i'm screwed. i just took the DAT yesterday. For the past couple months I have studied hours a day, with Barron's, TopScore and Kaplan. I've always wanted to go into dentistry as it has been a huge passion of mine... Overall GPA is a 3.5 and science is 3.4.
here's the bad news though...
pat- 16
rc-16
qr-15
bio- 17
ochem-19
gchem-16
TS and AA both 17.
Am I candidate to even a private school now? I'm going to retake it of course, but after 3 months I will be at the end of applicants to even be considered i think... I already submitted my online app in late May. Everything is in, w/ good recommendations and good personal statement. Tons of shadowing dentists, lots of volunteer work in dentistry- about 30 hrs of it. with a couple 100 hrs in shadowing general dentist.
There is nothing to really do at this point, so no need to be stressing. All of your cards are on the table. The weirdest things happen during admission process these day. Weve all heard of people with the most random stats being accepted.
You can take the DAT again at the very start of October, and destroy them. That would still give a chance to impress, even though it would be on the late side.
Just curious though. You day you had been studying for a month using all sorts of materials. Were you confident and scoring well on those materials? Or did the test just catch you off guard?
on the practice tests i was ranging between an 18 and 20 on everything. the real test was impossible- absolutely impossible- i have not see any of that before! im majoring in bio and econ for my science background.
ps. i suck at orgo and it was my best score. and i got straight A's in gen chem. I go to Indiana, a big school and feel I have done pretty well there.
If your apps are allready into the school there is really nothing you can do. You could hope and pray like crazy that one school pick you out!?! Maybe? Maybe if you could call around and make a friend with an adcom that might get you in.
If you want to get in this cycle your best bet is to write a check for $500,000 and donate it to the school you want to go to. That ought to get their attention.
Best bet is to hit the books again, get ready and take it when your confident you will get AA-20ish with a PAT in the 20's as well
Just hit the books again and keep your head up, there is still some hope, my friend took her DAT last November, it was late and it was a struggle but she got in.
If you do retake the DAT I would recommend enrolling in the Kaplan DAT course. The first time I took the DAT I bought most of the study materials from Kaplan, Barons, etc, and tried studying and preparing myself. I ended up getting similar scores as you did and decided to enroll in the Kaplan DAT course and retake the DAT. I ended up doing much better. The Kaplan course is expensive but they give you tons of studying material and really break down the crucial material you need to know for the exam. Good Luck
Is it possible you had a poor testing experience? I had two nightmarish testing experiences. One of which included the person in the next cubicle over standing up in the middle of some licensure exam, throwing down his pencil and saying "I can't do this, I just can't do this. It's the same question over and over but the answers keep changing." Before knocking over his chair and walking out to talk to the testing center people very loudly in the lobby. I was the only person who didn't pretend not to notice as I simply could not help myself. Needless to say, I lost focus and time for the DAT.
Alternatively, call your schools and ask if they think you should retest immediately with your current scores. They're usually pretty honest about such things. Typically, you should be OK with these scores if you have a state school.
