DAT done 08/15 :(

[Mstoothlady2012]

---

Members do not see this ad.

So finally done with DAT ...relieved and sad 🙁. These are my scores and some thoughts...

bio-17
gchem -16
ochem - 19
pat - 18
rc - 18
qr - 17

TS - 17 & AA - 17

Bio - yes, few random questions but also few ridiculously easy. I was busy studying stuff like hormones, NT, kidney, heart circulation, ecology...but none of the questions really appeared on DAT. It is definitely applied...not just memorizing..i dont know what to say about this section....but dont go all crazy memorizing cellular resp, photosynthesis, hormones and stuff

gchem - wanted to kill myself when i was taking this test. Seriously most of it is chemistry I...i was so busy doing calculations and crazy chem questions that i never really focused on concepts. People who are going to take DAT soon..read this carefully...Drop your pen/pencil right now and stop doing calculations!!!! Know your concepts and property of periodic table! This section was so easy but you might get low score like me if you study wrong stuff!Yes there were 3-4 calculations...but they were set out u didnt have to do the math. Feel freaking stupid for not studying the concepts properly.

ochem- do destroyer and you will be fine

PAT - very easy ..crack the DAT PAT really helps...angles, cubes & hole punching questions are very eays. pattern & aperture are medium level...i never did T/F/E so i dont know about that. I am happy with 18 PAT

RC - OMG!!!! the hardest section of all! its true questions are not straight from the passage...more than 60% questions are on authors tone, what is passage trying to convey? what wil be future of blah blah! what does this sentence imply etc...jumping straight to questions is not a good idea...skimming thru passage is a big NO!NO! you gotta know what the passage is about. I must have guessed atleast 10 questions

QR- What happened????? used to score 20-21 on practice tests....no crazy probability quesitons. I never wasted my time still ran out of time! IF i took longer than 15 mins just to analyze the question..i guessed and moved on. Still I had to take wild guess on atleast 5

Well, so obviously I did horrible...but that doesnt mean I cant share my experience! The main reason to post this thread is for the people who will be taking DAT - i dont want you all to make the same mistakes that I did. Its not that i didnt invest enough time for DAT studying...I just didnt study the right material. I am not planning on retaking it for this cycle coz i cant take it til nov 15th and it will be too late...so I will just hope for the best and hope to get in. If i dont then i will take it again next summer and apply again!!Goodluck to you all! and i hope reading this thread helped you for studying.

 

[Clubby]

Sorry about your score.. I know you studied hard and saw your post responding to questions that people posted on SDN. I was expecting higher score just because I knew how much you know the material. DAT is really twisted!!.. someone posted that you may have been too nervous the day of the test..(PARASYMPATHETIC) 🙂... and the stress of that could have really play a part on your scores.. so perhaps refining your test taking methods instead of your material would be the key to better scores..

Parasympathetic calms you down. Not the other way around.

 

[Pooya]

I say take it november for sure. They have your application on file, looked at your letters of evaluation, and just waiting for your score. If they like you, they will hold your file. Go on aadsas and mark your file as taking the DAT in the future. Schools will be notified and your file will be put on hold until the new scores go in.

If you haven't resgistered to all the schools for your DAT then you can choose who you want to send the scores to. This should be the schools that accept lower scores. Meanwhile this 3 months of studying you do, the schools that you sent the scores to might want to interview you. If you get accepted, great! . If not, then you retake the DAT in november, get a better score, and send your scores to the rest of the schools that are waiting on your scores.

 

[Ocean5]

I would retake if I were you. Nearly all schools have a cutoff of 17 for each section. Your G-chem just missed the mark.

That is not true. Please don't make people more nervous if you doon't know that for sure. For exaple for UB it is 14
For USC it is 15
For Mehary it is AA of 16-17
And many more....
Go and look at ADA's site and you'll see it for yourselves!!!

 

[Daniel Schruth]

I agree with Ocean5. People on this forum are freaking out. There is a ton of schools who would be happy to have you. Plus, the interview is the most important part of your application anyway. Just because you don't score off the charts on one test doesn't mean that you are not going to be a good dentist some day. I've talked to a couple of dental students who have said that their classmates that who scored extremely high on the DAT ended up being terrible with their hands once they got into the clinic. Cheer up!!!

d

 

[dentaljon]

Personally, I would not take the dat in three months but wait until next year to retake it. Studying for the dat would take time away from your 5 science classes that you are taking. If you give more focus on those classes than you will be able to increase your science GPA and learn important concepts that will help you on the DAT when you retake it. Plus it would be an emotional distraction. I say just get it behind you and focus on becoming a stronger applicant for next year. Plus a little advice for anyone taking the DAT would be to take AT LEAST 3 computer based practice exams before the real thing. The written exams just aren't the same, even though they can be very good practice. Even if you can, use a dry erase marker and a white board just to get used to the testing environment and the materials you will use. That kind of threw me for a loop. Also erase your board after each section before you click on the button that says "Your time is up, click on the next button to continue"

 

[Jo07]

Is the end of November definately too late to retake?

I'm taking my DAT on Aug 24th and if I bomb it then I was planning on taking it asap in November. If I notify the schools that I am retaking and I already have all my stuff in since July... is possible that they won't even look at my application bc of the date?

Thanks !(sorry for hijacking this thread)

 

[bjorn]

I got about the same score as you.

Bio problems were none from destroyer or achiever. After the exam, I have looked at my unused Cliff Bio, and it has most of the stuff that appeared on the DAT bio - stupid me =(

 

[bennijai]

aw sorry to hear about your dat's. i really thought u were going to ace it! i mean it seemed like you really knew your stuff. im sure ur chances arent too slim. so lets wish for the best. good luck

 

[Mstoothlady2012]

I say take it november for sure. They have your application on file, looked at your letters of evaluation, and just waiting for your score. If they like you, they will hold your file. Go on aadsas and mark your file as taking the DAT in the future. Schools will be notified and your file will be put on hold until the new scores go in.

If you haven't resgistered to all the schools for your DAT then you can choose who you want to send the scores to. This should be the schools that accept lower scores. Meanwhile this 3 months of studying you do, the schools that you sent the scores to might want to interview you. If you get accepted, great! . If not, then you retake the DAT in november, get a better score, and send your scores to the rest of the schools that are waiting on your scores.

that is a really good plan...but I am just afraid if i retake it again in november then i will score low or may be improve by 1 point because i wanna get good gpa in my fall term..and 5 sciences (embryology, endocrinology, into to pharmacology, molecular biology I, quantitative biological methods + lab) will take up all the time...and i will end up scoring about the same plus wont be able to focus on my classes...and will get lower score in that as well and i will burn out too! i definitely dont think its a good idea for me to take it in nov...i know what i went thru in summer taking 3 classes ( 2 sciences & 1 art) and studying for DAT sametime...i was tired a lot but i still forced myself to study more eventhough iwanted to enjoy after my summer finals. I dont wanna do that again..i will just hope for the best! thanks though! that definitely is a good plan for some1 who is not going to take as heavy load of classes as me.

 

[Pooya]

that is a really good plan...but I am just afraid if i retake it again in november then i will score low or may be improve by 1 point because i wanna get good gpa in my fall term..and 5 sciences (embryology, endocrinology, into to pharmacology, molecular biology I, quantitative biological methods + lab) will take up all the time...and i will end up scoring about the same plus wont be able to focus on my classes...and will get lower score in that as well and i will burn out too! i definitely dont think its a good idea for me to take it in nov...i know what i went thru in summer taking 3 classes ( 2 sciences & 1 art) and studying for DAT sametime...i was tired a lot but i still forced myself to study more eventhough iwanted to enjoy after my summer finals. I dont wanna do that again..i will just hope for the best! thanks though! that definitely is a good plan for some1 who is not going to take as heavy load of classes as me.

I didn't realize that you had 5 classes lined up. Yeah, its not a good idea then. I guess just send it out and hope for the best. You'll be ready for next year for sure!

 

[littlemissy]

I didn't realize that you had 5 classes lined up. Yeah, its not a good idea then. I guess just send it out and hope for the best. You'll be ready for next year for sure!

yeah i think i would really plan for next year. work on your gpa and your dat and you will be set. good luck

 

[Mstoothlady2012]

I think me and you should grab some signs and start marching in front of the prometric center for the test they both gave of us yesturday!

If this is how the test is going to be from now on then they would have to lower the standards for dental entrance. Don't feel too bad, we might still have a chance if this trend continues. 🙂

thanks! yea i hope so...good luck with rest of the process 🙂

 

[jigabodo]

I think me and you should grab some signs and start marching in front of the prometric center for the test they both gave of us yesturday!

If this is how the test is going to be from now on then they would have to lower the standards for dental entrance. Don't feel too bad, we might still have a chance if this trend continues. 🙂

Actually, if you think about it, there are about 10,000+ applicants applying for dental school each year, and about 4,000+ seats available per year.

That roughly translates to the fact that theorhetically, you have a chance as long as you are around 60 percentile. Of course other factors come into play, but based on the stats alone and the recent trend with DAT (harder bio, qr, and rc) theres def. hope.

 

[shoombol tallah]

I would still try to apply if i were you , granted not to schools like UOP or UCLA's of the world. I would honestly think about adding meharry and Howard to the schools you've applied to. The good thing about your scores is that you have no really low score. THey are all 17 and above (except G chem) so your application will get looked at. I know for a fact at someplaces if you dont make their cut-offs they dont even look at your application. This was from a predental advisor at my university who used to work for ASDOH so its a reliable source. Also if you have lots of volunteering hours i would suggest Applying to ASDOH because they are really really big on public health. I know a lady who got an interview there last year with an 18. I guess what i'm trying to say is that don't feel hopeless because A) your file is still done and turned in fairly early and B) you have no really low scores .... like a 14 in QR ( that was me last year 🙁 )

 

[Mstoothlady2012]

I would still try to apply if i were you , granted not to schools like UOP or UCLA's of the world. I would honestly think about adding meharry and Howard to the schools you've applied to. The good thing about your scores is that you have no really low score. THey are all 17 and above (except G chem) so your application will get looked at. I know for a fact at someplaces if you dont make their cut-offs they dont even look at your application. This was from a predental advisor at my university who used to work for ASDOH so its a reliable source. Also if you have lots of volunteering hours i would suggest Applying to ASDOH because they are really really big on public health. I know a lady who got an interview there last year with an 18. I guess what i'm trying to say is that don't feel hopeless because A) your file is still done and turned in fairly early and B) you have no really low scores .... like a 14 in QR ( that was me last year 🙁 )

thanks! yea i already applied to howard & meharry...i also applied to ASDOH...that reminds me i still haven finished their secondary app..thanks again

 

[shoombol tallah]

No problem 🙂 feel free to PM me if you have any questions on ASDOH.

 

[jjkim1232]

Congrats on being done!

To everyone who has taken the DAT...what exactly do you guys mean when you say the questions are more geared towards applying the concepts?

Without giving away specific questions from the actual test....can someone please provide an example?

Thanks all

 

[Hailstorm]

Bio - yes, few random questions but also few ridiculously easy. I was busy studying stuff like hormones, NT, kidney, heart circulation, ecology...but none of the questions really appeared on DAT. It is definitely applied...not just memorizing..i dont know what to say about this section....but dont go all crazy memorizing cellular resp, photosynthesis, hormones and stuff

Everybody seems to mention "random" questions in the biology section, what do you guys mean by this?

Did you feel that the questions adhered to the ada test specs?
Cell and Molecular Biology (13)
Developmental Biology (4)
Diversity of Life: Biological Organization
and Relationship of Major Taxa (Five-
Kingdom System) (3)
V. Genetics (7)
VI. Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior (4)
Structure and Function of Systems (9)

Did you use kaplan?

If so, which portions did you feel were inadequate?

 

[Mstoothlady2012]

Everybody seems to mention "random" questions in the biology section, what do you guys mean by this?

Did you feel that the questions adhered to the ada test specs?
Cell and Molecular Biology (13)
Developmental Biology (4)
Diversity of Life: Biological Organization
and Relationship of Major Taxa (Five-
Kingdom System) (3)
V. Genetics (7)
VI. Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior (4)
Structure and Function of Systems (9)

Did you use kaplan?

If so, which portions did you feel were inadequate?

I guess they have to be related to the topics on ADA...but they were just weird...something that you wouldnt see on destroyer, topscore or achiever. I am not saying that I want exact question to appear on the real thing...but its just weird, cant really explain "weird". Hopefully some1 will help you out here...eventhough that is no excuse because people has been scoring 23-24 in bio...I am sure they must be getting weird questions as well...but some people are just good at eliminating wrong answers or they really studied hard with weird stuff as well!so dont give up hope!