Expected DAT scores for this next cycle?

[usernametaken]

At UMN, scores this year have gone up to basically a 20 across the board (TS, AA) on the DAT. The trend, at least at UMN, has been an average of a point a year increase on DAT scores for the last couple years. Last I checked, the DAT scores at UMN are roughly the same as most other dental schools (with some exceptions like Harvard, etc).

So, all this being said, should we expect average DAT scores (TS/AA) of almost 21 for this next cycle? DAT scores seem to be increasing continuously, just like the number of applicants to dental school...

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[doc toothache]

At UMN, scores this year have gone up to basically a 20 across the board (TS, AA) on the DAT. The trend, at least at UMN, has been an average of a point a year increase on DAT scores for the last couple years. Last I checked, the DAT scores at UMN are roughly the same as most other dental schools (with some exceptions like Harvard, etc).

So, all this being said, should we expect average DAT scores (TS/AA) of almost 21 for this next cycle? DAT scores seem to be increasing continuously, just like the number of applicants to dental school...

If we are talking about the Univ. of Minn. the AA scores were 19.49 in 2005 and 19.4 for 2006 with the PA at 18.11 (05) and 19.1 (06). Since the frequency of 21 (and above) is at 7%, that would translate into ~1000 applicants out of the ~15K we might see for this year's pool. To obtain a mean national DAT score of 21 the number of applicants would have to ~ quadruple. The increase in the DAT scores of the enrollees is seen due to the increase in the number of applicants, whereas, the DAT scores of the applicant pool remains relatively unchanged.