rescore possible???

[onelove4uk]

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Hello all, took my DATs today and dont kno what to make my scores. initially i was jumping up and down for joy but then the PAT score really hit me and brought me back down to ground state. ok sorry that was lame...i've been havin chemistry nightmares lately!
anyways:

Biology 19
G. Chem 20
O. Chem 22
PAT 16!!!
Reading 23
QR 22
AA 21

HERE'S THE THING: perceptual is the MOST important section on the test. dental schools will see a 21 for AA and a 16 for PAT. this is horrible. I plan to call a bunch of schools tomorrow and ask if I should retake. Before anyone jumps on me cuz most my scores are good, just note that most ppl posting recently have had one lower score (like a 17) and it was in math usually. this is the PAT tho!!! honestly i've taken 5 full exams in the last 2 weeks and i scored 19 on PAT everytime. i even felt good about this time so i dunno how i got a 16. Is there any way to call and ask for a rescore or recount??? Will this 16 really stand out and hurt my chances???

Breakdown: Bio - I read Schaum's outline!!! the MOST detailed thing out there. I studied insane amounts of kaplan material plus topscore. after all this, there were still questions I didnt know where to begin and other questions that were so specific that it was frustrating. i dont think theres a set way to study for this...you have to memorize everything to get a 30...otherwise rely on your memory.
General chem and orgo chem - hah i honestly dont remember much from these sections. not many equations tho.
Quantitative reasoning - i was raping this section from the beginning. i was laughing by the time i got to 35. then i have 6 lovely questions that i didnt even kno how to do despite having time left. that suckeddd!
Reading comprehension - ok somehow i pulled a 23 but i felt i did the worst on this section by far. there must have been a massive curve! unlike ANY topscore test i took (where i got 29s on reading)...these questions asked silly biased stuff like "whats the appropriate title" or "whats the authors mood."
PAT - angles were stupidly hard. HOLE PUNCHING WAS LAME! i've been lied to! i've been told there were only 4 basic folds! wait till you take the DATs and see folds you've never seen before!!!

I wanna wish everyone good luck! One of my good friends talked to me on the phone from the moment i left my house till the moment i entered the testing site...this REALLY helped keep my mind off the DAT and avoid nervousness.

I'm so worried bout this 16 on the PAT 🙁

 

[uesider]

Where did you hear the most important section of the DAT is the PAT? I heard quite the opposite...

And no offense, but a rescore? Would be nice, but I think everyone would be doing it if it were possible! 🙂

Call the schools you are applying to and ask what they think about the PAT. My feeling is that at least a few of them will say the sciences is the most important part, which you did awesome on! Don't freak out, these are great scores.

As for Bio, I have Schaum's Outlines, how specific do the questions get?? I know everyone is saying it's close to impossible to know everything for, and I know Schaum's doesn't even have everything. I know someone who took it who said there were a few questions that were only in a bio textbook, and NO prep materials including Destroyer, Schaum's, Kaplan, etc. Do you have the same feelings?

 

[dddoch]

While AA and TS scores are much more important than PAT, the thing about the PAT is that it is a score that stands alone apart from the AA and is rather conspicuous. Also, keep in mind that the schools report only the AA and PAT to AADSAS.

That said, I wouldn't retake it with your scores.

 

[onelove4uk]

Where I heard about the PAT being most important was the Barron's book I think. It also made sense since PAT has to do with visualizing things...something that dentists should be good at. Also it made sense to me since they average the science scores in TS, they average 5 sections in AA, but they never average the PAT...it stands alone. dddoch: so schools will not see the individual breakdown of each section score???
uesider: the problem with schaums is it IS too specific. there are way too many facts in there to know. From buncha kaplan tests and topscore...I've observed that there are certain topics they test on in general pretty consistently (ex. being germ layers). if you study schaums for each of these sections you should be fine. i studied 360 kaplan bio questions and 120 topscore bio questions. the bunch of questions that weren't in those 480 questions i had to rely on memory from schaums. it is a good book but like the reading comprehension, you have to filter out the important stuff

 

[Streetwolf]

Schools get every last number up there.

PAT is definitely not the most important. The only thing is, many schools have a cutoff around that score. Some schools want 17+. Others would probably accept the 16 with those other scores. Having a good GPA could only help you out.

 

[dddoch]

I just checked my barron's book, and it indeed says that:

"Admissions committees examine with particular care two scores that reflect performance on the DAT: (1) total academic and (2) PAT. Arguably, since several individual scores are figured into the total academic score, the PAT score is the single most important score on the DAT."

while I don't agree with it 100%, this statement has some truth on it.

 

[onelove4uk]

alrite well I called Temple University. I'm sure each school differs but this university told me that they ONLY request TS, AA, and PAT from AADSAS which means they dont see all the scores. I told her my GPA is a 3.45 and my science GPA is a 3.8, she still suggested I retake the DATs. I think I read somewhere that dental schools prefer that students finish all prerequisites before applying. I havent taken physics 1 or 2 yet! This will be interesting...

 

[dddoch]

alrite well I called Temple University. I'm sure each school differs but this university told me that they ONLY request TS, AA, and PAT from AADSAS which means they dont see all the scores. I told her my GPA is a 3.45 and my science GPA is a 3.8, she still suggested I retake the DATs. I think I read somewhere that dental schools prefer that students finish all prerequisites before applying. I havent taken physics 1 or 2 yet! This will be interesting...

I don't think they know what they are talking about. They cannot request only the TS, AA, PAT from AADSAS. The whole scores with each sections are sent to each schools from AADSAS by your score report. The reports are all the same. Also, it is funny how they tell you to retake it even though their average AA, TS is much lower than yours. I never knew that Temple values the PAT so much as to make you retake your DAT with such high stats.

 

[dddoch]

alrite well I called Temple University. I'm sure each school differs but this university told me that they ONLY request TS, AA, and PAT from AADSAS which means they dont see all the scores. I told her my GPA is a 3.45 and my science GPA is a 3.8, she still suggested I retake the DATs. I think I read somewhere that dental schools prefer that students finish all prerequisites before applying. I havent taken physics 1 or 2 yet! This will be interesting...

ah..actually it seems like a friend of mine got the same response from them.
He had AA of 23, but temple told hime to retake because of his 17 PAT.

 

[Archie376]

u rocked the reading comp. and QR. I think that looks great considering most ppl. do bad on these 2 sections. I hear that dental schools look at the reading alot. It somehow shows that your capable of reading heavy science texts.
Id like to know your strategy for reading. What did you use?

I think you did great and don't need to retake. Call up other schools and see what they think.
goodluck