DAT donnnneeeee this weekend!!! :) but not sure how I feel about my scores..??

[Neuro178]

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FINALLY my DAT is done! I kind of can't believe it. The actual test was such a blur, it went so fast. I was a little apprehensive about posting my scores, mainly because so many SDNers get AMAZING scores, and mine are pretty mediocre from what I've seen. I'm content with mine though. Anyways, here they are:

PA 18
QR 16 👎
RC 21 😀
Bio 19
GC 18
OC 19

TS 19
AA 19

My testing center was great. She let me in 15 minutes early and was especially friendly. I was allowed to touch the screen (I asked), and I wore those noise-blocking headphones. They reeeeally worked and didn't give me a headache as I had expected. I really recommend them! Test takers and the proctor were walking in and out, and I never noticed.

Anyways, here's my section-by-section analysis.

**Please don't ask me any content-specific questions. It's not ethical or fair.

BIOLOGY: Wow, was this section difficult!! I know you've read this a thousand times, but it was random. Bio has always been my best subject in college, so I was hoping to get to 20. I think Kaplan and CliffsAP bio prepared me really well for this - those are the only two sources I used. I also went over my class notes from my intro bio classes. I was kind of panicking, thinking, "Oh my gosh, I'm going to get like a 16!!" but everything turned out fine. I'm good with a 19 😳

GEN CHEM: Definitely not as hard as I had thought it would be. I was stuck at scoring 15's on Kaplan and TopScore, so I was sure I would bomb this. It turned out to be a good mix of calculations and concepts, and I was lucky that none of my weak areas showed up on the test. I actually thought I was going to get into the 20s, but I'm ecstatic that I even got an 18! 🙂 I used class notes and Kaplan. My class notes turned out to be a lot better than Kaplan's explanations.

OCHEM: This has always been my strongest science, mainly because I just took the class. I used Kaplan and my class notes. I got in the 20s for most of my Kaplan tests, so I was a little disappointed with my 19. Still a good score though. I felt on top of the world when I was doing this section, everything felt so easy, so I'm really wondering where I went wrong!! 🙁

PAT: This section was pretty hard. Keyholes weren't too bad, but one of them I swear there was no answer for. Or at least in my opinion 😉. TFE has always mystified me, so I saved this for last. Event counting worked for probably half the problems. Angles were pretty easy, easier than Crack I thought. Hole punching was definitely easier than Crack, but harder than Kaplan. Cubes were about at Kaplan's level. They were very large, which made it easier to count them. I think I got up to Figure F or G, but none of them had more than like 18 cubes. Pattern folding was a bit tricky, and a lot of them dealt more with the shape than with shading, if that makes sense. I think Crack was very good practice -- I scored 18s in Crack, 19s in Kaplan, and ended up with an 18. Not the best, but I'm happy with this.

READING COMP: Two out of the three passages had to do with my major (woohoo!) and they were all very interesting, so this wasn't too bad. My method: skim-read the whole passage, write down weird/key words, and go through the questions. This was SUCH a good method. I did 20 min per passage. Having the keywords written down made it really easy to quickly find what the question was asking about. Tone questions weren't huge, mostly content. I was really happy with this score! 😀

QR: Ouch. Not a good score. I had been at about 15s on Kaplan and got a 17 on TopScore, and I was aiming for a 17. I know this cuts me out of certain schools, but I'm bad at math, not much I can do about it. There weren't too many word problems, which was good. If I had more time, I'm sure I could've done better... haha.


So there you are. My study plan was a little strange. I started with CliffsAP bio, which I read while I was on vacation for 2 weeks in May. Then I did the Kaplan online course from June-August. I did this course while working full-time in a lab, which I wouldn't recommend. I was soo tired at the end of the day, and really didn't want to study.. try to work part-time if you have to work at all. I really liked the Kaplan course, esp the online workshops.

Soo... pretty average, right? Or no? What are my chances? I'm going to talk to my pre-health advisor before I make any decisions about retaking. According to predents.com, I'm in a pretty good range, the average range for d-school acceptances. I wish I would've gotten a 20 in TS or AA... that was the goal... but oh well. It sucks when you think that maybe one or two questions was the difference between getting a 20 on bio or ochem, which might've bumped up the TS to 20.

As for me, I am a science major (trying to stay somewhat anonymous.. haha). I have a 3.85 cumulative GPA with a 3.80 science GPA. I will be applying for next year's cycle. I have two semesters and a summer of lab research, and I am in the process of being published. 😀 I have tons of volunteer hours, lots of dental shadowing, assisting hours, lots of clubs with officer positions. I also have great letters of recommendation coming. Soo... what are your thoughts? I really don't want to retake.. but I'd like to hear what you all have to say.

Thanks for all of your help this summer! 😀 SDN is a great resource. (Sorry this is ridiculously long.. just had to get it all out! hahaa)

 

[heatwheat]

Good scores. I'm sure you'll get in somewhere.

 

[polarmolar]

Congrats!!

 

[Neuro178]

Congrats!!

Thanks!! Did you take your DAT yet? How did it go? I haven't really been on SDN much in the last few weeks.. I deleted the bookmark for it because I kind of freaked out everytime I saw people's ridiculously high scores. haha 😛

 

[polarmolar]

Thanks!! Did you take your DAT yet? How did it go? I haven't really been on SDN much in the last few weeks.. I deleted the bookmark for it because I kind of freaked out everytime I saw people's ridiculously high scores. haha 😛

Yea I know lol. Mine is in 1 week!! Your scores will put you in good shape, good work!!

 

[Neuro178]

Yea I know lol. Mine is in 1 week!! Your scores will put you in good shape, good work!!

I'm sure you will do great!! I was surprised by how at-ease I felt.. I actually drew smilie faces on my laminated sheet to keep my moral high. hehe

 

[onetoomany]

Congrats! Btw, the DAT is only one of the many things they look at, though some schools like to stress upon it. You're GPA and hopefully very good LOE and dental experience will definitely back you up in case they don't like your DAT scores. Good job nonetheless since 19 is still a good score and don't compare youself to the people with AA of above 25 that's just insane for normal people.

 

[Andrew324]

Nice work!

 

[Albuterol]

nice job i see u getting in somewhere next year!

 

[keliao]

READING COMP: Two out of the three passages had to do with my major (woohoo!) and they were all very interesting, so this wasn't too bad. My method: skim-read the whole passage, write down weird/key words, and go through the questions. This was SUCH a good method. I did 20 min per passage. Having the keywords written down made it really easy to quickly find what the question was asking about. Tone questions weren't huge, mostly content. I was really happy with this score! 😀

first of all congrats, you dont have to worry bout the DAT anymore,,what a relieve for you. i do have a question though, on your reading , how did you write the keywords down... did you start from the first paragraph going down, and just wrote down keywords?? ...

 

[Neuro178]

first of all congrats, you dont have to worry bout the DAT anymore,,what a relieve for you. i do have a question though, on your reading , how did you write the keywords down... did you start from the first paragraph going down, and just wrote down keywords?? ...

Good question. Here was my RC method:

I scrolled down the whole passage and saw how many paragraphs they were. They are numbered with arabic numbering (1, 2, 3...). So then I used two sheets and wrote, for example, #s 1-7 on one sheet and #s 8-13 on the next. Then as I went down the paragraphs starting at the first one (half reading/half skimming over), and I wrote down any words that stuck out as me as weird/didn't know/keyword. Anything that might come up in a question. Also, I really read the first and last paragraphs, and tried to understand things as I went. But all in all, most questions have one of the keywords you wrote down, so you can scroll down to that # paragraph, look for the answer, and voila! Answer found.

I think RC was my favorite part. I am by no means a "fast reader" either. Actually, I've always considered myself on the slow side for reading. The trick is to read "on the surface". They don't expect you to learn everything by reading the passage.

 

[Neuro178]

Nice work!

Thanks 🙂

nice job i see u getting in somewhere next year!

Thank you! I sure hope so!

 

[eldirty]

i think your scores are fine ... congrats and good luck

 

[Sweet Luck]

good job on your scores. I don't post often but I have been looking through some posts the past few weeks. I think your scores are fine, and you have worked hard for it so another GOOD JOB! Also, I do have to say, being on this site, we get to see what people write and it gives us an idea on what the other person is like. I don't know you, but I do have to say, I like how you uphold your ethic values. (That may be bad english, but you know what I mean). Many people are very smart and do well on this test... bla bla and make it to dental school and become dentists, but do all of them have ethics, NO!
I personally hope I make it to dental school, and am struggling with my own challenges right now with this test and have freaked out so many times and given up and did again today, until I came on this site for some motivation. But, my point is that hopefully, one day I'll become a dentist, and will be proud to call you and someone like you a colleague. Becuase ethics is a very important thing that many people tend to overlook.

 

[Versati1ity]

good job on your scores. I don't post often but I have been looking through some posts the past few weeks. I think your scores are fine, and you have worked hard for it so another GOOD JOB! Also, I do have to say, being on this site, we get to see what people write and it gives us an idea on what the other person is like. I don't know you, but I do have to say, I like how you uphold your ethic values. (That may be bad english, but you know what I mean). Many people are very smart and do well on this test... bla bla and make it to dental school and become dentists, but do all of them have ethics, NO!
I personally hope I make it to dental school, and am struggling with my own challenges right now with this test and have freaked out so many times and given up and did again today, until I came on this site for some motivation. But, my point is that hopefully, one day I'll become a dentist, and will be proud to call you and someone like you a colleague. Becuase ethics is a very important thing that many people tend to overlook.

👍

 

[heatwheat]

You should be fine.

 

[webdog54]

Congrats on being done!! I really enjoyed reading your post. I took the DAT in May and am applying for next year, and my scores were almost exactly the same:

PA 18
QR 18
RC 21
Bio 19
GC 18
OC 17

TS 18
AA 19


I applied to 8 total schools, I've been rejected from 1 (UMKC) and have interviews scheduled at 2 (Creighton and Nebraska), the others I am still waiting to hear. Soo I am keeping my fingers crossed! Your GPA is a little higher than mine also. You'll definately get some interviews. Good luck to you and I hope we BOTH get in somewhere!!

 

[Neuro178]

good job on your scores. I don't post often but I have been looking through some posts the past few weeks. I think your scores are fine, and you have worked hard for it so another GOOD JOB! Also, I do have to say, being on this site, we get to see what people write and it gives us an idea on what the other person is like. I don't know you, but I do have to say, I like how you uphold your ethic values. (That may be bad english, but you know what I mean). Many people are very smart and do well on this test... bla bla and make it to dental school and become dentists, but do all of them have ethics, NO!
I personally hope I make it to dental school, and am struggling with my own challenges right now with this test and have freaked out so many times and given up and did again today, until I came on this site for some motivation. But, my point is that hopefully, one day I'll become a dentist, and will be proud to call you and someone like you a colleague. Becuase ethics is a very important thing that many people tend to overlook.

Hi sweetluck, I really appreciate your comments. I think it is easy on here sometimes for people to be like "well, you should study this, HINT HINT!".. but it's really not fair. I didn't know what would pop up on my test, and that's how it should be for everyone. It's really nice to see someone that values ethics as much as me 🙂 Good luck to you too! I definitely had my moments... I thought about cancelling the test at least twice, looked into it once, only to find that the next test date for my Prometric center wasn't until the middle of October!! That kind of stuck me with August, but I am happy that I did it and got it over with. The more you tell yourself, I'm ready for this, the more it becomes a reality. You can't possibly know everything. There were definitely certain things I just said, ya know, the odds of this showing up are slim, so I'm not going to waste my time and energy stressing out over it. No one can know everything. Just give it your all - that's the most you can hope for. I didn't get in the 20s as I had hoped, but my scores are decently good.. and I know I tried my hardest! Best of luck!

Congrats on being done!! I really enjoyed reading your post. I took the DAT in May and am applying for next year, and my scores were almost exactly the same:

PA 18
QR 18
RC 21
Bio 19
GC 18
OC 17

TS 18
AA 19


I applied to 8 total schools, I've been rejected from 1 (UMKC) and have interviews scheduled at 2 (Creighton and Nebraska), the others I am still waiting to hear. Soo I am keeping my fingers crossed! Your GPA is a little higher than mine also. You'll definately get some interviews. Good luck to you and I hope we BOTH get in somewhere!!

That is really encouraging! Good luck to you -- your scores are really solid. And you're right, they are really close to mine! Go RC! hehe 😀

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Thanks to everyone for your encouraging responses. I love sdn!!!