Dat Results In - I Set My Standard Too High

[rajmahal1980]

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Hey,
I just took the DAT today. I was very dissapointed at first because I set a goal of 24 months ago, but in the end I will at least be competitive. Here are my scores:

AA: 22
PAT: 19
QR: 30
RC: 22
Bio: 22
Chem: 18
Ochem: 20
Total Sci: 20

I graduated from college a few years ago with a double major in Management Science and Biological Anthropology, but my GPA was only 2.9 so I thought I would need a 24 to have no doubts. Now there is some doubt in my mind about getting into schools like UOP (my first choice) or USC.

What do you guys think? On the applications it doesn't even give room to list both majors so all they will see is my GPA. I'm really scared about that becuase I know in my heart that doing those two degrees with a 2.9 is far more challenging than doing a generic biology degree. Will any schools like my unique background and see how both a background in finance and anthropology actually prepare my better for dental school than any biology degree?

By the way, since I graduated I have been working in finance so I'm hoping schools will like that kind of experience rather than shun it. (I have done lots of observing and have great letters from dentists so they will definitely know I have a strong interest for dentistry)

Also as for my DAT scores what do you guys think? Will the 30 on QR stand out? I don't see too many of those. Or will they see that it was the thing that saved my AA, and that my total science score wasn't that good.

 

[Sprgrover]

Very impressive job, Rajmahal2004!!!!! That 30 on the QR is truly a beautiful thing. I wouldn't mind stealing a few of those points to pad my own QR score! Your scores are certainly in the range that UoP desires. Don't be sad at all over your performance. While your gpa is lower than the average for almost all dental schools, I think that your performance on the DAT will signal to adcoms that you indeed can put forth the effort and earn high marks. Plus, things happen along the way that lead to outcomes that are less than what we would like. These are things that you can explain in an interview. In addition I think that your background and work experience might work to your advantage as it sets you apart from the other candidates. I understand that you had worked hard for a 24, but please don't beat yourself up over a 22!!!

What are some of the other schools that you are applying to? Have you already sent your application off to AADSAS?

 

[wimmcs]

Congratulations on your score!!! I just wanted to mention something about your double degree and your application. I also have a double degree and I wondered how I would be able to represent it in my application since they only have one slot for the bachelors degree. So what I did is this: there's a section called something like "beyond degree" and I would assume that's where applicants post if they have a masters or a phd or whaterver else, so I enterd my second bachelor's degree and in the pull down menu you could actually choose bachelors degree. So I was able to enter one degree in the bachelors section and the second bachelors under beyond degree.

Just wanted to let you know it was possible to list both degrees. Again, your scores are awesome and like the last post indicated: schools like UofP like high DAT scores if your GPA is not that competitive, they also look at the upward trend in grades. So, hopefully you had a bad experience in your first couple of years, and your grades improved towards the end, this is what they like to see. How did you do so well in math?????!! How long did you study? AGain, great job and don't sweat it!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rajmahal1980]

Sprgrover, here is the list of schools that I'm applying to:
UOP, UCSF, USC, UCLA, Columbia, NYU, Boston U, and UNLV. I might add one or two more just because my GPA is a bit low and I don't want to take any chances.
I haven't sent in my application yet, I'm working on it now and should have it sent by the end of the week. Do you think I can still get early interviews or am I too late?


Wimmcs, thanks for the advice about listing both degrees, that will be very helpful. As for my QR score, I honestly spent the least amount of time studying for that section. I have always been good at math and because one of my degrees was in Management Science (a highly mathmatical econ degree) the QR section was very easy for me. I had been getting well over 20 on all the Kaplan tests so I didn't put much additional work in. The only questions I was missing were in regard to trig values and probabilities. Once I got those sorted out it wasn't surprising that I aced the QR part.
My advice would be to make sure you know trig values and probabilities well because they will definitely be on there. I also highly recommend the TOP SCORE exams. Their QR is so similar to the actual test its not even funny. I swear half the questions were the same except the numbers were just changed a bit. The top score version is a bit harder with probablities.

 

[Sprgrover]

Rajmahal2004 - from what I have gathered by looking at various statistics and talking with other dental students and dentists that are familiar with the schools on your list (either they applied or went there) all of them prefer high gpa's and high DAT scores. The exceptions I see are NYU, Boston, and UNLV. Since UNLV is the newest school on the block, I don't know if the information they released for their inaugural class represents their future stat range or if it was simply for that year and they look to improve it.

I would add some other schools to your list that might be more willing to look past your gpa, focus on that great DAT score, your personal statement plus your background and experience. Examples include Marquette, Louisville, VCU, and others (these are great schools as well). I noticed that most schools on your list are on the west coast. Start looking at some of the schools in the mid-west and east coast - these areas have many good schools with solid reputations.

A must-have source is Barron's Guide to Medical and Dental Schools. In addition to profiling both American and Canadian dental schools, they give recent statistics for the average gpa, DAT scores, and years in school for their entering class of 200X. Barron's also supplies tables that supply information on the number of men and women, minorities, out-of-staters, admitted as well as students receiving financial aid. Plus they have charts that outline the importance each dental school places on the DAT, various sections of the DAT, your gpa and science gpa, and so on. If you haven't purchased this book, or at least thumbed through it, then you owe yourself a trip to the local book store. It really is very helpful and aided me in deciding which dental schools to apply to (e.g. if one school never accepts some one from out of state, then I probably wouldn't have a good shot at that school).

The sooner you submit your application, the sooner you can complete the secondary applications, and thus the more likely you are to get an interview. Count on AADSAS taking about 3-4 weeks to mail your application out and another couple of weeks for dental schools to start responding. You have a good chance, rajmahal2004! Let me know how things work out!