Should I Retake

[FLG8RFAN]

Hi everybody,

I will graduate summa cum laude Mechanical Engineering, I shadowed at a dental office for the past 6 months, volunteered at a hospital for a semester, did a mission trip in Panama, Co-oped at Siemens for two semesters, and was admitted into a research program through UF College of Dentistry. I recently turned to Dentistry after nearly completing my Engineering degree so I have been clawing my way through the past year to finish all my Pre-reqs and take part in these things that most of you do throughout your 4 years in college. I only had 9 days to cram for the DAT before I took it last week so I didn't do as well as most of you that I have seen on this website. Below are my stats:

BIO: 20
GC: 21
OR: 20
QR: 20
RC: 18 (no english is not my second language, I should attend the "school for kids who don't read good")
PAT: 22
AA: 20
TS: 20

Sci GPA (including 30+ engineering classes): 3.67
Overall GPA: 3.73
Non-Sci GPA: 3.94
BCP GPA: 3.56 (would be 3.79 but had to retake Physics 1)

What do you guys think? Should I retake the DAT because of my low RC or do you think I'm okay to start applying? Considering my background are there any schools I should save my money and avoid applying? Also, do any of you know any schools that historically, are prone to taking a liking to engineering students? Any information you all can give that can relate to my situation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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[RAK1987]

hey nice work! i think that you're good to start applying. if you look through the ADEA book, most schools have DAT ranges like 18-22... with medians around 19/20 ish. so if you have the mean score - and a high GPA i think you're golden!! nice work on the dat! by the way - -im a slow reader too if that makes you feel any better! good luck!

 

[rose786]

Are you being serious?

Sure, retake it. Aim for 25-29.

 

[laugh]

Those are excellent scores. I bet you get into most every school you apply to.... assuming your not socially inept.... although I know a ton of socially inept individuals with your stats that get in just fine. So, socially inept or not, you will be fine. Good luck.

 

[rooney09]

Unless you want to increase your chances of getting into Harvard Dental!

 

[illbirz]

I agree with ROSE........first of all, again, ARE U BEING SERIOUS? 2nd of all, eh why not....if u got noting else going for ya in ur life, and i mean NOTING. Not even like hibernating on the coach in front of the tv, watching da game having a bud, then GO FOR IT. Try to see if you can get that 30, so u can always say U KNOW WAT, I REALLY and TRULY stuck it to that test. Your call...

BTW, good job on the test. You can bet if i get those scores ill be watching da game having a bud even with my 3.2 GPA.

 

[FLG8RFAN]

Well thanks a lot guys, its really reassuring to hear that from everybody. I was just really worried about the RC being so low because I have heard a lot of schools put the most emphasis on that section and 44th percentile isn't much to write home about. If anybody has any questions about how I studied for the DAT, or questions about the test in general I'd be happy to share my knowledge. Good luck to you all.

 

[rushang]

Thats great scores...bro...how did you prepare for it...and you said...u just studied for 9 days...thats genius..dude...how did you pull that...what materials have you used...and what things would you recommend us to do...that may be u didnt....thanxs

 

[FLG8RFAN]

Well there was only 9 days of STUDYING involved. I took Kaplan last semester which was a 2-3 hour class 1 day a week for like 10 weeks, and I would review Kaplan flash cards to and from class a couple of times a week on the bus for 10 min at a time. This approach I recommend as long as you are still studying in addition to that. I unfortunately didn't get a chance to truly study and do practice questions until spring break, during which I spent Friday through Monday, 9 days later, studying from 830am to 1030pm. My agenda daily was: first 2-3 hours review sections I was weak, at noon I would take a full length. Then I went through every question and made sure I understood them ALL. Then with my remaining two hours I would focus on areas that I had lower percentages on. If you do Kaplan (which I recommend for this purpose) after the full length they break down every section to respective categories so you can see your strengths and weaknesses.

So all together I did 6 Full lengths from Kaplan, all subject tests from Kaplan (about 5 per science), 3 TopScore full lengths, and ada.org's full length (which is way easier than real thing...def got like a 24-25 on that so dont base your scores off of it). Like I said I dont recommend what I did and doing all that over 9 days. I would recommend studying in smaller portions a few weeks or months prior depending on the person then maybe taking my course of action for the final days leading up to the exam to train for endurance purposes. The hardest part was maintaining a high level of alertness for the entirety of the exam. I think if you master that you have done more than half the battle.

Resources:
Campbell for Bio
Wade for Orgo
McMurray for Gchem
Kaplan blue book
Kaplan Lesson Book
TopScore (personally, i say save your money here)
Test Specifications outline on ada.org (if you have the drive to put in the time and think you can figure out the tricks then use this and save the money on kaplan too)