DAT done on 9/8

[lttadpole]

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Hi everyone,
my score is as follows,
Perceptual Ability 19 75.2%
Quantitative Reasoning 16 50.9%
Reading Comprehension 15 8.2%
Biology 19 75.3%
General Chemistry 27 99%
Organic Chemistry 21 86.3%
Total Science 21 91.3%
Academic Average 20 84%

GPA 3.79

I know I did badly on RC and QR... Though I'm an international applicant, I shouldn't use it as an excuse to get such a bad score on RC... I didn't have enough of time for both
RC and QR on the testing day. And RC surprised me that a non-science article showed up!!
I was even wondering if there was something going wrong with the testing
system. Well, I panicked and used too much time on that one and didn't
have enough of time to finish the rest two articles. Another big problem for me is that the testing center only offer laminated paper and markers instead of pencils
and paper. Actually I knew the information before taking the test, but I didn't practice using the marker to make notes. So I can't blame anybody but myself. I couldn't read my notes with the marker when I was answering questions, so for most questions, I guessed.................
Though I did pretty good on RC of TOEFL iBT. I hope that could somewhat remedy how I did on RC of DAT.... As for those schools don't take TOEFL score, I don't know how badly my poor RC score would drag me down..

I see people keep saying that many schools pay much attention on RC and even have cutoff for it, so I'm afraid that my chance is slim.... (I apply to 20 schools though) Do you guys think I should retake it in December? Does that mean I should start preparing for the next cycle...? Any response will be appreciated.

 

[jigabodo]

Hey, international student here too.
I think 20/19 along with that GPA are pretty solid stats, but I think the 15 in RC may stand out a bit.

People are gonna have different opinions about this. Some will suggest you to do a retake because of the importantce of RC, while some would say thats a fine score. I am leaning more towards the latter, however. I think your TS score is great, and that maybe able to offset your low RC. Plus, as an international student, English is probably not your first language anyways. If you just want to get into any dental school, I think it should be fine to roll with that score.

There are couple things that I want to know though:
Did you apply mostly to privates? Many state/public universities favor in state applicants so that there are virtually no chance for international applicants.

Did you get your degree here in US/or Canada? Majority of schools require transcript from either US or Canadian Universities so you may have to look into that.

 

[lttadpole]

Some of the schools I'm applying to are private and some are pubic. But all of them would accept international applicants. I did check for that. Thanks for your reminder though.

I got my BS degree outside of US/Canada. I had my foreign transcript evaluated by WES (World Education Service), so I think there won't be problems about the transcripts.

Thank you, jigabodo!