Minority Applicants

[byorkie]

Does anyone know if the dental schools really admit minorities with lower stats? I was just wondering. I have a 3.57 cum gpa, 3.4 bcp gpa, and 17/18/14 (so bad, i know) on DAT. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

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[Utes]

Does anyone know if the dental schools really admit minorities with lower stats? I was just wondering. I have a 3.57 cum gpa, 3.4 bcp gpa, and 17/18/14 (so bad, i know) on DAT. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Why risk it? Study for the DAT harder and take it again.

 

[byorkie]

Okay I will in November

 

[MoobDDS]

No way. You need to bring that pat score up. At least get 17-18, if you are relying on the minority factor.

 

[byorkie]

Wow, I have spoke to a couple of members on the admissions committee at University of Louisville and University of Tennessee and they did not seem as negative as you guys do. If the average DAT is 17-18 at these schools, then someone obviously did lower than that. Furthermore, my pat is the only really low score. The others are average as stated by the schools stats. But thanks for the advice.

 

[Pilot Mike]

Wow, I have spoke to a couple of members on the admissions committee at University of Louisville and University of Tennessee and they did not seem as negative as you guys do. If the average DAT is 17-18 at these schools, then someone obviously did lower than that. Furthermore, my pat is the only really low score. The others are average as stated by the schools stats. But thanks for the advice.

I guess it depends on which schools you are applying to... but I haven't heard of any schools that take a PAT score that low, at least not in California.

I am a minority, but I could care less about that when it comes to my application. Having good grades and DAT scores plus other experience seems more important for being competitive than ethnicity. This application cycle seems to have a lot of really competitive applicants with high scores, so I might take that in consideration....

 

[arbelm1]

I guess it depends on which schools you are applying to... but I haven't heard of any schools that take a PAT score that low, at least not in California.

I am a minority, but I could care less about that when it comes to my application. Having good grades and DAT scores plus other experience seems more important for being competitive than ethnicity. This application cycle seems to have a lot of really competitive applicants with high scores, so I might take that in consideration....

ya you dont care but the admission will care about you being a minority

 

[rchuloholla]

um if ur a minority... i think it'll be understandable to get a lower RC score... but you should have a HIGHER PAT score than average.... because PAT is easiest to improve in compared to all the other sections. (i'm not sayin minorities are not smart); but if some cannot under no circumstance improve on the other scores, automatically they would aim on improvin the most on the section they know they can improve on the most.

 

[djeffreyt]

Being a minority and having that help you depends upon what school you are applying to. For some schools, it doesn't mean much. But either way, you shouldn't rely on being a minority to be the swing factor to get you into a school. 17-18 is fine, but the 14 on PAT is a big step from fine. You're right that schools with an aveage pat of 17-18 means they admit higher and lower scores, but it's a bell curve...most of the scores are near or at 17-18. a few are slightly higher and lower, but 14 is on the outlying low end, and when you are talking about 80-120 available seats in the dental school, that probably comes out to taking maybe 3-5 people with exceptionally low scores in any one area...not a good chance.

 

[Pilot Mike]

Being a minority and having that help you depends upon what school you are applying to. For some schools, it doesn't mean much. But either way, you shouldn't rely on being a minority to be the swing factor to get you into a school. 17-18 is fine, but the 14 on PAT is a big step from fine. You're right that schools with an aveage pat of 17-18 means they admit higher and lower scores, but it's a bell curve...most of the scores are near or at 17-18. a few are slightly higher and lower, but 14 is on the outlying low end, and when you are talking about 80-120 available seats in the dental school, that probably comes out to taking maybe 3-5 people with exceptionally low scores in any one area...not a good chance.

I think the whole minority factor should be eliminated, personally. The DAT isn't designed for minorities to do bad on, and when taking in consideration that all these applicants who get in will become doctors, I think the best applicants should earn that right. I'm sure all the people here on SDN with those high DAT scores put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get that. I'm skirting a pretty touchy subject here I think, but I hate hearing how race should give anyone an edge over someone else who worked harder to get that spot.

 

[maksidaa]

I think the whole minority factor should be eliminated, personally. The DAT isn't designed for minorities to do bad on, and when taking in consideration that all these applicants who get in will become doctors, I think the best applicants should earn that right. I'm sure all the people here on SDN with those high DAT scores put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get that. I'm skirting a pretty touchy subject here I think, but I hate hearing how race should give anyone an edge over someone else who worked harder to get that spot.

i completely agree and i think a lot of people, including minorities would agree. who wants to be the student that everyone looks at and says, "he/she must've gotten in cuz he/she is _________ (fill in the ethinicity)." If you're a good student and you work hard, no one will ever give a second thought as to how or why you got into dental school, but if you're gettin' your trash kicked for four years straight and in the end you're an under qualified dentist then i don't see how that benefits anyone.

 

[futurdent]

To the OP, your AA and TS scores look fine, but it wouldn't hurt if you worked on your PAT score. My advice would be to continue the application process, but plan to take the DAT again in November. It may also help to place special emphasis in your applications on hobbies or talents that you have that display your manual dexterity. Just keep a positive attitude, I heard that not every school gives the PAT section a lot of weight.