There must be something up with DAT percentiles

[Likkriue]

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So I was busy loitering all over every health forum. What surprises me is how in every other field a 80th percentile is a extremely good score.
For example the Mcat, 510 is considered competitive.
The OAT 360 is considered competitive.
GRE 158-159? Is considered competitive.
PCAT 400?(hard to find much since pharmacy schools take just about anyone) is considered competitive.

How about the DAT? 21, aka 90th percentile is considered competitive.

A 90th percentile in any of the other test is considered godlike. On the DAT? 99 percentile (24+) is needed to get into godlike territory. Even my 22 is giving me doubts, idk the percentile, something under 95% I think?

I dont understand why there is such a huge disparity between the DAT and other tests in terms of competitiveness. You can argue about difficulty but from what I've read the DAT is the second hardest among them.
You have dental schools, 3 of them recently averaging almost a 23 DAT (95+ percentile) That is insane.

 

[738177]

So I was busy loitering all over every health forum. What surprises me is how in every other field a 80th percentile is a extremely good score.
For example the Mcat, 510 is considered competitive.
The OAT 360 is considered competitive.
GRE 158-159? Is considered competitive.
PCAT 400?(hard to find much since pharmacy schools take just about anyone) is considered competitive.

How about the DAT? 21, aka 90th percentile is considered competitive.

A 90th percentile in any of the other test is considered godlike. On the DAT? 99 percentile (24+) is needed to get into godlike territory. Even my 22 is giving me doubts, idk the percentile, something under 95% I think?

I dont understand why there is such a huge disparity between the DAT and other tests in terms of competitiveness. You can argue about difficulty but from what I've read the DAT is the second hardest among them.
You have dental schools, 3 of them recently averaging almost a 23 DAT (95+ percentile) That is insane.

Even this can be debatable though, no? I think OAT is written by ADA as well. Personally, i'd much rather PAT > Physics....even though i suck at both lol.
In any case, i get what you're saying it's pretty weird. It's not like everyone's pulling 21+ scores on the DAT either. On the cDAT, the % of test takers that got 21/22 are 11%/ 9%. I'd assume it's similar for the aDAT as well. Even with those scores, you just feel weirdly average in the dental world.

 

[confidentandgood]

What surprises me is how in every other field a 80th percentile is a extremely good score.

Kind of makes sense for the MCAT, considering the sheer amount of material on that test.

 

[Likkriue]

Kind of makes sense for the MCAT, considering the sheer amount of material on that test.

Yeah it made sense there. But what about the PCAT OAT and GRE? They are all extremely competitive at just an 80%.

 

[confidentandgood]

Yeah it made sense there. But what about the PCAT OAT and GRE? They are all extremely competitive at just an 80%.

And comparing the DAT to any other entrance exam is basically comparing apples and oranges. Could have something to do with the general scores of applicants over time. I googled every phrase I could think of and can't find an indication of how competitive scores are calculated.

 

[JLT223]

There's a reason they stopped releasing percentiles

 

[drcrentistdds]

There's a reason they stopped releasing percentiles

What is it

 

[Incis0r]

Even my 22 is giving me doubts

Because you're on SDN.

 

[klownzo]

Because you're on SDN.

This. Only on SDN do people think a 22 might not be enough to get you into school. The majority of people accepted to dental school have a DAT below a 20.. I even see 3.0 gpa's getting in with 18's/19's. Sure some schools might have a ridiculous average DAT but those are only 2-3/50

 

[JLT223]

The majority of people accepted to dental school have a DAT below a 20.

That is simply not true. Averages show that most accepted students have a 20 AA. Obviously there is a range here.

 

[klownzo]

That is simply not true. Averages show that most accepted students have a 20 AA. Obviously there is a range here.

I just looked this up and you're right, for the 2015 ranking the average is a 19.9