DAT inflation

[ddschris]

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hey all,
I was little curious about this DAT score inflation.
It seems like everyone is getting over 21, 22 these days.
But the thing is (at least from my understanding),
DAT is scored based on a Curve, right?
So no matter how much people got smarter over last few years,
the number of people with those 20+ scores should remain the same.

I am just curiouis anybody gave this much thought?

 

[DentDelOriente]

hrmm...those who tell you there scores usually have higher scores, so statistically, the scores you hear are usually higher. It's true that it's curved (you'll see the National Percentile Ranking along with your score), but those who get accepted usually scores in their 20s, which translate loosely to 86% - 95%, depending on what section you're referring to. My advise is don't play the number game and aiming to be better than average. The higher the better. Don't take the DAT lightly. That's what dental schools use to flaunt their entering class to other schools.

 

[doc toothache]

hey all,
I was little curious about this DAT score inflation.
It seems like everyone is getting over 21, 22 these days.
But the thing is (at least from my understanding),
DAT is scored based on a Curve, right?
So no matter how much people got smarter over last few years,
the number of people with those 20+ scores should remain the same.

I am just curiouis anybody gave this much thought?

You should read some other threads regarding this subject. You are close to the right track. The percentage will remain fairly constant but the number of applicants with high scores will increase as the number of applicants increases.

 

[Ron Jeremy]

I took the DAT in Sept of 2006 and I scored 21-AA (92nd %) and 21-PAT (93rd %). The scores of the DAT is based on a curve where the ADA tries to make 21 approximately the top 10%. You can download an indepth report by ADA that explains how many times the DAT was taken each year, and how they divide up the scores by percentile. So in 2007, 21-AA should still represent around 90-93rd percentile, but it will move by a percent or two in either direction each year.

 

[Artful Dodger]

There's no such thing. That's just SDN 🙂. You should see the MCAT section as well, and you'll see the same thing.

 

[Vapor1122]

Keep in mind that the people who post their scores are typically the ones who did well and like to show off some. Those who didn't do so hot, well, they keep quiet.