DAT Done -- Need Advice

[djtiesto14]

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What do I do now? Take it again? If so, November? December?
3.6GPA, 3.4Science. Also have a MPH

AA: 17
QR: 18
RC: 16
GC: 18
OC: 19
PAT: 18
BIO: 16

Cali Resident
200+ hours shadowing dentist
500+ hours volunteering in ER
100+ hours shadowing in OR
6000+ hours USSF Referee
100+ hours NCAA Referee
Former Statistics and Genetics Tutor
Co-founder of pre-health fraternity
Currently a lecturer at a university
4 Solid LOR's

Schools Applied:
LLU
UCLA
UCSF
UOP
USC
Boston U
Case Western
Columbia
Creighton
Nebraska
LSU
Marquette
Louisville
UPenn
NYU
Stony Brook
Temple
Tufts
UConn
U Pitt
Western
Minnesota

Do I submit the unofficial sheet to the school's tomorrow morning and hope for the best?

I used Destroyer, Bootcamp, Topscore, CDP, Qvault, Ferrali Notes, Barron's, Cliffs.

 

[supergenius310]

Those aren't terribly bad scores but I'm surprised you didn't do WAYYY better with those resources :/...was the exam that hard?


Btw did you use Chad's?

 

[djtiesto14]

Biology was so random. I didn't have a single taxonomy, physio, plants or any of that stuff. I don't even remember what I had but for sure not that stuff because I studied that well.

 

[supergenius310]

How did you feel about the rest of the exam?

 

[djtiesto14]

I can gauge my scores pretty well during tests and kinda knew I bombed reading cause I ran out of time. Dense material. I anticipated 19 in both chemistries. Did not anticipate a bio that low

 

[supergenius310]

hmmm do you have a strong chemistry background or are you still iffy with it? did you take the 2009 ADA practice test or 2007 ADA practice?

 

[djtiesto14]

Yes, got a 25/30 questions on 09.

 

[hope_to_match]

Yes, got a 25/30 questions on 09.

congrats. regardless of what happened i would definitely try my luck. send those scores. if not this cycle- try next year. good luck

 

[supergenius310]

Idk what to to tell ya...maybe just unlucky I guess

 

[dentist050892]

You took the DAT today right? I took it today as well and didn't have any of those bio questions. Were your reading passages about ethics and then one about infections like staph and stuff?

 

[Dent35]

hey guys, i don't think you are allowed to talk about what the RC passages were about...strict rule... you wouldn't want ADEA after you...

 

[MikeyD914]

man same thing happened to me 🙁 i got a really low DAT score when i was averaging like 18-19's in all of my practice exams including bootcamp, qvault and topscore pro!!!!!!! i have no clue how i did so low i just dont know what to do . i pretty much got the same scores as you

 

[djtiesto14]

Bump. No one can give me advice?

 

[FeralisExtremum]

What went wrong with bio exactly? Did my notes not cover material on the exam or were there just a lot of application style questions you had difficulty with? How well did you understand them?

 

[hope_to_match]

Bump. No one can give me advice?

i did...

 

[john616]

Since you've already applied, send your scores and hope for the best. However,if you have time to study, I would suggest a retake in November. If you don't, then retake it later this year and apply next cycle.

 

[Toadesque]

Hate reading threads like this because it makes me nervous knowing that people can use the same resources and not score as high as they wanted.

 

[JustinX8]

Just try to stay positive, I just took my DAT for the 2nd time and I didn't do as well as I'd hoped. You have a very driven application with tons of hours and an MPH, I'm sure you can interview well and show how dedicated you are to this. Really sell why you'd like to become a dentist, remember you're a human being, not a set of numbers. Good Luck!

 

[dent777]

Apply to schools, but tell them that you will retake your DAT. Your scores are low with two 16 and none above 20, at least if you had some other scores to cover those 16. Despite impressive number of hours and MPH, your GPA is average. I would definitely retake DAT. Sorry if I sound too harsh, but at least I am honest.

 

[Illuminati33]

A friend of mine just got an interview to Boston like two weeks ago with scores lower than yours! Theres still hope -- just go out of your way to show them you are interested. She flew there and went on a private tour

 

[letsgetit2124]

Uop wants a higher pat score. Almost every school wants a higher RC score. Not a big deal, but just sayin. I'd probably retake but take my advice for what it's worth.

 

[hope_to_match]

were you nervous during the test? that could've played a role on your performance