Didn't do well on DAT and need advice where to apply

[archonsbk]

Hello,

I just took the DAT and bombed it My bad excuse is that prometric center gave me the papers in the beginning, but when I needed more, they didn't give me the paper for 10-15 mins, so it was harder for me to do better (but mainly, I didn't study enough. It is my fault).
But anyway, I am still planning on applying for schools and would like to get any advice on which schools I should add/delete.

My DAT score is Bio (15), O chem (16), Gen chem (21), TS (17), Reading (17), Math (27), PAT (21), AA (19).

My GPA is 3.1 in undergrad (3.6 in the last 2 years with 7-9 classes per semester. I also took 7-9 classes earlier but didn't do well) and 3.98 in my first year of Master of Public Health.
I think I have a great personal statement (thanks to many people who helped me!), extracurricular activities, and letters of recommendation.

Here is the list of schools I am thinking of.

Arizona
Midwestern (AZ)
Howard
Midwestern (IL)
Indiana
New England
Boston
Detroit Mercy
Minnesota
Creighton
UNLV
NYU
Meharry
Roseman
Marquette

Do you think I should sign up to take the DAT in mid-October? I will submit my application in a week or so.

Thank you!

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[BobbyBeavis]

Is 15 below the cutoff? Need some expertise in here!

 

[Jordan1671]

I'd say 15 is definitely risking it. You have a great master's GPA though! If you're confident in your abilities and your time allowance, I'd go ahead and apply if you have all the requisites and retake the DAT when you've studied a significantly greater amount and have that score replace your old ones. Your 27 in math is awesome, but sadly pretty much no dental school looks at that.

Also another thing to note is your residency. Where you reside will have a lot of impact on your chances in applying. Also I wouldn't apply to Howard or meharry if you're not a minority - they tend to accept minorities over everybody else.

On a side note - how are you able to pull that amazing master's GPA after an arguably worse undergrad GPA? (I mean that as a compliment) That seems like a huge jump since I've personally heard from everybody that masters is harder than undergrad, but I also seem to hear many success stories like yours on these forums.

 

[archonsbk]

I'd say 15 is definitely risking it. You have a great master's GPA though! If you're confident in your abilities and your time allowance, I'd go ahead and apply if you have all the requisites and retake the DAT when you've studied a significantly greater amount and have that score replace your old ones. Your 27 in math is awesome, but sadly pretty much no dental school looks at that.

Also another thing to note is your residency. Where you reside will have a lot of impact on your chances in applying. Also I wouldn't apply to Howard or meharry if you're not a minority - they tend to accept minorities over everybody else.

On a side note - how are you able to pull that amazing master's GPA after an arguably worse undergrad GPA? (I mean that as a compliment) That seems like a huge jump since I've personally heard from everybody that masters is harder than undergrad, but I also seem to hear many success stories like yours on these forums.

I am an international student, so I don't have any residency... For about my undergrad GPA, English was difficult for me in the beginning, so it was hard for me to follow professors' lectures and couldn't even understand some words on quizzes/exams. Plus, I took 7-9 classes from my freshman year, so a large amount of workload + language barrier really made my GPA low
But, as time goes on, my English gets better and I understand the lectures more. Going to office hours definitely helps haha. For me, Master's is definitely harder because the professors have high expectations, but I kept trying and get help from my friends, TAs, and professors, so I was able to manage the classes a lot better. I also put homework as my priority!!

But that said, which ones should I get rid of? Thank you for your compliment!

 

[valkyrie08]

Wow! Your math score is amazing! But I've been to Midwestern on school tours and they always said the RC was very important to them, much more than PAT.

 

[Glimmer1991]

...Your Prometric center didn't give you any scratch paper/dry erase sheets?!?! I can't imagine doing QR or parts of the PAT without it!

That can't possibly be allowed. If Prometric didn't follow the correct protocol, I'd be contacting the ADA immediately to see if anything can be done.

 

[DentalDoge]

I think 17 is the cutoff for most schools. It is different with every school. Do some research into the shcools on your list.

 

[7amsho]

prometric center didn't give me the paper

I'd be contacting the ADA immediately to see if anything can be done.

I second that

 

[shulk]

You need to retake the DAT, you have multiple important scores below or at 17 - but maybe you can complain about prometric's mistakes and get a free retake or something (probably not, but you never know!).

 

[archonsbk]

...Your Prometric center didn't give you any scratch paper/dry erase sheets?!?! I can't imagine doing QR or parts of the PAT without it!

That can't possibly be allowed. If Prometric didn't follow the correct protocol, I'd be contacting the ADA immediately to see if anything can be done.

Actually, I said it wrong... I meant to say that they gave me the papers in the beginning and I wanted a new paper, but then they didn't give me for like 10-15 mins

 

[archonsbk]

Do you think I should sign up to take the DAT in mid-October? I will submit my application in a week or so.

 

[sjv]

Do you think I should sign up to take the DAT in mid-October? I will submit my application in a week or so.

I think you need to retake to have any chance this cycle, 3 sections of 17 or lower just won't cut it IMO.