Low bio score..DAT retake?

[pannie]

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Hi guys,

I am a non-traditional applicant, having graduated 6 years ago and worked in different healthcare fields including clinical research. Dentistry piqued my interest while working at the hospital, picked up a DAT prep book, and the rest is history. I hope to apply this upcoming cycle, and took the DAT at the end of April after studying for 3 months.

Felt super unprepared and bio was my biggest worry. Was told by many, including the dental students at the office I shadow, to just go for it and not pay the extra money to postpone it 4 weeks. "You're always more prepared than you think." Which was true - ended up doing better than expected but also on the fence about whether to retake, particularly because of my bio score.

TS 19 / AA 21
BIO 17 / GC 19 / OC 23
QR 24 / RC 23 / PAT 27

oGPA ~3.3
sGPA ~3.1
(estimates as I am back in school taking prereqs)

I know the importance of doing well on the science sections of the DAT to compensate for my low science GPA, but will this cut it? I think I have solid LORs and shadow/volunteer hours. Have gone on mission trips (non-dental), and volunteer in a nursing home bc I want to work in geriatrics in the future.

Given the 90-day rule about DAT retakes, the earliest I could retake is late July/early August. At that point, would it be too late to send in my application? Wish I had just postponed it to give myself more time to study for bio, but it is what it is. Any advice would be helpful, thank you so much in advance!

 

[acemason]

I would contact the schools that you are interested in applying for and ask them if they are okay with that bio score. Otherwise, I think you could just submit your application with your current score, let schools know you are retaking it in August, and then update them once you do retake it. My friend retook his in December even though he applied in June and he felt that helped him receive two more interviews.

 

[mcbnerd]

I have similar stats, app fully completed in august, and still got 3 interviews. Just apply widely and reasonably!

 

[Frankenstein777]

Hi guys,

I am a non-traditional applicant, having graduated 6 years ago and worked in different healthcare fields including clinical research. Dentistry piqued my interest while working at the hospital, picked up a DAT prep book, and the rest is history. I hope to apply this upcoming cycle, and took the DAT at the end of April after studying for 3 months.

Felt super unprepared and bio was my biggest worry. Was told by many, including the dental students at the office I shadow, to just go for it and not pay the extra money to postpone it 4 weeks. "You're always more prepared than you think." Which was true - ended up doing better than expected but also on the fence about whether to retake, particularly because of my bio score.

TS 19 / AA 21
BIO 17 / GC 19 / OC 23
QR 24 / RC 23 / PAT 27

oGPA ~3.3
sGPA ~3.1
(estimates as I am back in school taking prereqs)

I know the importance of doing well on the science sections of the DAT to compensate for my low science GPA, but will this cut it? I think I have solid LORs and shadow/volunteer hours. Have gone on mission trips (non-dental), and volunteer in a nursing home bc I want to work in geriatrics in the future.

Given the 90-day rule about DAT retakes, the earliest I could retake is late July/early August. At that point, would it be too late to send in my application? Wish I had just postponed it to give myself more time to study for bio, but it is what it is. Any advice would be helpful, thank you so much in advance!

Apply broadly and understand that with those numbers you may not get accepted right off the bat on Dec 1st. I had similar stats but a way lower PAT! I am non traditional and performed strongly in my post bacc, which was all pre reqs and a couple extra bio classes. I had 3 interviews and got into 2 schools, but was waitlisted initially at all 3.

 

[Frankenstein777]

Hi guys,

I am a non-traditional applicant, having graduated 6 years ago and worked in different healthcare fields including clinical research. Dentistry piqued my interest while working at the hospital, picked up a DAT prep book, and the rest is history. I hope to apply this upcoming cycle, and took the DAT at the end of April after studying for 3 months.

Felt super unprepared and bio was my biggest worry. Was told by many, including the dental students at the office I shadow, to just go for it and not pay the extra money to postpone it 4 weeks. "You're always more prepared than you think." Which was true - ended up doing better than expected but also on the fence about whether to retake, particularly because of my bio score.

TS 19 / AA 21
BIO 17 / GC 19 / OC 23
QR 24 / RC 23 / PAT 27

oGPA ~3.3
sGPA ~3.1
(estimates as I am back in school taking prereqs)

I know the importance of doing well on the science sections of the DAT to compensate for my low science GPA, but will this cut it? I think I have solid LORs and shadow/volunteer hours. Have gone on mission trips (non-dental), and volunteer in a nursing home bc I want to work in geriatrics in the future.

Given the 90-day rule about DAT retakes, the earliest I could retake is late July/early August. At that point, would it be too late to send in my application? Wish I had just postponed it to give myself more time to study for bio, but it is what it is. Any advice would be helpful, thank you so much in advance!

I also had a Bio score of 17 btw

 

[pannie]

thanks for the feedback and congrats on getting in! feeling a bit more hopeful haha. i've heard 10 schools is average...so does applying broadly mean like 15?

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Not to take the hope away but that combo of GPA + science sections on the DAT is not looking good if you're a non-trad 6 years out - schools may question your current ability to handle the material. I'd try to retake ASAP. How did you prepare for the bio section?

 

[pannie]

Not to take the hope away but that combo of GPA + science sections on the DAT is not looking good if you're a non-trad 6 years out - schools may question your current ability to handle the material. I'd try to retake ASAP. How did you prepare for the bio section?

Honestly, prep for bio was not ideal, didn't really dive into it until 2 weeks before my exam. I was hoping to postpone 4 weeks just for the sake of more time to study for this section, but decided to go for it. I had gone through Cliffs 3rd ed once, read thru your notes (thank you!!), while taking some section exams on bootcamp. These were pretty consistently 17-18 :/