Chances (Terrible PAT score)

[jbetel]

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Hi Guys,

Just got my DAT scores back (Canadian DAT):

RC: 22 - 74th percentile
Bio: 24 - 89th percentile
GC: 23 - 92nd percentile
PAT: 17 - 24th percentile 🙁
TS: 23 - 92nd percentile
AA: 23 - 90th percentile

I graduated a 4 year honours program in Biomed, minor in Business in October with 3.67 cGPA using the Canadian conversion scales. With the American scale I have a 3.74 overall and a 3.69 in science.

I have decent extracurriculars: President of UNICEF on campus, Copyeditor for undergraduate scientific journals, 2 summers as research student at a hospital, 50 hours dental shadowing, intramural's (dodgeball, hockey, soccer) and some other volunteer work.

Was wondering my chances of getting in pretty much anywhere in Canada (preferably) or the US and if its worth it to retake the test again in February.

Thanks in advance

 

[kholley25]

I wouldn't even dream of retaking. Most schools don't value PAT very much - a 17 shouldn't close any doors for you IMO.

Also, I think your percentiles may be a bit low as far as I can tell.

 

[DogeDDS]

Close to no chance. Definitely retake (sarcasm)

 

[molarbear9270]

I have super similar scores! 18 pat, 24 aa. 5 acceptances 😉

 

[JLT223]

You're fine. Seriously, don't worry about it.

 

[jbetel]

Thanks for the replies!

I guess I'm worried as here, especially in Ontario our schools are practically impossible to get into without around a 3.85 GPA and at least 21's on every section. I also thought that PAT might be weighted more heavily than other sections and after looking at @doc toothache 's posts it seems the cutoff for many American schools is 17, with some schools caring more than others (Although I honestly thought the spreadsheet explaining how much each school cares to be a little too abstract/arbitrary to judge that myself).

@kholley25 I really hope I read it wrong and my percentiles were higher, but I got the percentiles from the attached pdf

 

[htownkid1993]

I got a 23 AA, 24 TS, and 17 PAT. Had no trouble getting interviews. You are fine especially considering all the other stuff you have going for you

 

[1070752]

Thanks for the replies!

I guess I'm worried as here, especially in Ontario our schools are practically impossible to get into without around a 3.85 GPA and at least 21's on every section. I also thought that PAT might be weighted more heavily than other sections and after looking at @doc toothache 's posts it seems the cutoff for many American schools is 17, with some schools caring more than others (Although I honestly thought the spreadsheet explaining how much each school cares to be a little too abstract/arbitrary to judge that myself).

@kholley25 I really hope I read it wrong and my percentiles were higher, but I got the percentiles from the attached pdf

Honestly, I think it's going to be hard to get into UofT and Western seeing as their PAT averages were ~21 every year. However, they may and probably overlook it since your other scores are really good!

 

[BobbyBeavis]

I had the same worry as you. Everyone made fun of me for being so anxious, and they were right. 22AA, 22TS, 17PAT. No problems. And I interviewed at some schools with 22PAT average.

Congratulations, now go celebrate your awesome scores.

 

[hh24]

Your scores and GPA are going to be fine for American dental schools. The only possible downside is the 17 PAT and your GPA for Canada. I've heard that schools in Canada - UBC in particular (as stated on their site) looks at the PAT. As for GPA, Canadian dental school statistics are consistently showing things 3.85/3.9+ and 21 DATs like you said. I don't think that your chances are absolutely 0 for Canada, but I would say you are more likely to receive interviews from American schools. If I were you, I would not rewrite the DAT.

 

[jbetel]

@hh24 Yes, unfortunately the Ontario schools (UofT and Western) are even more demanding in terms of GPA and DAT scores than UBC and at the same time UBC and most other dental schools outside of Ontario only accept a small percentage of out of province students (e.g. UBC only allows 10% out of province and their GPA and DAT standards are subsequently much higher for outside applicants).

 

[Weakfart]

No one cares about PAT. I have no idea why I even spent so much time practicing for the PAT. As long as you have a 17, which you do, you're fine.

 

[LFA20]

Hi Guys,

Just got my DAT scores back (Canadian DAT):

RC: 22 - 74th percentile
Bio: 24 - 89th percentile
GC: 23 - 92nd percentile
PAT: 17 - 24th percentile 🙁
TS: 23 - 92nd percentile
AA: 23 - 90th percentile

I graduated a 4 year honours program in Biomed, minor in Business in October with 3.67 cGPA using the Canadian conversion scales. With the American scale I have a 3.74 overall and a 3.69 in science.

I have decent extracurriculars: President of UNICEF on campus, Copyeditor for undergraduate scientific journals, 2 summers as research student at a hospital, 50 hours dental shadowing, intramural's (dodgeball, hockey, soccer) and some other volunteer work.

Was wondering my chances of getting in pretty much anywhere in Canada (preferably) or the US and if its worth it to retake the test again in February.

Thanks in advance

Is this a joke??

 

[dentjo]

so... 23 is 90th percentile now?

 

[Traag]

so... 23 is 90th percentile now?

If that attachment is to be believed, it's actually worse than that. 18.48% of the test takers had a 23 or higher on the English version. The French version, meanwhile, had a 20 as the highest score.

Not sure what's going on with the cDAT.

 

[nowaysurvey]

so... 23 is 90th percentile now?

Yes, can someone dwell on this a bit more?

This has to be different than the DAT from the states right?

 

[JLT223]

Yes, can someone dwell on this a bit more?

This has to be different than the DAT from the states right?

US DAT no longer provides percentiles.

 

[jbetel]

@Traag @dentjo These are the official scores released today from the cda website (need reference number to access them)

@nowaysurvey It is different then the American DAT. The Canadian DAT does not have organic chemistry or quantitative reasoning and has an optional manual dexterity portion. As far as difficulty is concerned, I would say when comparing identical content (i.e. Canadian Bio, Chem and RC vs American Bio, Chem and RC), I found the American version to be much easier and the wording of the questions to be clearer. I consistently scored around a 24-25 for Sciences and RC and 21-22 on the PAT for Kaplan and DAT Bootcamp practice tests.

 

[1070752]

Yes, can someone dwell on this a bit more?

This has to be different than the DAT from the states right?

I can tell you right now that the cDAT sciences are harder then the American DAT, and the PAT/RC are the same level. The PAT for cDAT also introduced new shapes for keyholes. The only thing different is that the cDAT doesn't have Orgo or QR.

 

[jbetel]

@AVB2104 why would you think this is a joke?

 

[dentjo]

@Traag @dentjo These are the official scores released today from the cda website (need reference number to access them)

@nowaysurvey It is different then the American DAT. The Canadian DAT does not have organic chemistry or quantitative reasoning and has an optional manual dexterity portion. As far as difficulty is concerned, I would say when comparing identical content (i.e. Canadian Bio, Chem and RC vs American Bio, Chem and RC), I found the American version to be much easier and the wording of the questions to be clearer. I consistently scored around a 24-25 for Sciences and RC and 21-22 on the PAT for Kaplan and DAT Bootcamp practice tests.

Being harder or not, I am wondering how they scale the cDAT scores. If they scale it similar to the US version, then that means 90 percentile for us is around 23 as well. Darn, maybe I need to retake now!

 

[jbetel]

Being harder or not, I am wondering how they scale the cDAT scores. If they scale it similar to the US version, then that means 90 percentile for us is around 23 as well. Darn, maybe I need to retake now!

Scaling is based on percentile of the people that wrote the DAT. Since in Canada there are only two possible dates to write the exam (November and February), the percentile score is just comparing you to the rest of the people taking the DAT on that day. The only difference there would be would be down to the standard distribution of the participants scores.

 

[nowaysurvey]

US DAT no longer provides percentiles.

Yeah, I knew that.

What I meant to question was the percentiles of the cDAT. Those percentiles the OP listed is making me very conscious of my DAT scores that I took late last year, which was a 21 AA. To my understanding the score was a tad bit above average, and according to some chart someone posted, a 21 AA fell close to the 90 percentile if I recall correctly (?). That being said and the trend that DAT average increases yearly or so, makes me feel that I must retake the DAT to be more competitive if I don't get in this year. 🙁

But OT, nice scores OP.

 

[1070752]

Yeah, I knew that.

What I meant to question was the percentiles of the cDAT. Those percentiles the OP listed is making me very conscious of my DAT scores that I took late last year, which was a 21 AA. To my understanding the score was a tad bit above average, and according to some chart someone posted, a 21 AA fell close to the 90 percentile if I recall correctly (?). That being said and the trend that DAT average increases yearly or so, makes me feel that I must retake the DAT to be more competitive if I don't get in this year. 🙁

But OT, nice scores OP.

You also have to understand that the cDAT is taken only in November and February each year. This means that there are likely more people taking the exam as opposed to the aDAT which you can take throughout the year basically. It could be that yours was a bad batch of people, etc, etc... Many factors play into it.

I highly doubt you'd need to retake the DAT with a 21AA as that's the mean acceptance to many Canadian schools and they are VERY competitive compared to the U.S.