when to retake DAT?

[RUpremed]

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hey guys,

so I took the DAT for the first time this past August and I got a 19 AA/19TS/16 PAT. I'm currently a senior, and with a best case scenario, I can start applying during summer 2011. What I'm leaning towards, however, is attending graduate school and then applying after I finish my masters degree (so summer 2012). But at this point I really don't know when I should retake. Any suggestions?

 

[destinedsirius]

If you were planning to apply summer 2011, there's no need for attending graduate school. From now until the summer of when you would apply is PLENTY of time to re-take the DATs. 19's are not that bad so a couple of months of study should bring it up to 20's. Just press hard on the PAT. If you are really sure you want to be a dentist, there's no need for graduate school. Graduate school is for those who wants to boost GPA to get in dental school. Assuming you have the right GPA, there's no need for that. There's no reason why you can't apply in 2011...

 

[destinedsirius]

Best advice is to take it before you apply so that if you don't like your score, you have time to re-take and still won't be considered a late applicant. Try around May if you can.

 

[RUpremed]

i forgot to mention that my overall gpa is a 3.3 and my science/bcp gpas are slightly below 3.0, so i was hoping that by the end of the year i can bring them up above 3.0 in time to apply during summer 2011

 

[RUpremed]

bump

 

[dentalWorks]

1 year to 1.5 years of strong post-bacc will bring up BOTH your overall AND science GPAs to more respectable levels.

Top it off with a DAT retake sometime before June 2012 would (in my opinion) make you a much better applicant than a masters program.

good luck on whatever you decide.

 

[destinedsirius]

If you're a senior did you file to graduate? Would you consider staying a bit longer as an undergrad to take some classes to boost GPA? Because it's somewhat pricey to do postbacc at a good university after you've graduate, and financial aid will be hard because you would have graduated. Since your GPA isn't great master's wouldn't be a bad idea as well. I'm just keeping the cost in mind for you, but if cost isn't a factor do postbacc or masters.

You should also consider if your master's program would get in the way of studying for the DATs. So whatever you plan to do, make sure you can take the DATs before you apply.

 

[peanutb123]

If you're a senior did you file to graduate? Would you consider staying a bit longer as an undergrad to take some classes to boost GPA? Because it's somewhat pricey to do postbacc at a good university after you've graduate, and financial aid will be hard because you would have graduated. Since your GPA isn't great master's wouldn't be a bad idea as well. I'm just keeping the cost in mind for you, but if cost isn't a factor do postbacc or masters.

You should also consider if your master's program would get in the way of studying for the DATs. So whatever you plan to do, make sure you can take the DATs before you apply.

so this is how its gonna break down...

If he stays little bit longer the gpa will be blended into one section UNDERGRAD. and it wont improve much or at all...

126 + 15 credits will not make any difference...

but if he does it separately it will appear in a different section of the table and it will only have the gpa of those 15 or 30 credits... yes its going to be expensive... and it will be in its own column either stating postbac or masters...


and to the OP... if you have calculated your gpa or estimated it by just looking at your schools gpa... then your gpa is going to be way lower than you would expect it to be... ie. if you calc w/ B+ being 3.5 instead of 3.3, or C+ to be 2.5 instead of 2.3... so recalculate your gpa by using aadsas guidelines and after that explore your options of what you should pursue

 

[slm266]

bump

lol bump after 8 min of no response?

 

[RUpremed]

bump