Should I retake my DAT? 22 AA

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fantasy football pro

fantasy football pro

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I'm a Texas resident and got rejected this cycle from all three schools. I got a 22AA on my DAT, however only a 17 on my PAT and OC sections.

I spoke with an admissions coordinator who said that if I retake the DAT, that they will only consider my most recent score, which might go down. However, I feel that I know how to study for the exam now because of my experience and I will have taken the second semester of organic chemistry and can work very hard on learning the subject. I also took a very helpful biochemistry course which makes me feel like I remember a lot of biology and chemistry. How bad does the 17 look on those two sections? I'm willing to retake if I can improve my chances but the exam is expensive and buying the most recent prep materials would be expensive too.

This post has been edited to include that I received no interviews, so that is why I know I was rejected (because all of the schools are concluding their interviews)
 
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When did you apply? And what is your GPA+ECs.
 
Yes, I actually applied on the deadline, September 30th. I had a 3.76 GPA and about 150 hours of shadowing. The reason for my concern following my conversation with the admissions person is that it seems they really want to see very strong competency in the sciences.

This posting was edited to add that they also mentioned that the PAT was a significant point of consideration.
 
it is not easy to get 22AA. studying for DAT exam again is torturing. Schools usually care about Reading score and TS score. PAT score doesn't matter much. I would recommend you to buy 2015 ADEA book and check how many each OOS school accepts texas residents. The schools that accept 5+ texas residents, apply to those schools. This would increase your chances. applying to only 3 schools is risky.
 
Thanks. I was just thinking that because I had such great professors and learned a lot and since I have experience studying and know what I'm lousy at, that I could try to work to improve my score. Yeah, I will have a look at that book, thank you.
 
fantasy football pro said:
I'm a Texas resident and got rejected this cycle from all three schools. I got a 22AA on my DAT, however only a 17 on my PAT and OC sections.

I spoke with an admissions coordinator who said that if I retake the DAT, that they will only consider my most recent score, which might go down. However, I feel that I know how to study for the exam now because of my experience and I will have taken the second semester of organic chemistry and can work very hard on learning the subject. I also took a very helpful biochemistry course which makes me feel like I remember a lot of biology and chemistry. How bad does the 17 look on those two sections? I'm willing to retake if I can improve my chances but the exam is expensive and buying the most recent prep materials would be expensive too.

This post has been edited to include that I received no interviews, so that is why I know I was rejected (because all of the schools are concluding their interviews)
Click to expand...
You collected your first wham when you took your DAT without organic and your second wham from your organic score. DS are not to keen on arrogance and apparently Texas school are not an exception. San Antonio considers PAT and organic AA very important while the other 2 are ambivalent.
http://www.ada.org/en/science-research/health-policy-institute/data-center/dental-education
 
fantasy football pro said:
I'm a Texas resident and got rejected this cycle from all three schools. I got a 22AA on my DAT, however only a 17 on my PAT and OC sections.

I spoke with an admissions coordinator who said that if I retake the DAT, that they will only consider my most recent score, which might go down. However, I feel that I know how to study for the exam now because of my experience and I will have taken the second semester of organic chemistry and can work very hard on learning the subject. I also took a very helpful biochemistry course which makes me feel like I remember a lot of biology and chemistry. How bad does the 17 look on those two sections? I'm willing to retake if I can improve my chances but the exam is expensive and buying the most recent prep materials would be expensive too.

This post has been edited to include that I received no interviews, so that is why I know I was rejected (because all of the schools are concluding their interviews)
Click to expand...
If you're confident that you can score higher I would re-test. In either case I would apply earlier and more broadly.
 
fantasy football pro said:
I'm a Texas resident and got rejected this cycle from all three schools. I got a 22AA on my DAT, however only a 17 on my PAT and OC sections.

I spoke with an admissions coordinator who said that if I retake the DAT, that they will only consider my most recent score, which might go down. However, I feel that I know how to study for the exam now because of my experience and I will have taken the second semester of organic chemistry and can work very hard on learning the subject. I also took a very helpful biochemistry course which makes me feel like I remember a lot of biology and chemistry. How bad does the 17 look on those two sections? I'm willing to retake if I can improve my chances but the exam is expensive and buying the most recent prep materials would be expensive too.

This post has been edited to include that I received no interviews, so that is why I know I was rejected (because all of the schools are concluding their interviews)
Click to expand...

don't re-take

honeslty if you are that worried just call/email admissions at random schools and see what they say
 
I don't know how accurate it is to say any school cares more about one subsection over another. I was accepted to San Antonio this past December while getting an interview at TAMU but no acceptance. My score was 22AA 23TS with a 23 in each science subsection. 19 PAT, 19 Reading and 19 QR. If I was in your shoes, I wouldn't take the DAT again and maybe just apply again earlier. Focus on other things. Your DAT is fine! Good luck 🙂
 
Advance said:
If you're confident that you can score higher I would re-test. In either case I would apply earlier and more broadly.
Click to expand...

Thank you! Do you have any specific recommendations? I was thinking maybe OU might be more friendly to Texas residents?
 
Scumbag_Steve said:
If you have a 3.7+ and a 22 AA, the problem is the intangibles, not the tangibles. Consider doing more meaningful/diverse shadowing, retooling the personal statement, getting letters of rec from other people etc.

Smart move applying to only the three TX schools if you have stats like that. Just remember that you need to give them a very good reason to spend four years educating you to serve patients in your state. They don't need people with above average stats; they need above average people.
Click to expand...

Wait, are you saying I should apply to more schools (sarcastic) or that I should only apply to three? But thank you for the rest of the advice, I will work on exactly those things.
 
I know someone with an 18 and 3.7 that got interviews to houston, san antonio, and OU. Do you have any community service?
 
I agree with @Scumbag_Steve, you should have received at least one interview with those stats. I would advise you to do more research on other OOS Dental Schools and what do they value more. For example, I found most of the NY dental schools valued TS in the DAT a lot, especially Organic Chemistry.

Definitely go back to your recommendation letters and personal statement. Make sure you meet a pre-health counselor/adviser in your undergrad to revise the personal statement until it feels authentic. Schedule multiple coffee sessions with your professors and express to them why you want to pursue dentistry. Personally, I had all of my science recommendation letters from higher level science courses during my senior year because the class size was only 10-20 students. The professors already knew I was studious, but they didn't know about my other hidden talents and hobbies. Recommendation letters can go a long way in your application.
 
Scumbag_Steve said:
No I was being dead serious.

Take a look at costs of schools that offer in-state tuition after the first year (UNLV, UConn, Ohio State, Buffalo to name a few) and consider adding those if you feel like it, if not then don't bother. I really think that with your stats if you really dedicate yourself to improving as a person and improving the rest of your app you should be able to get into a TX school next cycle. Best of luck!
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What other schools offer in-state tuition after the first year?
 
The 17 PAT would REALLY worry me.. Regardless of your other sections, some schools place more weight on the PAT.

If you're super confident that you can increase that section I would go for it.. but I doubt that you won't receive interviews solely based on that score.
 
Retake! I mean take 2 months from your life now and focus on your weaknesses and try again.
 
fantasy football pro said:
Thank you! Do you have any specific recommendations? I was thinking maybe OU might be more friendly to Texas residents?
Click to expand...

I went there for undergraduate but didn't apply.

They are not friendly to Texas, why would they be? Texas applicants have three schools to apply to.

When I talked to people at the school they told me coming from Texas it skills be very difficult to get in, and since I wasn't really that high on them I didn't apply.

Take that with a grain of salt because I know as few friends from Texas who applied and were accepted.

I would say just apply earlier next time, your DAT is fine
 
doc toothache said:
You collected your first wham when you took your DAT without organic and your second wham from your organic score. DS are not to keen on arrogance and apparently Texas school are not an exception. San Antonio considers PAT and organic AA very important while the other 2 are ambivalent.
http://www.ada.org/en/science-research/health-policy-institute/data-center/dental-education
Click to expand...
With all respect doc, I don't think it is fair to relate the decision to take the DAT without orgo 2 to arrogance. For my case, I took it after self-studying for orgo II because I looked at the opportunity cost between taking it without orgo II while gen chem, bio, and math are all still active in my memory compared to waiting another 12 months (since I prefer not to study for the DAT during the semesters to prevent it from negatively influencing my GPA) just so I could have taken orgo II.
 
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Why people are against him trying to retake and improve his scores, students are getting more competitive with each cycle; what was considered great score 3-5 years ago is now considered average!

So, why him re-taking is not advisable here? Can you people give supported reasons other than "I think they refused you because you applied last in the circle!"
I applied last in the circle to transfer to American University and I got accepted! Too bad I didn't go there, could have changed the path of my life, but that's another story.
The main focus here: Why retaking is not a good idea? He has 17 in Pat and 17 in Orgo that is below average for many schools, but I don't know what the case with Texas, but if there is something for sure, schools expects more of students each year.

So, can't he apply with his current Dat and then retake and update it later? I am asking because I am not sure if he can apply using current dat and update it later?
 
I would re-take as long as you are confident. A 21 AA/20 PAT is better than a 22/17. But I also think that applying on the last day was the main reason why you didn't get in anywhere. By the time your name came up, the classes were probably almost full.
 
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