat during their interview? it would seem almost way late to get an interview, have them ask u to retake it, then put off a month or two, retake it, have it sent back in...i dunno it seems like it would just be too late then, perhaps pushing into dec/jan/feb time.

also, any comments on east coast schools?

thanks again guys, i really appreciate it

 

[DIRTIE]

Don't retake the DAT! There can be some real pricks on this website. A lot of negativity. You will get 4 or 5 interviews with 2 or 3 acceptances with schools you applied to. Believe me I was in your shoes a year ago.
Good luck
My scores last year

CUM. GPA 3.5
sci. GPA 3.4
DAT
AA 18
TS 19
PAT 17
RC 21
QR 14
BIO 21
GC 16
OC 20

 

[colt]

Don't retake the DAT! There can be some real pricks on this website. A lot of negativity.

What do you expect from the dental student mecca? 😉


disregard my statements I'm about to pass out ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

 

[SpikeyMike83]

I really like these threads. They make me feel like I'm still an okay candidate when it comes to dental school.

Its really discouraging that everyone on this website seems to do phenominally on the DAT compared to us who do what might be a little higher than average.

I hope that things work out for all of us!

 

[aphistis]

My guess is that the low QR 15 is due to lack of time approrpriation.

My suggestion is that if you have the time, the confidence to believe that you can improve, then retake it. 18s, and 15s is not spectacular. My advisor told me to get at least 19s across the board to even have a chance, otherwise don't bother. I will relay the honest msg from her to you as well. If you have the time, and know that you can improve, then retake it.

Speaking of "relaying honest messages," here's another one: the only source of dental school information less reliable than half the pre-dent advisors out there is SDN. Even suggesting that it's a fool's errand to apply with <19 line scores is preposterous.

 

[Sprgrover]

...Even suggesting that it's a fool's errand to apply with <19 line scores is preposterous.

Bill is right. Sure, if you have 15's across the board your chances are slim compared to someone with 20+, but if you have a couple of low scores you are not screwed. There are plenty of current dental students whose performance on a section or two can be described as less than stellar and didn't have a problem gaining multiple acceptances - I'm one of them so believe me when I state that you do have a very good chance so go ahead and apply and knock 'em dead in the interview, dentalme. 👍

 

[jk5177]

Speaking of "relaying honest messages," here's another one: the only source of dental school information less reliable than half the pre-dent advisors out there is SDN. Even suggesting that it's a fool's errand to apply with <19 line scores is preposterous.

It is a good reminder that SDN are composed of community of people who post their own experiences and what they've heard. In no way, should anyone take my suggestions as hard rule. But at the same time, my suggestions are hardly preposterous. Relaying a message from an advisor is merely relaying a message from an advisor - caveat emptor. There's no promises, it's a not word of God. There are definitely exceptions that can prove my suggestion as wrong, hence it's a suggestion.

 

[trowell460]

Bill is right. Sure, if you have 15's across the board your chances are slim compared to someone with 20+, but if you have a couple of low scores you are not screwed. There are plenty of current dental students whose performance on a section or two can be described as less than stellar and didn't have a problem gaining multiple acceptances - I'm one of them so believe me when I state that you do have a very good chance so go ahead and apply and knock 'em dead in the interview, dentalme. 👍

I completely acquiesce with what was said in replies 9, 10 and 11. If you look at some of the dental school statistics as supplied by SDN's own busupshot83 <http://dentalstats.tripod.com/03-04.htm>, it shows the average DAT scores of those admitted in previous application cycle. Notice I said AVERAGE. That means that some people probably scored well above that and it also means that some probably scored well below it (and still got in). I would also beg to differ that scoring in the mid to high 20's automatically means that you will be a great dentist, the adcoms have to know this.

There need to be more threads like this

 

[TeethVader]

Hey all, so heres another opinion thread for ya. Im nervous about my dat scores...to keep it short and to the point heres my stats:
Community college transfer: GPA -4.0
Transfered to UCLA: around a 3.0 gpa now(only been there for a year)

AADSAS GPA:
Science: 3.35
Overall: 3.42

DATs
AA:18
PA:20
QR:15
RC:20
Bio:17
OC:19
GC:18
TS:18

My extra currics:
200+ shadowing hours
over a year of research at ucla dental school
all kinds of leadership/community service
4 very very solid letters of recommendation

I applied to:
All cali schools (im thinking i only have a chance at usc?)
temple
tufts
bu
nyu
michigan
upenn
nova

i would really like nova, tufts, or michigan considering my scores....

so..the standard question...do u guys think i have a chance? is usc totally out of the question? im hella nervous about my QR 15 and i dont plan on retaking the dats.

thanks guys, i really appreciate it.

I don't think you should rule SC out. In my experience, I applied to SC very very late (Mid January) with pretty average DAT scores: AA19TS20PAT17Gchem21Ochem22Bio19RC20QR14. My GPA was OVerall 3.60 and Science GPA 3.76. Your GPA is good as well as your DAT scores. It is a reality that grades and DAT averages for admission consideration are increasing every year, but your scores are around the ballpark for SC averages which for this year seems to be in the 19-20s (perhaps 20 sharp) on DAT and 3.5 GPA. So, don't worry I think SC is very reacheable. Best of luck to you. Besides Brojans Dwell at SC hehehe.

 

[dentalme]

hey thanks so much you guys, i really appreciate the feedback! its much more comforting to know all this. Brojans...nice! Well i guess ill keep you guys updated on the interview thread so hopefully we will see as time progresses.

thanks again people

 

[Jaba]

Hi, I am from Canada and interested in dentistry. I am about to enter into the 3rd year of the biology program and have decided that I will start preping for the DAT. Could someone please tell me what its like to write this kind of test? What are the abreviations that I see ie AA or PA. I know the USA accepts Canadian DAT scores, does this mean the sections are the same? Also, what are some of the schools that would look at a trend of marks increasing rather than a cGPA?

Thanks for all your help!