thank you for your reply.
I only took the dat once in 2007 and i started masters program last yr and got one interview while I'm doing masters.
Yes, English is my second language but one of the interviewer told me that my RC score is ok since it's not my 1st language... They told me that it is understandable.
The thing is that I have to re-study for dat since it was too far ago.. and ill be ready in about 1-2 month if i retake it...
Don't you think it's gonna be too late?
I'm not sure which school has told you this, but I don't know of any dental schools that try to justify the poor performance of their applicants on any section of the exam. Yes! Obviously the RC section of the exam will be more challenging for you, since English is not your first language, and this is very understandable. But that does NOT justify a low score in this section. The main reason why RC is part of the DAT, is for schools to evaluate your reading skills, and this should make sense, because when you're in dental school you'll end up having multiple exams during a single week, and in order to survive such a hectic schedule you need to read well, comprehend well, and finally be able to make a conclusion about what you've read and apply your knowledge to different situations. Trust me, in a field as competitive as dentistry, no one would have any sympathy for you if you fall behind due to mediocre reading skills. So, you NEED to work on this section and bring your score up.
Also, keep in mind that most schools have cutoffs for different sections of the DAT; meaning that if you score lower than the minimum requirement for that section, the admission committee won't even bother to review your application. Perhaps, this is why you haven't received many interviews during the last few cycles. No matter how hard you try to justify that RC score, if it falls below their cutoff point, they will discard your application.
About the timing...
If you put in 2 solid months of studying (which I think should be sufficient to do well on the DAT) then you can reschedule your exam for the end of August. Go ahead and apply with the scores that you already have; then call the schools you're interested in and let them know that you're aware of your low RC and therefore, you're planing to retake the exam by the end of August in order to improve it. I think this will significantly improve your chances of admission this year. However, if you decide to do this, make sure you study hard, so you can maintain your previous science scores and improve your RC.
