November 2018 DAT Thoughts

[Mike Oxlong 1]

10 hours ago, Dentistry101 said:

just received my scores i got 19 PAT and and 21 AA. thing is I think my PAT is below average.

do you think UofT will take me with a 4.00 GPA? I feel like i am below average since their median GPA last year was 4.00 according to some students i spoke to..

what do you guys think? i honestly dont see how I can get 19 PAT I'm diamond on LoL, thing is UofT doesn't give you anywhere in their application to talk about your extra curriculars so now I am worried...

wait but you already got in 

[OneDay91 4]

Does anyone know if the French DAT scale is calculated independently of the English one?

I managed to get 99th percentile in Bio but only received a score of 17...

Also why are the pattern of scores for the MDT so spaced out? For example there are many who scored 5, none who scored 6-7, and then some who scored 8. Sucks because I know Mcgill's cutoff is 6 to apply.

[Waves 78]

I had this exact same thought a few years ago when I was dealing with the unfairness of the DAT scaling, but it wasn't this bad... I hope you guys can finally get CDA to change it, because that "scale" actually makes no sense and gives such an unfair disadvantage to certain applicants.

[LastOneStanding 36]

Guys I just Read if you answer a specific option for a column the system wont accept it and that its better to ask for the to score the test by hand is that true?

[futuredentist1 0]

22 hours ago, GreedyGod said:

Guys I just Read if you answer a specific option for a column the system wont accept it and that its better to ask for the to score the test by hand is that true?

I was wondering the same thing, where did you hear this from? 

[canadianman 3]

Too many smart people took the test this year, maybe that messed up the scale? can anyone link the scale pdf here?

[yampotato 1]

I'm just curious, did anyone get a higher overall score than their previous attempts? 

[yampotato 1]

5 hours ago, Waves said:

I had this exact same thought a few years ago when I was dealing with the unfairness of the DAT scaling, but it wasn't this bad... I hope you guys can finally get CDA to change it, because that "scale" actually makes no sense and gives such an unfair disadvantage to certain applicants.

What year were you referring to? Do you mind uploading that year's distribution chart? 

[yampotato 1]

9 hours ago, dentistM said:

please please please... email CDA and all the institutions you applied this year. Don't sit and think others are going to send an email so it's sufficient and you don't need to email. every email counts. we need to let the schools know how much of a disadvantage we are facing compared to others who wrote the American dat and scored really high marks because of the scaling or wrote in February. CDA does not realize how much this affects our lives and our emotional stability. some students have worked all summer at a minimum wage job to save up and pay for this stupid exam and all the materials they had to purchase to prepare. and all the money they have spent applying to schools just to get rejected bc of this stupid scaling. They don't consider the amount of time and dedication writing these exams take. They can't just ruin our life like that. please please send emails. 

I agree!!! But what do you suggest we should say in our emails? 

Please please please! Everyone please send the CDA an email! The more emails they get the more likely that they would take another look of the distribution!!!!

 

[lividtea 0]

10 minutes ago, yampotato said:

I agree!!! But what do you suggest we should say in our emails? 

Please please please! Everyone please send the CDA an email! The more emails they get the more likely that they would take another look of the distribution!!!!

 

I would love to know what to write too. After reading the recent posts, I feel robbed and cheated. I’m pretty sure I’m going through the five stages of grief. I thought this would be the year I would get into dentistry. I studied my ass off this year and to get a slight improvement in score compared to last year where I gave in mediocre effort, is very absurd and defeating. 

[simsta 6]

.

[LastOneStanding 36]

10 hours ago, futuredentist1 said:

I was wondering the same thing, where did you hear this from? Also the sections for which I circled the same letter in were extremely low

I read it off somewhere in this forum.

[LastOneStanding 36]

Guys I might have a shot at Western with my Academic and RC but my PAT is very low. Do I even have a shot with low PAT?!. Wish I could get a refund.

 

[arkragon 7]

Here is the Feb 2017 English Score Scale. I hope this helps in some way.

[PreDent2018 6]

Anyone here applying for U of A? Fortunately the bio scale doesn't hurt us, but the PAT certainly does.

[yampotato 1]

Guys, I don't remmeber if I have declared to use my previous DAT score or just my NOV 2018 DAT score for my applications to schools other than UofA. At the moment I was thinking I would get a higher score in Nov because my previous attempt  was not competitive at all and I didn't study for the science section back then. But now my Nov 2018 score is even worse..... Fml, do you think the schools will take a look of my previous DAT score if I email them to change that on my application??? (Fml... I know I should've added the previous attempt in because most schools look at the best year, but at the moment I was thinking there's no way I could get a lower score when I'm spending hours studying for it....-.-)

[Rollierollie 12]

10 minutes ago, yampotato said:

Guys, I don't remmeber if I have declared to use my previous DAT score or just my NOV 2018 DAT score for my applications to schools other than UofA. At the moment I was thinking I would get a higher score in Nov because my previous attempt  was not competitive at all and I didn't study for the science section back then. But now my Nov 2018 score is even worse..... Fml, do you think the schools will take a look of my previous DAT score if I email them to change that on my application??? (Fml... I know I should've added the previous attempt in because most schools look at the best year, but at the moment I was thinking there's no way I could get a lower score when I'm spending hours studying for it....-.-)

I think if you sent them your previous years' scores already, they will automatically take the highest set of scores. If not, it wouldn't hurt to ask if they are able to take your previous year's DAT scores rather than this year's. 

[Rollierollie 12]

OK GUYS, so I received an email back from CDA regarding my inquiry, and this is what they said: 

"I verified your record and found that you only took the DAT this November 2018. The DAT scores scale is available to only the students that take the DAT. Since you ONLY took the Nov 2018 DAT, where did you find/access this previous DAT scores scale? The score scales are based on several factors including the difficulty of questions, the performance of students that took the exam, etc. The Nov 2018 DAT scores scale that you received is accurate. Just to let you know, each year's distribution and score scales will vary significantly. Sometimes the number scores will correspond to a certain percentile similar to previous years, but this is not always guaranteed. We cannot predict each year's distribution of scores. The scores you have received is based on your performance during the Nov. 2018 DAT exam."

.... like ok, that doesn't explain much thanks. I'm also a bit worried now, since they're asking me where I got these scales from.. (there's what's called the internet).

Quite frankly, the results were disappointing and I know some of you really needed high scores on this exam. I just decided to move on, and the only way to actually get back at em is to just kill the Feb DAT. I'll show them I'm better than their scoring system. Keep your heads up everyone. Let's just try and stay positive.

 

Sigh.

[BMT 5]

On 12/11/2018 at 10:24 AM, westcoastbestcoast said:

22

 

On 12/11/2018 at 10:24 AM, westcoastbestcoast said:

RC: 22

BIO: 18

CHEM: 25

TS: 20

AA: 22

PAT: 19

When I look at my scores im not satisfied (ex: 19 PAT) but then I look at the percentile and feel a bit better (ex: PAT 19 is 90% percentile)... too bad schools look at the scaled scores.

  

What are my chances at an interview at UBC with a 85.5 avg?

If you're IP i think you should be fine given that you did amazing on you r CASPER test. I'm also very worried because I'm OOP and I have no idea what my 3.81 GPA out of a 4.0 scale translates to %age and my AVG DAT is 21.5 (i've written also the american one with a 23 PAT and a 20 on AA) ... Given the low marks this year, and most likely students have checked off this years DAT on their app, it should shift from their regular 22 AVG ... keep your head up high and stay positive. You never know what happens!! 

[toothurty 33]

If it makes any of you better schools like UofT and Western barely care about DAT anymore. I know tons of people who have gotten in with mediocre dat scores, myself included. GPA and interview are way more important. 

[pyridoxal-phosphate 44]

x

 

[Bentist 16]

.

[futuredentist1 0]

.

[jellybellytelly 39]

6 hours ago, Bentist said:

Is the formula known publicly for either of them or no?

Based on previous responses from people who have contacted the office for details, UofT's pre-interview scoring includes 90% GPA, 5%AA, 5%PAT.

In regards to Western, they have an RC cut off of around 18-19, and no hard cut offs for AA and PAT. However, according to the entering class of 2021, the average RC was 22 and average AA was 21 (https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/dentistry/docs/future_students/Class_2021_Statistics.pdf). PAT was recently introduced into the calculation so noone really knows how it factors in.

Hope that helps! 

[Bentist 16]

.