DAT Taken

[Mental_Dental]

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I finished my DAT and wanted some feedback. Wondering if anyone suggests retaking it. I did very well on the pat but got 17's in QR and BIO. Here are the results

PAT-23
QR-17
RC-21
BIO-17
GC-20
OC-19
TS-19
AA-19

I've also been out of school for a long time (didn't finish undergad) and had a poor GPA (2.75). I am going back in the fall to finish up my bachelor's and raise my GPA (1 year left). I know getting in for 2006 Dental school is a long shot but I'm determined to do what it takes to get in eventually. I know 2 dentists that I can shadow and are willing to help me any way they can. Any suggestions, comments (even critical ones) are welcome.

 

[mg777]

Mental-, those scores are solid. That PAT score is a barn burner.
The only questionable factor is obviously your GPA. Schools, for the most part, will not be judging your application by your new grades for the upcoming fall semester. By the time you get your grades for that semester, most dental schools will already have their class virtually filled up. So your application as it is now, is what they will use to determine your applicant status. If you think you can retake and definately get twenties or above in all the sciences, I would consider retaking due to your GPA. However, think it over carefully as you do not want to retake it and do worse. The stats of the schools your interested will help you determine if you need to retake it or not. If you do retake it, try to have it done before the end of august.

 

[xylashellx]

from what i experienced with applying last year is that it really doesnt matter what your gpa or experiences or anything else are...if you have high DAT scores and your gpa is above 2.7 you are in...i also dont think that those 17s matter because most people look at AA TS PAT

great job especially on PAT!!!!

 

[dat_student]

PAT-23
QR-17
RC-21
BIO-17
GC-20
OC-19
TS-19
AA-19

Good job !! What technique did you use for the reading section? Did you find the real DAT's reading section to be easier or harder than Kaplan's & topscores'?? How did you practice for the reading section? What did you use? - Thanks so much in advance.

 

[Mental_Dental]

Thanks for the advice MG777. I was reluctant to even send an application this year due to the fact that my gpa was low and I've been out of school for so long, but I figured it's worth a shot. I just caught wind of this forum 2 weeks ago, and wish I had heard of it sooner. If I do decide to retake, I feel I could definitely improve my scores, especially BIO and QR (BIO because I underestimated and QR because I was scrambling last minute to review that), the only one I would be worried about is the pat score. The T/F/E questions, pattern folding and cube counting weren't too bad, but the angle and hole punching questions were much harder than I thought. I barely finished on time.

I'm just wondering, if retaken, do they just throw out your previous score or do colleges consider both scores somehow. I can see how it would count against you if you did worse the second time, but are you completely absolved of your previous score if you do better the second time?

 

[The Candidate]

Previous scores are always reported with current scores. Only recent DAT scores are considered by schools.

Good Job

 

[Mental_Dental]

from what i experienced with applying last year is that it really doesnt matter what your gpa or experiences or anything else are...if you have high DAT scores and your gpa is above 2.7 you are in...i also dont think that those 17s matter because most people look at AA TS PAT

great job especially on PAT!!!!

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Looks like you scorched your pat also. Do you agree also that the angle and hole punching questions were the hardest? For the angles, I actually imagined a mouth opening and ranked them according to how "loud" they were. For hole punching, for the especially difficult ones, I drew a quick grid and kept track that way. If there was more than one hole punched, I did one hole at a time.

 

[Mental_Dental]

Good job !! What technique did you use for the reading section? Did you find the real DAT's reading section to be easier or harder than Kaplan's & topscores'?? How did you practice for the reading section? What did you use? - Thanks so much in advance.

Actually I studied the least for RC . There aren't too many really tough questions on the actual DAT, i.e. they don't seem to try and trick you. I can't compare with Kaplan and Top score since I only did 1 practice test for RC. I have both prep tools, but I focused mainly on the natural science sections.

When I started the RC section on the real test, I started reading the first passage, and I found my mind wandering, so instead of reading the passage and then trying to answer the questions, I read the questions one at a time and tried to skim the passage for relevant info. The technical questions were easiest so I answered those right away, and I had to mark certain questions that required understanding the passage as a whole and answered those after I got a better handle on the passage. I don't recommend this method, mostly because it doesn't seem orthodox, but it worked for me, and I had about 10 minutes left over. I don't think it matters what subjects they throw at you, but just for the record, they were cancer, stocks, and autonomic nervous system.

 

[Mental_Dental]

Previous scores are always reported with current scores. Only recent DAT scores are considered by schools.

Good Job

Thanks, how is your quest coming?

 

[Gurl21]

from what i experienced with applying last year is that it really doesnt matter what your gpa or experiences or anything else are...if you have high DAT scores and your gpa is above 2.7 you are in...i also dont think that those 17s matter because most people look at AA TS PAT

great job especially on PAT!!!!

really?

 

[Gurl21]

For the angles, I actually imagined a mouth opening and ranked them according to how "loud" they were.

haha thas cute