DAT Retake?

[cah55]

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Hello everyone. I took my DAT for the first time this past Saturday and it didn't go so hot. Here is the breakdown:

PAT: 16
QR: 17
RC: 21
Bio: 17
GC: 17
OC: 16
TS: 17
AA: 18

My overall GPA is 3.7 and my science GPA is 3.5. Do you think that I should go ahead and retake the test for a second time? Thanks for the input.

 

[oae]

What did u study? How long?

 

[dentalWorks]

I don't wanna make any assumptions here, but your thing says "pre-med" did you not take the DAT as seriously as you should have ?

When I took the DAT last october, I set fourth a few rules FOR MYSELF... I called them the rules of retake: I will retake the test if:
a) I scored less than 19 AA
b) any of my individual scores is less than 17
c) I get less than 18 PAT

Only you can made the call if you want to retake or not. You do have a strong GPA (both science and overall which is GREAT)... but IMO, I think you need to buck up for the next 2 months or so and knock this test the h*** out

 

[Innulja]

I don't wanna make any assumptions here, but your thing says "pre-med" did you not take the DAT as seriously as you should have ?

When I took the DAT last october, I set fourth a few rules FOR MYSELF... I called them the rules of retake: I will retake the test if:
a) I scored less than 19 AA
b) any of my individual scores is less than 17
c) I get less than 18 PAT

Only you can made the call if you want to retake or not. You do have a strong GPA (both science and overall which is GREAT)... but IMO, I think you need to buck up for the next 2 months or so and knock this test the h*** out

Very good guidelines for anyone who wants to play it safe.

 

[UndergradGuy7]

Hello everyone. I took my DAT for the first time this past Saturday and it didn't go so hot. Here is the breakdown:

PAT: 16
QR: 17
RC: 21
Bio: 17
GC: 17
OC: 16
TS: 17
AA: 18

My overall GPA is 3.7 and my science GPA is 3.5. Do you think that I should go ahead and retake the test for a second time? Thanks for the input.

I would re-take. If you only used kaplan to study and not much more then that could be a reason why you didn't score as high as you would have liked to. Use some of the study materials on here and in 3 months if you re-take you will probably do much better.

 

[rippinitez]

I agree with everyone else. You shouldn't have any problems bumping each and every score up with 2-3mo. of good studying. Good luck brah

 

[peanutb123]

Hello everyone. I took my DAT for the first time this past Saturday and it didn't go so hot. Here is the breakdown:

PAT: 16
QR: 17
RC: 21
Bio: 17
GC: 17
OC: 16
TS: 17
AA: 18

My overall GPA is 3.7 and my science GPA is 3.5. Do you think that I should go ahead and retake the test for a second time? Thanks for the input.

The only thing that you should do is keep that chin up. if you want more help from SDN first you need to tell us what resources that you have used and how you used them. and these people who got 20+ will help you be effective w/ you strategy.

 

[AmpedUp]

Pulled up a search...this guy did post as a Pre-Med 😀

Nonetheless, those scores would make you uncompetitive, even with your GPA. Consider retaking. I will be doing the same soon...

 

[cah55]

Yes, I was pre-med at one time...but after spending a lot of time shadowing both dentists and doctors I long ago decided that I would like the career of a dentist much more, so that is now my complete focus. I studied predominately with Kaplan Blue Book so that may have been more shortfall. This time I was going to purchase Crack DAT PAT and probably DAT Destroyer to nail orgo. Any other suggestions? Thanks all for the quick replies, I really appreciate it. I was leaning towards retaking and I just wanted to get some other opinions!

 

[peanutb123]

Yes, I was pre-med at one time...but after spending a lot of time shadowing both dentists and doctors I long ago decided that I would like the career of a dentist much more, so that is now my complete focus. I studied predominately with Kaplan Blue Book so that may have been more shortfall. This time I was going to purchase Crack DAT PAT and probably DAT Destroyer to nail orgo. Any other suggestions? Thanks all for the quick replies, I really appreciate it. I was leaning towards retaking and I just wanted to get some other opinions!

the more detail you go into your dat study schedule the more useful input that you are going to get out of it. like how did you practice questions, what sources did you use ie. topscore, achiever... and how often did you take full length tests. how you approached your sciences. etc... give us more info. and people here will def. point out the invisible weakness so you can overcome that hurdle.

 

[cah55]

the more detail you go into your dat study schedule the more useful input that you are going to get out of it. like how did you practice questions, what sources did you use ie. topscore, achiever... and how often did you take full length tests. how you approached your sciences. etc... give us more info. and people here will def. point out the invisible weakness so you can overcome that hurdle.

I studied mostly with the Kaplan Blue Book and read some of the Cliff's AP Bio along the way. My studying consisted of reading the books and then working on the practice tests. I also used DAT Achiever and did the complete practice tests that were offered on there. There was not really a schedule as to when I would take a practice test, I mostly did it when time presented itself. I believe that I would benefit from a more structured study schedule where I consistently set times aside to take practice tests. And like I said before I was thinking of purchasing both CDP and Dat Destroyer and perhaps TopScore as well. Overall I probably studied for about 1.5 months, but I never had the time to focus directly on the DAT as I had a decent semester courseload as well.

 

[Palmetto914]

Check my predents link. I got in to my state school with similar scores...well, slightly better scores. Keep in mind I only had one interview, too. So, perhaps that'll give you an idea where you stand.

 

[dentalWorks]

Palmetto914 is being very modest here, but he actually DESTROYED the interview process. We can all learn a thing or two from him