Question from a slacker... DAT scores too spread?

[Teefs]

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So today, I walked out of Prometric with a confused smile: my overall percentile was good (93rd @ 21/20/23), but the spread was just ridiculous. I went from 19 - 26 . . . particularly in math, which is usually 99th%. I'm pretty sure I freaked out because 1) I wasted lots of time on two questions 2) I had to pee?

My study habits weren't great - I picked up a Kaplan review book from Half Priced Books and studied for something like thirty hours total over a month - never took a timed practice test. Bah. . . After taking that last edition of the paper MCAT, DAT didn't really scare me : )

Will there be anything of notable concern to the selection committees?

26 Reading Comprehension
23 Perceptual Ability
21 Organic Chemistry
21 General Chemistry
19 Biology
19 Mathematics

Thanks for the comments and inspiration - I'm new to this whole dental thing (after spending a wonderful year in a med school - not for me)! :leaf:

 

[Tommy43087]

Why would you have a confused smile? You did an awesome job. You should not be posting anything remotely negative with your scores! Asssuming a good GPA and good EC's, consider yourself a dental student next year! Hope you like it better than med school lol

Good luck

 

[datdat]

for the science, you're on the19~21 range which is good. your RC is particularly high!!

what passage did you got? were they easy or you are a really fantastic reader/?

 

[txchexmex]

If I may ask, what strategy did you use for RC? That is a great score. Congrats

 

[Teefs]

If I may ask, what strategy did you use for RC? That is a great score. Congrats

You know, I was honestly expecting this to be my lowest section score. My 'strategy' was to not read the passages, and just go through the questions. It seemed like the questions followed along chronologically with the paragraphs - I had never taken this section under timed conditions, and quite frankly I only got a 9 on the VR of the MCAT (about 70th percentile) so kind of shook me a bit for this to be my highest section. I finished it with about ten minutes to spare, so I went back and read over things again, finally pushing the 'end' button because I wanted to pee so bad.

 

[Teefs]

what passage did you got? were they easy or you are a really fantastic reader/?

I know this sounds wimpy, but I don't think I'm allowed to disclose which passages were read. However, I do read A LOT of technical manuals, and am fairly adept at looking quickly within text for key words. That's all 90% of the questions referred to, was some specific enzyme or reaction or medical term that was easily picked out from the other filler words.

To be honest, I was expecting this section to be the hardest for me, and it is the only one that I ended early (I finished every other section, but still...).