Should I retake the DAT before Dec? 1 interview so far

[ToofDood]

I've been pondering something and wanted to see what the fine folks on SDN thought about it. This is my second year applying to dental school. I applied very late last year - 5 schools in Oct and 5 more in Dec - and still was lucky enough to receive interviews at MWU-AZ in January and UNE in April. I was waitlisted at MWU and rejected at UNE. My stats are as follows:

~3.5 oGPA and ~3.4 sGPA
19 AA/18 TS/18 PAT/21 RC/19 QR, but with a 16 in Organic Chemistry
Strong LOE's, decent PS, reasonable EC's

This year, I applied to 16 schools and my app went out "first batch." I received an interview at Tennessee last month (felt like it went pretty well; ridiculously relaxed), but so far I haven't received any other invitations. I'm an Arkansas resident and would love to attend one of the surrounding state schools where I can get in-state tuition, such as Tennessee, Louisville, Kansas City, or LSU. My interviews last year and my early interview at Tennessee this year make me feel like I must be a fairly competitive applicant. That said, I can't help but feel like my DAT scores are holding me back to some extent. In fact, LSU specifically mentioned I'd probably have to retake and aim for 21+ if I want a shot at interviewing.

My question is this: should I retake the DAT? And if so, should I worry myself with retaking it before Dec? Or should I wait it out and only retake in Jan or Feb if I don't get any acceptances in early Dec?

Thanks!

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[fa_tth]

Are you confident you can score better? If you are, it certainly won't hurt to retake it. If you score worse (most applicants do), it might kill off your application.

 

[ToofDood]

This would actually be my third time. The first time I made a 17 AA without really studying. For my second attempt last October I gave myself 3-4 weeks of moderate studying, but my only materials were a Kaplan book (which I now know is crap) and old class notes from chem. This time I would be trying some new materials, like DAT Destroyer, Bootcamp, Chad's, etc. I'm fairly certain I could improve if I actually buckled down and studied hard using the right material for a month or so.

 

[fa_tth]

Since its coming in pretty late in the application cycle why not buckle down and study the full 2-3 months other applicants take? If, god forbid, you don't get in this cycle you'll definitely be kicking yourself if you feel like you could have gotten a better score.

 

[RuffDay]

I agree with the advice that fa_tth provided. I feel like you can really buckle down and get a 21+ easily. You don't really have to focus as much for math, reading, or PAT. Maybe just work on your math a little so you can bring that score up.

As for your 16 in OC. Fortunately, this is the easiest section to improve along with general chemistry. Just focus, practice, and expose yourself with many questions.

You can probably do this all in 1 month if you put 4 hours a day.