Need Advice on low DAT scores from today???

[Chemboy23]

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Does anyone know what the lowest DAT score is one can get in a section and still possibly get into dental school. I've read that a lot of the schools I'm applying to have AVERAGE scores of around 18, I have a 17 overall. Is it really that impossible to get into dental school with a 17 (got a 16 in QR and GC 🙁. I have a cum 3.46 and sci 3.38. I am from Mississippi, but I just moved out west with my wife (to Phoenix). The schools I applied to are as follows, and I tried to really emphasize "diversity" in my apps.

-MWU (Glendale)
-ASDOH - have over 1,000 hrs shadowing & 300 community service hours
-UNLV
-Loma Linda
-Western - I'm SDA
-Tennessee
-Mississippi (home state, but stats seem wayyyy too low)
-Temple

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[mashinka]

my friend just got into case western with a 17AA with a QR 14 and an overall gpa 2.9.
if a middle-class white girl from cali can do that, then anyone can. Don't give up hope. Worst case scenario, if you dont get in this cycle, you will next time. Tons have people have struggled through this and came out on top, so you can too!

My advice, right now, is to pour yourself a stiff drink to calm your nerves 🙂

 

[yappy]

Chem boy I just hate to see you settle with that score (considering your practice scores). Can't you get a retake b/c of the calculator?

 

[Chemboy23]

I contacted ADA and I'm waiting on a reply. Here's the letter I wrote them last night, it was faxed off immediately.

"
My name is Andrew Scott Jackson and I took my DAT today in Phoenix, Arizona (Camelback #0075). As I was nearing the end of my test, my calculator began to glitch and would not clear. I tried hitting “C” and “CE” and it was still not clearing. The Prometric test administrator was switching shifts during this time and when I looked around to notify someone of the non-functioning calculator, no one was there. I was told not to leave the room prior to being seated, so I was not sure what the right thing to do was. I received a 16 on the Quantitative Reasoning section and was very upset. My wife and I have literally spent thousands of dollars on applications this cycle and if I have to wait until 90 days have passed to retake, I feel like all of the seats will be taken in the dental school classes. I just assumed that I needed to contact ADA about this issue instead of Prometric so I left the center upon the completion of my test. I am not asking to retake the entire DAT, I am only asking for the opportunity to retake the Quantitative Reasoning section. If your rules, however, imply that the whole test must be retaken, I will do whatever it takes. Thank you so much in advance for your help and assistance in resolving this issue."
So, hopefully they will get back to me today. I know, I am very unsatisfied with my scores. It seems like I got the shaft test, but the test was fair overall. I am just upset about the QR and GC section. We'll see what the say and I will keep you guys posted. Learn from this and try not to use the calculator if you can avoid it. Thanks for being so supportive! 🙂

 

[hoylematt]

Sorry to hear about this happening to you. I know for a fact that if it happened to me that I would not have left the testing center until I had it in writing that a glitch during my exam would allow me a retake. Doesn't Prometric have all the power when it comes to problems that happen during the test? Either way I wish you good luck, but to be quite honest with the kind of people they have over there at the ADA, I assume they will probably deny you. Every experience i have had calling and trying to get any sort of information from the ADA has been miserable.

I would recommend contacting Prometric immediately, as you would most likely get better results on a computer malfunction going down that rout.

Just so i know for sure. what caused the malfunction on your calculator? pushing the "CE" button first? I just want to make sure that if I only push "C" I will be ok.

 

[alanan84]

Welcome to the DAT world pre-March 2010 when we couldn't use a calculator...

Do you really think a non-functioning calculator affected your scores that much?

If you can add some schools, think about adding the newer dental schools like Midwestern (IL) and the Utah school. I think they're both private and new which means you'd have a better chance.

 

[Chemboy23]

-alan...i know man. i shouldn't have even used the thing i guess. i can admit that i felt very underprepared in the section (arcsins, graphs of abs. value inequalities, stats stuff, etc...), but there were a few that I could have got right with a better calculator. thanks for the advice anyway though! next time, i will not even use the stupid thing lol. it really doesn't help much at all. it takes more time to plug stuff in than it's worth in the end. good luck man!

 

[Chemboy23]

--->hoylematt...i read on here that someone suggested using the "CE" button instead of the "C" button. So, I guess when I hit CE first, no matter what I hit after that, the calculator was going nuts. I could press something like 2+2 to do a quick accuracy test, and it would give me something like 0.23775783 or something. they guy at prometric acted like a complete prick and said why didn't you say something. I said if i knew it was possible to get a retake (NOT the 90 day type), I would have came and found someone. He said, "there's nothing I can do, you'll have to call ADA." I am not playing with these people, I have spent literally thousands of dollars (just like everyone else applying) and to have this cut me off is completely ridiculous. I was very upset with my scores overall though, so I'm not blaming my whole test on the calculator. It's just that I had another low score and I really needed to do better in QR. Two 16's don't look good at all!

 

[mustardseed5]

oh gosh you deserve better chemboy. I think you worked really hard, and that being said you can not lose. I can't believe this happened but trust that the ADA will be understanding, I've heard of it before.

 

[Chemboy23]

thanks mustardseed! i am still waiting on a response from them, i faxed a report off to them. we'll see what they say.