DAT RETAKE??? (Hope you have some time to read my situation)

[jroque3313]

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Hey everyone,

I'm in a predicament, took the DAT back in Aug got 19TS 18AA 17PAT. I got a pretty good GPA and varied dental experiences. Got three interviews (Creighton, Nova, and Case). I just got back from Creighton and Nova, I feel like they were a success....the only issue is that my math score in the DAT was one point lower than the minimum for UF and I currently attend UF. I got a 14 but UF req. a min of 15's in each section. This was kind of bummer walking out the testing center the first time I took it bc, I felt like bc my QR score I was put a fork in me done. Luckily that was not the case.
This is the issue then, do I retake the DAT just for one school, it would be cheap for me to stay here in Gainesville since my family lives in state on the contrary Creighton and Nova are both great schools but should I just take this as a "everything happens for a reason" situation. I have heard wonderful things from other peoples life experiences about how they had something crazy happen while they were in school and they ended up finding their wives or finding a best friend etc etc. I am currently taking 18credits right now the only time I could possibly decide to do this would be in the Dec. break right before the Spring Semester. I would have to really study QR like its my day job but (1pt)??
If i do worse, i can only take the DAT three times in life so it would leave me one time do or die next summer when I would re-apply if I dont get in this year OR if I do get in somewhere (nova or creighton) on Dec. 1st, I can go into my prep not so stressed out bc I know that I atleast have a dental school to fall back on.

Thanks everyone as you can see my DAT score can be approved let me know what you think

 

[dentalWorks]

only you can answer your own question lol

But in my opinion, and If I was in your position, I would wait a while about the retake becuase it seems like you have a shot of gettin into some school, now I underestand that you might get into an out-of-state school but still, gettin into ANY dental school is a HUGE achievement of a life time (even if its not your fav state school), and you said your interviews went well, so, you never know, you might get into one of them even with your DAT and your low QR

If you really wanna retake, when do you wanna do this? your taking 18 credits now, I don't think you can study much for the DAT with that kind of heavy school work.... if you take the DAT now without much studying for it, you might bomb it, and that will look bad. If you take it sometime next year, well, then this cycle woun't really matter cause a decision would be made about ur application by then.

Give us an idea or a plan of what you mean by retake, when you wanna retake, and how much studying time ur willing to put into it and we'll be able to give you better answers lol.

 

[jroque3313]

I was planning on taking a practice test this thanksgiving break just to see where I stand....I am taking relavent coursework now that would coincide with the prep (Microbio and Anatomy) I feel like the sciences would not be so bad the QR is the only thing I literally took 9 full lengths leading up to the real thing and I went into the real thing and the QR was completely different so obviously I have to do something different this time around. If my practice test isnt so bad I was think about studying the Christmas break like 2 1/2 weeks non stop like a machine and my friend who got a 22 on QR said he would help me with QR as much as he could in the mean time....your right, right now with all the credits It would be difficult to find time to study for it but your also right about rushing into it and maybe bombing it thats why I feel the practice test for Thanksgiving will give me a head up about the situation. One of the Interviewers at Nova told me not to retake it and just wait and see what happens this cycle

 

[wantVCUdental]

Hey everyone,

I'm in a predicament, took the DAT back in Aug got 19TS 18AA 17PAT. I got a pretty good GPA and varied dental experiences. Got three interviews (Creighton, Nova, and Case). I just got back from Creighton and Nova, I feel like they were a success....the only issue is that my math score in the DAT was one point lower than the minimum for UF and I currently attend UF. I got a 14 but UF req. a min of 15's in each section. This was kind of bummer walking out the testing center the first time I took it bc, I felt like bc my QR score I was put a fork in me done. Luckily that was not the case.
This is the issue then, do I retake the DAT just for one school, it would be cheap for me to stay here in Gainesville since my family lives in state on the contrary Creighton and Nova are both great schools but should I just take this as a "everything happens for a reason" situation. I have heard wonderful things from other peoples life experiences about how they had something crazy happen while they were in school and they ended up finding their wives or finding a best friend etc etc. I am currently taking 18credits right now the only time I could possibly decide to do this would be in the Dec. break right before the Spring Semester. I would have to really study QR like its my day job but (1pt)??
If i do worse, i can only take the DAT three times in life so it would leave me one time do or die next summer when I would re-apply if I dont get in this year OR if I do get in somewhere (nova or creighton) on Dec. 1st, I can go into my prep not so stressed out bc I know that I atleast have a dental school to fall back on.

Thanks everyone as you can see my DAT score can be approved let me know what you think

I understand your family is back there, but just for one school, i don't think it's worth it. You have interviews already, don't bother
Congrats

 

[dentalWorks]

Me personally, no matter how hard I study for 2 and 1/2 weeks for something as important as DAT, I don't think I would be ready.... simply because DAT doesn't have a pass / fail mark, its just, the higher the better, its crazy, I don't think 2 weeks can do it for me, ya know make me feel confident about a strong 19-20 AA

As far as QR goes, I got an 18 on DAT for this section, but I'll tell you that MATH destroyer did the trick for me. I only did the first 6 tests (not all 10) and I can say with confidence that about 80% of the questions from my actual test looked VERY much like those 6 I did on the math destroyer.

 

[Extirpator]

If you retake it, I'm assuming you still won't be getting an interview from UF since it's already so late... unless you talked to them about it or something... so, if you haven't already, I would talk to admissions and ask if they would still consider you if you were able to bring up your scores somewhat.

If you do retake, I would suggest math destroyer as well. Questions are veryyy similar.