What would you do?

[Lou42]

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I'm scheduled to take my DAT this Friday and know I'm not ready. I've taken 4 achiever exams and 2 topscore in the past 3 weeks. The achiever scores were terrible (13's) and the tests were probably a waste of time. The Topscore weren't much better (15,16). I've already pushed the exam back twice and I will be leaving for Sweden next Tuesday for a week which doesn't help the situation. If I did do a retake 3 months from now would that be considered super late in the application process? To late for 2011?

I've been out of school for 3 years and it has taken a lot of time to get to where I'm at now which isn't saying much. I am confident that if I did do a retake I would be closer to 20.

Anyways just looking for some feedback during this stressful time. One more thing...I'm just about ready to e-submit my application. Should I wait until I see what my score is on Friday? Would I be wasting a lot of money sending below average scores to several schools?


Thanks!!

 

[slm266]

I'd prob reschedule if those topscores reflect where you're at. If you aren't able to get some serious study in your sweden trip I'd prob cancel it

 

[gigawatt]

Given how uncertain you feel about your scores, it would definitely make sense to hold off on submitting your AADSAS until Friday. Getting it in three days earlier won't make a huge difference anyway.

Your DAT situation is tricky because of your trip to Sweden. Do you really think that you'll be in better shape after not thinking about any of the material for a week? Doubt it. That means you'd have to take another week or two after you come back to better prepare and then you're into the mid-to-latter part of August and school won't get your complete application until September.

If I were in your shoes, I would go ahead and take it this Friday. You'll probably do better than you think, and decent scores combined with an earlier application might be enough to get you interviews and acceptances. Postponing will make you a later applicant without necessarily improving your DAT (because you won't be able to use all of that time study).

 

[Lou42]

Thanks Gigawatt! You're advice seems like the way to go for me.

 

[UCB05]

You'll probably do better than you think, and decent scores combined with an earlier application might be enough to get you interviews and acceptances. Postponing will make you a later applicant without necessarily improving your DAT (because you won't be able to use all of that time study).

But if he doesn't do well, it will make him an iffy applicant who will have to wait 3 months to retake. I know achiever is harder than normal, but 13's on that and 16's on topscore isn't confidence-inspiring. The average matriculant gets, what, 18/19?

If you don't need to do super-great on the DAT, go ahead and take it, but if you want your DAT to help prop up your app, postponing might be a better idea.

 

[Lou42]

Can anyone comment on how slim the chances are of getting an interview if taking test in October? I feel like I'm currently in the range of (16-18) for my exam on Friday. If I postponed 3 weeks then I would hopefully be on the high end of that. So the question is...do I take now and score average or wait 3 weeks and anticipate doing slightly better? If I do need a retake I'm very hopeful that I can break 20 with 3 more months of studying.

Can somebody please stop the clock for a few months!! haha.

Thanks again for the feedback! I started studying about 6 months and never imagined that it would not be enough time. Very bad use of my time and the materials used thus far.

 

[gigawatt]

But if he doesn't do well, it will make him an iffy applicant who will have to wait 3 months to retake. I know achiever is harder than normal, but 13's on that and 16's on topscore isn't confidence-inspiring. The average matriculant gets, what, 18/19?

If you don't need to do super-great on the DAT, go ahead and take it, but if you want your DAT to help prop up your app, postponing might be a better idea.

Yeah, that's the flip side of it. I just think you're not getting a whole lot of out postponing given your situation because the clock will be running while you're traveling. If you're willing to cancel the trip and get your money's worth out of a postponement by studying HARD during the delay then it might be worth it.