Took DAT today

I hate to be the one to say this..but overall scores are not lower this year. If anythign they are higher than ever. an 18 can get you in..but i think it needs to be like a solid 18...meaning that if you had gotten 1 more point in another section it would have easily been a 19...instead one of those you barely made above 17 and was rounded up to an 18. I think the QR and the RC score might cause some concerns..but I guess you wont really know until this cycle opens up and see what this years pool is like. but if ur GPA is really really good, and the rest if ur app i strong you have a shot. Apply early and hope for the best!

 

anyone else have any input on this dat getting harder business, is there anything to that?

 

yea and if so, HOW? wording of questions, more word problems in QR? just how is it more difficult? thanks

 

I re-wrote the Canadian DAT in February, and I can't say that it was more difficult than the first time around. I cannot comment on the difficulty of the American DAT, however.

 

you can hate me for this but DAT is not any harder this year. It is harder to get in to dental school but DAT is not harder. If anything people are getting higher scores because the competition is higher. Even three years a go it was alot easier to get into your school of choice. but why? go look at the numbers/stats provided by ADEA. Because dentist make good money, have their own business/own boss and they actually have a good life. lokk at the MD's around you. they have 2 pagers hanging from their belt, they get old before they graduate and they don't enjoy life. Let's not forget about the respect that you get in your community. The income of dentist has doubled since 90's.
Anyways, dental schools have a better screening process these years, they are looking for someone that brings something new to their schools, diversifies the school and can finish. At the end of the day, dental schools don't want to loose money.
Someone started this, oh DAT is harder this year because he/she wanted to sell their product on this forum which is missleading people and against the law. look around this website, it's all about the dat destroyer/cracker/top this and that and so on. DAT is not any harder. I have a lot of friends that have taken it and done well. It all about hard work!
CCR, good job. I'm sure you'll get in this year.
sorry for the long essssay

 

You'll definitely get in somewhere!! However, I wouldn't be too picky.

Marion

 

What's your gpa? That 15 and 17 could make things difficult

 

I wouldn't go as far as saying that you'll definitely get in somewhere unless your just trying to be supportive. My DAT scores are very similar and this is my third time applying. Granted my gpa sucks and I think that is the real reason that I am not getting in. To the OP your scores are good but they aren't great. Here are my scores:

PAT 20
QR 15
RC 18
Bio 19
Chem 18
OChem 19
TS 19
AA 17

Our scores are not the same but similar and like I said this is the third time for me. I am retaking the DAT this time and plan on doing it next month. I don't want to sound like an @$$, I truly hope you get in, I just wanted to let you know.

 

No you are not sounding like an A$$. I think sometimes it is better to hear that than "you are going to be ok" when you are really not.

 

People can think what they think, but the DAT IS HARDER!!!! The DAT is A LOT harder in fact, especially the QR. The QR section is insane compared to how it used to be. I took the older version and this year's version, and the difference is remarkable. You can choose to disagree but unless you have done both the old and new versions, you really don't have a leg to stand on in this argument.

 

weird......

 

Why would the DAT company make the difficulty of their test change from year to year? A test is valid for 3 years, therefore students within that 3 year range must have scores that are comparable to each other. If you look at the records, every year some people say it's getting harder, and yet every year the scores remain about the same and actually get a little higher, since more qualified applicants are taking the test.

There are different versions of the test, and maybe you were just unlucky and got one that focused on things you didn't know as well.

OP, sucks about your QR. It's funny how many of us bomb it. I bombed it too. The schools don't seem to care though. Nobody mentioned it. Good luck

 

That 15 can be disabling as you wont even meet minimums for some schools. Even though it's just math...they still don't like it. You need to be proactive during your entire application process. My friend had higher scores on everything than you except math. He had a tough time, although, did make it.

Why does everyone do so bad on the math? Its pretty easy stuff and it can really boost your AA.

 

Hall of Fame post! Too True!!!

Double post because people need to read this!

 

If you don't mind me asking what is your GPA? Do you have any course work post bachelors?

 

My gpa is a 2.96 as far as my undergraduate. I have done a year of graduate work and my current gpa as far as that goes is currently a 3.82. I know that my gpa is a problem for me but average DAT scores like mine and the OP's aren't going to get you a whole lot. Let's face it scores are getting higher and higher and nobody knows when the range will top out enough to start discouraging applicants from applying.

 

On your reapps did you include your postbac GPA? I'm just asking because I am sort of in the same boat as far a GPA goes.

 

how did u get your score so quickly? didn't you just take it today? i thought u had to wait a while before you got your grades.. :\

 

I know I bombed the math just because it was last and my brain was fried. Whenever I took a practice QR alone, my score was about 3 points higher than when I did a complete practice test. I think since the end is in sight, my brain kinda starts to shut down. I'm glad they don't put orgo last.

 

Last year was kind of tough. Even though I was taking graduate classes and I put that on my application I don't think the schools cared too much since I didn't have any grades from them yet. I did however think that my strong finish from my undergraduate would overshadow my gpa but it didn't. I can tell you first hand that even if a school says that they look at positive trends in your gpa it is usually a load of crap. Anyway this is my first year applying with some graduate grades so we'll have to see what happens.

 

What I don't understand about all these discussions is why it matters. If it is harder for you, then it is harder for everyone else. The scores should still even out.