apply earlier or with maybe better DAT?

[plexi]

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So I just posted a thread regarding my DAT in the DAT section but this also relates to application stuff so please help me if you can...

PAT: 19 (ran out of time, had to do some guessing at the end)
RC: 26
QR: 15 (ran out of time even more)
bio: 20
GC, OC: 19
TS: 19
AA: 20

GPA: 3.61

I was wondering how much a low QR is frowned upon, and if it would be better to apply now (May/June) or wait three months and retake the DAT to try to do better? I didn't feel fully prepared and think I could do better but I really don't feel like retaking it. Ideally I want to go to a socal school because of proximity to my family but I don't know if that is possible.

 

[doc toothache]

So I just posted a thread regarding my DAT in the DAT section but this also relates to application stuff so please help me if you can...
TS: 19
AA: 20

GPA: 3.61

I was wondering how much a low QR is frowned upon, and if it would be better to apply now (May/June) or wait three months and retake the DAT to try to do better? I didn't feel fully prepared and think I could do better but I really don't feel like retaking it. Ideally I want to go to a socal school because of proximity to my family but I don't know if that is possible.

Thinking you can do better may prove to be a miscalculation. Your stats are pretty good and if your selection of school is done wisely retaking the DAT may or may not be necessary.

 

[jigabodo]

Apply early. No need to retake with your stats.

Or you can always apply now, and once you finish retaking DAT, send those scores later.

 

[plexi]

thanks for the replies so far 🙂
i was hoping i wouldn't have to retake it but maybe i'll consider it after applying.

 

[Bruinlove]

Consider my method. I got a fine score on the first take also. I'm gonna send first score to all the schools as early as possible, and then retake.

 

[DrSphinx]

hey I dont know if this is will mean anything to you but an admissions officer came to my school and actually told all of us that the QR section was the least important "you'll only have to know how to count to 32 so what's the point"

 

[joh020340]

hey I dont know if this is will mean anything to you but an admissions officer came to my school and actually told all of us that the QR section was the least important "you'll only have to know how to count to 32 so what's the point"

For clinical dentistry that may be true, but since most dentists also own a business, having a solid knowledge base in math could be very helpful.

 

[plexi]

Thinking you can do better may prove to be a miscalculation. Your stats are pretty good and if your selection of school is done wisely retaking the DAT may or may not be necessary.

thanks for the reply. i read the thing in your signature about people often doing worse their second time around. while i feel i did not prepare adequately and could do better, i don't really feel like studying all summer either...

regarding selection of schools... how many points away from my AA could be attainable? is UCLA's AA 22 out of the question? i don't really know how large the standard deviations of the mean scores are.

 

[plexi]

hey I dont know if this is will mean anything to you but an admissions officer came to my school and actually told all of us that the QR section was the least important "you'll only have to know how to count to 32 so what's the point"

😀 i hope this is the case. thanks for the reply for giving me hope that they'll overlook it. my science scores aren't GREAT either though... if they only judged based on RC i'm golden. lol

 

[DrSphinx]

For clinical dentistry that may be true, but since most dentists also own a business, having a solid knowledge base in math could be very helpful.

I'm not doubting that a solid knowledge base isnt essential, I was merely relaying what an admissions officer told us and since they're the ones reviewing the apps I think it's relevant in this situation

 

[informatique]

wow..how did you handle to RC section? Did you skip reading and automatically start browsing for answers after reading the questions? Or did you read the passage and then tackle the questions?

I took the former approach and got a 20 last year, and I'm hoping to raise my score 1-3 points.

 

[plexi]

wow..how did you handle to RC section? Did you skip reading and automatically start browsing for answers after reading the questions? Or did you read the passage and then tackle the questions?

I took the former approach and got a 20 last year, and I'm hoping to raise my score 1-3 points.

i walked in with a plan to read each paragraph and then write a little note about the content, so i could go back to refer to it. however, this plan kind of broke down because it seemed like it was taking too long. i ended up skimming through the text briefly, then reading the questions and going back to find the information. i ended up finishing early and going back through some questions which i felt a little rushed through the first time around. i tried not to linger on any one question too long so i wouldn't run out of time. i'd say just lots of practice... good luck 🙂

 

[doc toothache]

thanks for the reply. i read the thing in your signature about people often doing worse their second time around. while i feel i did not prepare adequately and could do better, i don't really feel like studying all summer either...

regarding selection of schools... how many points away from my AA could be attainable? is UCLA's AA 22 out of the question? i don't really know how large the standard deviations of the mean scores are.

You should be around the mean for a particular school in question. For UCLA the AA range was 17.0-25.0 (median 20), PA at 17.0-25.0 (20) and TS at 19.0-26.0 (22). The gpa (s) at 2.89-4.00 (3.65) and total gpa at 2.97-4.00 (3.65). In spite of the wide range, standard deviation is more likely to be pretty small and most enrollees will be clustered around the mean. You should, however, note that for UCLA, in case of duplicate attempts, only the most recent score is considered. This is the kind of invaluable information you can find in the 2008 ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools.

https://access.adea.org/adeassa/ecs...st_id=&p_order_serno=&p_promo_cd=&p_price_cd=