help!

[Holden21]

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I did not want to post this so openly-but feel I need advice! Here are my stats:
Top 15 Undergrad private liberal arts college
Age: 21
Major: dual Math/Biology within pre-med department
Honors: Academic Scholarship since fresh yr; top ten in high school; dean's list every semester except one; member of national math honor society; member of national pre-med honor society
Extracurricular: hold national athletic titles-competed throughout high school and college; vice president of college club for 2 yrs; volunteer teacher at local middle school in college neighborhood; various other volunteer activities
Overall GPA: 3.39
Science GPA: 3.3
DAT score AA: 17
Org Chen: 16
Gen Chem: 19
Math: 16 (no idea what happened)
Reading: 19
Bio: 16
PAT: hold onto your hats, folks: 13 - would love to pad this one but that is the truth
Now what do I do? I have excellent recommendations from respected heads of chem and bio department and math department but my advisor is telling me to take DAT over in Oct. just to raise the PAT. I never scored lower than 17 on Kaplan practice PAT & did not expect a problem. I am afraid that without study/review time for academic parts of DAT, I might not do as well on the other sections if I retake in Oct. (I have a tough fall semester in school so no real time to study) I could retake in Dec. but would rather stick bamboo shoots under my fingernails & besides, wouldn't Dec. be too late for this cycle? My applications, recs and transcripts have all gone out. Any chance anyone will take me with these stats? My dad is a dentist but I have heard that it does not necessarily work for you because some might think you do not want the occupation for yourself. (untrue) I do want to be a dentist-can't imagine anything else, but I do not test well-get too nervous. I do well in school but do not test well-did not do well on SAT's either. Therefore, I am not so sure a retake will help. I already did study alot and took 2 kaplan courses, etc. before those horrific grades. Please advise; I applied to: Nova, Temple, Tufts, U. of Md., U. of Pitt.;UMDNJ.
Needless to say, I do have unlimited hours of work in a dental office under my belt as I have worked for my dad for as long as I can remember.

 

[sinned]

you need to retake with the idea that you will be improving EVERY one of those sections...your DAT scores don't reflect your gpa! Chances are, your not going to be doing worse than you did on your first DAT...

 

[DrTacoElf]

I think you need to retake when you are ready to retake. Maybe this application cycle wasn't for you. It would be awful if you were rushed took it in oct, without wanting to, and didn't do as well as you wanted to. TIme it out right when you feel you can excel and then take it. 🙂 (maybe october is for you --- you never know its all about attitude)

 

[MEM3]

Holden,

I havent' taken the dat yet, so i dont know how the pat is under pressure. Bottom line - your extracurricular/grades/shadowing experience sound really good. I personally think you'll get into a least one of those schools you mentioned. From what i have heard, Tufts, for example does not treat pat scores like gold.

Don't worry you're not alone - I'm near the top of my class at my university and yet i have a problem with standardized tests (sat grade wasnt too hot).

I say what the hell, go for the re-take (I personally would). Just be confident and tackle it. Sounds like you'll make a fine dentist someday.

Mike

 

[Sprgrover]

I would cetainly retake the DAT. Some schools are more forgiving of lower DAT scores than others, but it is still a numbers game. Having to face taking the DAT again I am sure is not a pleasant prospect, but I think you stand a much better chance if you can raise a couple of those DAT scores. I would like to point out that your clinical experience is awesome and that bodes very well for you though. DrTacoElf gave some good advice and I have the same sentiment. You can do it 👍

 

[Holden21]

Just want to say thanks for the words of encouragement from everybody here-guess I'll be back online, writing here again around Oct., stressing out about retaking the exam. I know in my case exams like the DAT are more of a head trip than anything else. (don't get me wrong here; I am not negating the difficulty level of the exam or anyone who has done well-I admire anyone who did-it's just that I did put forth the time and effort and know what I am capable of in classwork and under more normal conditions and my scores did not reflect any of that.) I just have to find a way to psyche myself into believing it is just another day in my life rather than the measure of who I am and the gateway to my future. Thanks to all who took the time to answer. I guess that by the time I retake the exam, I will already know whether any school I applied to was going to bother to interview me anyway.

 

[omaralt]

hey, and one other thing, a lot of schools require a minimum of 15 in every section in order to even apply. so, i would definately re-take it, and definately focus a lot more on the PAT. i've noticed a trend here on SDN, and i'm sure it occurs to non-SDNers too. most everybody who does pretty bad on the PAT section, always say they were doing good on the practice tests. i was averaging like 19-20 on the PAT on kaplan tests and got a 15 on the real thing!

omar