How are my DAT Scores?

[Saint Richie]

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I just finished my DAT recently and I got the following scores.

PAT: 23
QR: 18
RC: 20
Bio: 17
GC: 18
OC: 21
SNS: 19
AA: 19

I think I did pretty okay. The biology section had some random questions that I never saw in the AP Cliffs book. How are my scores when it comes to admissions?

Any advice/comments is appreciated 😀

 

[enamel88]

thos aren't bad at all. 19+ is considered competitive as long as you have a good gpa and other EC. However, that 17 might look a little suspicious for some schools but your scores are above any cutoffs I know. How was the PAT portion? similiar to BC?

 

[Saint Richie]

PAT was always easy for me, so keep that in mind with my opinion. On Bootcamp I typically got a score of 20 and 21, with most of my wrong answers stemming from keyholes, TBE, and folding. The other day I got some pretty good tips on folding (not sure if it is a tip, per se, it was just the acknowledgement that when you fold, you fold the shape in a way assuming that the shaded portion must be on the outside. Once I figured that out, I got less wrong in BC's PAT). On the real PAT I would say that the hardest section was the angles followed up by keyholes. I breezed by TBE, holes, and folding.

I know the 17 isn't the best (believe that is considered dead average), it was weird cause I was getting 19s on BC and a 21 on the 2009 (my opinion was that a good portion of those questions were out in left field from where I studied from: Kaplan & Cliffs AP 3rd edition).

My main concern is whether or not my score is spread out too much (Also a lot of users on here are geniuses from Cloud 9, with their 21+ AA scores - makes me feel stopid). I.e. a 23 for the PAT but then 17 for Bio and 18 for GC. Do you have any idea what admissions typically prioritize?

 

[NavyDDS1990]

I believe Maryland has cut off of at 18 in every sections except PAT. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Your score really depends on your GPA whether you should retake or not.
I had a 19AA 20TS and I retook because my GPA was not competitive, however currently in formal post-bacc to make up for that poor GPA 🙁
But I would not want to give any reasons to adcoms to reject you.
Good luck!

 

[enamel88]

I believe Maryland has cut off of at 18 in every sections except PAT. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Your score really depends on your GPA whether you should retake or not.
I had a 19AA 20TS and I retook because my GPA was not competitive, however currently in formal post-bacc to make up for that poor GPA 🙁
But I would not want to give any reasons to adcoms to reject you.
Good luck!

which post bacc are you in?!

 

[Saint Richie]

I believe Maryland has cut off of at 18 in every sections except PAT. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Your score really depends on your GPA whether you should retake or not.
I had a 19AA 20TS and I retook because my GPA was not competitive, however currently in formal post-bacc to make up for that poor GPA 🙁
But I would not want to give any reasons to adcoms to reject you.
Good luck!

Well, my overall GPA is a 3.57 (probably will break 6 this semester if colleges look at this semester as well as your first 3 years of undergrad) and a science GPA of 3.38 (again, might go up after this semester). I haven't done much research on what is considered "competitive" as far as GPAs go, so I'm not sure if my grades are actually anything other than above average. I have heard, though, that typically admission offices lean more towards your DAT score than your GPA 🙁 Kinda sucks since I'm awful at standardized tests, but do well in the classroom (ex. I got something around a 1600 on my SATs, but my GPA in high school was something like a 3.7 or .8)

 

[NavyDDS1990]

Well, my overall GPA is a 3.57 (probably will break 6 this semester if colleges look at this semester as well as your first 3 years of undergrad) and a science GPA of 3.38 (again, might go up after this semester). I haven't done much research on what is considered "competitive" as far as GPAs go, so I'm not sure if my grades are actually anything other than above average. I have heard, though, that typically admission offices lean more towards your DAT score than your GPA 🙁 Kinda sucks since I'm awful at standardized tests, but do well in the classroom (ex. I got something around a 1600 on my SATs, but my GPA in high school was something like a 3.7 or .8)

I feel like you should be okay with your GPA... but if I were you, I would personally retake DAT for just in case.
I wouldn't want them to reject me for any reason.
But it's all up to you!!! your DAT isn't bad it's just not competitive.
Good luck!!!!

 

[NavyDDS1990]

which post bacc are you in?!

VCU CERT

 

[Saint Richie]

I feel like you should be okay with your GPA... but if I were you, I would personally retake DAT for just in case.
I wouldn't want them to reject me for any reason.
But it's all up to you!!! your DAT isn't bad it's just not competitive.
Good luck!!!!

Eh, I rather apply and give it a shot (I don't see how it could hurt), especially considering that I can't retake the DAT without having to reapply for next year. My family lives on a really tight budget - not sure I could afford waiting another year and having to pour more money into studying materials and the test itself.

 

[Alice Tang]

I think I will retake it but this is just my personal opinion.

 

[enamel88]

Eh, I rather apply and give it a shot (I don't see how it could hurt), especially considering that I can't retake the DAT without having to reapply for next year. My family lives on a really tight budget - not sure I could afford waiting another year and having to pour more money into studying materials and the test itself.

But also note that IF you don't get in this cycle, you're going to have to pay the app fees AGAIN next cycle. So it's definitely a gamble. When did you apply?

 

[mystery84]

I had similar scores DAT scores last cycle and applied with no luck, those sub 20s in sciences hurt.
Can't rely on ap bio for the bio section, it's a decent start but you need exposure to a broad spectrum of topics. Go into destroyer or another book and do the questions there and review each answer choice and learn all those as well. They are all possible topics that have come up in the past or believed to be likely future topics. Its a ton of material but pace yourself and you can do it. If you GPA and ec are solid then go apply but imo be modest with your selections