Preparation Question

[Dentistry321]

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Hi, everyone.

I am planning to submit my AADSAS by june.

However, I also want to retake DAT, which will be late august which is after I send out everything.
Would it be too late for me to retake the DAT on august?
Would it affect the decision for the admission board? (would they not see my 2nd dat score and determine whether to accept me or not?).

Also, I don't think that I filled in every school that I wanted my score to be sent to when I took my 1st DAT. How can I send my score to the schools that I didn't fill in?

Do extracurriculum make difference in choosing the candidates?
(who would they prefer between someone who has a higher score but with less extracurricular activities and someone who has a lower but with more extracurricular activities? I don't know whether what I just wrote makes sense.)

Lastly, I wonder if the mean gpa and dat score for this year will be a lot higher than those of the previous year. I am kind of scared because my friends who are applying this year say that the average score went up pretty high.


Thank you for your help.

 

[s.mutans]

Would it be too late for me to retake the DAT on august?
Would it affect the decision for the admission board? (would they not see my 2nd dat score and determine whether to accept me or not?).

How are your scores? The first cut of most schools are GPA and DAT scores. Some schools do not even look at the application if you don't score at least 17's. This minimal score may be even higher because, as in gpa, DAT scores tend to increase with every competing year. Tha admission board may not even look at your application without the cut off score. You should contact the school you are interested in. There have been cases in different schools where they give conditional acceptances. (i.e retake the DAT with a minimal score. BUt in general, schools cut you off with the gpa and DAT. Schools have different policies. I would apply now and be sure you are ready for the DAT. You have to kick butt! It's not too late. Most interviews are not given until October. So you have plenty of time to follow up and send your new scores. Be persistent and give your 2nd scores to the schools directly even if it is unofficial. AADSAS may send it for you but it takes longer.

Also, I don't think that I filled in every school that I wanted my score to be sent to when I took my 1st DAT. How can I send my score to the schools that I didn't fill in?

YOu must contact the ADA and pay 10$ for each school. Don't send this too early. I sent it too early and ended up sending them twice. You must write a letter to the ADA with your name, Address, SS#, and Month/ Year you topok the test and the schools you want them to send them to. CHeck out the address at ADA.org

Extra Curricular
This also varies by school. A lot of schools look at everything and assign a numerical score to their application. Community Service, Volunteerism, GPA, DAT, and the interview are all fair game factors. Some schools give higher percentage to academics versus extra curricular. You have to research the school you really want to go to. Talk to some admission officers or people on this board. Ask about the schools you have interest in. Do as much as you can with both academics and community Service.

GPA and DAT
Yes! Yes! Yes! Don't worry about comparing yourself to other applicants. Worry about selling yourself to the ad coms. Good Luck!

 

[ddstothecor]

It should be fine to take the DAT in August, and submit your scores later. What I did was take a summer course that ended in July. I took my DAT early August. After I received my scores back from the testing center (which you'll get immediately), I went home and finished my AADSAS and sent it in. My application # was 1956, so I wasn't early, but I wasn't late either. Many people suggest getting your application in early, but I wanted to have my results with improved scores. Anyway, it didn't end-up hurting me because I got plenty of interviews. In any case, you may request to have your scores sent to however many schools you would like by going to website mentioned by s. mutans. You may also request the scores be submitted to the institutions on line via the same web site. A word of caution: If you go home the day of the test and want to send the scores, then request them sent for a future date. The scores don't post through the system for about 2 weeks. I made the mistake of saying a test already taken, and they sent the results of my 1st DAT. They were good about sending the subsequent scores for the test I was requesting (DAT #2), but it was a hassle. Good luck!

 

[pumpkins90]

Dentistry 321,

I was in the exact situation as you last year. I submitted my aadsas during the first week of june notifying my plans on retaking the DAT in august. By July i had my university send all of my LOR's directly to the schools which i applied. I took the DAT in late august and the unoffical scores sent immediately and after about 2 weeks i started receiving some interviews. Most dental schools don't even look at applications until at least august, because for 1) aadsas is so slow and 2) they are busy with the incoming class. I do know that case western does start giving interviews in august, but most schools start in september or october. My advice is that if your stats are low (my DAT was subpar) then apply the first week and then send your DAT scores later. I am positive my success was due to my early application submission. You will be ahead of the ballgame and not have so many applications to compete with.
As far as your questions about stats, yes they are increasing every year. When i first applied about 7 years ago, i believe the average DAT was around a 16 or 17 for a lot of schools and GPA was >3.0. Now most schools are averaging 19+ DATS and GPA's of 3.5 or better. This doesn't mean you can't get in if you fall below. You just need other things to back up your application (extracurricular activities, research, lots of observation hours, etc.). My stats are no where near some of the people on this board, and i had 6 interviews with 2 acceptances and waitlisted at the others. I do think the best option is to retake the DAT and score as high as possible because it definitely does make it easier to get in. But, from personal experience, there are schools out there that do look at other factors. Once you get the interviews then you just have to sell yourself.
Good luck to you!

 

[grettlin2]

Dentistry 321,
I am in the same boat as you. Yes, I am going to apply this year.

By answering your question about taking DAT in Auguest, it is not a problem at all. I asked 12 schools that I am interested in and all of them said Auguest is still early enough to be considered for interview even for first round (some schools).

For the GPA and DAT, my friend graduated from UC, Berkely with 3.2 GPA in engineering major and took post-bac at cal state u. He got 2A, 1B, 1C in chemistry and physics. His DAT was taken in late Auguest as we plan to do and scored 19. He got 40 shadowing hours (just the minimum for some schools) and finally, he got into Boston U and NYU (He applied 6 schools). It might be kind of encouragement comparing to the people in this room with super scores. 🙂

 

[huguesseattle]

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[tinker bell]

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