DAT Score cut off contradiction?

[tayloreve]

Hey guys!


I know a lot of schools have certain cut offs on DAT scores. The school I'm interested in says that you can't have any score lower than an 18. However, i just got my lovely ADEA guide in today for 2012, and looking at the range of DAT scores for people who were accepted, some people scored 16 for PAT and 17 for AA/TS. These are obviously lower than the 18 cut off. I'm just curious as to why this happens. Is the rest of their application stellar and they just ignore it?

Thanks all.

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[Kforce]

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[AlbinoPolarBear]

Don't forget the legacies.

If your parents donate to the school, a call to the Dean will definitely make your application stand out.

 

[jeffity]

Many of these cut-offs are listed in conjunction with words like expected, generally, typically, advised, recommended, in the area, etc. Kind of leaves it open for them to overlook things, I suppose. But it's apparent that even the handful with strict cut-offs are going to do what they want anyway. Everyone seems to know someone who got in somewhere with some outrageously low score in a section.

Are you looking at LSU? Even theirs is worded loosely.

"A target score would be an academic average of 20 with no single score lower than 18."

 

[diasIItema]

Don't forget the legacies.

If your parents donate to the school, a call to the Dean will definitely make your application stand out.

 

[Golfguy]

Many of these cut-offs are listed in conjunction with words like expected, generally, typically, advised, recommended, in the area, etc. Kind of leaves it open for them to overlook things, I suppose. But it's apparent that even the handful with strict cut-offs are going to do what they want anyway. Everyone seems to know someone who got in somewhere with some outrageously low score in a section.

Are you looking at LSU? Even theirs is worded loosely.

"A target score would be an academic average of 20 with no single score lower than 18."

Exactly!

These are guidelines, not strict cutoffs.

Legacies are becoming less of a factor in admissions these days. A friend of mine failed to be accepted to our state school, even after 3 of his immediate family graduated there and donated to the school.

 

[SpaceCake]

Cutoffs are only an issue after you take the DAT, if you are worried about cutoffs but yet to take the DAT then I say take a chill pill instead

 

[doc toothache]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=901073