How many times can i take the dat

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premedman

Future dentist, I hope
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I have taken the DAT five time, lol, i know, bad right? anways, the first two times, i did not study and had an average on 14. the third time, i had a 16, the fourth time, a 17, and the fifth time, an 18. does it really matter how many times you take it? I was thinking about even taking it agin. id like to have a 20, and dentistry is what i want to do, so any advice

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Are you joking, or are you serious?? 5 times!! Well, I am probably not one to talk as I took the dAT three times (16/19/21), but I made sure I knew my stuff the last time. I told myself no more than three. I made a big mistake and took it the first time w/o ever having an orgo class.

I guess you can take the DAT as many times as you want, but I think it looks a little bad after so many. I thought three was too many when I took it the third time....

Did you apply this round and not get in or something?? If you do decide to take it again....PLEASE be sure you are properly prepared!! :)
 
wow....who knows the answer....i guess it depends on the adcoms of the school you apply to. My first time 16/16, second 17/17, and third 19/18. At my interview nothing was said about the 3 DATs, only " A 19/18....hmm..thats pretty good".
 
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I don't know about other schools, but VCU recommends that you take it no more than twice.
 
I don't mean to be harsh, but wow that sucks. A little late for what-ifs, but if you were serious about dentistry you really should have studied the first time, or the second time after seeing how bad you did.

But hey, if the adcoms don't care that you have already taken it 5 times they probably wont care that you take it 6. But for your own sake really prepare this time and please get at least a 20.

Good luck.
 
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 freakin' times... I would call some dental schools as ask. I believe 3 times is what d-schools are looking at. Call the schools and find out instead of guessing.

btw, what is your dat subject score break down like? Having 18 on AA and a good, round GPA should definitely get you in somewhere, unless you have 10 on bio section or some other section.

Did you study at all for dat? With your progress, if you take it another 5 times, you should definitely boost your score up to 22 :D
 
Holy moly, if I had to take that test more than once, I would have shot myself. Isn't this costing you a pretty penny? I assume at least you got the jitters out and are a seasoned pro at this. Truthfully, I don't believe you.
 
premedman said:
I have taken the DAT five time, lol, i know, bad right? anways, the first two times, i did not study and had an average on 14. the third time, i had a 16, the fourth time, a 17, and the fifth time, an 18. does it really matter how many times you take it? I was thinking about even taking it agin. id like to have a 20, and dentistry is what i want to do, so any advice


have you considered taking a dat test prep course like kaplan? or did you buy a test prep book? if so, which one? for the dat, it makes a huge difference what you're studying with.
 
Why would anyone pay over $100 for a test and not study?
Dumb f'ing mofo's like this one always have the same answer, "well, I got 14 or 15 but I didn't study. I could've done a lot better if I studied."
Congratulations, you're now officially a d u m b a s s.

If you are lying, I'm not even going to put you in the same vicinity as "*******".
 
wow... five times :confused: :eek: :eek:
Thats impressive, you wrote it five times, i hate to tell you this but the DAT isnt a hard test...

If you are having so many problems with the DAT, you should re-consider dentistry, if you have no motivation to study for the DAT, how are you going to survive four years of dentistry? It tough, you have a tests every week...

good luck... you are going to need it :thumbup: :laugh: :D
 
premedman said:
I have taken the DAT five time, lol, i know, bad right? anways, the first two times, i did not study and had an average on 14. the third time, i had a 16, the fourth time, a 17, and the fifth time, an 18. does it really matter how many times you take it? I was thinking about even taking it agin. id like to have a 20, and dentistry is what i want to do, so any advice

I'm sure there are people who are willing to get paid for tutoring you in your area. Make a new post title "Help a poor dude to take the 6th time DAT for 2000$" Good luck. :smuggrin:
 
Profchaos said:
I'm sure there are people who are willing to get paid for tutoring you in your area. Make a new post title "Help a poor dude to take the 6th time DAT for 2000$" Good luck. :smuggrin:
My point is that, get prepared before you take the DAT. You will be fine if you get over 20 next time.
 
premedman said:
I have taken the DAT five time, lol, i know, bad right? anways, the first two times, i did not study and had an average on 14. the third time, i had a 16, the fourth time, a 17, and the fifth time, an 18. does it really matter how many times you take it? I was thinking about even taking it agin. id like to have a 20, and dentistry is what i want to do, so any advice[/QUOTE=premedman]
I have heard that they only send out your last three scores of DAT to schools, but they will be told how many times you took it....so it might be a good thing for you to take again because they won't see that you got a 16, but make sure you do well...so they see big progress from 17 and a 18.
The DAT isn't hard, if you study right for it. My advice to you is if you really want to do well study from you text books for o-chem/g-chem/bio...yeah it might be too much info, but you will have a good grasp on the material..for the pat section practice everyday for a month at least 30min. I don't do well on standarized tests, and the first time I took DAT I got a 17. I was devasted, thinking I was such a ******* and on top of it I always would hear from people how easy they thought DAT was that they didn't study and got 20's. But after studying from the my text books I had supper confidence and it really helped me..I got a 25 on o-chem/22 bio/20 g-chem and 22 PAT, so if dentistry is what you really want...don't listen to people that discourage you becaused you can do it if you put the effort into it. Good Luck!! :)
 
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premedman said:
I have taken the DAT five time, lol, i know, bad right? anways, the first two times, i did not study and had an average on 14. the third time, i had a 16, the fourth time, a 17, and the fifth time, an 18. does it really matter how many times you take it? I was thinking about even taking it agin. id like to have a 20, and dentistry is what i want to do, so any advice



youve got another 10 - 20 tries in you. I say just call up the ada and ask if you can buy several test sittings at a discount. Maybe they will do it.

Or maybe you should start guessing better????

I think your goose is cooked. Out of gas. Bottom of 9th inning. Down 20 points with 3 seconds left in game and other team has the ball. Up creek w/o a paddle. Out of toilet paper and no ones home to help you.

Why dont you give up?
 
vertical bite said:
youve got another 10 - 20 tries in you. I say just call up the ada and ask if you can buy several test sittings at a discount. Maybe they will do it.

dude...you've got stand-up quality stuff.... :laugh:
 
my breakdown 18aa, 16 gen chem, 17 org, 23 reading, 14 quant., 14 pat, and 19 bio.
 
I realize that taking the DAT 5 time is bad, but do you think an 18aa with a masters degree in bio, 3,25, will suffice to get me in. i am also considering a post bac, which i think may help
 
I think you all set then, having 14 for QR isn't that bad. Some schools have a cut off at 14 so your QR and PAT are right on the border line. You might have good chances of getting accepted depending on your sci gpa.
 
why would i lie
 
that 14 in qr was this last dAT, I HAD A 16 the prior one, so if they only look at trhe highest of each section, i might be a little better off. what do you tink? it makes me feel more confident that you think i have a shot
 
premedman said:
I realize that taking the DAT 5 time is bad, but do you think an 18aa with a masters degree in bio, 3,25, will suffice to get me in. i am also considering a post bac, which i think may help

I was 1 minute late with my last post on sci gpa and here you have it. With your gpa, solid LOR’s, shadowing, and volunteering i think you’ll look pretty good as a candidate. Apply early and be careful with your dental school selection. Don't forget Boston and New York dental schools on your list.
 
premedman said:
that 14 in qr was this last dAT, I HAD A 16 the prior one, so if they only look at trhe highest of each section, i might be a little better off. what do you tink? it makes me feel more confident that you think i have a shot

i had 15 on QR and it was never brought up at my interviews (i had 8 interviews out of 9 schools applied)
 
Some schools limit the number of times you take the DAT. I would discourage you from taking it again, unless you are sure you will do well. It looks very fishy to adcoms to see someone take it more than three times. Obviously, it's a little late for that, but I would cut it off now. With your current scores, you may have a chance at some schools. You should realize that the more times you take the test, your score will go up, but it looks worse each time to the adcom.
 
Taking the DAT numerous times will not reflect well on your application as the admission committees will think that you are a 'slow learner' and it will be hard for them to imagine yourself in the rigors of dental school with multiple courses and achieve a resonable academic standard. Unless you know for sure that the next time around you will get over 21+ or higher in most of the sections, it will be better for you to stick with your most current DAT and find a good explanation on your DAT performances when interviews roll around.
 
eh...damit!!!!forgot what iw as gonna say :mad:
 
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