new member (2nd interview in a row)

[jcstylee]

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Hello everybody,

My name is Jim Cominsky and I just became a member to this site. I've been reading some pretty interesting postings and thought I might as well join.

I was just invited to an interview at Ohio State University for a second consecutive year. Last year I made it to number 8 on their waiting list (academic purgatory); however I didn't have a B.S. completed and my DAT scores were mostly 17's with one 18 and two 15's. I was told I should retake the DAT before I re-apply and I was planning on it after I finished genetics, biochemistry, and statistics during the summer (my brain was like mud after that summer semester). The very next week after the summer semester I ended up getting this awesome job at Materialise, which is the company that owns SimPlant, as the SurgiGuide product specialist. SimPlant is the most sophisticated software design for computer guided implantology and it uses CT data with amazing features for tx planning. Due to the full time nature of the job and my enrollment of my two last courses for a B.S. in biology (I'm done next week!) I haven't retaken the DAT.

I've done almost everything there is towards the dental profession such as being a dental tech in the navy for five years, teaching dental assisting at a college, and teaching CE courses to dental specialists at Materialise's events. Nonetheless, I still feel like the DAT is held higher than any other admissions credential. Am I the only one that feels like the DAT is given too much recognition as an indicator for probable performance? I understand the concept; however I believe it doesn't measure applicants qualities such as passion, integrity, motivation, and dental knowledge.

-Jim

 

[Dr. Parm]

Hello everybody,

My name is Jim Cominsky and I just became a member to this site. I've been reading some pretty interesting postings and thought I might as well join.

I was just invited to an interview at Ohio State University for a second consecutive year. Last year I made it to number 8 on their waiting list (academic purgatory); however I didn't have a B.S. completed and my DAT scores were mostly 17's with one 18 and two 15's. I was told I should retake the DAT before I re-apply and I was planning on it after I finished genetics, biochemistry, and statistics during the summer (my brain was like mud after that summer semester). The very next week after the summer semester I ended up getting this awesome job at Materialise, which is the company that owns SimPlant, as the SurgiGuide product specialist. SimPlant is the most sophisticated software design for computer guided implantology and it uses CT data with amazing features for tx planning. Due to the full time nature of the job and my enrollment of my two last courses for a B.S. in biology (I'm done next week!) I haven't retaken the DAT.

I've done almost everything there is towards the dental profession such as being a dental tech in the navy for five years, teaching dental assisting at a college, and teaching CE courses to dental specialists at Materialise's events. Nonetheless, I still feel like the DAT is held higher than any other admissions credential. Am I the only one that feels like the DAT is given too much recognition as an indicator for probable performance? I understand the concept; however I believe it doesn't measure applicants qualities such as passion, integrity, motivation, and dental knowledge.

-Jim

Yes Jim, you are right. The DAT can never measure things like passion and motivation towards dentistry. However, what it does do is it serves as a grand equalizer, a way to measure students' capabilities from different schools. This is not to say that this process is still skewed, because DAT is mainly about test-taking, but that is the best system they have in place. There are schools that hold GPA above DATs as GPA = 4 years-worth work, and DATs is essentially one day's worth. In any case, I would recommend you retake the DATs, just so you can be more competitive as an applicant, and suggest that you may want to use Kaplan or something else as a test prep resource. Hope this helps Jim, good luck buddy!

 

[jcstylee]

Yes Jim, you are right. The DAT can never measure things like passion and motivation towards dentistry. However, what it does do is it serves as a grand equalizer, a way to measure students' capabilities from different schools. This is not to say that this process is still skewed, because DAT is mainly about test-taking, but that is the best system they have in place. There are schools that hold GPA above DATs as GPA = 4 years-worth work, and DATs is essentially one day's worth. In any case, I would recommend you retake the DATs, just so you can be more competitive as an applicant, and suggest that you may want to use Kaplan or something else as a test prep resource. Hope this helps Jim, good luck buddy!

Dr. Pharm,

Thanks for the encouragement. I understand how you say the DAT measures different schools education; however I have attended 10 total school from 7 different states through out the navy because I was moving a lot. Even my B.S. degree in biology is coming from a school in which I've only taken two classes from (Charter Oak State College). Most of my credits are from USC, which is about 40%. This is where I become frustrated because I've had to adjust to new learning environments and I'm sure you know that it can be hard trying to pick up on a new teachers methods. I've never once said this during last years interview nor will I bring it up this Jan at my interview because it sounds like an excuse. My GPA is 3.4, my biology gpa is 3.51, and my science gpa is 3.3.