School

[DDS PharmD]

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[Ryxndek]

I think it varies on each exam so it falls on some type of curve like you said, I don't think they disclose exactly how many one should get right to get a certain score since the questions vary from exam dates. I would, however, try to aim for higher than a 17TS score as a 17 is below the average for matriculants and one should be aiming for a TS of 20+ as this will help lock in interviews/acceptances. It's still possible to get in with a 17TS, but you should strive to get the highest score possible to maximize your chances and not get screened out by schools.

 

[DDS PharmD]

I think it varies on each exam so it falls on some type of curve like you said, I don't think they disclose exactly how many one should get right to get a certain score since the questions vary from exam dates. I would, however, try to aim for higher than a 17TS score as a 17 is below the average for matriculants and one should be aiming for a TS of 20+ as this will help lock in interviews/acceptances. It's still possible to get in with a 17TS, but you should strive to get the highest score possible to maximize your chances and not get screened out by schools.

HI and thank you for your response! I see that you got 4 acceptances! wow, congrats!!! That is impressive. Have you decided which to choose, and how will you be deciding? I'm curious because in the case that multiple options are available, how do you choose I think tuition varies but overall costs may be somewhat similar or weighed out if the living costs are less in a different city I guess. But which of the three would you say is your top choice, and why? *If you dont mind me asking

 

[Ryxndek]

HI and thank you for your response! I see that you got 4 acceptances! wow, congrats!!! That is impressive. Have you decided which to choose, and how will you be deciding? I'm curious because in the case that multiple options are available, how do you choose I think tuition varies but overall costs may be somewhat similar or weighed out if the living costs are less in a different city I guess. But which of the three would you say is your top choice, and why? *If you dont mind me asking

Ah, thank you! Yes, I'm going to attend Minnesota, since it's my in-state school and the cheapest. Frankly, I chose this school primarily because of the costs as well as the location. I love living in Minneapolis, I'm from MN, I go to the U for undergrad, I see myself 100% practicing in the state (MN SoD graduates 70% of MN's dentists), and it seems like a solid program. I don't think I want to specialize so not having graduate programs didn't matter too much to me, though the U has almost all of them.

Having multiple options can be tricky, especially if they're all relatively close in cost. For example, Creighton and Case Western were roughly the same for tuition plus living expenses after factoring everything in, I think it was around a 5k a year difference between the 2(~120k vs. 125k). So for me, had I not gotten into my state school, I probably would have chosen Creighton. The living costs were about the same it seemed like, though Cleveland seemed like a much cooler city compared to Omaha. And I chose it because it was the second closest school to my home, I've been to Omaha many times, I liked their very strong clinical requirements/skills learned, and I liked the atmosphere of the school more than Case Western (even though Case is absolutely beautiful, I wasn't a fan of the way they taught their curriculum).

It's really important to visit the schools before deciding, even if you have virtual interviews and get a virtual tour nothing beats going in person, and I'm glad I got to visit 3/5 of the schools I interviewed at. There are a lot of factors that play into making decisions, but your first goal should be minimizing your financial burden and then going from there.

Of the schools I got into, my lists probably would have Been 1.UMinn, 2.Creighton, and then 3.Case (had I gotten into Touro off the waitlist it would have been 3 instead). I applied to NYU as my safety school but god hoped it wasn't the only school I got into with the astronomical costs (so take that with a grain of salt).

At the end of the day, this is your financial decision to make, and you've gotta weigh all the pros and cons and how much something might be worth to you when looking at a program. Does the size of the class matter, does urban city life matter more than living in the suburbs? Do you want to be close or far away from home? There's plenty to think about and weigh against all the factors.

I loved Creighton and Case because they were both recently renovated and the facilities were great, but the costs of the school couldn't be justified in my head when I got the acceptance call from Minn. It's almost a 30-40k difference per year in COA. That wasn't worth it, and in the end we all graduate as general dentists, and I can always take CE to catch up if one school lets you do something clinically that another school doesn't, like say Invisalign planning/treatment.

I hope this helps! It doesn't hurt to plan out a school list to make so you don't have to think to hard when applying and can just apply right away once everything is ready. The earlier the better. Good luck on your DAT, crush it!

 

[ChemistryDentist]

I think it varies on each exam so it falls on some type of curve like you said, I don't think they disclose exactly how many one should get right to get a certain score since the questions vary from exam dates. I would, however, try to aim for higher than a 17TS score as a 17 is below the average for matriculants and one should be aiming for a TS of 20+ as this will help lock in interviews/acceptances. It's still possible to get in with a 17TS, but you should strive to get the highest score possible to maximize your chances and not get screened out by schools.

Agree entirely with this. It's hard to say how many wrong a 17 will be. Some exams may have tougher bio questions, so you may be able to get a few more incorrect and still get a decent score. Others may be "easy," at least compared to other test takers, so only a few wrong will drop the score a lot. That's why you should always try to do the absolute best that you can. The max is a 30, so why not aim for a 30? Average DAT scores seem to be going up each year too, so give it your best go!