Are percentiles misleading?

[patricklin27]

It seems like the percentiles that the ADA gives you for your score is misleading. I got a 20 in April and it was a 93 percentile. However, knowing people who took it and reading people's breakdown here, it seems highly unlikely that I actually scored better than 93 percent of DAT takers.

Should we take the percentile score with a grain of salt? It seems like people today are doing a lot better than previous years.

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[Longcatislong]

You gotta remember that sdn is by no means a representative sample of all DAT takers or dental school applicants. People who post scores here have self selected to do so, probably because they got really high score and are proud of that. While the average DAT scores on this forum may be high, I think the average for all DAT takers in the US is somewhere closer to 16 or 17.

 

[patricklin27]

i dont get how we can get the percentile right after we take the test. Are the percentiles pre-determined before we take the test?

 

[Glimmer1991]

i dont get how we can get the percentile right after we take the test. Are the percentiles pre-determined before we take the test?

I think your percentile compares you to people who took your specific version of the DAT. My 26AA was a 99.9%, for example, but I've seen lower scores that are in the 99.9th percentile.

The percentiles don't even get sent to schools, though! So, yeah, not very important.