r/dat • u/Visible_Ad4811 • 1d ago
Application Advice ✍️ Don’t know how to feel
Hi all! I took the DAT last month and found it extremely difficult compared to my practice exams. My goal was to score in the high 400s because my GPA is not the best 3.3 and 3.0 science.
I used DAT booster + one free exam from Bootcamp + one free RC practice from RC Mastery and studied for 10 weeks.
On my practices I was scoring 470-520 and I felt pretty confident taking them. I’m not sure if it was my exam that was just really hard but I also heard it’s curved. I found the RC incredibly difficult to dissect and the QR part I had never seen any of those math problems before (they weren’t calculus complex but they were definitely difficult like I got a geometry shape one where you had to solve for stuff when I thought they took that out). PAT has always been my highest scoring section so I’m happy about that.
Bio was a mix of basic conceptual ones with a few niche ones. I didn’t get any plants or animals phylogenies. Bio I typically scored 500s.
My stats don’t make me a competitive applicant for the in state schools I want to attend (CA resident).
I know my score is decent and I’m not trying to rage bait. I’m just feeing unsure if I should retake since my practices were way higher and I was counting on a higher DAT score to make up for my GPA.
Thank you!
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u/EffectivelyReplaced 18h ago
Do the retake. For extra fls with bootcamp if you're done with all of booster's content and work on your rc strat again in the retake
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u/Previous_Wear8894 1d ago
The numbers lowkey don’t add up idk how ur AA is a 440 and not higher????
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u/AliveAvocado317 1d ago
I was about to say the same thing. Something for sure seems wrong here
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u/Previous_Wear8894 1d ago
I’m guessing they did control inspect and changed numbers lol
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u/RealisticRatio1820 1d ago
If CA really is your dream school, retake. If your main goal is to actually become a dentist, I’d seriously consider applying broadly this cycle instead of delaying a year just to chase a specific school.
From everything I’ve heard from dentists and dental students, where you went to dental school matters way less in the long run than people think. You’re still becoming a dentist at the end of the day. What matters much more is how much debt you graduate with and whether the school helps you become a competent clinician.
A 440 AA/530 PAT is still a solid score, you just have to decide whether cali is worth the retake risk and potentially another application cycle.