DAT done avg- thoughts?

[sneakerblues21]

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Hey guys, just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to everyone that posts all their breakdowns and tips on here. It has really helped me a ton! I just took my DAT today and here are my scores:

PAT: 20
QR: 21
RC: 18 🙁
BIO: 18
GC: 21
OC:20
TS: 20
AA:20


I know the average is 19 but I'm really concerned about my RC. The percentile is a 52%! Yikes! :\ In all my practice tests I always averaged about 22 and never scored lower than a 20. I don't know what happened today, but I had a lot of tone/inferencing questions and it was really difficult for me. As for bio, it's always been my weakest so I'm not really surprised. But RC is just 🙁

I'm going to be a junior this fall, I don't know if I should bother applying in this cycle or retake it and then apply. I'm kind of paranoid about retaking it and doing worse :\
My GPA right now is a 3.84. I'm from Texas so I'd really like to get into one of the TX schools but I'll definitely apply out of state.

Any thoughts on whether I should apply this cycle (I haven't even look at the application yet :\)? Or just wait and retake?

Thanks in advance!

edit:
So I've decided not to apply this cycle and I'm still on the fence about retaking. I'm leaning more towards retaking but we'll see how it goes. Thanks for everyone's input! I really appreciate it!

 

[Smurf12]

Got the same RC as you and that's not of a concern to me anymore. How did I go about it? Well I just examined my application as a whole. They can't possibly dock you for a single score(unless it's <16).

 

[foreveros]

Good job on the DAT. your score are competitive. its a smart move to apply out of state schools to. Never leave your eggs in one basket.

But you have good gpa+dat you have very good chance of getting into dental school.

 

[ReaverOpS]

Those are decent scores! I wouldn't retake it because at your range, it would be difficult to increase your scores, and you wouldn't want to run the risk of scoring worse :O If I were you, I would keep beefing up my application and hope for the best! Good luck!

 

[lint50]

Those are almost identical scores that I got today. My 18 in RC is a 38% percentile. I went from a 23 in RC on my first DAT to this 18! Where any of passages about Bone Mechanisms, Antibiotics, and Herbal Medicine?

 

[alucidinterval]

I would say with your GPA/DAT scores you definitely have a good chance of getting into one of the Texas schools. I wouldn't retake if I were you unless you had some really competitive school at the top of your list (ie UOP, Harvard, UPenn). All your scores are above the cutoffs and your averages/PAT are solid.

 

[sneakerblues21]

@lint50 I am soo sorry to hear that :\ I thought the RC was really tough. I had passages on antibiotics, physical activity, and cancer.

 

[sneakerblues21]

@smurf12 That's a good point! I'll try to keep that in mind.

 

[sneakerblues21]

@ReaverOpS I knowww! I really don't want to risk it but I'm still trying to decide. Thank you! 🙂

 

[sneakerblues21]

@alucidinterval Thank you! That makes me feel a lot better. I decided not to apply and just wait till next cycle. I'm going to work on my application and doing extracurriculars and stuff.