- Joined
- Dec 21, 2017
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- 187
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I just took the DAT yesterday and they had these extra-wide screens that looked more like movie theater dimensions. I noticed the text seemed a little stretched so that the test would fill the entire screen, but didn't think anything of it when I started the Science section. However, got to PAT section and immediately noticed something was off.
My weakest section has usually been Keyholes, TFE, and Angle Ranking, so I always start with Hole Punching first to get my brain warmed up and then I return to question 1 and work through those sections last. So starting with Hole Punching, I noticed the square images were stretched and looked rectangular - but didn't affect my ability to do the problems. Got to Pattern Folding and this is where I was scratching my head because some of the shapes in the question weren't exactly matching up with the shapes I was seeing in the answers, even when looking at the correct answer. Next was Keyholes and TFE, and I started depending on ratio dimensions to tell where things were supposed to line up.
Finally, I get to Angle Ranking... there was a perfect right angle sitting like an "L." Then an angle I needed to compare it to rotated to look like a "V." It was obtuse and went to the answer set to eliminate or find the answer, and it. was. not. there! I shot my hand up to call the proctor over and asked if there is some way to change the dimensions of the test to standard size instead of stretching it out to fill this extra wide monitor screen and she said they couldn't tamper with anything. Then I showed her the two angle and she could clearly see it was obtuse, but it was not even an answer choice, so it must have meant it was supposed to be acute but this stretching effect was making it look obtuse.
She said she would go ahead and file a report to the ADA to explain to them that I was at a severe disadvantage on the PAT section of the test due to this.
Has anyone else had any technical issues taking their DAT and what did the ADA do about it? Did you have to retake the entire test or were you allowed to come back and retake the one section? I got unexpected high scores on my Bio and RC sections and I'm scared if I retake it, it'll lower my scores, though I could stand to raise my QR score (ran out of time in that section).
In the end, my PAT score still came out decent, but this was the section I really wanted to show dental schools how strong I am in this area. I was seriously going for >25. I only made a 22, which I'm pleased with considering the major handicap. I'd just like to hear others experience with DAT malfunctions and what the ADA allowed them to do, or if hypothetically an asterisk is placed on the score for schools to check on a note from ADA, something like that?
-Non-trad applicant, 3.8 GPA, AA 20/ TS 21/ PAT 22 / BIO 23/ RC 23/ GC 20/ OC 21/ QR 15
My weakest section has usually been Keyholes, TFE, and Angle Ranking, so I always start with Hole Punching first to get my brain warmed up and then I return to question 1 and work through those sections last. So starting with Hole Punching, I noticed the square images were stretched and looked rectangular - but didn't affect my ability to do the problems. Got to Pattern Folding and this is where I was scratching my head because some of the shapes in the question weren't exactly matching up with the shapes I was seeing in the answers, even when looking at the correct answer. Next was Keyholes and TFE, and I started depending on ratio dimensions to tell where things were supposed to line up.
Finally, I get to Angle Ranking... there was a perfect right angle sitting like an "L." Then an angle I needed to compare it to rotated to look like a "V." It was obtuse and went to the answer set to eliminate or find the answer, and it. was. not. there! I shot my hand up to call the proctor over and asked if there is some way to change the dimensions of the test to standard size instead of stretching it out to fill this extra wide monitor screen and she said they couldn't tamper with anything. Then I showed her the two angle and she could clearly see it was obtuse, but it was not even an answer choice, so it must have meant it was supposed to be acute but this stretching effect was making it look obtuse.
She said she would go ahead and file a report to the ADA to explain to them that I was at a severe disadvantage on the PAT section of the test due to this.
Has anyone else had any technical issues taking their DAT and what did the ADA do about it? Did you have to retake the entire test or were you allowed to come back and retake the one section? I got unexpected high scores on my Bio and RC sections and I'm scared if I retake it, it'll lower my scores, though I could stand to raise my QR score (ran out of time in that section).
In the end, my PAT score still came out decent, but this was the section I really wanted to show dental schools how strong I am in this area. I was seriously going for >25. I only made a 22, which I'm pleased with considering the major handicap. I'd just like to hear others experience with DAT malfunctions and what the ADA allowed them to do, or if hypothetically an asterisk is placed on the score for schools to check on a note from ADA, something like that?
-Non-trad applicant, 3.8 GPA, AA 20/ TS 21/ PAT 22 / BIO 23/ RC 23/ GC 20/ OC 21/ QR 15
