Should I retake the DAT?

[bamabsbll7]

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I am trying to go to UAB dental school and their average AA score is a 19.2 and PAT is a 18.3. Or other schools around the southeast which have around the same average DAT scores. My GPA is a 3.79 and science GPA around a 3.6.
I scored:
AA- 19
Bio-15 killed my score
OC- 21
GC-20
QR- 17
RC-21
PAT- 19

I did not think biology would be that bad but I was completely wrong. I did not study the right way for it and if I retook it I think I could get a much better score plus my nerves won't be near as high for the second one. Should I retake it?

 

[wizi]

I am trying to go to UAB dental school and their average AA score is a 19.2 and PAT is a 18.3. Or other schools around the southeast which have around the same average DAT scores. My GPA is a 3.79 and science GPA around a 3.6.
I scored:
AA- 19
Bio-15 killed my score
OC- 21
GC-20
QR- 17
RC-21
PAT- 19

I did not think biology would be that bad but I was completely wrong. I did not study the right way for it and if I retook it I think I could get a much better score plus my nerves won't be near as high for the second one. Should I retake it?

I think you just answer your own question. Retake it and you have much better chance. I talked to the dean of a dental school and he said that 2 most important scores on the DAT are Bio and RC.

 

[radmazindds]

retake. I think you did great on all your 20+ subjects, but there's always potential to do better. 🙂

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

15 in Bio is a red flag.

You should definitely retake. You have the experience so you won't be as nervous this time. How did you go about studying for the Biology? You should definitely pick up Cliff's AP biology. I used it exclusively and got a great score.

 

[AllahIsGreater]

15 in bio may hold you back. also question for anyone who take the exam. is there a square root function on the calculator??

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

15 in bio may hold you back. also question for anyone who take the exam. is there a square root function on the calculator??

yeah, there is a sqr function.

 

[bamabsbll7]

Yea I figured I was going to have to. All I did was read the Biology in the Kaplan book and spent maybe 30 minutes a day for like 2 weeks. I heard that Cliffs AP Bio would help and I am going to do that with a lot of math and PAT practice to try to raise it. Thanks for the replies. The section that kills me in the PAT is the angles... How do you prepare for that? or how do you do it?

 

[AllahIsGreater]

Yea I figured I was going to have to. All I did was read the Biology in the Kaplan book and spent maybe 30 minutes a day for like 2 weeks. I heard that Cliffs AP Bio would help and I am going to do that with a lot of math and PAT practice to try to raise it. Thanks for the replies. The section that kills me in the PAT is the angles... How do you prepare for that? or how do you do it?

thanks albino!

and for angles i only used the laptop method (imagining how a laptop would look open/closed) and make sure you use the answer KEY!!!!!!!! its helps alot!

 

[AlbinoPolarBear]

Yea I figured I was going to have to. All I did was read the Biology in the Kaplan book and spent maybe 30 minutes a day for like 2 weeks. I heard that Cliffs AP Bio would help and I am going to do that with a lot of math and PAT practice to try to raise it. Thanks for the replies. The section that kills me in the PAT is the angles... How do you prepare for that? or how do you do it?

Lol, that's why you didn't do well on the Bio.
Biology was probably the most annoying section for me due to all of the material that needs to be learned. I spent 6 weeks studying in total, and probably spent around 2 weeks of studying biology. Kaplan's biology is simplified for the lowest common denominator, this is where Kaplan rakes in the most money (from people with weak science backgrounds that will pay through the roof to get into meds/dental). It's to say it's useless, some of the sections are explained relatively well (eg. physiology). Cliff does a better job of summarizing all of the other concepts. If I were you, I would read over Kaplan's and Cliffs at least twice, while taking notes the second time.

For PAT, it's all about practice. A good thing to invest in is the Crack the DAT software. It helped me immensely for the exam. There are some angle tutorial threads here if you do a search. Good luck!