What do you think my chances are?

[Smooth Move]

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Hello, I took the DAT on Sat. and my overall scores were AA-15😡 and PAT-19. I promise I'm not ignorant. This is my first time every applying to dental school and taking the DAT. I studied for a week before the test, and now realize you need to study a lot harder! Anyways, I'm wondering if there is any chance that I might still get an interview? I have a 4.0 GPA, lots of dental experience, 6 years in the Air Force, and tons of community volunteer work. I now know from reading around that a 15 isn't very good, but do I still have a shot?

 

[Montserrat]

Hello, I took the DAT on Sat. and my overall scores were AA-15😡 and PAT-19. I promise I'm not ignorant. This is my first time every applying to dental school and taking the DAT. I studied for a week before the test, and now realize you need to study a lot harder! Anyways, I'm wondering if there is any chance that I might still get an interview? I have a 4.0 GPA, lots of dental experience, 6 years in the Air Force, and tons of community volunteer work. I now know from reading around that a 15 isn't very good, but do I still have a shot?

Call up the schools you are interested in applying to, and inform them of your situation. Their advice can be your targeted aims, and with your GPA, you should definitely have the skills to make it happen. But a 15 ... just my $.02, but unless you are a minority applying to traditionally minority dominant schools, your chances are pretty slim.

 

[ProHeartBreaker]

It really depends on how good are your science scores. If you've done well on science sections but did bad on RC or QR, then you might be granted an interview. Some schools have low admission AA. Furthermore, your GPA is excellent; thus, it can somewhat balance out with your low AA.

 

[Smooth Move]

The reason I got a AA score of 15 is because I just started Organic Chemistry I this semester. I will be done with I and II by end of spring. So when I took the DAT, the organic section was completely foreign to me and consequently brought down my entire average. I know I shouldn't have put Organic off for so long, I'm just hoping that they will take that into consideration. Plus, I didn't want to have to wait another year to apply. What do you think???

 

[Smooth Move]

Thanks ProHeartBreaker, that kind of makes me feel better!

 

[JMJRDH1]

Hello, I took the DAT on Sat. and my overall scores were AA-15😡 and PAT-19. I promise I'm not ignorant. This is my first time every applying to dental school and taking the DAT. I studied for a week before the test, and now realize you need to study a lot harder! Anyways, I'm wondering if there is any chance that I might still get an interview? I have a 4.0 GPA, lots of dental experience, 6 years in the Air Force, and tons of community volunteer work. I now know from reading around that a 15 isn't very good, but do I still have a shot?

The first issue is that your DAT scores and GPS do not mix, which is a red flag for dental schools.

As far as your scores, a 15 AA is really low when compared to the current crop of super competitive scores. No one can say for sure whether or not you will get an interview, but IMHO it is doubtful.

Make sure for your next DAT, if you need to take it again (there is always a chance you will get in with yoru scores no matter how slim) that ou really pull out all the stops and study your arse off.

BTW, What were your scores in each of the categories?

Good Luck!

 

[Sbosu]

You said you were not ignorant but then said you only studied one week for the test, seems pretty ignorant to me. If you have a 4.0 GPA then you are not stupid; study longer than one week for the test and youll do well.

 

[haisha ni narou]

You said you were not ignorant but then said you only studied one week for the test, seems pretty ignorant to me. If you have a 4.0 GPA then you are not stupid; study longer than one week for the test and youll do well.

Geez, you should have prepare for the DAT months in advace before you attempted the test! Not to make you feel bad or anything, especially in O-chem since you haven't finished those classes yet...

I studied pretty hard for about a month and the month before that was off and on. I wish I would have studied harder though because the bar has been raised due to the competitiveness this year. I scored a 18/18/19 gpa 3.5.

Did you take Kaplan or any of the other resources? They should have given you a fairly accurate idea of how the test is and where you stand as far as your relative scores are.

 

[KOM]

A 4.0 Gpa without any studying should be scoring at least close to the national average (~17,18). You did not. Possible excuses for scoring so low might include bladder eruption in the middle of the test, passing out for 1/4 of the test, or death. If none of these apply, I would like to be blunt and say that you should not have a 4.0 GPA. I know that sounds rude, but something is wrong here.

 

[Yang]

I am a senior dental student. I studied DAT Kaplan book for a month and scored 22 on AA and 19 on PAT. I applied to three school, interviewed and admitted at all three. I would recommend study hard and retake it if you really want to go to dental school. It is definitely worth it. Besides, you will have to get use to study a lot any way while in dental school.

 

[doc toothache]

The reason I got a AA score of 15 is because I just started Organic Chemistry I this semester. I know I shouldn't have put Organic off for so long, I'm just hoping that they will take that into consideration. Plus, I didn't want to have to wait another year to apply. What do you think???

With an AA score of 15, not wanting to wait a year may not be an option. It is hard to take a 4.0 gpa seriously when there is failure of taking the DAT seriously.