Is the DAT easier this year???

[bionerd]

OK, i've been looking at more and more people on this forum with 20+ scores on the DAT. I recently took mine and also got 20+ scores...which I initially thought was awesome but now I'm thinking it's not awesome because more and more people are getting those scores...So, could it be that the DAT is easier this year?? Or are the applicant pool just waaaaaay smarter than previous pools? Oh yea, I got a pathetic 18 on the PAT and my dentist kinda put me down (he got 20+). He said "you need at least a 19 for interviews!" and I'm like wtf...I'm screwed! He told me to retake it but that'll be November which is kinda late right??? Most importantly, I'm LAZY! Man, I seriously don't want to worry about school and DAT again. Anybody out there with an 18 and doin fine? Any thoughts on this?

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[Revelde]

OK, i've been looking at more and more people on this forum with 20+ scores on the DAT. I recently took mine and also got 20+ scores...which I initially thought was awesome but now I'm thinking it's not awesome because more and more people are getting those scores...So, could it be that the DAT is easier this year?? Or are the applicant pool just waaaaaay smarter than previous pools? Oh yea, I got a pathetic 18 on the PAT and my dentist kinda put me down (he got 20+). He said "you need at least a 19 for interviews!" and I'm like wtf...I'm screwed! He told me to retake it but that'll be November which is kinda late right??? Most importantly, I'm LAZY! Man, I seriously don't want to worry about school and DAT again. Anybody out there with an 18 and doin fine? Any thoughts on this?

I think PAT doesnt matter in most schools... 16+ will be fine...

 

[prez_al]

Man, your dentist must think I'm a ****** with my PAT score... I was initially worried with PAT too, but came to the realization it doesn't matter as long as your other scores are top notch.

 

[ConfusedOne]

OK, i've been looking at more and more people on this forum with 20+ scores on the DAT. I recently took mine and also got 20+ scores...which I initially thought was awesome but now I'm thinking it's not awesome because more and more people are getting those scores...So, could it be that the DAT is easier this year?? Or are the applicant pool just waaaaaay smarter than previous pools? Oh yea, I got a pathetic 18 on the PAT and my dentist kinda put me down (he got 20+). He said "you need at least a 19 for interviews!" and I'm like wtf...I'm screwed! He told me to retake it but that'll be November which is kinda late right??? Most importantly, I'm LAZY! Man, I seriously don't want to worry about school and DAT again. Anybody out there with an 18 and doin fine? Any thoughts on this?

oh yes, ada made the DAT easier this year. That makes a lot of sense.

 

[bionerd]

I seriously honest-to-God thought the real DAT was much easier than the Kaplan practice exams. They were more like questions from the SATs...the only sections I thought was hard was the RC and PAT...although it turns out I rocked on the RC and bombed on the PAT...sample question

(1/2) + (5/6) = (4/9) + x
What is x?

Then there's a question asking you to calculate molarity and molality given ___ g of substance X and 1L of water. How much more straightforward can you get?

See what I mean?

p.s. I like that shot of Moe...lol

 

[OSUDDS]

RC was easier than the ACT. By faaaaar

 

[iviikoivi]

Just heard of this person at my undergrad that took it.

she got a 23 on AA and its in the 95th percentile...

what is going one? Seems like one of the following is happening: they're lying about the score, lots of high scoring ppl took it the same time as her, or the dat is getting easier (which I doubt)

 

[bionerd]

she could be telling the truth if she's smart...i'm telling you it was easy! I took it this month...maybe I was lucky and got easy questions??? Maybe that's why I got 95 percentile but still am only in the low 20's range.

 

[ConfusedOne]

I seriously honest-to-God thought the real DAT was much easier than the Kaplan practice exams. They were more like questions from the SATs...the only sections I thought was hard was the RC and PAT...although it turns out I rocked on the RC and bombed on the PAT...sample question

(1/2) + (5/6) = (4/9) + x
What is x?

Then there's a question asking you to calculate molarity and molality given ___ g of substance X and 1L of water. How much more straightforward can you get?

See what I mean?

p.s. I like that shot of Moe...lol

hey i know it's an easy test, i've already taken it. It's been the same difficulty for years.

 

[steven87]

its not easy this year, your only reading posts by a few hundred ppl on this site, the rest of the USA is not posting their 16 and lower scores. Its a computer generated test so no way in hell are they going to suddenly make it easy.

 

[bionerd]

well then I hate Kaplan for exaggerating the hardness of the test and making me stress out for 3 months!!!!

 

[iviikoivi]

she could be telling the truth if she's smart...i'm telling you it was easy! I took it this month...maybe I was lucky and got easy questions??? Maybe that's why I got 95 percentile but still am only in the low 20's range.

yeah i know she's smart..what's odd is that its only 95 percentile...?

 

[Envision]

she could be telling the truth if she's smart...i'm telling you it was easy! I took it this month...maybe I was lucky and got easy questions??? Maybe that's why I got 95 percentile but still am only in the low 20's range.

Lets be sensitive to those who did not find it so easy bionerd, not everyone scored as well as you did. good job though.

 

[iviikoivi]

well then I hate Kaplan for exaggerating the hardness of the test and making me stress out for 3 months!!!!

2 years ago i know 2 ppl that took it around this same exact time
they got 22s and was in the 99.x percentile range


i guess im just concerned about the competition

 

[bionerd]

ok..sorry if i come off as arrogant or whatever (i'm really not trust me!) but i'm just really curious and nervous about the increased frequency of high scores...btw...i'm also an anteater Envision! i'm so jealous of your PAT score!

 

[aggie-master]

OK, i've been looking at more and more people on this forum with 20+ scores on the DAT. I recently took mine and also got 20+ scores...which I initially thought was awesome but now I'm thinking it's not awesome because more and more people are getting those scores...So, could it be that the DAT is easier this year?? Or are the applicant pool just waaaaaay smarter than previous pools? Oh yea, I got a pathetic 18 on the PAT and my dentist kinda put me down (he got 20+). He said "you need at least a 19 for interviews!" and I'm like wtf...I'm screwed! He told me to retake it but that'll be November which is kinda late right??? Most importantly, I'm LAZY! Man, I seriously don't want to worry about school and DAT again. Anybody out there with an 18 and doin fine? Any thoughts on this?

Don't retake it. Your dentist doesn't know what he's talking about as far as PAT scores go.

I got a 22 AA (96th percentile) and an 18 on the PAT (67%) and I'm not retaking crap. I'd be very surprised if any schools that I applied to would suggest retaking it because of my "low" PAT score.

 

[armorshell]

Seems more probable that the trends in percentile are simply because the quality of applicants is getting better (which we already know is true) rather then the assumption that the ADA revamped the test to make it easier (why?)

 

[jkh1886]

I still wanna see more students from Harvard, Yale, Duke, Brown, Northwestern, Georgetown, Rice, Berkeley, Michigan....etc. Any top 30 schools. Then Top 50 schools....

 

[bionerd]

Yay! I'm been crazily checking my AADSAS application everyday twice a day for the past 10 days to see if they mailed my application yet...and now finally they did! Hmmm..so it took them 16 days. Now, the only thing to worry about left are LORs

 

[Envision]

Yay! I'm been crazily checking my AADSAS application everyday twice a day for the past 10 days to see if they mailed my application yet...and now finally they did! Hmmm..so it took them 16 days. Now, the only thing to worry about left are LORs

Are you having the uci bio department take care of them? if so, their pretty reliable.

 

[bionerd]

eh...the problem is not the school...but rather the writers themselves...I got one MIA prof and a lazy ol dentist...I serious think the dentist dude wants to delay because he knows that as soon as I get the letter i'm gonna slack off on volunteering...hehehe...I've been giving him free labor or the past 6 months!