DAT done! tell me your thoughts?

[bloomer]

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Hi I just took the dat today

First, i want to go to uop and want you all to let me know if you think i will get an interview

stats:

undergrad '95 Dartmouth College. BA bio
GPA 2.5

currenlty have 40 creds in last 1.5 years from stat uni.
mostly upper division and pre-req science
gpa 3.97

DAT
aa 22
pa 18
qr 15
rc 21
bio 28
gc 23
oc 23

what do you think? is the math going to hurt me a lot?


thanks

bloomer

 

[Mo007]

You have a good shot with UOP if they look at the scores once... if they look at it twice they might notice the 15 on the math.

Overall, you have SOLID scores, I wouldnt worry a lot. 🙂

What is your cumulative GPA? and is this your 1st DAT?

 

[PERFECT3434]

My friend,

congrats! you have a very good shot and your QR score will not matter. they should take that section of the DAT out already. if you check, most schools don't really care about QR or OCHEM. all your scores are good and just make sure you apply to the right schools.

 

[comatose]

Perfect3434. If most schools didn't care about the QR and OCHEM part of the DAT, then it wouldn't be on the DAT. Are you on an admissions committee? I think not. Just b/c you may not have performed well on these parts of the exam, it doesn't mean that you can go around making false statements and telling others that it isn't important. The DAT is graded so that each section is of equal importance.

 

[superman]

oh, by the way, Bloomer, GREAT JOB! GREAT scores. 28 on biology- simply amazing! G'luck on ur apps.

 

[knj120]

Congrats on your great scores! I also have UoP as one of my top choices! I was reading their website, however, and it says that the lowest score they accept is a 16. Maybe you should contact them and see what they think. Everything else is so strong and it is just the QR section...

 

[PERFECT3434]

holly cow!

you guys just start firing your guns without reading what i really meant?

i didn't say that they aren't totally important. all the section do count, however, if you check how important every section is for different schools then you would see that on a scale of (1-9), most schools rank QR as 3-4 and Ochem 4-5.

every section does count but not equally. do you get what i mean now?? i hope so.

and as far as me being an adcom person, no i am not but beleieve me i don't go around and just say things. and btw, i didn't perform poor on my ochem. FYI, i scored 25 which means i only missed 2 questions.

hope i have clarified things for you now

 

[critterbug]

I would think the OCHEM section would be one of the most important, along with the BIO and GCHEM. All of these together make up the science avg.

I could be wrong though. That happens occasionally 😀

 

[PERFECT3434]

ochem does count towards your AA, but by itself its not as important as GCHEM and BIO is.

most schools rank GCHEM and BIO as 7-9 and OCHEM as 3. Infact, UCLA ranks OCHEM as 2 on a scale of 1-9. you tell me how important ochem is for ucla.

 

[KDBuff]

Perfect,

Just wondering, were did you get those figures for what's important. If you got it from the Barron's book, I would take it with a grain of salt. I've seen figures in there that make no sense according to speaking with people who actually have visited different schools.

 

[comatose]

Perfect3434. Is UCLA most schools? Just b/c they may believe that certain parts of the DAT are more important than others (if what you say is even true), it doesn't mean that most of the other schools feel the same way. Personally, if I were on an ad com, I would give equal weight to all sections of the DAT, as that is the way that the DAT is graded. Bloomer, you may be questioned about your low score on the QR portion at an interview. If you didn't study enough for it, then be honest and tell them the truth. If you feel that it was just a fluke, I'm sure they'll understand.

 

[bloomer]

thanks to all of you who replied. i appreciate the support

comatose, i think the main problem i had in that section was that I haven't had any type of related math course for 13 years - junior year in highschool precalc. senior year i had calculus. i did study the section but nothing beats having had those courses recently or at least having had used some of those skills in other more advanced math courses

though i must say that i felt that during the test that i was doing much better than the result. i honestly am not worried about it anymore. i have a feeling that most adcoms will regard the science section as a more accurate barometer of my potential as a dental student and not be as concerned with whether i can tell you what jills age is in ten years if she is 3x as old as bobby and bobby had 20 cheerios for breakfast. I hope I made a statement by getting a TS of 25 which places me in the 99.9 percentile in those sections. if i'm wrong, which i very well could be, then so be it. i'll go to a school that agrees with my outlook.

as you can see, with the help of some sage advice from friends from this board who have been there and done that, i have come to terms with the math score.

bottom line - i'm very dissapointed with the 15, i blew it, but i am hoping people will be impressed that even with such a horrid score in the mix, i still managed a 22 aa.



bloomer

 

[PERFECT3434]

ok i see that you guys are really stuck to this point i mentioned.

the thing is, i am only telling you what i know and what i read from all sources. i am not making anything up here. i thought i could just use UCLA as an example. if you want every school's numbers i could give you that as well.

my whole point is that, i have applied to 36 schools. trust me i have learned a thing or two after this whole app process. i have interviewed in 2 schools and i was questioned about getting a 15 on RC in only one of my interviews. if you have done well on all the other section and you did slightly poorly in ochem, RC, or math they aren't gonna kill you for it. so my advice to people who have done well in the rest of the sections and got a 15 or 16 in RC, QR, or Ochem, is to relax. you will be ok and you will get interviews.

btw, i have gotten those numbers from "Guide to med and dental schools".

 

[aphistis]

Originally posted by critterbug
I would think the OCHEM section would be one of the most important, along with the BIO and GCHEM. All of these together make up the science avg.

I could be wrong though. That happens occasionally 😀

Critter, you'd be surprised how irrelevant my undergrad chemistry--organic or general--has been in my D1 classes so far. I haven't had a course yet where the prerequisites were actually necessary, and only one course where the information has come up at all (dental materials, incidentally a widely agreed-upon worthless course within my class). Considering the coursework becomes more clinically oriented second year, I expect it will become even less relevant as time passes.

Having said that, IUSD looks at science GPA as the single most influential factor in an application. My understanding is that undergrad chemistry/physics courses are much more useful for the academic intensity they represent (which suggests an applicant's ability to thrive in dental school) than for the information they impart.

 

[dentist2008]

Just an observation:
I notice many people in this forum are very hostile toward Perfect3434. I don't exactly understand why. We are going to work around people all the time as dentists and we should be able to tolerate different people's personal opinions.
We are all students here and we are just trying to help and encourage others. I don't think any of us consider him/herself as being a professional or expert.
Considering that bloomer's lowest score was a 15 on QR, I would think that he has done very well and that 15 should not hurt so much especially becuase he has very high scores on the other parts.
I think some of us should take a break and relax a little. or possibly learn some anger management techniques. We don't need to be critical of people all the time.

 

[WALID1111]

I notice many people in this forum are very hostile toward Perfect3434

i just wonder why myself. i have never tried to mislead or say something that wasn't true. like many, i am just here to help and i do agree that there will be some people that will disagree with me or anyone else, but you still have to realize that no one is exactly an expert here.

its not like i like everyone on the forum, but i will never attack anyone personally.

 

[wimmcs]

bloomer - can you comment more on the test? What helped you the most to get the good scores, what do you wish you would have done more of, what tricky ?s did you encounter, what was one thing that "dominated" bio, like anatomy, organs, ecology, genetics, etc. what rxns did you encounter the most in o chem, what advice do you give on the pat and on the rc test?

All those answers would be most appreciated! BTW, congratulations on your scores! You did awesome!!

 

[PERFECT3435]

good job.

 

[aznnytezx]

Hi I just took the dat today

First, i want to go to uop and want you all to let me know if you think i will get an interview

stats:

undergrad '95 Dartmouth College. BA bio
GPA 2.5

currenlty have 40 creds in last 1.5 years from stat uni.
mostly upper division and pre-req science
gpa 3.97

DAT
aa 22
pa 18
qr 15
rc 21
bio 28
gc 23
oc 23

what do you think? is the math going to hurt me a lot?


thanks

bloomer

Your QR is kinda low, other than that I think you did a solid job.

 

[john333]

yeah man solid scores!!!....

... this thread is only about 10 years old... -_- lol

 

[hope_to_match]

Lol...