Why do most schools favor GPA over DAT?

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ericd2be123

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It seems like I’m not the only one that caught on to this recently. Most schools are clearly favoring a GPA over DAT... Why? There are so many variances that can lead to having a good gpa. I am astonished on how many applicants that have gotten interviews and acceptances with low DAT score. Soon enough future students are gonna try to graduate from a less competitive schools by majoring in something easy to keep their gpa high up.


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Not really......it's the other way around due to grade inflation occurring at some schools and as you said, how some people choose non-science majors to have a high GPA. That's why the DAT is the equalizer and really levels the playing field - you can't rig your score on it, and that's why it's favored over GPA.
 
ericd2be123 said:
Soon enough future students are gonna try to graduate from a less competitive schools by majoring in something easy to keep their gpa high up
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Dental schools don't care what 4 year undergraduate school you went to.


ericd2be123 said:
I am astonished on how many applicants that have gotten interviews and acceptances with low DAT score.
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What's low to you? Also there are 3 other tabs on the application that applicants fill out, not just their DAT.
 
I'd say because it shows dedication and commitment over the course of a few years, while the DAT is simply willpower to study for X weeks or Y months.

But the same can be said for the DAT, the ability to stay focused and diligently prepare a lot of information in a short amount of time.
 
I always felt the DAT was a mental exam. Nothing overly complicated, but a future in the balance over a 4.5 hour exam. Easy for mental fatigue, lack of concentration, over thinking, and discouragement to creep in after a few tough questions in a row, especially in biology.

I had a DAT several points above average, but during the bio and RC I felt like I got some challenging questions and almost had a breakdown during the RC and began mentally preparing to retake- also with not really being able to gauge the other science sections, just hoping I did well. I decided to buckle down and focus on the rest of the test.
 
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For those that are saying it’s the other way around, it’s not true. Most schools want you to join their masters program. An of course many dental schools offer a ms program so they can squeeze more money out of us. That’s a fact. There are very few people on here that will know what I’m talking about if they’re on the same boat.


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ericd2be123 said:
For those that are saying it’s the other way around, it’s not true. Most schools want you to join their masters program. An of course many dental schools offer a ms program so they can squeeze more money out of us. That’s a fact. There are very few people on here that will know what I’m talking about if they’re on the same boat.


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Click to expand...

Would that really justify GPA > DAT?

Just seems like schools that aren’t interested in you for their program are trying to just make you spend more money on them before you look to spend more money re applying to them and then giving them tuition in the future.


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Iroh said:
Would that really justify GPA > DAT?

Just seems like schools that aren’t interested in you for their program are trying to just make you spend more money on them before you look to spend more money re apply to them and then giving them tuition in the future.


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No offense in any way but from the way you write, I can promise you I have a better ps than you. I won’t even start with the stats but yeah lol


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Iroh said:
I'd say because it shows dedication and commitment over the course of a few years, while the DAT is simply willpower to study for X weeks or Y months.

But the same can be said for the DAT, the ability to stay focused and diligently prepare a lot of information in a short amount of time.
Click to expand...

It seems like DAT was a willpower for you to explain your mediocre score?


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Yeah this was my experience as well. I got zero interviews until the schools saw my SMP grades. You'll see many cases like this if you browse through the "post-bacc" forum in here as well. No one knows why.
 
Iroh said:
I never even mentioned a personal statement either. Is this the SDN version of “my dad is a lawyer”?


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It's the new twitter uncle iroh lol. Awesome name btw, that character is legendary.
 
ericd2be123 said:
It seems like DAT was a willpower for you to explain your mediocre score?


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Post screenshots of your DAT and transcript oh wise sage of SDN. Can’t wait to read your PS too since that will probably shatter my mind.

If you didn’t get above a 24 on the DAT and you talk like this you have more hubris than I thought possible. A 22 is 93rd percentile, how is that mediocre?
 
ericd2be123 said:
For those that are saying it’s the other way around, it’s not true. Most schools want you to join their masters program. An of course many dental schools offer a ms program so they can squeeze more money out of us. That’s a fact. There are very few people on here that will know what I’m talking about if they’re on the same boat.


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Click to expand...
Disagree, respectfully. The majority of d1 students go directly into d school from college, or take an off year to study for DAT. Few have a masters.
 
ericd2be123 said:
It seems like I’m not the only one that caught on to this recently. Most schools are clearly favoring a GPA over DAT... Why? There are so many variances that can lead to having a good gpa. I am astonished on how many applicants that have gotten interviews and acceptances with low DAT score. Soon enough future students are gonna try to graduate from a less competitive schools by majoring in something easy to keep their gpa high up.


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Click to expand...

From my personal experience, DAT has carried more weight than GPA for me and others I know who applied and were accepted.

I’m just guessing, but based off of your negative attitude towards anyone who disagrees, you are probably trying to talk yourself into believing the opposite bc your DAT was average and didn’t make up for your below average GPA.
 
Iroh said:
22 AA and 22-25 sciences are mediocre?

But where exactly is this hostility coming from? I wasn’t even saying “you” as in you personally, I was just talking in general.
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Well then what would give you the right to say that “they’re not interested in you”. If it wasn’t towards me personally then word it differently?
 
Toothachee101 said:
Yeah this was my experience as well. I got zero interviews until the schools saw my SMP grades. You'll see many cases like this if you browse through the "post-bacc" forum in here as well. No one knows why.
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Right but they really should look at it differently. Not everyone can afford SMP, you know?
 
ericd2be123 said:
For those that are saying it’s the other way around, it’s not true. Most schools want you to join their masters program. An of course many dental schools offer a ms program so they can squeeze more money out of us. That’s a fact. There are very few people on here that will know what I’m talking about if they’re on the same boat.


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Click to expand...
I see more people getting g in with sub par GPAs (3.0) than I do sub par DAT scores (19). The ADEA hand book shows that too.
 
ericd2be123 said:
Well then what would give you the right to say that “they’re not interested in you”. If it wasn’t towards me personally then word it differently?
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Typically if someone doesn't incorporate personal details, "you" should be construed in general terms, but okay let me make some adjustments:

Would that really justify GPA > DAT?

Just seems like schools that are not interested in an applicant (you) for their program are trying to make an applicant (you) spend more money on them before said applicant (you) looks to spend even more money re-applying to them next cycle and possibly giving them more money in the form of tuition in the future.

Literally none of this was aimed at you, but was just a means of seeing what your personal opinion was on the matter.
 
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My opinion but schools like to brag about their incoming class stats. If a high GPA is easier to obtain than a high DAT, naturally they will pick the high gpa to make their incoming class look good stats wise. There not but so much 25AA floating around.
 
What did I just read..

I second that reading is huge in dental school. There's not enough time for professors to teach you everything. You have to read a lot on your own. Also important is grit. Show that in your application somehow, and I think schools will notice. It can be through anything -- DAT, GPA, masters, what have you. As long as you're showing consistent success academically for the past year or so, I'd say you have a good shot at getting in. It's also not really fair to judge applicants that get in with low DAT scores because you don't know their story. Admissions committees are pretty good at accepting people that make it through dental school too, so if they got in, ad coms must think they have what it takes
 
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