DAT percentiles changing?

[johndent]

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I took the DAT about a year ago, and scored a 22 AA, which was at the time,in the 97th percentile. I was curious if the percentiles have changed within this time period. Can all of you who scored a 21 AA or higher please post your percentile, and the date of exam thanks

 

[dentalWorks]

I took the DAT about a year ago, and scored a 22 AA, which was at the time,in the 97th percentile. I was curious if the percentiles have changed within this time period. Can all of you who scored a 21 AA or higher please post your percentile thanks

The percentages are not the same between exam versions...

My 21AA was 97.3 (I think).... but normal range of 21 is between 91-93-ish.

And I've also seen some silly things like a 22AA being in the 96s... the percentages are never the same AND schools don't get to see percentages (only raw scores)

 

[Blarelli]

PA: 22 93.8%
QR: 19 92.9%
RC: 21 88.9%
Bio: 21 95.5%
Gen Chem: 29 99.9%
O Chem: 28 99.5%
TS: 24 99.7%
AA: 24 99.9%

 

[invictusx]

23 AA for me was 99.7%

 

[slm266]

Percentiles mean nothing to schools, don't worry

 

[Osity]

PA: 22 93.8%
QR: 19 92.9%
RC: 21 88.9%
Bio: 21 95.5%
Gen Chem: 29 99.9%
O Chem: 28 99.5%
TS: 24 99.7%
AA: 24 99.9%

You are an animal!

 

[UBERlowGPA]

pa: 22 93.8%
qr: 19 92.9%
rc: 21 88.9%
bio: 21 95.5%
gen chem: 29 99.9%
o chem: 28 99.5%
ts: 24 99.7%
aa: 24 99.9%

holy hell

 

[Double Bonded]

Percentiles mean nothing to schools, don't worry

really? that's disappointing

they put them on the printout and a large portion of the "how to estimate your DAT score" .pdf is dedicated to percentiles.
They show how you did relative to everyone else but adcoms will see the standard score of a 21 AA at the 97th percentile the same as a 21 AA at the 92nd percentile?

 

[SoulPower]

really? that's disappointing

they put them on the printout and a large portion of the "how to estimate your DAT score" .pdf is dedicated to percentiles.
They show how you did relative to everyone else but adcoms will see the standard score of a 21 AA at the 97th percentile the same as a 21 AA at the 92nd percentile?

Its because exams are different and the percentiles are based on how people did on the specific exam you took.

 

[Lane138]

Its because exams are different and the percentiles are based on how people did on the specific exam you took.

Exactly! So schools should be able to see the score and the percentile, since the percentile tells you if the test was easy or not

 

[dentalWorks]

really? that's disappointing

they put them on the printout and a large portion of the "how to estimate your DAT score" .pdf is dedicated to percentiles.
They show how you did relative to everyone else but adcoms will see the standard score of a 21 AA at the 97th percentile the same as a 21 AA at the 92nd percentile?

Exactly! So schools should be able to see the score and the percentile, since the percentile tells you if the test was easy or not

I bet schools intentionally don't wanna do that (I don't blame them). Think about it, They are already looking at too many numbers (GPA, science GPA, BCP GPA, non science GPA, DAT overall along with individual scores).... Imagine if now, they get another set of numbers (the percentiles) to compare with.... Too much work, too little return.

They wanna see your overall performance, a 21AA is better than 90% of people who take the DAT, sure some are 95s, others 91s, but overall, you are in the greater majority.... thats enough for them.

 

[invictusx]

AA 23 99.7%
TS 25 99.9%

Looks like I had the harder exam :\

 

[cowboys1]

Aa 22 98.9%
ts 22 98.3%

 

[buckeye2012]

26 aa 99.9%

 

[katyaava]

23 aa 98.7%

 

[PreDent100]

AA 23 99.7%
TS 25 99.9%

Looks like I had the harder exam :\

Those were the exact same scores and percentiles I got. Interesting...

 

[rockclock]

.

 

[rockclock]

leave it to a crowd that, as a whole, struggles with middle school and high school level math on the QR to try to mastermind the statistics behind standardizing test scores...

they're STANDARDIZED scores people!

your 22 AA is equal to anyone else's 22 AA, after taking into account the difficulty differences in your two test versions. just accept the score you earned and move on (or retake)! start preparing for interviews, there's life beyond stats.

 

[johndent]

My original point was not to over analyze the percentile numbers, but to suggest that competition to get into dental school has increased insanely over the past decade, and I was wondering if competition is still in an incline. I dont believe that adcoms look at percentiles, but if a 21 was 99th 10 years ago, and now its 94, it just doesnt appear to be as impressive from their pov, cuz there are so many more high scores in the 20s.

 

[dantemac]

There is a reason why the percentile is in parentheses. It's because it is secondary information to the numerical standard score you get. Don't worry about it because it is a reflection of how well other people do on the test, which is nothing you can concern yourself with. Just take your score for what it is and roll with it.

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

My original point was not to over analyze the percentile numbers, but to suggest that competition to get into dental school has increased insanely over the past decade, and I was wondering if competition is still in an incline. I dont believe that adcoms look at percentiles, but if a 21 was 99th 10 years ago, and now its 94, it just doesnt appear to be as impressive from their pov, cuz there are so many more high scores in the 20s.

Why did you come to the forum and ask random people for their mostly uninformed opinions, when you can get it straight from the horse's mouth?

DAT User Manual, page 19 should satisfy some of your curiosity.

http://www.ada.org/sections/educationAndCareers/pdfs/dat_users_manual.pdf

About adcom, you are compared to the rest of the applicants, and DAT scores are usually not valid after 3 years. So you shouldn't worry about competing against someone who took it 10 or 20 years ago.

 

[slm266]

19 < 20 < 21 < 22 < 23.

That's all dental schools care about. They'd rather have a 22AA 96%tile than a 21 98%tile because it makes their stats look better.

They don't want to make the interpretation of scores more complicated. They dont want to have to stare at a 21.4AA 92%tile applicant and say "well he only scored in the 92nd percentile but he almost got a 22AA. They only want to see 21AA and be able to move on to the rest of his stats.

Predents are the only ones that analyze percentiles and do so to make themselves feel better than those who scored higher than them.

 

[moler]

19 < 20 < 21 < 22 < 23.

That's all dental schools care about. They'd rather have a 22AA 96%tile than a 21 98%tile, because it makes their stats look better.

They don't want to make the interpretation of scores more complicated. They dont want to have to stare at a 21.4AA 92%tile applicant and say "well he only scored in the 92nd percentile but he almost got a 22AA. They only want to see 21AA and be able to move on to the rest of his stats.

Predents are the only ones that analyze percentiles and do so to make them feel better than those who scored higher than them.

 

[shinjury]

I took DAT May 2011.

AA = 22 ... percentile = 95.7%

 

[rockclock]

19 < 20 < 21 < 22 < 23.

That's all dental schools care about. They'd rather have a 22AA 96%tile than a 21 98%tile because it makes their stats look better.

They don't want to make the interpretation of scores more complicated. They dont want to have to stare at a 21.4AA 92%tile applicant and say "well he only scored in the 92nd percentile but he almost got a 22AA. They only want to see 21AA and be able to move on to the rest of his stats.

Predents are the only ones that analyze percentiles and do so to make themselves feel better than those who scored higher than them.

nail meet hammer. hammer, nail.

 

[iroteaser]

guys just took the DAT and this was my score

PA : 19 : 63%
QR : 17 : 62%
RC : 19 : 53%
Bio : 20 : 87%
che : 20 : 76%
org : 25 : 90%
Total science : 21 : 90%
Academic Avg : 20 : 84%

this scores any good?
Science GPA: 3.4

please help I am freaking out, I don't even know which schools to apply. I am in New Jersey, was thinking of UMDNJ but i know its extremely competitive.

 

[rippinitez]

Pa: 20 85.4%
qr: 19 84.9%
rc: 26 99.1%
bio: 24 98.7%
gc: 27 99.0%
oc: 26 98.1%
ts: 26 99.9%
aa: 24 99.4%

 

[93geo]

.

 

[Phizmo]

I took the test January 2011.
21AA = 93.0%

 

[cangb]

.

 

[TheRoni]

http://www.chemftw.com/wp-content/uploads/dat_users_manual-2011.pdf

Shows how the percentiles have changed!

 

[BobLoblawDDS]

This is a silly discussion. Percentiles mean nothing unless everyone who is applying with you to the same schools in the same cycle wrote the exact same DAT at the same time. That's not the case, so they don't matter for admissions purposes. If your friend got a 24AA and was in the 99th percentile and you got a 24 but was in the 90th percentile, it just means that there were a helluva lot of smart test-takers in your cohort, or comparably stupider (I'm using this term loosely) ones in your friend's. Take your score as-is and move on.

 

[Logs]

I got a 21AA which was a 91.3%

 

[vicsin]

My 20 AA= 93.4 percentile o_o. *July 11th, 2011

 

[ViviPreDent]

TS- 26 (99.8)
AA-25 (99.9)
PAT-24 (98.1)

exam taken 6/25

 

[dantemac]

My 22 AA was 99th percentile. Looks like I aced a difficult exam!

 

[SLOBrule]

Unfortunately schools only see your standard score and do not see the percentile. I think that it isn't fair that someone who scores a 22 with a 99% will get less recognition than someone who scores a 24 with a 94%. Although scoring above 20 in any section is beyond greatness.

 

[achilles2]

Unfortunately schools only see your standard score and do not see the percentile. I think that it isn't fair that someone who scores a 22 with a 99% will get less recognition than someone who scores a 24 with a 94%. Although scoring above 20 in any section is beyond greatness.

seriously like a 24 will ever be 94% vs. a 22 will be 99% lol

AA 25 99.9%
TS 27 99.9%

 

[SLOBrule]

seriously like a 24 will ever be 94% vs. a 22 will be 99% lol

AA 25 99.9%
TS 27 99.9%

True, bad example for the 24 being a 94% but it does suck to score 22 with a 99% like those who have posted above.

Disclaimer: I am not bashing on those of you who scored a 22 with a 99%, I'm just saying it's unfair. I wish I scored a 22 for my AA and TS.

 

[Bereno]

my 21AA was a 97.2% and 21TS was a 96.2% so it looks like I got a hard test... 🙁

 

[LuckyJ07]

23 AA for me was 99.7%

same here

 

[crew09]

This thread should be illegal for ppl who haven't taken their DAT yet.

 

[slm266]

percentiles are irrelevant, schools dont even look at them. i dunno why you guys make such a big fuss over them.

your 21 will never be better than someone's 22.

 

[Bereno]

percentiles are irrelevant, schools dont even look at them. i dunno why you guys make such a big fuss over them.

your 21 will never be better than someone's 22.

This is truth in the eyes of the ADCOM.

One thing to add though: the difference between a 21, 22, etc is very slight because they will all get you into a dental school. Consequently, the only thing about the percentages is what numbers make you "feel better". For example, I got a 21 with a 97.2 percentile. I would be happier with my score than if I had scored a 22 and been in the 95th percentile. Thats just me though 🙂

 

[dantemac]

That would not be enough to comfort me. I would want the higher score, period. I'd rather have a 24 in a lower percentile than my 22.

 

[johndent]

Of course a higher score is better than a lower score with a higher percentile. The reason why I started this thread was to see if the overall competitiveness of ds applicants has changed in the past year, as dental school admission stats have been increasing over the past decade. If percentiles for a given score are dropping, that would mean that more students are doing well, and the applicant pool has become more competitive as a whole, however this doesn't appear to be the case.

 

[slm266]

If percentiles for a given score are dropping, that would mean that more students are doing well, and the applicant pool has become more competitive as a whole, however this doesn't appear to be the case.

It just means that the applicant pool (as a whole) is scoring higher on the DAT. Scores can go up while competition remains the same. Increase in competition can be seen in # of applicants vs # of accepted applicants.