Taking the DAT over

[cool_kristin]

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Hi all! I have read a lot of the messages, but have not had time to read them all. So sorry for the repeat in my questions.

I am a non-traditional student (31 yrs) coming from the business world, but have worked in a dental office since mid Aug. and have been the main dental assistant since Oct.

I had not scored on the DAT as well as I wanted and especially the PAT. (too embarrassed to write what I got, but more than the lowest score (12) one can get to get an interview at my school.)

I wrote the admissions director, who advised me that my grades would surpass this, and I would be okay not to take the DAT over. However, to my shock 😕 my interviewees brought up my PAT score and said that some of the committee members would say no on my application as this is a good indicator that I would not succeed in the clinical area. Even though the rest of my application was terrific, they said some would overlook this and would only focus on my PAT score.

Questions :

-What are the thoughts my chances of getting in?

-Should I bust my butt to study for the DAT to take it in March and hope I still get in this year 2003 or should I take it next year?

-Also, I practiced the PAT many times on the Topscore Pro and scored a 20, but to my dismay, the real PAT was MUCH harder than the topscore pro. Is there any practice exam out there that is closer to the real PAT?

-Has the PAT changed dramatically (gotten more difficult) over the years? (seems like the sample exam that the dental school gave me of the written DAT/PAT was a lot easier than the PAT I took)

Thanks you all!

😀

 

[DesiDentist]

cool_kristen:

If you are narrowly looking at only one school then I would suggest retaking the DAT. However, if you have a wide range of schools you have a higher probability to get accepted if your gpa and other aspects are excellent, like you say. I have noticed a trend in decreasing PAT scores this year as opposed to other years. Mark Lombard at Temple also agrees with this. However, it should not be hard to get at least a 17 on the real thing if you were hitting 20's on Top Score. I would advise you to go talk with the ad.com at your school and illustrate you intense desire. If they suggest retaking the DAT do it. Even if you improve one point, that will give them incentive to select you since you did what they asked you to do.

Best of Luck.

DesiDentist

 

[ewsmith1]

This is true...the PAT is a fairly reliable indicator as to weather someone has the spatial skills needed to perform operative dentistry, as much of what you do is based upon your ability to think in 3 dimensions....

Truat me, as a 4th year student I have had the opportunity many times to work with students who could not SEE in 3D....

Now, is the PAT a good indicator of whether you will be a "good" doctor or not, no way!!!!! But you would be surprosed at how many students have to drop out b/c they cannot make it through the 1st 2 preclinical years of lab work.

 

[DesiDentist]

Yes, I agree with ewsmith about some relevance to the PAT and lab skills. However, I believe these skills can be improved by practice. Take a C.A.D. course. However, I truly believe that the PAT this year was either screwed up, or scored much more harder than previous years. Remember fifteen of the PAT questions are NOT graded. I seriously think there was something screwed up this year. Even my Kaplan manager thinks so.

DesiDentist