Applying early and retaking the DAT

[premedman]

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I have a question. I want to send in AADSAS this week, but I plan on retaking the DAT in July. How will this work. I seem to be getting conflicting advice. Some say I should wait to retake the DAT, and then apply, and some say i should apply as early as possible, . My main concern is applying early, but getting rejected due to my old DAT score before I have a chance to retake it in mid-end of July. Has this happened to anyone out there. Basically, I want to apply early, but will this hurt me? Or, should I jsut apply early, and just call each school and tell them i paln on retaking the DAT ?

 

[TucsonDDS]

I have a question. I want to send in AADSAS this week, but I plan on retaking the DAT in July. How will this work. I seem to be getting conflicting advice. Some say I should wait to retake the DAT, and then apply, and some say i should apply as early as possible, . My main concern is applying early, but getting rejected due to my old DAT score before I have a chance to retake it in mid-end of July. Has this happened to anyone out there. Basically, I want to apply early, but will this hurt me? Or, should I jsut apply early, and just call each school and tell them i paln on retaking the DAT ?

Get your application in NOW. It is going to take them at least 6 weeks to get it out to the schools anyways and that would be good timing on your part. If you wait until mid July to send your apps in then the schools won't get it until the end of August and you will no longer be in the first round of interviews. Send it now and even if the schools get it before your DATs then they will hold it until they get your results.


PS Did I say to get your application in NOW

 

[premedman]

Thanks. they will be in by this week.

 

[JavadiCavity]

Just in case you missed it the first time, apply NOW! Good luck!

 

[Darksunshine]

Just in case you missed it the first time, apply NOW! Good luck!

This is truly the best advice we can offer you. I took my DAT in Sept of my first cycle and that seemed to be an OK time frame. But my application was completed in May of both of my cycles (yes, I had to apply two times).

BUT, apply to more than one school (saves mucho time an energy)! I only applied to one school the first time and was waitlisted. I know that I would have gotten in somewhere had I applied to more than one because this year I applied to 13 and got in at 7 and had been waitlisted at 2 others. I still haven't heard from 2 of them yet. Anyway, I get off point, which is APPLY early and to atleast 6 schools if you can afford it.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[reLAXgirl]

I believe the AADSAS form also has a place that has an anticipated DAT date. They will see you are planning on taking it again. Odds are, they wont even look at your app before your scores are in. Processing takes a long time.

 

[Bullfan16]

I believe the AADSAS form also has a place that has an anticipated DAT date. They will see you are planning on taking it again. Odds are, they wont even look at your app before your scores are in. Processing takes a long time.

I am sure they will look at the app with premedman's old scores....but seeing that his scores aren't THAT BAD....they might grant an interview. Yes, your gpa isnt IDEAL but who knows...you may get a few interviews you didnt expect to get. If I were you I would call the schools and tell them your situation. Chances are they will put your app on hold until new scores come in. The ADA has a quick turnaround time...about 1-2 weeks....so the time factor shouldnt hurt. As stated previously, its better that your app is in and on hold than if it comes later with newer scores.

 

[ucizotzot]

I am sure they will look at the app with premedman's old scores....but seeing that his scores aren't THAT BAD....they might grant an interview. Yes, your gpa isnt IDEAL but who knows...you may get a few interviews you didnt expect to get. If I were you I would call the schools and tell them your situation. Chances are they will put your app on hold until new scores come in. The ADA has a quick turnaround time...about 1-2 weeks....so the time factor shouldnt hurt. As stated previously, its better that your app is in and on hold than if it comes later with newer scores.

what if you land an interview say in august before you retake your DAT a second time in august? will they just disregard your 2nd DAT score?

 

[newbe]

hold on I was under the impression that the schools thorw out the previous applications and start fresh. how could they know your old scores if you did not send them in yet. Just don't mention your old score on the application. This should solve the problem.

 

[Gurl21]

hold on I was under the impression that the schools thorw out the previous applications and start fresh. how could they know your old scores if you did not send them in yet. Just don't mention your old score on the application. This should solve the problem.

When the ADA sends out his official score report it'll have the scores of all attempts on it. But, he doesn't have to put the old scores on the AADSAS application.

 

[airvent]

I skipped over some posts but....

You don't need to report your DAT scores on the ADSAS application. Just leave it blank and schools will hold your application until your DAT scores arrive

 

[luder98]

I skipped over some posts but....

You don't need to report your DAT scores on the ADSAS application. Just leave it blank and schools will hold your application until your DAT scores arrive

That is not true to all schools. I'd check with the schools you are interested in. At least one school told me that they would not hold my app for new scores.
I'm thinking about holding my top choices off the list for now. Request ADSAS to send to additional schools when my new scores are available. This way I can still give them time to get my app ready but if they finish early it won't get to certain schools, only when I request. Is it a crazy idea? One concern I have is that I don't know exactly how long it'll take them to send to additional schools. I was told 1-2 weeks. Is it correct? Or it will put me at the end of line when I submit my request? I'm not hiding my old scores, but I want my top choices see my new improved (supposely) scores.

 

[newbe]

That is not true to all schools. I'd check with the schools you are interested in. At least one school told me that they would not hold my app for new scores.
I'm thinking about holding my top choices off the list for now. Request ADSAS to send to additional schools when my new scores are available. This way I can still give them time to get my app ready but if they finish early it won't get to certain schools, only when I request. Is it a crazy idea? One concern I have is that I don't know exactly how long it'll take them to send to additional schools. I was told 1-2 weeks. Is it correct? Or it will put me at the end of line when I submit my request? I'm not hiding my old scores, but I want my top choices see my new improved (supposely) scores.

Again let me ask do the schools hold dat scores from last cycle. I don't think they do. So just mention you anticcipated date of you new dat but don't mention your old score until you retake the dat. ADA will do it for you. 👍

 

[Bullfan16]

what if you land an interview say in august before you retake your DAT a second time in august? will they just disregard your 2nd DAT score?

No, they wont disregard the score...if you score better they might even consider you a stronger applicant.

 

[Bullfan16]

For those who have said "just dont mention your old scores on the aadsas application"...the ADEA is separate from the ADA. The ADEA is the organization that sends out your AADSAS applications while the ADA is an organization that STRICTLY deals with your DAT testing dates and scores. Even if you dont mention your scores to the ADEA (on your aadsas application), if you take the DAT more than 1 time (like I did)...each time you take the test it is reported and cannot be removed from your test file. That being said, you do not have to put down old test score on the aadsas application if you dont want to, but personally, I would.


Each time the ADA sends out a new report to the schools that you requested the scores be sent to (5 free requests...$10 per school thereafter) just after you took the DAT...ALL PREVIOUS SCORES WILL BE LISTED ON THE SCORE SHEET, NOT JUST THE MOST RECENT TEST SCORE.

Best bet is to call the schools and see how they feel about repeating the DAT (when I asked Tufts, they said if you take it 3 or more times they wont consider you a "good" applicant) and how they view old scores vs. new scores.

 

[luder98]

Again let me ask do the schools hold dat scores from last cycle. I don't think they do. So just mention you anticcipated date of you new dat but don't mention your old score until you retake the dat. ADA will do it for you. 👍

My scores are decent for some other schools (20/18). So I want to send them out with my app to other schools as early as possible. For Cal schools, those numbers will put me at the border line. It could be my late submission last year, but I don't want to risk another year. I don't want my app to get to my top choices too early meaning that they will review my app with my current scores. That's why I'm re-taking the test. I want them to see the new scores. I agree with you that most likely schools don't keep old scores.

 

[Bullfan16]

I agree with you that most likely schools don't keep old scores.

You never know....and besides if they dont when the ADA sends your new scores...the schools will be able to see your old score at that point. I wouldnt worry...seriously its not like the LSAT or MCAT where previous test performance can hinder your chances even with excellent scores. They view each test attempt individually.