Should I retake the DAT? 15 QR

[DG1700]

I recently took the DAT and scored:
19 PA
15 QR
22 RC
21 Bio
21 GC
26 OC
22 TS
21 AA

GPA: 3.58
1 year of research experience and have held a couple of club president positions.

I believe the weakest point of my application will be ~50 hours of shadowing but I plan to raise that to 150 by the end of the summer.

Should I apply in the current cycle with this DAT score or hold off for next year and retake for the QR ?

Thank you in advance.

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[deleted985368]

Your scores are outstanding. Please apply. You're going to dental school to be a dentist, not a mathematician. Just make sure the schools you apply to don't have cutoff scores for 17 in each section.

 

[dds_2024]

I recently took the DAT and scored:
19 PA
15 QR
22 RC
21 Bio
21 GC
26 OC
22 TS
21 AA

GPA: 3.58
1 year of research experience and have held a couple of club president positions.

I believe the weakest point of my application will be ~50 hours of shadowing but I plan to raise that to 150 by the end of the summer.

Should I apply in the current cycle with this DAT score or hold off for next year and retake for the QR ?

Thank you in advance.

Yes apply this cycle!! I have similar scores to you (21AA/ 21TS/ 29RC/ 15QR) I emailed All of the schools on my list and they emailed back saying they look at everything holistically. Some said explicitly do not retake. Only midwestern AZ and IL told me to retake, but it’s a 50/50 chance. I can do better but I can do worse, so I chose not to retake and apply. If I don’t get anything this year then I’ll definitely retake.

If I were you, I’d contact the schools you want to go to, see what they say, and go from there.

 

[DiscoverWeakly]

One more thing to note is that when completing the application, you are only supposed to include shadowing hours you have already completed. So, while it's great that you plan to complete 150 by the end of summer, you can't actually include them on your application. That could be seen by admissions as lying on your app. So, try to get those hours ASAP!

 

[macsak]

QR is the least heavily weighted section of the DAT by far

 

[Aspire2Inspire17]

You're good! I scored the same QR and around your same other scores. You will be fine, probably won't even be brought up during your interviews. Be ready to explain, just in case.

 

[ChewyDrop]

You're not going to measure the perimeter of a fence in dental school. You're good to go.

 

[DG1700]

Thank you for all the responses!

I've decided to apply but now I'm running into the problem of finding a dentist to shadow.
The family dentist I shadowed during college has moved away and I've spent the last week calling dental offices in my area.
So far I've been rejected by all 20 of them but I did have a one say I could shadow him ...after I get into dental school.

I didn't grow up going to the dentist so I'm lacking any connections to dentists in my area.

Showing up in person didn't help either. I got the understandable impression that they were too busy to have someone shadow them..

Any tips?

 

[doctor-strange]

Thank you for all the responses!

I've decided to apply but now I'm running into the problem of finding a dentist to shadow.
The family dentist I shadowed during college has moved away and I've spent the last week calling dental offices in my area.
So far I've been rejected by all 20 of them but I did have a one say I could shadow him ...after I get into dental school.

I didn't grow up going to the dentist so I'm lacking any connections to dentists in my area.

Showing up in person didn't help either. I got the understandable impression that they were too busy to have someone shadow them..

Any tips?

I would show up in-person to a couple more offices with my resume and take my chances. I'm not really sure what kind of advice I can give you tbh... I was lucky enough that 1 of the 20 dentists I contacted let me shadow and even wrote my rec letter for me. Don't give up! I'm sure someone will be willing... They were all students before too.

 

[Mcat__cat!!!]

Dress up nicely and do it the old fashion way. Tell them that you only shadow a couple day a week or just in the morning for one day.
And go to other offices to do the same thing for a different time until you fill out your week. It’s best if they are in different specialty so you can talk about it in your application and interview. Be like i shadow a general dentist and love dentistry so much so i venture out to several specialtyto learn more..etc.
best of luck!

 

[dentalschl44]

Thank you for all the responses!

I've decided to apply but now I'm running into the problem of finding a dentist to shadow.
The family dentist I shadowed during college has moved away and I've spent the last week calling dental offices in my area.
So far I've been rejected by all 20 of them but I did have a one say I could shadow him ...after I get into dental school.

I didn't grow up going to the dentist so I'm lacking any connections to dentists in my area.

Showing up in person didn't help either. I got the understandable impression that they were too busy to have someone shadow them..

Any tips?

If you live anywhere near a college town, go there. They’re more used to having students shadow them. I know in the city I go to college dentists don’t even think twice about letting you shadow them, but in my hometown it’s a lot harder to find someone to shadow.

 

[TheDentalSchoolCoach]

I recently took the DAT and scored:
19 PA
15 QR
22 RC
21 Bio
21 GC
26 OC
22 TS
21 AA

GPA: 3.58
1 year of research experience and have held a couple of club president positions.

I believe the weakest point of my application will be ~50 hours of shadowing but I plan to raise that to 150 by the end of the summer.

Should I apply in the current cycle with this DAT score or hold off for next year and retake for the QR ?

Thank you in advance.

15 QR should be fine. Some schools have a 17 cutoff. Just check in with the schools (UCSF if prolly one of them). Don't retake it.