Are there people getting into d-school with a 19 on the DAT??

[Neuro178]

Hi everyone... So have many people been accepted to dental schools this cycle with 19 AAs or 19 TS?

I'm applying next cycle (I'm a junior right now). I have a 19/19/18, but I have a 3.83 cGPA and 3.80 sGPA, along with a lot of great extracurriculars, research publication, good letters of recommendations coming.. Is a 19 too low?? It seems like everyone in these threads getting accepted has at least a 20. I don't want to take the DAT again (and was told not to by my pre-health advisor) because the highest scores I got in practice was an 18, so I was really happy with a 19. According to the schools' stats, 19 is a good number to be at (for last cycle.). It's many schools' average acceptance DAT score. So how about for THIS cycle???

I'm getting worried.........! Help!

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[Ranelar]

18/19/21 3.3/3.0 GPA in at USC.

 

[cjb04]

Interviewed at 5, in at MWU so far...Check out my predents profile. Just make sure you apply early and to a bunch of schools and your stellar GPA will get you where you want to go.

 

[dent2009]

Hi everyone... So have many people been accepted to dental schools this cycle with 19 AAs or 19 TS?

I'm applying next cycle (I'm a junior right now). I have a 19/19/18, but I have a 3.83 cGPA and 3.80 sGPA, along with a lot of great extracurriculars, research publication, good letters of recommendations coming.. Is a 19 too low?? It seems like everyone in these threads getting accepted has at least a 20. I don't want to take the DAT again (and was told not to by my pre-health advisor) because the highest scores I got in practice was an 18, so I was really happy with a 19. According to the schools' stats, 19 is a good number to be at (for last cycle.). It's many schools' average acceptance DAT score. So how about for THIS cycle???

I'm getting worried.........! Help!

It's a little suspect when you have such a high GPA and average (matriculant) DAT score. With that GPA, adcoms will expect you to get 20+. That's what the director of admissions at UMDNJ said. I think you'll be fine but if i were you, i wouldn't want them to question that part of my application.

 

[DiNoZeRo2o9]

With your GPA, 19 is just fine. It is not a sure-in though to the elite schools, but for sure you will get in somewhere, especially since you say you have good extra curriculars, publications, research, etc. Just make sure you get your feet wet and do some work experience or volunteer at an office and get good LoRs.

 

[Mpr823]

I have a high gpa and a 18AA 19TS. It doesn't look suspicious or anything like other people are saying.. No adcoms questioned me about it. You'll be fine

 

[supraman]

Well based on your predents, it dosn't look like youve applied anywhere

 

[Jake8]

Well based on your predents, it dosn't look like youve applied anywhere

Maybe because her cycle doesn't open until May 15 2009

 

[supraman]

Maybe because her cycle doesn't open until May 15 2009

lol whoops! OP should not be worried then wtf

 

[Neuro178]

It's a little suspect when you have such a high GPA and average (matriculant) DAT score. With that GPA, adcoms will expect you to get 20+. That's what the director of admissions at UMDNJ said. I think you'll be fine but if i were you, i wouldn't want them to question that part of my application.

I know, I feel like with a 3.8 I should be able to get at least a 20, but things like math (which I got a B in college in calc 2) pulled my DAT down. It's also much easier to study for college tests in my opinion because you pretty much know what's on them.. whereas the DAT is more random.

Well based on your predents, it dosn't look like youve applied anywhere

True story... I don't apply til 2009 so yeah, I'm freaking out a bit early because I have time to retake if necessary.

 

[Neuro178]

With your GPA, 19 is just fine. It is not a sure-in though to the elite schools, but for sure you will get in somewhere, especially since you say you have good extra curriculars, publications, research, etc. Just make sure you get your feet wet and do some work experience or volunteer at an office and get good LoRs.

Good idea.. I volunteer at a rural dental clinic once a week. I hope that puts me in good shape!

Thanks for EVERYONE'S help here! I feel a lot better. You all are so quick to reply!

 

[bee3615]

i had a 18/18/13, and i have 3 admissions out of 4 so far with a 5th interview in Dec. Make sure your personal statment and rec letters are stellar, and don't apply past at least 2nd wk in sept. with your other qualfications, you should get positive results....it WORKED for me!!!!!

 

[bearsfan55]

Hey Neuro178, my DAT scores are identical to yours (19/19/18) and my gpa is very similar as well (cGPA=3.9 sGPA=3.82).. you will be fine.. like others have said.. apply early and try to stay in contact with the schools at the top of your list... i interviewed at 5 schools... i really liked 2 of them a lot.. i made the effort to get to know the people at both of those two schools and put myself out there with them.. i got into both of those schools... the schools that I failed to contact and network with,, still haven't heard from them.. putting a face to a name is very important and so is applying early.. hope this helps!!

 

[somethinpositiv]

I think with your stellar GPA you should def get interviews to Temple and Pitt in your state, despite your average DAT

Also, make sure to apply to schools like Nova, Louisville, Buffalo, Iowa, Creighton, and Indiana, which seem to value a high GPA over a high DAT.

 

[needa20]

Just apply early and you will be fine

 

[needa20]

i had a 18/18/13, and i have 3 admissions out of 4 so far with a 5th interview in Dec. Make sure your personal statment and rec letters are stellar, and don't apply past at least 2nd wk in sept. with your other qualfications, you should get positive results....it WORKED for me!!!!!

congrats,

what schools?

i have 18/19/18 and think that if I had applied earlier I would have had more interviews so far.

The one i have had and the one coming in January I feel like I have great chances at God willing

 

[polarmolar]

3.8 and 19 AA, with an application submitted in May, decent EC's and LOR's = multiple acceptances

: )

 

[PDizzle]

107 Search results found for members who, in the 2009 cycle:
Were accepted to any school
DAT: Academic Average is less than/equal to 19

11.33% of total applicants

---------------------------------
80 Search results found for members who, in the 2009 cycle:
Were accepted to any school
DAT: Total Science is less than/equal to 19

8.47% of total applicants


Booyah! There's your answer!

 

[joonkimdds]

In your case, I think 19 is fine. I think 18 is becoming an average so you can't really say 19 is bad.
since my friend had 3.5 GPA and 19DAAT, this comparison will make your DAT score low when your GPA is 3.8, but I think it's not something to worry about.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

It's a little suspect when you have such a high GPA and average (matriculant) DAT score. With that GPA, adcoms will expect you to get 20+. That's what the director of admissions at UMDNJ said. I think you'll be fine but if i were you, i wouldn't want them to question that part of my application.

There are many, many of people who have high GPAs and average DAT scores. You need to be a little more intelligent about this (Dent2009). You are basing your word on one school's director. Other schools look at different things and have different criteria. I can tell you this, there are probably quite a few people even at UMDNJ who have high GPAs and average DATs. Have you ever thought that some people stink at standardized tests and freeze. Plus, a 19 is still not a bad score when you consider that at many schools a 19 is considered average accepted score, not average applicant score!

 

[murff05]

I had lower and got in.

 

[joonkimdds]

Plus, a 19 is still not a bad score when you consider that at many schools a 19 is considered average accepted score, not average applicant score!

can I quote that in my signature? I think that's like the best sentence I ever read in SDN.

 

[206127]

3.03cGPA/2.88sGPA DAT:18/19/21
I got 7 pre-dec interviews and got accepted to 2 of those schools on dec 1st.

 

[bee3615]

congrats,

what schools?

i have 18/19/18 and think that if I had applied earlier I would have had more interviews so far.

The one i have had and the one coming in January I feel like I have great chances at God willing

i got into BU, NYU, IU, and Howard. I have an interview in Dec at Columbia....good luck with the interview(s)!

 

[doc toothache]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=502682
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=527690

 

[219122]

I had 21AA but 19 TS and got accepted to 5 schools out of 6 pre-dec interviews. It's possible.

 

[katy5787]

I had the EXACT same DAT scores as you but I have a high GPA and a ton of activities, volunteering, etc. I got 9 interviews and so far I've been accepted at UCLA, Pitt, and Temple. I've had no rejections..just haven't heard back from the others yet and I will probably cancel 2 of the 9 interviews because they were scheduled for after December 1st. My DAT score hasn't seem to have any negative effect on me! Good luck!

 

[Neuro178]

Wow, thank you all for all of your responses!! Like I said, your comments have been helping me a lot. I'm glad to see there is hope for me becoming a dentist one day.

doctoothache - thanks for those threads. They were very helpful! I am about average for acceptance, as one of the other posters said, which is not a bad thing. It's always nice to be above average, but I can settle for that.

Thank you again for your support, everybody! sdn is the besssst!

 

[bleech]

"3.03cGPA/2.88sGPA DAT:18/19/21
I got 7 pre-dec interviews and got accepted to 2 of those schools on dec 1st"

affirmative action?????

 

[osims]

ABSOLUTELY! i got into UCSF, Temple, Upenn, VCU, and i presume more to come!

 

[Ranelar]

ABSOLUTELY! i got into UCSF, Temple, Upenn, VCU, and i presume more to come!

hah, at first I thought you were replying to the guy above you re: affirmative action

 

[osims]

haha no, just replying to the original post.

 

[jntruong2003]

you will be fine. rest assured. 19 AA/20TS/19PAT with 3.3 cum. gpa 3.2 sci. Accepted to Western University of Health Sciences.

Since you've already been looking around at SDN, you'll be fine =)

 

[mamelons]

It's a little suspect when you have such a high GPA and average (matriculant) DAT score. With that GPA, adcoms will expect you to get 20+. That's what the director of admissions at UMDNJ said. I think you'll be fine but if i were you, i wouldn't want them to question that part of my application.

I made an 18/18/15 and had a very similar GPA to yours, and was accepted to all 4 schools I interviewed at. This was two years ago, but the average DAT of people accepted has not changed that much.

 

[Andre3k]

I got a 19/20/20, applied to 5 schools and got into 3 schools so far, my other 2 schools haven't started sending out decisions yet.

I think the average DAT at most of the schools is around a 19-20. So I would assume that most of the students accepted have around a 19.

Yes you can get in with a 19.

 

[Neuro178]

I got a 19/20/20, applied to 5 schools and got into 3 schools so far, my other 2 schools haven't started sending out decisions yet.

I think the average DAT at most of the schools is around a 19-20. So I would assume that most of the students accepted have around a 19.

Yes you can get in with a 19.

Yay!! And congrats to you and everyone else who has gotten into dental school.

 

[katy5787]

As I said before, you will be fine. However, one suggestion that I have would be to be smart about picking schools that you apply to. I would suggest ordering this book from the ADA before you pick your schools.
https://access.adea.org/adeassa/ecs...st_id=&p_order_serno=&p_promo_cd=&p_price_cd=

This book has official stats about the students that the schools are accepting. For instance, some schools are big on applicants that have high GPAs and aren't as concerned with the DATs as long as they're average. Some other schools are the opposite way so you might not want to apply to schools that tend to follow the high DAT trend. Also, look at schools that have state relations because sometimes they only accept people from their own state or very few from out of state. Like I said, if you're smart about where you apply, that can increase your chances of getting in as well. Good luck!

 

[Neuro178]

As I said before, you will be fine. However, one suggestion that I have would be to be smart about picking schools that you apply to. I would suggest ordering this book from the ADA before you pick your schools.
https://access.adea.org/adeassa/ecs...st_id=&p_order_serno=&p_promo_cd=&p_price_cd=

This book has official stats about the students that the schools are accepting. For instance, some schools are big on applicants that have high GPAs and aren't as concerned with the DATs as long as they're average. Some other schools are the opposite way so you might not want to apply to schools that tend to follow the high DAT trend. Also, please look at schools that have state relations because sometimes they only accept people from their own state or very few from out of state. Like I said, if you're smart about where you apply, that can increase your chances of getting in as well. Good luck!

That is definitely good advice. I'm going to wait until the new version, for students entering fall 2010, comes out. I think that's sometime in the spring semester.. I'll have to check on that.

 

[206127]

"3.03cGPA/2.88sGPA DAT:18/19/21
I got 7 pre-dec interviews and got accepted to 2 of those schools on dec 1st"

affirmative action?????

HATER ALERT! HATER ALERT! In the words of Kat Williams "if there's any haters in here right now that have nobody to hate on, feel free to hate on me. Sit back and say my hair ain't luxurious when you know it is b**ch.... " hahahaha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxxPLDZnqwA

I don't have to tell you how stressful this application cycle is. After completing the difficult task of proving myself to many admissions committees, it sucks that I have to prove myself to you guys too.
Numbers aren't everything... Dental schools let in people who they think will be a good fit for their program. During the interview that's the main thing they are looking for. Do you really think they looked at my ethnicity and said, "Oh damn he's hispanic... let's pick him...". I had to prove myself to the admissions committee just like everyone else. You do realize there are many Hispanics out there with better GPAs and DAT scores then both you and I, who have yet to receive an acceptance... but whatever I hope my stats encourage others who might feel a bit discouraged...

It's still early guys, it's not over.....

 

[Andre3k]

uhh sorry futuredentist09 you don't count as an example whatsoever. and yes you got in because of your race, sorry thats the truth. If you were white or asian and had those grades you would have 0 interviews and 0 acceptances no doubt about it. Therefore you can't encourage anyone who is not in the same affirmative action boat.

yea you proved yourself to the adcom but the only reason they sniffed even you was cuz of your race. No they did not say "Oh damn he's hispanic... let's pick him..." but they did say "Oh damn we don't have enough hispanics in this school... we need to pick him"

I'm not saying affirmative action is right or wrong, but lets be serious, the only reason you got in with your stats was because of it. I'm not mad that you got in, nor am I saying you didn't deserve it

But at least don't go around pretending you worked just as hard as the rest of us.

wow strong words.

 

[206127]

uhh sorry futuredentist09 you don't count as an example whatsoever. and yes you got in because of your race, sorry thats the truth. If you were white or asian and had those grades you would have 0 interviews and 0 acceptances no doubt about it. Therefore you can't encourage anyone who is not in the same affirmative action boat.

yea you proved yourself to the adcom but the only reason they sniffed even you was cuz of your race. No they did not say "Oh damn he's hispanic... let's pick him..." but they did say "Oh damn we don't have enough hispanics in this school... we need to pick him"

I'm not saying affirmative action is right or wrong, but lets be serious, the only reason you got in with your stats was because of it. I'm not mad that you got in, nor am I saying you didn't deserve it

But at least don't go around pretending you worked just as hard as the rest of us.

...
If you're saying the only reason I got in with these stats was because of affirmative action then you are saying that I don't deserve it. Getting a 3.0 and doing the amount of ECs I did isn't easy when you work full-time. But whatever man... go ahead and hate on me, you're not alone. I'm going to dental school and none of you can take that away from me.
Btw congrats on the 4.0, too bad it made you an arrogant a**hole...

 

[206127]

wow strong words.

fighting words if you ask me...

 

[doc toothache]

uhh sorry futuredentist09 you don't count as an example whatsoever. and yes you got in because of your race, sorry thats the truth. If you were white or asian and had those grades you would have 0 interviews and 0 acceptances no doubt about it. Therefore you can't encourage anyone who is not in the same affirmative action boat.

yea you proved yourself to the adcom but the only reason they sniffed even you was cuz of your race. No they did not say "Oh damn he's hispanic... let's pick him..." but they did say "Oh damn we don't have enough hispanics in this school... we need to pick him"

I'm not saying affirmative action is right or wrong, but lets be serious, the only reason you got in with your stats was because of it. I'm not mad that you got in, nor am I saying you didn't deserve it

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=563953

 

[206127]

lol you work fulltime? guess what, so do I.
Keep pretending the color of your skin had nothing to do with it.

FYI i'm entitled to my opinion so yes I am against affirmative action
Not only because its unfair but also because it creates ungrateful ones parading around like they put in the same hard work as the rest of us.

O hey that reminds me of you

Thank you for affirming the fact that you are an arrogant a**hole, but let me add racist to that...

And F U I put in plenty of hard work, admissions committees saw that and that is why I'm in the position I am in. I have nothing to prove to you, so I'm done here but you can keep talking $hit if you want... I don't care, I got better things to do...

 

[TeamGuo]

Thank you for affirming the fact that you are an arrogant a**hole, but let me add racist to that...

And F U I put in plenty of hard work, admissions committees saw that and that is why I'm in the position I am in. I have nothing to prove to you, so I'm done here but you can keep talking $hit if you want... I don't care, I got better things to do...

I think the OP is just saying that you are not the typical applicant with a 19 AA the original poster is asking for. Whether you are a minority or not, you gotta admit that your case it pretty special. I am sure you worked your tail off to get your acceptances but the OP also has a point. He/she is just saying that admissions are not typical with a low gpa and a low DAT.

Congrats on your acceptances though, I am sure you will do great in the future and you deserved them. Good luck!

and for the original question, I got in with a 19 AA.

 

[Mattgk50]

i got into 2 so far with a 19AA.

 

[bleech]

Thank you for affirming the fact that you are an arrogant a**hole, but let me add racist to that...

And F U I put in plenty of hard work, admissions committees saw that and that is why I'm in the position I am in. I have nothing to prove to you, so I'm done here but you can keep talking $hit if you want... I don't care, I got better things to do...

it doesn't make him or myself racist to point your self-reported race as a possible factor influencing a school's decision. if you really thought race didn't matter, you could have declined to indicate race on your application. no one is 'hating on you' for not being white. we all have to play the cards we're dealt. i'm sure after they looked at you they saw all the ec's and work and other things that ultimately got you in, but don't pretend that race had nothing to do with your application. if it didn't matter, they wouldn't ask.

random followup question; what percentage of the people accepted with a gpa under a 3.0 fall into minority status?

 

[Doc Smile]

There are many, many of people who have high GPAs and average DAT scores. You need to be a little more intelligent about this (Dent2009). You are basing your word on one school's director. Other schools look at different things and have different criteria. I can tell you this, there are probably quite a few people even at UMDNJ who have high GPAs and average DATs. Have you ever thought that some people stink at standardized tests and freeze. Plus, a 19 is still not a bad score when you consider that at many schools a 19 is considered average accepted score, not average applicant score!

My advisor (the dean of the honors college) she told me how on my SATs I had a below average score and they never would have expected me to have a 3.9 GPA. So when i take the DATs and get an average or below average score, she will write in my letter of rec that i far surpassed their expectations as a student with below average SATs (i got 2010 out of 2400) especially keeping that 3.9 with a 20 credit load each semester. So if you do suck at standardized tests (i got nearly 100%s on all my gen chem exams then with the ACS standard final i got a 73%) just have a LoR mention it.

simple yo

 

[Theo]

I got in with a 17AA (3rd application cycle)

 

[aowm88]

it doesn't make him or myself racist to point your self-reported race as a possible factor influencing a school's decision. if you really thought race didn't matter, you could have declined to indicate race on your application. no one is 'hating on you' for not being white. we all have to play the cards we're dealt. i'm sure after they looked at you they saw all the ec's and work and other things that ultimately got you in, but don't pretend that race had nothing to do with your application. if it didn't matter, they wouldn't ask.

random followup question; what percentage of the people accepted with a gpa under a 3.0 fall into minority status?

LOL. please stop pretending like you're not a HATER! but i guess you're not embarrassed cuz it's just an internet thread. anyway, just answer the original question and move on with life; or if you can't move on with life start your own thread about whatever you want. i came on here to see about the 19AA question, not all this junk. thanx.