DAT 2nd retake and....how did I do that?

[ekoorbnadroj]

Hey SDN!

I'm a non-traditional potential re-applicant for the upcoming 2021-2022 AADSAS application cycle. I took the DAT for the first time in 2018 while I was in undergrad and I definitely did not do very well. Regardless, I continued to apply and sadly threw a lot of time and money down the drain because I ended up with zero interviews. Three years later, I've been working full time as a dental hygienist, and I'll be finishing up my part time/online MBA program at the end of the summer. I started studying for the DAT in January(!!) because I knew that with my crazy busy schedule, I would have to allocate more time for myself to combat any potential stress.
Here's my dilemma... I just took my DAT this morning, feeling very prepared, and I ended up getting THE SAME AA/TS score?!? Here are my comparisons below:

2018 DAT | 2021 DAT
PAT 21 20
QR 15 17
RC 21 22
BIO 14 18
GC 19 18
OC 19 15
TS 17 17
AA 18 18

So yeah...not really sure what to do here. Clearly my Bio and QR improved a lot, but my OC suffered as a consequence. Would dental schools view these scores as a sign of improvement in terms of those two huge sections? Or would they view it as if nothing has changed? My undergraduate GPA was 3.68, and my current graduate GPA is 3.87. Any advice/guidance as to how to approach the next steps of the application would be amazing. Thanks so much!

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[WithLove]

Hey SDN!

I'm a non-traditional potential re-applicant for the upcoming 2021-2022 AADSAS application cycle. I took the DAT for the first time in 2018 while I was in undergrad and I definitely did not do very well. Regardless, I continued to apply and sadly threw a lot of time and money down the drain because I ended up with zero interviews. Three years later, I've been working full time as a dental hygienist, and I'll be finishing up my part time/online MBA program at the end of the summer. I started studying for the DAT in January(!!) because I knew that with my crazy busy schedule, I would have to allocate more time for myself to combat any potential stress.
Here's my dilemma... I just took my DAT this morning, feeling very prepared, and I ended up getting THE SAME AA/TS score?!? Here are my comparisons below:

2018 DAT | 2021 DAT
PAT 21 20
QR 15 17
RC 21 22
BIO 14 18
GC 19 18
OC 19 15
TS 17 17
AA 18 18

So yeah...not really sure what to do here. Clearly my Bio and QR improved a lot, but my OC suffered as a consequence. Would dental schools view these scores as a sign of improvement in terms of those two huge sections? Or would they view it as if nothing has changed? My undergraduate GPA was 3.68, and my current graduate GPA is 3.87. Any advice/guidance as to how to approach the next steps of the application would be amazing. Thanks so much!

Congrats on finishing the exam! Although you didn't get the scores you wanted, at least you made some sort of improvement!

Now looking at your scores, I would still recommend applying this cycle and consider retaking the DAT one last time. If you take it this 3rd time, you'll need to do things differently than before since it didn't work out the first 2 times. For example change your study schedule, put all your commitment into preparing for the DAT, different resources, etc. This will require some serious self-reflection but it'll be worth it. If it helps, check out this breakdown, the OP had similar scores to you and improved from 17AA to 21AA:

2021 DAT Breakdown (21AA/22TS/22PAT)

2021 DAT Breakdown (21AA/22TS/22PAT) Scores: PAT - 22 QR - 19 RC - 23 BIO - 22 GCHEM - 21 OCHEM - 21 TS - 22 AA - 21 Background Info: This was a retake to improve my original scores. My original scores were as follows: 2020 DAT Scores: PAT - 19 QR - 17 RC - 18 BIO - 15 GCHEM - 19 OCHEM - 18 TS...

forums.studentdoctor.net

Best of luck! You can do this.

xoxo

 

[JLT223]

There are many schools with cut off scores below 17. Having a 15 or or below in any section is a huge red flag. I would re-take the exam if I were you.

 

[DMD12345]

What’re you using to study?

 

[ekoorbnadroj]

What’re you using to study?

I used DATBooster religiously! I integrated Math Destroyer for QR and I touched on DATDestroyer for a little bit

 

[ekoorbnadroj]

Congrats on finishing the exam! Although you didn't get the scores you wanted, at least you made some sort of improvement!

Now looking at your scores, I would still recommend applying this cycle and consider retaking the DAT one last time. If you take it this 3rd time, you'll need to do things differently than before since it didn't work out the first 2 times. For example change your study schedule, put all your commitment into preparing for the DAT, different resources, etc. This will require some serious self-reflection but it'll be worth it. If it helps, check out this breakdown, the OP had similar scores to you and improved from 17AA to 21AA:

2021 DAT Breakdown (21AA/22TS/22PAT)

2021 DAT Breakdown (21AA/22TS/22PAT) Scores: PAT - 22 QR - 19 RC - 23 BIO - 22 GCHEM - 21 OCHEM - 21 TS - 22 AA - 21 Background Info: This was a retake to improve my original scores. My original scores were as follows: 2020 DAT Scores: PAT - 19 QR - 17 RC - 18 BIO - 15 GCHEM - 19 OCHEM - 18 TS...

forums.studentdoctor.net

Best of luck! You can do this.

xoxo

Thank you! This was super helpful

 

[DAT Destroyer]

I used DATBooster religiously! I integrated Math Destroyer for QR and I touched on DATDestroyer for a little bit

Just a suggestion, if you decide to retake the DAT perhaps you need to do much more with DAT Destroyer than a little bit. If you can master the DAT Destroyer and get through it at least once completely doing ALL the problems I feel you would have a good chance to improve your scores.( if you can get through it more then one time even better, the first time can be tough but I assure you round 2 will be much less challenging. You have a great GPA and with better DAT scores the doors will be open to many dental schools. If you decide to retake the DAT feel free to reach out to me and I will be happy to discuss a strategy that can help you move your scores up.

Wishing you the best

Nancy, co/owner, DAT Destroyer, Math Destroyer

 

[Rambunctious]

Hey SDN!

I'm a non-traditional potential re-applicant for the upcoming 2021-2022 AADSAS application cycle. I took the DAT for the first time in 2018 while I was in undergrad and I definitely did not do very well. Regardless, I continued to apply and sadly threw a lot of time and money down the drain because I ended up with zero interviews. Three years later, I've been working full time as a dental hygienist, and I'll be finishing up my part time/online MBA program at the end of the summer. I started studying for the DAT in January(!!) because I knew that with my crazy busy schedule, I would have to allocate more time for myself to combat any potential stress.
Here's my dilemma... I just took my DAT this morning, feeling very prepared, and I ended up getting THE SAME AA/TS score?!? Here are my comparisons below:

2018 DAT | 2021 DAT
PAT 21 20
QR 15 17
RC 21 22
BIO 14 18
GC 19 18
OC 19 15
TS 17 17
AA 18 18

So yeah...not really sure what to do here. Clearly my Bio and QR improved a lot, but my OC suffered as a consequence. Would dental schools view these scores as a sign of improvement in terms of those two huge sections? Or would they view it as if nothing has changed? My undergraduate GPA was 3.68, and my current graduate GPA is 3.87. Any advice/guidance as to how to approach the next steps of the application would be amazing. Thanks so much!

I would suggest you retake the DAT a third time and get closer to 20 AA and TS. If you apply your chances are not only low but you will waste a bunch of money on those applications. These dental schools have cutoffs of course but they wont tell you not to apply they want that application fee.

 

[Chicago_predental]

I also used DATBooster, but after I had gone through the DAT Destroyer and Math Destroyer at least once before! I found my studying to be much more effective, and I saw a lot of improvement in my score. If you havent already, Id check out the Biology videos on DATBooster and on Orgoman Youtube channel because they were really helpful on the actual exam with some of the questions I had

 

[LFA20]

Hey SDN!

I'm a non-traditional potential re-applicant for the upcoming 2021-2022 AADSAS application cycle. I took the DAT for the first time in 2018 while I was in undergrad and I definitely did not do very well. Regardless, I continued to apply and sadly threw a lot of time and money down the drain because I ended up with zero interviews. Three years later, I've been working full time as a dental hygienist, and I'll be finishing up my part time/online MBA program at the end of the summer. I started studying for the DAT in January(!!) because I knew that with my crazy busy schedule, I would have to allocate more time for myself to combat any potential stress.
Here's my dilemma... I just took my DAT this morning, feeling very prepared, and I ended up getting THE SAME AA/TS score?!? Here are my comparisons below:

2018 DAT | 2021 DAT
PAT 21 20
QR 15 17
RC 21 22
BIO 14 18
GC 19 18
OC 19 15
TS 17 17
AA 18 18

So yeah...not really sure what to do here. Clearly my Bio and QR improved a lot, but my OC suffered as a consequence. Would dental schools view these scores as a sign of improvement in terms of those two huge sections? Or would they view it as if nothing has changed? My undergraduate GPA was 3.68, and my current graduate GPA is 3.87. Any advice/guidance as to how to approach the next steps of the application would be amazing. Thanks so much!

You can try and apply but those scores are kind of low and its your 2nd time taking it. If you can get a 19-20 across the board it would be fine with your GPA

 

[cutiepiec]

You can try and apply but those scores are kind of low and its your 2nd time taking it. If you can get a 19-20 across the board it would be fine with your GPA

Hey SDN!

I'm a non-traditional potential re-applicant for the upcoming 2021-2022 AADSAS application cycle. I took the DAT for the first time in 2018 while I was in undergrad and I definitely did not do very well. Regardless, I continued to apply and sadly threw a lot of time and money down the drain because I ended up with zero interviews. Three years later, I've been working full time as a dental hygienist, and I'll be finishing up my part time/online MBA program at the end of the summer. I started studying for the DAT in January(!!) because I knew that with my crazy busy schedule, I would have to allocate more time for myself to combat any potential stress.
Here's my dilemma... I just took my DAT this morning, feeling very prepared, and I ended up getting THE SAME AA/TS score?!? Here are my comparisons below:

2018 DAT | 2021 DAT
PAT 21 20
QR 15 17
RC 21 22
BIO 14 18
GC 19 18
OC 19 15
TS 17 17
AA 18 18

So yeah...not really sure what to do here. Clearly my Bio and QR improved a lot, but my OC suffered as a consequence. Would dental schools view these scores as a sign of improvement in terms of those two huge sections? Or would they view it as if nothing has changed? My undergraduate GPA was 3.68, and my current graduate GPA is 3.87. Any advice/guidance as to how to approach the next steps of the application would be amazing. Thanks so much!

What were your practice scores?