What do I need with a 4.0, PAT ?

[jay47]

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[LONG POST]
Hello everyone, I am new here and I attend Texas A&M University and I have a Biomedical Science major with about 80 hours. I have taken all of my basic core classes and sciences (Physics, Ochem, Gchem, Bio. calc, etc...) all I have left is like Biochem, Microbiology, Anatomy, Physiology, Immun...etc..(couldn't have taken them before now anyways). I currently have a 4.0 and I am planning on taking the DAT this 10th. Assuming that I have a good application otherwise ( community service, 60 hours shadow at local office, great personal statement etc..), what type of scores on the DAT do you think would get me accepted to dental schools in Texas? Do schools generally weight GPA higher or DAT?

I know this is a broad question, but I am only asking because I am very nervous. As I look around I see lots of people have like 21, 22, or even 23's for their scores and I was under the impression that a 19 and a good GPA would most likely get you in. I see a lot of people who scored like 17 on one section and they contemplate retaking even though their AA is like 20, 21. Why would someone be dissapointed with a 20, which is like 84th percentile?

On a side note, I was taking the practice PAT on the ADA website and found it to be somewhat easy, but I noticed that on the last section with the folding cubes there were several answers depending on whether you fold the cube inwards (into paper) or outward (out of paper). From that test, I noticed that the right answer only came from folding it inwards, but I have never remembered reading that you must fold it inwards. Is this true?😕

 

[D.D.S.]

yeah...fold it inside the screen. I try to wrap the unfolded image over each answer choice mentally, sometime it works, sometimes it doesnt and this section is my weakness. please share any other tips for this section..

 

[MilDoc23]

I had a knack for the PAT section (i ended up with a 26). For the pattern folding section, you always want to fold the pattern into the page. After glancing at the question stem, I would quickly look through the answers to see how object was folded. For example, for cube questions, the DAT would sometimes have three of the answers with the same side on top of the cube. Then I would check to see which sides lined up with one another to narrow my answer down to the correct choice. For questions with patterns that had uniquely shaped sides, I would quickly eliminate the answers that didn't represent those uniquely shaped sides. I recommend practicing as much as possible to see which techniques work for you (find a method that will yield you the best results in the shortest period of time).
-MDS