DAT repeats

[vondy60]

I was just wondering how most dental schools look at multiple DAT takings. I have a few friends appying to med school and they say that multiple MCATs are looked down upon. Is this the same for the DAT? I am concerned because I have taken it once and did OK except for a low PAT score of 15, and need to retake it in a month. Would taking it 2 or 3 times look really bad? I had one friend take it 4 times, and he said all dental schools are looking for is that one good score, so take it until you are competitive enough.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[toothache]

i don't think it should matter how many times you take the test, as long as you can pull of a great score in the end..... i think dental schools shouldn't look down upon because this shows dedication and persistance..... i don't really know but that would suck if dental schools look down.😕

 

[Thaxil]

I am just going on what I hear and read from some schools. Basically you have one more shot. The second time or give it up. 15 on PAT is not that bad, but you have to apply to schools that could care less about PAT. I do not know which schools, but there are a number. Maybe this would be a good question to ask: which schools care less about PAT. I think the third time is not looked at by schools. They only want to see the first and second try.

I think you should wait until mid summer to take the DAT. What is the advantage of taking it now while in school and before AADSAS early submitting date of June 1. Take your time and do it right.

 

[blankguy]

Originally posted by Thaxil
I am just going on what I hear and read from some schools. Basically you have one more shot. The second time or give it up. 15 on PAT is not that bad, but you have to apply to schools that could care less about PAT. I do not know which schools, but there are a number. Maybe this would be a good question to ask: which schools care less about PAT. I think the third time is not looked at by schools. They only want to see the first and second try.

I think you should wait until mid summer to take the DAT. What is the advantage of taking it now while in school and before AADSAS early submitting date of June 1. Take your time and do it right.

Does this mean for the duration of the 2 yrs that the score is good for?

 

[Thaxil]

This is a good question Blankguy. If you have took the test twice and now the second test is older then two years. Usually, school require that the most recent test be less then two years old. I guess in this situation, a third shot would be the best thing to do. May be someone who knows more of this can comment.

 

[dprice121]

Most schools will take the highest score of each section if you retake the DAT--some schools even have this posted on their website. I don't think anyone would look down upon taking it twice. But if you start taking it 4 or 5 times, it would probably become an issue.

Statistically, it has been reported (not sure who did the study) that most people don't do better the second time. However, this is obviously not always the case.

I actually retook the DAT yesterday because of a low PAT score. I had already been accepted to 5 very good schools, but one school in particular asked me to retake it.

First DAT Scores:

21 AA
25 Reading
22 QR
19 TS
15 PAT 🙁

Second DAT Scores:

22 AA
23 Reading
25 QR
20 TS
19 PAT

I took the DAT for the first time in August, and took it the second time yesterday (1/17/04). I only studied for 3 weeks before taking it the second time (about 2 hours a day). I found that I remembered most of the stuff from the first time I took it and the rest that I didn't remember came back pretty quick.

 

[dprice121]

I thought I would add which schools accepted me with my low PAT score:

Nova
Case Western
University of Maryland
Tufts
Boston University

A low PAT score shouldn't hurt you too much if everything else in your application is competitive (GPA, other DAT scores, extracurricular activities, etc.)

The one school that asked me to retake the DAT was Creighton. They weigh that section heavily. They told me they send a letter to anyone who got below a 16 on the PAT requesting they retake the DAT.

 

[trypmo]

Also, I thought the following (which I found at http://www.ada.org/prof/ed/testing/dat/registering.asp) might also be relevant:

Retaking the Test

A candidate can apply and retake the test as many times as the candidate wishes. Candidates are required to submit a new application and fee for each re-examination.

A candidate must wait at least 90 days before retaking the DAT. The candidate and the Prometric Candidate Contact Center will be notified of the candidate?s eligibility for the retest after 90 days have lapsed since the previous testing date. Once notification of eligibility for retesting is received, the candidate is to call the Prometric Candidate Contact Center to schedule a retest appointment for a date after the 90th day. Candidates who retake the DAT without waiting at least 90 days after their previous DAT will cause their most recent test scores to be rendered void.

The results of the four most recent DAT?s are released on the official transcript of scores and forwarded to dental schools. Also, the total number of DAT?s is listed on the official transcripts of each candidate.

Be sure to factor in this waiting period if/when planning to re-take the DAT!

 

[toothache]

so is it possible to get the same test if you take the dat frequently?

 

[dent03]

Hey dprice,
Can you tell me how u went about improving your pat score?. i have a low pat score too (14). what strategies did u use?. is it possible to improve the pat score at all?. thanks in advance

 

[dprice121]

Originally posted by dent03
Hey dprice,
Can you tell me how u went about improving your pat score?. i have a low pat score too (14). what strategies did u use?. is it possible to improve the pat score at all?. thanks in advance

For me it was mostly about time management. On the first attempt, I ran out of time with 15 questions left. I did have barely enough time to randomly choose an answer though, but it obviously didn't help. SO for the second time around, I made sure I was able to go through the problems a lot faster.

The second thing that really helped was practice. When I took the DAT for the first time, I did not focus on the PAT very much. However, for the second attempt, I focused on it a lot. I did all of the practice exams from TOP SCORE (which I definitely recommend) and I looked at the hints from the Barron's book and did the problems in the back of that book as well as in the Kaplan book. The best practice is Top Score though. The actual test is harder in a few sections, but overall I thought Top Score was an accurate portrayal.

I really think the key is Practice Practice Practice. It really does start to get easier with practice. By the time I was done practicing I got a 23 on Top Score.

For me the toughest sections were the keyholes/ the Views/ and the Folding. I learned to do the other three sections really quickly so I could spend more time on the difficult sections.

There really aren't too many "tricks" to doing well. It's all about working fast and practicing in my opinion.

Good luck!

 

[The Musketeer]

Originally posted by dent03
Hey dprice,
Can you tell me how u went about improving your pat score?. i have a low pat score too (14). what strategies did u use?. is it possible to improve the pat score at all?. thanks in advance

One book that I found as very useful for the PAT section is 'How to Prepare for the DAT-Dental Admissions Test' by Richard A. Lehman. In this book the technique used for the 'Painted blocks' section was excellent and by using this technique I usually gets perfect in this section without spending much time on it. I really recommend this book for that technique.

Also, this book comes with I think 2 complete exams so that's a bonus!

 

[toothache]

come on guys it doesn't matter how many times you take the dats as long as you pull of a good score in the end.. i think it's bs when schools say taking it more than 3 times is bad and just give up. who care if you take the dat's 20 times as long as you pull a great score who cares...

 

[Calculus1]

Call the schools and ask. I know Baylor doesn't care too much about, but LSU does.