Will it ever end?

[USCbiograd]

I was wondering if you all would be willing to give me your opinion on something, I have noticed that DAT and GPA scores have been drastically increasing the past few years. Do you think this trend will taper off or will it only continue to rise in the next few years?

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[dmd2011]

I was wondering if you all would be willing to give me your opinion on something, I have noticed that DAT and GPA scores have been drastically increasing the past few years. Do you think this trend will taper off or will it only continue to rise in the next few years?

i dont think it will happen soon. more ppl are interested in dentistry than ever before.

 

[burton117]

i dont think it will happen soon. more ppl are interested in dentistry than ever before.

Definitely. I am quite sure that the numbers will continue to go up higher and higher!

 

[Loop]

I can see numbers continuing to go up to a certain point. After that, for every partial point of DAT/GPA you are flying through the percentiles and squeezing the number of acceptable applicants downward. I dont see it getting too much harder, but yeah....itll definitely keep increasing little by little to a certain extent.

 

[xdianaax]

I think this same thing happened in the 80's and then it just dropped drastically...i can't say it will drop drastically, but it is bound to fall a little...as for when, I'm not keeping my fingers crossed

 

[dentstd]

it'll drop. it MUST drop. standardized tests are useless when all students are scoring towards the high end. this is because the predictive quality of standardized exams are less useful.

...the difference between a 24 and a 27 is usually one question. no more than 2. that means that the difference between a great and stellar candidate is one lucky guess apart. that's useless for distinguishing two candidates.

the ADA can have the DAT cover more topic, cuz the "orgo" section only covers a quarter of what's taught in orgo I and II. Even then, it covers the easier material. there's no physics too. overall, the DAT's too easy.

 

[SHC1984]

I agree, people will continue to do better and better. Just look at predents.com the scores are always in the 24+ ranges, I rarely see anyone making less then 20 on any sections anymore (according to predents everyone is in the 90+ percentile) therefore I am sure in a few years ADA will make the DAT HARDER (covers more info, and less useful practice exams flowing around) and the scores will decrease again...
And when people start catching on and getting more up to date "practice" exams again... ADA will have to make the exams yet even more harder, and the cycle will continue i am sure...
(just like the SAT, its now out of 2400 pts and alot harder then it was when we were in high school )

it'll drop. it MUST drop. standardized tests are useless when all students are scoring towards the high end. this is because the predictive quality of standardized exams are less useful.

...the difference between a 24 and a 27 is usually one question. no more than 2. that means that the difference between a great and stellar candidate is one lucky guess apart. that's useless for distinguishing two candidates.

the ADA can have the DAT cover more topic, cuz the "orgo" section only covers a quarter of what's taught in orgo I and II. Even then, it covers the easier material. there's no physics too. overall, the DAT's too easy.

 

[SugarNaCl]

Who can say for sure what will happen? I don't know but the people on ADCOMs that I have spoken to said that they saw the same upward swing in applicants before and it is bound to keep cycling like this. I guess it's been steadily increasing since about 2003 but it happened in the 70s too.

 

[AlphaQUp]

it'll drop. it MUST drop. standardized tests are useless when all students are scoring towards the high end. this is because the predictive quality of standardized exams are less useful.

...the difference between a 24 and a 27 is usually one question. no more than 2. that means that the difference between a great and stellar candidate is one lucky guess apart. that's useless for distinguishing two candidates.

the ADA can have the DAT cover more topic, cuz the "orgo" section only covers a quarter of what's taught in orgo I and II. Even then, it covers the easier material. there's no physics too. overall, the DAT's too easy.

All they need to do is add a physics section and voila!

 

[SHC1984]

All they need to do is add a physics section and voila!

AND make a killer verbal section like the SAT... I hated those fill in the blanks with words I NEVER seen before! lol...