Took the DAT.... 17AA 18TS 17PAT. Not too hot I know, but I've got a 3.64gpa and 3.5 something science. To retake the DAT or not to retake. Not trying to go to Harvard, just trying to get in somewhere. Have some connections w/ a recent graduate, and he's doing residency at the same school.
To retake or not to retake?
- Thread starter ugashaun
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1. Assuming you have good ECs, shadowing hours, LORs, you should be fine.
2. If you're black, hispanic, or native american, you should be fine.
3. As long as you don't have a section below a 15 or 16, you should be fine.
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It is not impossible for you to get in with those stats. Every year people get in. Like mentioned above you will need some good ec and in addition really good letters and have no score below 16 on your dat (it would help if you posted all of them). Trying this is taking a BIG chance.
In order to be truely competitive you NEED to retake the DAT. It is already hard enough to get into school. Having a low DAT is definetly going to hinder you. If you call the schools I would be confident that more than the majority would tell you to retake!
Just buckle down. You now know what the test is like and can KNOCK it out of the park. Change your study plans if you need and reevaluate. You can retake it by the end of june (3 months from first test) and still have your application complete fairly early... THAT IS WHAT I WOULD DO! You aren't giving yourself much of a chance with those scores.
my 3 cents
In order to be truely competitive you NEED to retake the DAT. It is already hard enough to get into school. Having a low DAT is definetly going to hinder you. If you call the schools I would be confident that more than the majority would tell you to retake!
Just buckle down. You now know what the test is like and can KNOCK it out of the park. Change your study plans if you need and reevaluate. You can retake it by the end of june (3 months from first test) and still have your application complete fairly early... THAT IS WHAT I WOULD DO! You aren't giving yourself much of a chance with those scores.
my 3 cents
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If you were going to apply to 20+ schools, I'd say don't retake (but there is some gambling)
If less than 20 schools, I say retake.
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YES RETAKE. since when does a 17AA NOT constitute a retake? OFCOURSE its a retake unless you are a URM. Your gpa is great, but you will have an extremely difficult time getting into Dschool with those scores. they are all below average, and the 18TS is at the average of students that have taken the exam ( i believe).
Thanks for all the advice. I plan on applying june 1. My current scores are as follows: gchem 17, ochem 19, bio 18, rc 18, qr 15, pat 17. Does this swing the retake or not argument in any particular direction?
Well the only score below 16 is QR which most schools dont really care about
Avg dat + above average GPA should get you an interview/acceptance somewhere provided that you apply to a lot of schools
It is not impossible for you to get in with those stats. Every year people get in. Like mentioned above you will need some good ec and in addition really good letters and have no score below 16 on your dat (it would help if you posted all of them). Trying this is taking a BIG chance.
In order to be truely competitive you NEED to retake the DAT. It is already hard enough to get into school. Having a low DAT is definetly going to hinder you. If you call the schools I would be confident that more than the majority would tell you to retake!
Just buckle down. You now know what the test is like and can KNOCK it out of the park. Change your study plans if you need and reevaluate. You can retake it by the end of june (3 months from first test) and still have your application complete fairly early... THAT IS WHAT I WOULD DO! You aren't giving yourself much of a chance with those scores.
my 3 cents
Thank you for the advice, but when retaking I have to consider the possibility of doing worse or the same. The question is can I get into A school with my stats?
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as helpful as Philippines03j is.... I highly doubt he (or anyone else) can foresee the future.
like previous posters said... the odds are against you, but I believe your GPA will pull you through, you just need to apply to alot of schools.
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I still HIGHLY doubt that you'll get an interview w/ a 17AA. I can't predict the future, but I can definitely say that the odds are REALLY stacked against you w/ that score. That is pretty low for admission. Just retake the test, you got time.
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I would definitely retake your DAT, your scores aren't bad, but they aren't great, and when your applying to schools that get around 4000 applicants you need that extra edge to get noticed, your GPA is really good, but I doubt you will get accepted anywhere with your DAT, your only a couple points off from a really good score anyways, just review a bit and retake the DAT.
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IF i were in your shoes, I will retake it immediately. Competition is very high.
Just averaged my scores together...17.4 makes me so mad that it was 0.1 point away from an 18. Meeting with my predental advisor in a few days and of course will ask her if I should retake. Yes I'm planning to retake it for those of you who replied to the thread. In practice my PAT and RC were each 2 points higher. For some reason I'm really starting to sweat this test, Esp the QR. Will def apply broadly and by june 1, have solid letters of rec, and a great personal statement.
