DAT done, advice needed

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wantdds

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Hello everyone. I am wondering if I should retake. My results are as follows:

BIO: 19
GC: 16
OC: 21
PAT: 23
RC: 21
QR: 16

TS: 19
AA: 19

I wanted to share with you guys what materials I used, as well as some recommendations.

BIO: I read the first 10 chapters of Cliffs once, and the first 12 or so chapters of KBB once. I completed the first few datQvault tests, in which I scored in the range of 20-21. I completed the Destroyer biology section one time through. Overall I highly recommend these resources. I found that any questions I got wrong came from topics mainly covered in the few chapters that I skipped reading at the end. Going back, I would have definitely read the remaining chapters that I had left.

GC: I used Chad's videos early on, and completed Destroyer once through. I believe that every one of the points I earned in this section came from concepts that I knew, rather than calculation type problems. In my preparation, I used a calculator whenever I practiced gchem problems, and this was my biggest mistake. I finished the biology section in 20 minutes, ochem in 35 minutes and the remainder of the time on gchem since I struggled with the math calculations. Because of this I wasn't able to check the questions that I had marked. Though I did know the set up to every problem, this was not enough as I had many problems that needed to be fully calculated.

OC: I used Chad's videos after completing the gchem ones, and completed Destroyer one time though. I highly recommend using Dr. Romano's roadmaps; I crammed those in an hour before taking my test and they proved to be quite useful. Chad's videos are great as well, especially the first two units.

PAT: I completed the first 6 CDP tests and scored in the range of 20-23. I believe this section was more challenging than CDP, as far as key holes and TFE go. Angles were slightly more difficult than CDP, I had a few sets that looked like they could be 1-3 degree difference. Hole punches were on par, although the holes were smaller and less clear compared to CDP. Cube count was easier, and pattern folding was on par. 23 on my test was a 96.4 percentile so I may have gotten one of the more difficult versions in this section.

RC: This section I thought was fair, I just used search and destroy although I did almost run out of time. My advice is do NOT stay stuck on one question, continue to move forward and mark questions that you are unsure of. This goes for search and destroy, since some things are easier to find in the passage than others.

QR: For this section I completed the first 7 math destroyer tests. I do not have a strong math background, and went in not knowing a single bit of trig. This I regret, as I did get end up getting several trig problems. I am not very good at algebra either, so those are the types of problems I know I missed on the test. By the way, I used the calculator on almost every problem. :laugh: Fortunately it didn't lag and worked quite well. If I could go back, I would complete the math destroyer tests I didn't finish. I got the hang of them and then stopped working on them the week before since I was focusing more on ochem. In that week I forgot a bit of what I had learned, so I would definitely continue reviewing until the end.



Overall, I did not get to complete the materials that I had planned on completing when test day came around, and I had passed the date of rescheduling so I wasn't able to reschedule. Knowing this, I am not distraught by the score I've earned. I submitted my application in the first week of June, and have all of my materials in besides my official DAT scores as of now. My science GPA is 3.0, my overall GPA is 3.3, and my non-science GPA is 3.9. If I take all sciences next semester, I can raise my science GPA to 3.2 and overall GPA to 3.38. Do you recommend a retake, and if so would winter break be too late?
 
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Don't listen to this Bing dude. His advice is the same on every thread despite the disparity in DAT scores: "your DAT is fine blah blah blah..."

The 16 GC is a bit low. A lot of schools have cutoffs of 17 which this Bing dude seems to not understand.

For the schools that don't have cutoffs, they will certainly look at your Gen Chem I and II grades and would like to see at least one A/A- between the two courses, if not both. Since your sGPA is 3.0, I'm going to assume they are B's, which will work against the 16 score.

You mention that you can possibly raise your GPA next semester but that means those grades won't come in until end of December which is very late in the cycle and may not play a factor in your app. Another thing this Bing dude fails to realize.

If you retake, it will be around end of October/early November which is not too late in the cycle, especially if you notify the schools that you are retaking.

Based on your assessment, if not for the time crunch both in prep and during the exam, you probably would've scored much higher. Thus, you should retake it and finish with a 20-21 score.
 
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Personally, I would not retake. My DAT score is all over the place too with a 15QR and 17BS... overall, I think your DAT is better than mine.... yet I miraculously managed to obtain 2 interviews (so far). I think you are fine in terms of your DAT. However, it is your sGPA that needs some work. I would focus on increasing your GPA 🙂

But it's up to you in the end... and it also depends on what schools you are aiming for. Some schools might have cut-offs where you need to get a certain number in all sections. But I think most schools have cut-offs for only certain sections such as PAT, AA, TS, RC. I would call up the schools you applied to and ask them personally.

Good luck! 🙂
 
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LetsGo2DSchool said:
Don't listen to this Bing dude. His advice is the same on every thread despite the disparity in DAT scores: "your DAT is fine blah blah blah..."

The 16 GC is a bit low. A lot of schools have cutoffs of 17 which this Bing dude seems to not understand.

For the schools that don't have cutoffs, they will certainly look at your Gen Chem I and II grades and would like to see at least one A/A- between the two courses, if not both. Since your sGPA is 3.0, I'm going to assume they are B's, which will work against the 16 score.

You mention that you can possibly raise your GPA next semester but that means those grades won't come in until end of December which is very late in the cycle and may not play a factor in your app. Another thing this Bing dude fails to realize.

If you retake, it will be around end of October/early November which is not too late in the cycle, especially if you notify the schools that you are retaking.

Based on your assessment, if not for the time crunch both in prep and during the exam, you probably would've scored much higher. Thus, you should retake it and finish with a 20-21 score.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the feedback. I got an A- and B in gen chem I and II. I'm going to have a full semester of classes, so I am wondering how I would schedule DAT prep during the semester. I am not entirely sure which schools have these cutoffs, I will be calling tomorrow to make sure.
 
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NguyenDDS said:
Personally, I would not retake. My DAT score is all over the place too with a 15QR and 17BS... overall, I think your DAT is better than mine.... yet I miraculously managed to obtain 2 interviews (so far). I think you are fine in terms of your DAT. However, it is your sGPA that needs some work. I would focus on increasing your GPA 🙂

But it's up to you in the end... and it also depends on what schools you are aiming for. Some schools might have cut-offs where you need to get a certain number in all sections. But I think most schools have cut-offs for only certain sections such as PAT, AA, TS, RC. I would call up the schools you applied to and ask them personally.

Good luck! 🙂
Click to expand...

Thanks and congrats on those interviews! I'm going to double check on those cutoffs, and I'm going to take a bunch of credits next semester regardless so hopefully I can bring up my sGPA by a lot until then
 
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NguyenDDS said:
Personally, I would not retake. My DAT score is all over the place too with a 15QR and 17BS... overall, I think your DAT is better than mine.... yet I miraculously managed to obtain 2 interviews (so far). I think you are fine in terms of your DAT. However, it is your sGPA that needs some work. I would focus on increasing your GPA 🙂

But it's up to you in the end... and it also depends on what schools you are aiming for. Some schools might have cut-offs where you need to get a certain number in all sections. But I think most schools have cut-offs for only certain sections such as PAT, AA, TS, RC. I would call up the schools you applied to and ask them personally.

Good luck! 🙂
Click to expand...

Whats your GPA like?
 
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NguyenDDS said:
check my predents profile to the left 🙂 my BCP GPA, however, is 2.97 (without +/-) :scared:
Click to expand...


Can i ask, what school did you apply to? i saw your name on predents 2 hours ago while looking around but do not remember what school you applied to and got interviews from (i'm assuming the interviews are from last year? and what extra curriculum did you do?)
 
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solid scores dude.

i would recommend a retake though bc of gen chem. retaking truly blows, but sometimes you've gotta do what you've gotta do (i'm prob gonna take it for a 3rd time)
 
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quocstazz said:
Can i ask, what school did you apply to? i saw your name on predents 2 hours ago while looking around but do not remember what school you applied to and got interviews from (i'm assuming the interviews are from last year? and what extra curriculum did you do?)
Click to expand...

This is my first year applying (predents is not updated to this application cycle yet) and I have 2 interviews so far (check my predents profile to the left)..... It'll show you what schools i'm applying to and which I received interviews from so far 🙂 I have tons of dental experience hours and I worked a lot during my undergrad. I recommend getting involved with the dental community and start shadowing and volunteering if you haven't done so already. Good luck! 🙂
 
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