My DAT disaster

[duho.O]

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today, i took my DATs for the second time. the first time i took it....i spent only 2 weeks studying and got:
AA 18
TS 19
Bio 18
GC 18
OC 20
RC 18
QR 16
PAT 19

i wasn't satisfied with my first scores, so i studied for 3 months straight, 6-8 hours everyday....i this is what i got:

AA 16
TS 16
Bio 16
GC 17
OC 17
RC 17
QR 15
PAT 19

i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw my scores....i was about to cry right there, but i held it in.....unfortunately i couldn't hold it in any longer and ended up crying on my drive home. i didn't think the test was that bad....but i guess i was wrong. what upset me so much was that i sacrificed so much these past 3 months....never going out or doing anything except studying. i took 7 different kaplan exams and 3 achiever exams.....and i went over all the solutions to each exam TWICE. i ended up delaying my application because i wanted to re-take the test. so now not only am i a late applicant.....but my chances are slimmer now that my DAT scores suck. plus my gpa is a 3.30cum and 3.27sci. so that doesn't help either. i don't know what to do. are dental schools gonna take my most recent scores or the highest? if they take my new scores....i'm screwed. i'm starting to lose faith in myself.

 

[Envision]

today, i took my DATs for the second time. the first time i took it, i got:
AA 18
TS 19
Bio 18
GC 18
OC 20
RC 18
QR 16
PAT 19

i wasn't satisfied with my first scores, so i studied for 3 months straight, 6-8 hours everyday....i this is what i got:

AA 16
TS 16
Bio 16
GC 17
OC 17
RC 17
QR 15
PAT 19

i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw my scores....i was about to cry right there, but i held it in.....unfortunately i couldn't hold it in any longer and ended up crying on my drive home. i didn't think the test was that bad....but i guess i was wrong. what upset me so much was that i sacrificed so much these past 3 months....never going out or doing anything except studying. i ended up delaying my application because i wanted to re-take the test. so now not only am i a late applicant.....but my chances are slimmer now that my DAT scores suck. plus my gpa is a 3.30cum and 3.27sci. so that doesn't help either. i don't know what to do. are dental schools gonna take my most recent scores or the highest? if they take my new scores....i'm screwed. i'm starting to lose faith in myself.

Gosh...that sucks and I'm truly sorry. in anycase, i believe they take your most recent scores but perhaps someone else can verify that for me. gl.

 

[tom_servo_dds]

As a third year applicant myself I can only say that if things don't work out this year, you can always reapply next year. As far as the test goes, try and learn what went wrong and build on that. Analyze the way you study and what you study. This can make all the difference in the world and if you can master that now, you'll be even that much more prepared for dental school and won't repeat those same mistakes there. The best way to increase confidence in yourself is to build on smaller successes and soon they become big successes. Best of luck to you.

 

[rescuer]

today, i took my DATs for the second time. the first time i took it, i got:
AA 18
TS 19
Bio 18
GC 18
OC 20
RC 18
QR 16
PAT 19

i wasn't satisfied with my first scores, so i studied for 3 months straight, 6-8 hours everyday....i this is what i got:

AA 16
TS 16
Bio 16
GC 17
OC 17
RC 17
QR 15
PAT 19

i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw my scores....i was about to cry right there, but i held it in.....unfortunately i couldn't hold it in any longer and ended up crying on my drive home. i didn't think the test was that bad....but i guess i was wrong. what upset me so much was that i sacrificed so much these past 3 months....never going out or doing anything except studying. i ended up delaying my application because i wanted to re-take the test. so now not only am i a late applicant.....but my chances are slimmer now that my DAT scores suck. plus my gpa is a 3.30cum and 3.27sci. so that doesn't help either. i don't know what to do. are dental schools gonna take my most recent scores or the highest? if they take my new scores....i'm screwed. i'm starting to lose faith in myself.

Looks to me you have not mastered the core knowledge of basic sciences, which can easily upset you at the standardized DAT. Have you been using your textbooks as frequent guides?

 

[issa]

didn't you know that there are easy versions and hard versions of the dat?
i know i got the hard version when i took it because many questions weren't covered in kaplan blue book or in my biology courses.

 

[Envision]

didn't you know that there are easy versions and hard versions of the dat?
i know i got the hard version when i took it because many questions weren't covered in kaplan blue book or in my biology courses.

Where did you get that info? is this your opinion or factual info? No offence, but i don't think your performance was determined by your test version. but to be fair, check out your percentiles, if what you say is true, your percentile should be very high because other people who took that exam would have done poorly too. not to mention, it is standardized test so the question pool you get is random but fairly distributed. on my exam, i also had questions that was not directly covered from the kaplan book. the idea is you use what you know to figure out what you don't.

 

[GoDucks69]

didn't you know that there are easy versions and hard versions of the dat?
i know i got the hard version when i took it because many questions weren't covered in kaplan blue book or in my biology courses.

I thought that they curve each version of the test so if you have a harder version then everyone else should do worse and the scores should reflect that. I may be wrong about that but that seems to me like the only logical reason to have a curved test of any kind. The schools do not see the percentiles and Im sure the scaled scores will reflect, for the most part, how well you did in relation to everyone else. Ive taken the test twice and I felt they were equally as difficult...I just studied harder the second time.

 

[rupkaur]

today, i took my DATs for the second time. the first time i took it, i got:
AA 18
TS 19
Bio 18
GC 18
OC 20
RC 18
QR 16
PAT 19

i wasn't satisfied with my first scores, so i studied for 3 months straight, 6-8 hours everyday....i this is what i got:

AA 16
TS 16
Bio 16
GC 17
OC 17
RC 17
QR 15
PAT 19

i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw my scores....i was about to cry right there, but i held it in.....unfortunately i couldn't hold it in any longer and ended up crying on my drive home. i didn't think the test was that bad....but i guess i was wrong. what upset me so much was that i sacrificed so much these past 3 months....never going out or doing anything except studying. i ended up delaying my application because i wanted to re-take the test. so now not only am i a late applicant.....but my chances are slimmer now that my DAT scores suck. plus my gpa is a 3.30cum and 3.27sci. so that doesn't help either. i don't know what to do. are dental schools gonna take my most recent scores or the highest? if they take my new scores....i'm screwed. i'm starting to lose faith in myself.[/QUOTe


u r scaring me. I took my first dat on Aug. and thinking bout taking it again because of my bad PAT scores. So far, I didn't study anything; i was thinking studying only on weekands during one month is going to be enough bcz I m going to take fall classes along w/ them. Anyways, just try it. I know only univ. of Penny. look at the highest scores among those, so ur first dat scores will count there, other univ. look at the latest scores. But I m not sure.
Plzzzzzzzzzz don't cry, u did ur best....I know how it feels bcz I cried during 1st time.....So try to apply penny. for sure....now, just take some break from studies.....try to cheer up and don't worry it is not end of the world.......ofcourse, u have plenty of options, just try to boost up ur gpa and try next yr....or do more volunteer activities to be a better competitive in next cycle.....gdluck for ur future decisions....

 

[rupkaur]

u r scaring me. I took my first dat on Aug. and thinking bout taking it again because of my bad PAT scores. So far, I didn't study anything; i was thinking studying only on weekands during one month is going to be enough bcz I m going to take fall classes along w/ them. Anyways, just try it. I know only univ. of Penny. look at the highest scores among those, so ur first dat scores will count there, other univ. look at the latest scores. But I m not sure.
Plzzzzzzzzzz don't cry, u did ur best....I know how it feels bcz I cried during 1st time.....So try to apply penny. for sure....now, just take some break from studies.....try to cheer up and don't worry it is not end of the world.......ofcourse, u have plenty of options, just try to boost up ur gpa and try next yr....or do more volunteer activities to be a better competitive in next cycle.....gdluck for ur future decisions....

 

[Dutchboy]

I know what it's like to try your hardest and fall flat on your face. The thing is, is that you cannot change anything that is in the past. So learn from your mistakes and build on them. Don't study harder, study smarter. Get the core ideas from your science classes planted in your brain, and if there is time maybe try to memorize some of the nit picky facts. Take practice tests to work on your timing, instead of attempting to memorize the Kaplan book. By the time you get to the end of the book will already have forgot the first half.

 

[ltd3972]

I had a similar thing happen to me. However all you have to do is get your first test scores sent to the schools again via the ADA. Schools take the highest score (I made sure to find that out) so you shouldnt worry too much about that. Hope it all works out, good luck!

 

[duho.O]

I had a similar thing happen to me. However all you have to do is get your first test scores sent to the schools again via the ADA. Schools take the highest score (I made sure to find that out) so you shouldnt worry too much about that. Hope it all works out, good luck!

really??? omg....you just made my day...gave me a bit more hope. i'm gonna go call the schools on monday to see what i need to do. thanks for the advice.

 

[54807]

I thought that they curve each version of the test so if you have a harder version then everyone else should do worse and the scores should reflect that. I may be wrong about that but that seems to me like the only logical reason to have a curved test of any kind. The schools do not see the percentiles and Im sure the scaled scores will reflect, for the most part, how well you did in relation to everyone else. Ive taken the test twice and I felt they were equally as difficult...I just studied harder the second time.

Not sure, I've always understood it that there is no longer "test versions". Everyone gets a different test with different questions. I've been told there is a common core to alot of the tests to help with the rankings of the tests and when they introduce new questions they can gauge the difficulty of it against the test core.

With that being said, I doubt any exam is harder than another to the point where scores would substantially differ. That would be unfortunate and unfair.

On OTHER exams (not the DAT) it is published that individual questions are weighted.

1) .98
2) 1.02
3) .99
etc...

So like the harder question 1.02 gets weighted slightly more and perhaps if you get lots of the 1.02 questions, then you get a slightly harder test. But then the scaled test score is supposed to account for it.

I would appeal the score if I were you. It is a computer graded test and I don't see much potential for errors but your first scores were not bad at all, and for them to go down that much even with 3 more months of studying doesn't make sense.

Good luck though. Do your schools have the first score on file at all? Hopefully so and you can just ignore this latest set....

 

[issa]

what everyone needs to know is the dat is not fair. i know many who had 20 or less word problems in the QR section. my orgo section had very few predict the product questions, but i know others who took the dat had many or all predict the product questions. in general chem, many said they had 25% of their questions had to do with pv=nRT, but my test had just 1 question about it.
i am saying that there are dat versions that are way too easy, and there are versions that are too hard.

 

[Envision]

what everyone needs to know is the dat is not fair. i know many who had 20 or less word problems in the QR section. my orgo section had very few predict the product questions, but i know others who took the dat had many or all predict the product questions. in general chem, many said they had 25% of their questions had to do with pv=nRT, but my test had just 1 question about it.
i am saying that there are dat versions that are way too easy, and there are versions that are too hard.

Again, that is subjective. What if someone was bad at pv=nrt (hard to believe, but thats not the point), and good at whatever you got on your exam? what if they were better at word problems but sucked at trig questions? That means someone who is good at those areas you are weak at could very well have done great on your version (if there are "versions")...and poorly on a different exam. thus, i suggested you check out your percentile. if your 18 AA (or whatever your AA is) is 99%...then ya, i guess you got a hard test since you beat 99% of those who took the exam. however, if thats like...75%...then no, the test was fair game. If your well prepared, then you should have to worry about what kind of quetions you get. So, unless you have something a little more official than "i know some people who said..." statements to back yourself up, please do not make such claims. Otherwise, i could argue that my Ochem score could have been higher bc im great at synthesis problems but i got to many aromatic questions. If you recieved to many questions that kaplan did not prepare you for...then i have reasons to believe that you did not completely understand the material covered by kaplan. the DAT requires you to have a comprehensive understanding of the material, not just memorization/familiarization of the material. your performance is based on how well prepared you are, not on your test version.

 

[zthang]

Did you send your first scores to the schools youre applying to? If you did, then you don't have an obligation to send these newer scores and they can just use your older scores.

 

[lilchinoboy03]

the test is curved in a way so that you are on a curve with other test takers that had the exact same test as you...or atleast this is what ive been told. anyway, the whole percentile/curve/scoring thing doesn't make that much sense to me, and i doubt anyone that's not a statistician understands it completely. but it is a standardized test indeed. have faith in the professionals that devise the system. there is some pdf file on ada or adea or something that explains how the test is standardized and scored. more than ill ever want to know about scoring and curving. yes its true that it also comes down to luck of the draw, but that is also why you cant gamble with ur studies and skip over material.

anyway, to the OP, schools see both scores. I don't know which one they will take into consideration, but I'm sure they won't completely ignore the higher score.

 

[bionerd]

This sounds like a case of studying too much. 3 months, with 6-8 hours a day??? That sounds crazy. Did you get carried away with trying to memorize and study all the nitty gritty details? If so, maybe your mind just snapped during the test from the pressure, and you end up mixing things up. Worst case scenario is that you'll take it a 3rd time. I would suggest study the basic concepts and doing a bunch of practice problems but ONLY FOR A FEW HOURS ON WEEKDAYS. Your brain needs a rest too!!!!

 

[duho.O]

i guess you're all right about all your comments. i did go over 7 different kaplan exams TWICE.....plus 3 Achiever exams TWICE. i wrote down all the questions i did wrong and went over all the solutions to understand what i did wrong. and anything i didn't understand....i looked it up. maybe i did study to the point where my brain fell apart. the first DAT i took, i only spent 2 weeks studying.....so i thought 3 months would totally boost my score...yeah right. i don't know why i did so bad....i'm still stunned.....more disappointed in myself though that i wasted all that time for nothing. 🙁

 

[Yellow Snow]

what everyone needs to know is the dat is not fair. i know many who had 20 or less word problems in the QR section. my orgo section had very few predict the product questions, but i know others who took the dat had many or all predict the product questions. in general chem, many said they had 25% of their questions had to do with pv=nRT, but my test had just 1 question about it.
i am saying that there are dat versions that are way too easy, and there are versions that are too hard.

I would have loved more word problems as you just need good reasoning skills and not a strong background in math to solve these. I only had a few. It is the luck of the draw when it comes to question "styles".

 

[Yellow Snow]

Some schools take the most recent DATs, some take the highest in each category over multiple tests and some probably average. Some research should be useful in making a list of schools that play toward the strenghts of your application. Good luck.

 

[seanpae]

Did you send your first scores to the schools youre applying to? If you did, then you don't have an obligation to send these newer scores and they can just use your older scores.

I just checked the ADA website and it says..."When an examinee repeats the test, the results of the four most recent attempts are released on the official report of scores forwarded to the dental schools. Also, for all examinees, the total number of attempts is listed." Therefore you do not need to send your first dat socre again.

 

[QuackDentist]

I have my own theory for the DAT.

I think there is a question bank. When you take a test, the system just takes random questions from the bank. And when you get your score and percentage, this is based on how many people traditionally get each of the questions right.

 

[SugarNaCl]

Hmmm...what I would have done when taking a chance like that would have probably been to not have my scores sent to any schools. If you did better, you could always send them evenif you had to pay $15/application. This way if you do worse, oh well. Good luck to you.

 

[pine88]

what everyone needs to know is the dat is not fair. i know many who had 20 or less word problems in the QR section. my orgo section had very few predict the product questions, but i know others who took the dat had many or all predict the product questions. in general chem, many said they had 25% of their questions had to do with pv=nRT, but my test had just 1 question about it.
i am saying that there are dat versions that are way too easy, and there are versions that are too hard.

Don't forget that a good number of questions on any standardized test are experimental and don't actually figure into your score. That could explain the high number of pv=nrt questions

 

[UtahDad]

Hey!! I'm sorry your experience was less than great!! I am told however that schools will take your last three DAT exams and use the best score of the three. I admire your effort to study for and retake the exam. Your the type of student that dental schools should be looking for. Best of luck!!

 

[PlanB21]

i believe the DAT should just be offered twice a year like the MCAT (well that will change in 2007 because is it going to computer). I think every1 gets the same damn test and the playing field is even. I am not sure if they are the same, i am just guessing......But if it is, then ADA should change that.

 

[rupkaur]

I m agree w/ you...I know dat test are different bcz one of my friend took test in Fresno and me in Sacramento, I asked her about reading passages. both were totally different even we took test in the same week......gdluck for ure decision.......take care....

 

[OSUDDS]

i agree with SugarNACL, if you retake, dont send out your scores til you know what they are. I think thats a bad move. You couldve retaken and no one wouldve known.

 

[duho.O]

thanks everyone for your comments....i really appreciate it. apparently...i didn't know....i already sent my 2nd DAT scores to the schools....i thought if i didn't send my scores immediately, then my application would be on hold at the schools. 🙁 is there a way i can withhold sending my second scores?

 

[DentalBoarder]

really sorry to hear of your situation. perhaps it is best to apply next year. in the meantime, take more classes, raise ur gpa, study hard for your DAT. as for studying for the DAT, use topscore, kaplan, and dat achiever. use the other stuff more for the PAT. do not be discouraged. we all face little obstacles in life. i wish u the best of luck.

 

[The Musketeer]

You should contact the ADA regarding this issue. But in my opinion, it will be highly unlikely, especially if you did indicate on your application that you will be retaking the test again.

thanks everyone for your comments....i really appreciate it. apparently...i didn't know....i already sent my 2nd DAT scores to the schools....i thought if i didn't send my scores immediately, then my application would be on hold at the schools. 🙁 is there a way i can withhold sending my second scores?

 

[duho.O]

You should contact the ADA regarding this issue. But in my opinion, it will be highly likely, especially if you did indicate on your application that you will be retaking the test again.

highly LIKELY that i can withhold my scores or highly UNLIKELY??

 

[DDS:)]

highly LIKELY that i can withhold my scores or highly UNLIKELY??

Did u request sending the 2nd DAT score, if u did. Then there is no way u can call ADA to hold on to those scores. U can not deleting the schools on ur list once u requested.

 

[The Musketeer]

Sorry for the typo...but it is the latter.

highly LIKELY that i can withhold my scores or highly UNLIKELY??

 

[UtahDad]

I know I responded up above, but I saw your link again today and still feel sorry for you. Best of luck!!

 

[duho.O]

i agree with SugarNACL, if you retake, dont send out your scores til you know what they are. I think thats a bad move. You couldve retaken and no one wouldve known.

seems like i've just been making bad decisions lately....if only i knew sooner i wouldn't do it...but thanks for the information....i'll keep that in mind later.

 

[duho.O]

I had a similar thing happen to me. However all you have to do is get your first test scores sent to the schools again via the ADA. Schools take the highest score (I made sure to find that out) so you shouldnt worry too much about that. Hope it all works out, good luck!

apparently, not all schools look at the highest score. i talked to USC, they said they only consider the most recent scores. 🙁 i haven't called all of the other schools, but this first one already is starting to make me panick.

 

[rupkaur]

apparently, not all schools look at the highest score. i talked to USC, they said they only consider the most recent scores. 🙁 i haven't called all of the other schools, but this first one already is starting to make me panick.

I think only univ. of Penny look at the highest scores....gdluck.....

 

[DDSY]

As a third year applicant myself I can only say that if things don't work out this year, you can always reapply next year. As far as the test goes, try and learn what went wrong and build on that. Analyze the way you study and what you study. This can make all the difference in the world and if you can master that now, you'll be even that much more prepared for dental school and won't repeat those same mistakes there. The best way to increase confidence in yourself is to build on smaller successes and soon they become big successes. Best of luck to you.

Yes, definitely agree. Although I am a first time applicant, I'm no longer your typical fresh off college applicant and it's been four years since I graduated. If you're a recent college grad, taking an extra year off is no prob at all and definitely beneficial, if it would give you a extra time and experience.

 

[SugarNaCl]

You can't spend the whole cycle worrying about something that cannot be changed. Simply (or not so simply) retake it and do better. It's a hard sale to get in with 16 AA, but the 19 PAT is really good. Maybe even consider (get more advice on this first) writing the admissions officer to the schools you applied and tell them that you are retaking it so they know what to expect. I think you will do just fine... keep plugging away...your GPA is decent. Someday, you will be a dentist Im sure, if you stick with it. Good luck!

 

[Nasem]

Take it easy bro, your trying your best and so what if it didn't work out the first time around. In 10 years from today when your a dentist your going to remember these hardships and laugh and say "yeh, getting into dental school was a B!TCH... but I eventually did it".

Look, everyone has a special type of brain that learns in special kind of ways. Seems like when you over stress your brain for months and months you start to lose grip of the material you learn. Instead of studying for 3 months like hell... Take the next month off, go out and have fun, forget the 2nd DAT score. After your 1 month vacation with your self, come back and prepare to study just for 30 days, no more no less. Plan the WHOLE thing out how your going to study, what your going to study, and how much per day you want to study JUST for 30 days. Then, take the test and hope all good goes your way 🙂

Just remember, those who study hard might stuggle hard but eventually they will reach thier goal.

 

[dontbam]

yeah i have to agree with the earlier posts. Some days the DAT is indeed "easier" but only subjectively. I'm guessing people think the test is easier only because kaplan specifically went over those sections or what not. What I find troublesome is that if the DAT is truly random, you'll be getting a lot of easy traditional questions (covered by kaplan) on some versions of the test and then on other tests you'll be getting those non-traditional (not covered by kaplan) questions. This is what makes the test "unfair" because most people are studying from the same resources and might get "lucky" with one of the traditional tests versus someone else who might get "screwed" by a non-traditional one.

I really DO NOT emphasize "screwed" because in theory, the test is "weighted" according to all the test takers on that specific day...BUT, BUT what if you were among the first 20 test takers for that particular day, like someone on the east coast? It's statistically impossible to determine a "curve" with only 20 numbers. Therefore, there has to be a set # of correct questions that determines your score and thus each question is most likely weighted equally among all tests so it doesn't if you get an easy test or a hard test...all the points are worth the same. Theoretically then if you get an easy test you'll get a higher score