DAT Done 7/24/10...advice needed

[DrZoim]

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Hey everyone! First I wanna say SDN rocks and has really helped me tons! I just registered but have been a long time lurker. I am glad to have finally taken the DAT yesterday.

PA: 22 (93.8) 😀
QR: 18 (86.6)
RC: 21 (88.9)
Bio: 18 (72.1) 🙁
GC: 20 (86.0)
OC: 19 (75.7) 🙁
TS: 19 (82.8)
AA: 19 (85.4)

I used DAT Destroyer, Math Destroyer, Crack DAT PAT, Topscore, KBB, Cliffs, Chads videos (he rocks), khanacademy.org, and my favorite: Anki flashcards! I didn't go through anything more than once and many items (like Destroyer) I didn't even fully finish due to a lack of time available for me to study due to school and work (salaried full-time so i put in way more than 40hrs per week 👎)

Bio was broad with some minute details, QR was straighforward and the calculator is a lifesaver, PAT was easier than Crack DAT PAT, RC was straighforward (thank God I didn't get piano'd), Ochem had some tricky questions for me, and Gchem was more theoretical and less calculation based. Finished each section with time to spare, except for QR where i had to make a guess at the end.


I had made the DAT out to be this big huge obstacle in my way, a huge unsurmoutable hurdle i had to jump, a monster that kept haunting me....lol....it wasn't that bad at all. When i took it, I was thinking "thats it?" lol... GUYS its not that bad!

I will be posting a more detailed breakdown later today, but wanted to get some initial feedback on whether you guys think its worth taking again. I personally am not happy with a 19, although its not a bad score, its not really outstanding. I had scheduled the test back in May, but wasn't able to get ready for it with school and work in the way so I kept pushing it back. Eventually I got fed up and just went for it since schools are already receiving my application and I felt like there is no way you can be 100% ready for anything. I was at about 80% ready when I took it yesterday.

Now that I have seen my enemy in the flesh, I feel I can go back and do better. But do I need to? Wondering if 19AA with a 22PAT is good enough to get me interviews. If i retake, I won't be able to for 3 months and that gives me good time to review materials. Also, I'm taking biochem and microbio next semester, so I'm gonna be keeping the DAT science subjects with subject matter in class hopefully.

My background info: I'm a non-traditional applicant so my GPA is quite complicated. My sGPA is 3.05 and oGPA is 3.45, but that includes many pre-req science and math classes from about 10 years ago at a community and did pretty awful due to extenuating circumstances in life (well documented on my personal statement, but in a nutshell: my Father went blind and I had to manage the household and provide for my family [parents, brothers, and sisters] at the age of 18). I've gotten everything under control now and have retaken my science pre-reqs, math classes, and am now taking upper division courses next semester as part of a post-bacc program (got my bachelors in Business Management in 2004). My sGPA if you only include the last 4 years is above 3.7.

Any comments/opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated! Again, I will be updating later with more details of the breakdown.

 

[Bio Dental Mom]

Hey everyone! First I wanna say SDN rocks and has really helped me tons! I just registered but have been a long time lurker. I am glad to have finally taken the DAT yesterday.

PA: 22 (93.8) 😀
QR: 18 (86.6)
RC: 21 (88.9)
Bio: 18 (72.1) 🙁
GC: 20 (86.0)
OC: 19 (75.7) 🙁
TS: 19 (82.8) 🙁
AA: 19 (85.4) 🙁

I used DAT Destroyer, Math Destroyer, Crack DAT PAT, Topscore, KBB, Cliffs, Chads videos (he rocks), khanacademy.org, and my favorite: Anki flashcards! I didn't go through anything more than once and many items (like Destroyer) I didn't even fully finish due to a lack of time available for me to study due to school and work (salaried full-time so i put in way more than 40hrs per week 👎)

Bio was broad with some minute details, QR was straighforward and the calculator is a lifesaver, PAT was easier than Crack DAT PAT, RC was straighforward (thank God I didn't get piano'd), Ochem had some tricky questions for me, and Gchem was more theoretical and less calculation based. Finished each section with time to spare, except for QR where i had to make a guess at the end.


I had made the DAT out to be this big huge obstacle in my way, a huge unsurmoutable hurdle i had to jump, a monster that kept haunting me....lol....it was bad at all. When i took it, I was thinking "thats it?" lol... GUYS its not that bad!

I will be posting a more detailed breakdown later today, but wanted to get some initial feedback on whether you guys think its worth taking again. I personally am not happy with a 19, although its not a bad score, its not really outstanding. I had scheduled the test back in May, but wasn't able to get ready for it with school and work in the way so I kept pushing it back. Eventually I got fed up and just went for it since schools are already receiving my application and I felt like there is no way you can be 100% ready for anything. I was at about 80% ready when I took it yesterday.

Now that I have seen my enemy in the flesh, I feel I can go back and do better. But do I need to? Wondering if 19AA with a 22PAT is good enough to get me interviews. If i retake, I won't be able to for 3 months and that gives me good time to review materials. Also, I'm taking biochem and microbio next semester, so I'm gonna be keeping the DAT science subjects with subject matter in class hopefully.

My background info: I'm a non-traditional applicant so my GPA is quite complicated. My sGPA is 3.05 and oGPA is 3.45, but that includes many pre-req science and math classes from about 10 years ago at a community and did pretty awful due to extenuating circumstances in life (well documented on my personal statement, but in a nutshell: my Father went blind and I had to manage the household and provide for my family [parents, brothers, and sisters] at the age of 18). I've gotten everything under control now and have retaken my science pre-reqs, math classes, and am now taking upper division courses next semester as part of a post-bacc program (got my bachelors in Business Management in 2004). My sGPA if you only include the last 4 years is above 3.7.

Any comments/opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated! Again, I will be updating later with more details of the breakdown.

I want to be the first to say congrats! I think you did well and I personally would not retake. Even if you do, I think you would be pushing it since a lot of schools start handing out acceptance letters Dec. 1st. I would personally apply with what you have and see how it goes. Also, I have already taken biochem and its not an easy class, so working and harder upper level bio and DAT is not going to be easy. I think the only thing you will go over in biochem I that is relevant to the DAT is glycolysis, krebs, ETC, henderson hasselbach, and that's all I can think of. But most of biochem is straight up memorization of things that you would never see on the DAT. I personally would be celebrating if I were in your shoes. Overall, you did very well! 🙂

 

[fever103]

i agree with bio dental mom. and i'd personally be happy with a 19AA, why so many sad faces?! considering that you're a non-trad applicant (like myself) and explained it well in your personal statement, i think you definitely have a chance at some interviews this cycle. congrats and good luck.

 

[Innulja]

congratulations! You are going to become a dentist! I don't think you should retake the test, you have solid GPA as well as good DAT and a valuable life experience which can say a lot about your character! Good luck to you!

 

[DoctreDrey]

what were your topscore scores, if you dont mind me asking?

 

[DrZoim]

what were your topscore scores, if you dont mind me asking?

I didn't ever finish an entire Topscore DAT from start to finish, but here here is what I received for the sections I took:

Test 1:
QR: 18
Bio: 16
GC: 17
OC: 14

Test 2:
Bio: 17
GC: 16
OC: 16

Topscore was definitely harder than the actual DAT.

On CDP I was consistently getting 21, but found it to be much harder for the cubes, angles, and hole punching.

 

[toothbrushpjs]

Those sad face's next to 19s have got to go! My test is on the 7th and I will personally poop my pants if I get above 18s on everything. You did great! Don't let the crazy over achiever numbers on SDN get you down!

 

[DrZoim]

I want to be the first to say congrats! I think you did well and I personally would not retake. Even if you do, I think you would be pushing it since a lot of schools start handing out acceptance letters Dec. 1st. I would personally apply with what you have and see how it goes. Also, I have already taken biochem and its not an easy class, so working and harder upper level bio and DAT is not going to be easy. I think the only thing you will go over in biochem I that is relevant to the DAT is glycolysis, krebs, ETC, henderson hasselbach, and that's all I can think of. But most of biochem is straight up memorization of things that you would never see on the DAT. I personally would be celebrating if I were in your shoes. Overall, you did very well! 🙂

Bio Dental Mom, fever103, Innulja:

Thank you so much for your support and feedback! I'm feeling much better about my score after hearing from you. I was touched by Innulja's post about when she said "congratulations! You are going to become a dentist!" Its been a long hard road to get here (12 years so far), so reading that made my heart skip a beat...

I put the sad faces there since I truly feel like its not representative of my capability and that I was rushed into taking the test. But if its good enough to get me into Dental school, then I would definitely leave it be. My approach was going to be that I would be able to bring new scores with me to my interviews, or even just mention to interviewers that I'm going to take the test again. I would like to show them I'm not gonna settle for the bare minimum, but that I would continually strive to achieve excellence. That is IF I got interviews.

Side note question: Anyone know when Western University (Pomona, CA) sends out interview letters? I'm assuming that if my app is already in and now complete, its going to be in Sept/Oct with interviews being in the October time frame? I'm asking since I'm trying to understand what the timing will be since I'm eligible to take the DAT at the end of October after the 3 month waiting period.

Everyone, thank you again for your support!

 

[MowgliR]

Like I said, you're fine!

Turns out we'll be taking micro and biochem together! haha

 

[DrZoim]

Those sad face's next to 19s have got to go! My test is on the 7th and I will personally poop my pants if I get above 18s on everything. You did great! Don't let the crazy over achiever numbers on SDN get you down!

Ahahaha...thanks tbpjs! Don't worry, you will do great if you just focus and don't get freaked out about it. Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill (albeit a pretty big mole hill) like I did. It only hurt me and didn't help me.

I'll remove the sad faces after I get some interviews 🙂

 

[mx41]

Please remove those sad faces now! I would love to have your scores (like the others here). Think about it, 85% percentile.. you did better than the vast majority of people who taken the exam.. why would you retake it?
Good job !!

 

[DrZoim]

Please remove those sad faces now! I would love to have your scores (like the others here). Think about it, 85% percentile.. you did better than the vast majority of people who taken the exam.. why would you retake it?
Good job !!

OK OK! I removed 2 of the sad faces....two more remain since they were in the 70 percentile...

Thanks for your encouragement! I would only want to retake since I feel I can do better if I spend more quality time studying for it. I really wasn't able to put my best food forward on this round.