DAT complete: might be in store for a retake

[JWD1023]

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I'm praying that my extracurriculars and other aspects on my apps will overshadow a few of these scores. PAT was possibly my strongest category going in, thought it would be a breeze...evidently it was more like a hail storm....here are my scores, feel free to comment--but be kind, i'm fragile...(actually rip into them if need be)



PAT-14
QR- 13 (I KNEW I shouldn't of closed my eyes during this section!)
RC- 21
Bio- 18
GC- 18
OC- 18
TS- 18
AA- 18

There they are, I'm hoping a school or two will overlook the PAT, but that's a hail mary of a prayer. My hope comes from talking w/ a dean of admissions about exactly that and she seemed to understand that many students complain about the time issue for both the math and PAT sections and that the heaviest weight is on the sciences-- possibly a ray of hope for some of you out there that are in similar positions. None of my scores are that great, especially compared to some of the scores posted here, wow! - congrats to those people btw-- but i'm hoping and praying other aspects of my application will overcome those two sub par scores.

Good luck to all those out there preparing for the DAT...stay confident, study hard...and practice your guessing skills! Oh...and to any of those out there posting those astronomical scores...could you call your schools that your applying to and tell them you want a package deal of both you and me...get back to me if that works🙂

Thanks guys and best of luck!

 

[polarmolar]

Hey buddy, congrats on being done!!

I have to be honest and say that 2 low scores will most likely bring calls for a retake, but those 18s are very consistent, and 21 RC is beautiful.

 

[danbarr]

hey great job........give your self some credit the DATs is a very hard test not so much because of the material but because a lot of us (including myself) think about it too much!!!!! 18 across the board shows dental committies that you are consistent, the pat score might be an issue with some schools but some will definetely give you interviews as long as your GPA is above 3.335 or better I think ( it varies from school to school this is just a ballpark number) ........may I recommend applying to temple university I was there for an interview and was told 18 across the board on sciences usually is okay with them..........if you have a state school you will definetely get an interview......good luck and like I told another person who posted earlier please be "flexible" with your school choices.....yes it would be nice to stay close to home or go to your first choice school but the final goal after all is to become a dentist right???........and also please apply super early its extremely important..........I wish you the best .........if you strongly feel that you can do better next time when taking the DAT then by all means retake after all is extrememly competitive but other wise dont bother....

 

[ZenoVT]

Hey, sorry about the low pat and qr. Everything else is fine, but having a low pat & qr is not going to work. It will put you at a serious disadvantage against the other applicants. A retake is a must. That's my opinion anyways. Good luck and the 2 sections you have a low score in could both be greatly improved through practice alone. So do as many questions as you possibly can before take 2.

 

[acgeorge]

Hey sorry if this is off topic guys, but is anyone familiar with how schools look at 2 sets of DAT scores? Is is possible that they will look at the higher of the two in each section? Here are my scores for both times...

Section (1st time/2nd time)
BIO (16/18)
CHEM (19/20)
OCHEM (21/21)
RC (21/19)
QR (19/17)
AA (19/19)
PAT (20/20)

As you can see, I sort of flip flopped in several sections....what do you think?

 

[polarmolar]

Hey sorry if this is off topic guys, but is anyone familiar with how schools look at 2 sets of DAT scores? Is is possible that they will look at the higher of the two in each section? Here are my scores for both times...

Section (1st time/2nd time)
BIO (16/18)
CHEM (19/20)
OCHEM (21/21)
RC (21/19)
QR (19/17)
AA (19/19)
PAT (20/20)

As you can see, I sort of flip flopped in several sections....what do you think?

Some schools take the highest, others the average, others the latest taken...there is a post by "doc toothache" about it where he listed them all, do a quick search.

 

[doc3232]

Some schools take the highest, others the average, others the latest taken...there is a post by "doc toothache" about it where he listed them all, do a quick search.

Couldn't find it...can you link it please?

Thanks

 

[klpennin]

Hey sorry if this is off topic guys, but is anyone familiar with how schools look at 2 sets of DAT scores? Is is possible that they will look at the higher of the two in each section? Here are my scores for both times...

Section (1st time/2nd time)
BIO (16/18)
CHEM (19/20)
OCHEM (21/21)
RC (21/19)
QR (19/17)
AA (19/19)
PAT (20/20)

As you can see, I sort of flip flopped in several sections....what do you think?

The second set of scores looks much better as far as the sciences...and I think thats what the schools are mainy interested in. They don't care too much about QR, so I wouldn't be worried if they just look at the second set.

 

[acgeorge]

The second set of scores looks much better as far as the sciences...and I think thats what the schools are mainy interested in. They don't care too much about QR, so I wouldn't be worried if they just look at the second set.

Ya, I feel i was screwed pretty good by the QR section...the first time I took the exam in 2006 I was given a pencil and paper....the second time I was given the laminated sheets and a dry erase marker....not a huge deal, but when you're not prepared for that you can be thrown off...oh well

 

[acgeorge]

Couldn't find it...can you link it please?

Thanks

here's the link to doc toothache's thread...

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=527651

 

[LifeisWonderful]

To the OP, sorry for the two low scores..some schools have a cut off of 15..so check to see which schools do the cut off..i know ucsf does off hand. Go into your second attempt strong..good luck

______________
UCSF 2012

 

[doc3232]

here's the link to doc toothache's thread...

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=527651

Thanks!

 

[predentstudent1]

18 across the board shows dental committies that you are consistent,......may I recommend applying to temple university I was there for an interview and was told 18 across the board on sciences usually is okay with them

consider these 2 sets of science scores.....is either better than the other or will both be looked at about the same since the overall TS is the same?

1- Bio 20 Gchem 18 Ochem 17 TS 18
2- Bio 18 Gchem 18 Ochem 18 TS 18

 

[klutzy1987]

consider these 2 sets of science scores.....is either better than the other or will both be looked at about the same since the overall TS is the same?

1- Bio 20 Gchem 18 Ochem 17 TS 18
2- Bio 18 Gchem 18 Ochem 18 TS 18

Well the 20 will help your AA a drop more, but in regards to TS i like the onsistent 18's better.

 

[doc3232]

consider these 2 sets of science scores.....is either better than the other or will both be looked at about the same since the overall TS is the same?

1- Bio 20 Gchem 18 Ochem 17 TS 18
2- Bio 18 Gchem 18 Ochem 18 TS 18

I like the first one. Don't think many schools have an 18 cutoff...

 

[2loveshuy]

I have similar low scores in QR and PAT (14 and 17 respectively). I called up Temple and UPenn about my situation, and Temple said that, "We really don't care about QR, if you're application looks good."

UPenn told me that sometimes they don't even look at DAT scores if the candidate overall application is strong. So if you're academic record, extracurriculars, and recommendations are strong, I'm sure you'll get accepted somewhere. I've heard that UPenn has a cutoff minimum in each section posted on their website, but the Admissions person told me that sometimes they'll overlook a very low score in a section, so its not that rigid.

There was a rumor going on that this year QR section is 1-2 points lower than other year b/c of a different grading scale or something I read last month on this forum and that dental school was informed about this? Or something of that nature. I called up Brian at Temple, and he said that he has never heard of such things. So I'm getting kinda worried too. But keeping my hopes up for at least one interview.

You might want to wait and see if you have any interviews (if your apps are in already) and by November if nothing comes in, it might be time to consider retaking (that's what my Pre-Health advisor advised me). keep your hopes alive b/c there's still chance to get in. My friend last year got into Temple with almost the same score as you! A 15 QR and 18AA, She's was also a math major- so really she knew the math, it was mostly the timing issue.

 

[TeamGuo]

I have similar low scores in QR and PAT (14 and 17 respectively). I called up Temple and UPenn about my situation, and Temple said that, "We really don't care about QR, if you're application looks good."

UPenn told me that sometimes they don't even look at DAT scores if the candidate overall application is strong. So if you're academic record, extracurriculars, and recommendations are strong, I'm sure you'll get accepted somewhere. I've heard that UPenn has a cutoff minimum in each section posted on their website, but the Admissions person told me that sometimes they'll overlook a very low score in a section, so its not that rigid.

that's good to hear.