What DAT Score Do You Need to Get Into Dental School?
/What is a good DAT score? Uncover the precise GPA and DAT score targets for success, plus DAT percentiles
Learn exactly what makes a good dat score to get into dental school
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Part 1: Introduction
The DAT is arguably the most important test you will ever take during your journey to dental school. The score on this one exam will have an outsized impact on your chances of admittance to the school of your dreams and thereby the life and career you envision.
If you’re feeling waves of anxiety flooding your nervous system upon reading that, you’re not alone. Despite assurances from your pre-health advisor, friends or family—or even what you may have read on the websites of schools you’re planning to apply to—that the DAT is only one part of a holistic application, the feeling that it’s actually so much more just won’t go away.
The persistence of this feeling comes down to the fear that all of your hard work during your undergraduate years—juggling shadowing and volunteering opportunities, taking on a larger course load than your peers, and studying late into the night to maintain that all-important GPA—will add up to nothing.
But don’t let the fear of failure control you. Even if you’ve already taken the DAT, you may be concerned that your scores aren’t high enough to get into the school you have your heart set on. You may be wondering what DAT score you need to get into dental school.
It’s no wonder we routinely hear questions from dental students such as:
What is considered a good DAT score?
How hard is it to get a 21 on the DAT?
What is the average DAT score?
We created this guide to illuminate the DAT score’s place in your overall application and to break down exactly what makes a solid score, what score you need to get into the school of your dreams, and how to build your school list to suit different levels of scores.
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Part 2: DAT sections and scores
The DAT consists of four sections intended to assess your competence in the sciences, mathematics, reading comprehension, and your mental visualization—a vital skill in a profession that requires routine imagining of shapes and angles as well as a high level of physical dexterity and fine motor movements.
The four sections are as follows:
Survey of the Natural Sciences
Perceptual Ability
Quantitative Reasoning
Reading Comprehension
The Survey of Natural Sciences section can be subdivided into the Biology, Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry sections. This is the largest section with 100 questions total across the subdivisions. The Reading Comprehension section comprises three large passages that you’ll need to read and analyze, with 50 questions in total. The Quantitative Reasoning section tests your mathematical ability in subjects such as algebra, data analysis, and statistics with across a total of 40 questions.
The Perceptual Ability section is unique to the DAT and includes portions on angle ranking, view recognition, cube counting, paper folding, aperture or keyhole questions, and spatial relation questions. This is the second largest section on the DAT with a total of 90 questions.
What is the DAT out of?
Your score on each section will take into account all of the questions you got right and use that to determine your raw score. However, that score is then scaled using “sophisticated psychometric equating procedures” meant to measure a test taker’s performance across exam forms that contain different exam questions. Essentially, there are many different forms of the DAT that need to be reduced to a measurable score.
Your section scores will then be scaled and averaged to reveal your overall score, often called the “academic average.” You will sometimes see DAT scores with “AA” after them denoting the academic average which is a rounded average of the Survey of Natural Sciences, Quantitative Reasoning, and Reading Comprehension sections. You will often see this score listed on schools’ websites when listing their DAT score averages.
The test does have other scores that you may come across as well, such as the Total Science (TS) score which reports a scaled score of your results solely on the Survey of Natural Sciences section.
Your complete DAT score will be reported on a scale from 1 to 30, with a score of 19 typically being an average score throughout the country according to the ADA.
What is the highest DAT score?
The highest possible DAT score is 30. However, no one has ever actually achieved this “perfect” score. The ADA notes that there is no specific number of correct answers you need to achieve a particular score. In addition to the scores being scaled, the different forms of the test have their own number of required correct answers for particular scores.
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Part 3: What is a good DAT score?
You may have heard about a “holistic” admissions process from your premed colleagues when applying to medical schools. Broadly, this means that admissions committees take more than just test scores and GPA into account when evaluating applications. The same goes for dental schools and this means pinning down exactly what makes a good DAT score—guaranteeing you entry—is a bit difficult.
Schools take many aspects into account when evaluating your application, including your letters of recommendation, personal statement, secondary essays, and extracurriculars. Not to mention, your undergraduate GPA. Swimming within this sea of data points is your DAT score.
As mentioned previously, the average national score according to the ADA is 19. If we assume a good DAT score to be above average, it will certainly be above 19. While schools will weigh every aspect of your application against the variety of other applications they receive, they are ultimately looking for students that aren’t simply average, and top-tier schools will be looking for top-tier scores.
Think of it like this: You’re on the admissions committee at a particular school and you’re evaluating applications from hundreds of applicants. Some have DAT scores above the 90th percentile, while others hover around the 70th. The students with the 90th percentile scores may have spent all of their time studying and not have gained enough meaningful real-world experience to make a difference in their application, while the students with lower DAT scores may be able to exhibit a passion for the profession through their demonstrated interest and extracurriculars. As an admissions committee member, you’d want to prioritize the student who is clearly in it for the long haul. If their DAT score is a little low, but their GPA and extracurriculars are good, this signals someone who can be taught. Being able to continuously learn is a crucial skill in a field such as dentistry, in which techniques and technologies are always improving.
Many adcoms will view applications in this way, but each school will have its own benchmarks and criteria for extending an interview. Schools with more prestige will be looking for higher scores. If you’re aiming for acceptance at a high-ranking dental school, a good DAT score in your situation would be well above average.
As an example, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine states applicants should have an academic average DAT score of at least 20. The University of Pittsburgh lists their minimum requirement as 19. And Virginia Commonwealth University states the average score among their acceptees is 21.
That said, what scores are good enough to get into dental schools? While the national average may be 19, many schools report average scores among acceptees at 20 and up. Of course, this depends on the selectivity of the school. Whether an applicant gets an interview invitation is subject to the holistic admissions process. But if you’re wondering what makes a good DAT score, you should aim for the 70-80th percentiles, meaning 20-21.
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Part 4: Where to apply to dental school based on your numbers
When putting together your dental school list, it’s important to consider your entire candidate profile when it comes to your numbers and apply accordingly. It’s a great idea to divide your applications into “reach,” “target,” and “undershoot” schools. Be sure to check the admissions statistics for schools you want to apply to and categorize them based on how your numbers align with their historical acceptances. This way, you’ll be able to divide your time appropriately and maximize your chances of acceptance to dental school.
For instance, if your DAT score is 21 and your GPA 3.65, The Columbia College of Dental Medicine would be a “reach” school for you since its average DAT and GPA are 24 and 3.8. You might consider schools like the University of Texas San Antonio School of Dentistry and the Medical University of South Carolina as target schools with their averages of 20.9 and 3.69, and 20 and 3.65, respectively. An undershoot or safety school would have averages in the ranges of 19-20 and 3.5-3.6.
All this is to say that you must plan your applications strategically for the best results.
Final thoughts
The DAT is a cornerstone of your dental school applications and is the most important test you’ll take on your journey to the school of your dreams.
While achieving a high score on this test will likely increase your odds of being granted an interview, it will be viewed holistically by adcoms and considered as one part of your entire application package, including your extracurriculars, GPA and essays.
However, if you’re fully aware of where you stand regarding your DAT scores, you’ll have a better understanding of your chances of acceptance and can formulate a strategy accordingly.
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Appendix A: Frequently asked questions
Below, you’ll find a few frequently asked questions we receive regarding the DAT.
Do people retake the DAT?
With the competitiveness of dental school admissions increasing in recent years, many students wonder if it’s normal to retake the DAT in the hopes that your score—and thereby chances of admission—will improve.
It’s certainly not unusual to retake the DAT, but given the cost of the test and the amount of preparation involved, you’ll want to do your best to avoid a retake. However, there are situations in which a retake could be beneficial.
For example, if you were a bit overconfident on the first take and you know that with a proper study plan you can achieve a significantly better result the next time around, it may be advisable to sit the test again.
It’s unfortunate, but there are also times when life simply gets in the way. Perhaps you received some unsettling news about a family member just before test day making you overly stressed and unable to concentrate, or perhaps you weren’t feeling well when you took the test. These situations can all affect your score.
(Suggested reading: Should I Retake the DAT?)
How many times can I take the DAT?
We’re often asked this question from students who typically want to know about all of their options should their score not be as high as they would like. The short answer is three times, but there are some caveats.
Each time you take the test, you must wait 60 days between retakes, and of course, you’ll need to pay another testing fee. At $540 per test, retakes can be quite expensive. You’re only allowed a maximum of four retakes within any 12 month period. It is possible to take the test more than three times, but this requires you to make a written request to the ADA along with proof of your application to dental school.
(Suggested reading: DAT Test Dates: A Complete Summary (Score Release Time Frame Included))
Is it bad to take the DAT multiple times?
Many students want to know if retakes are viewed negatively by admissions committees. Generally speaking, they are not, but you should keep in mind that if you retake and fail to improve your score (or even get a lower score) they will be considering your application based on the most recent score
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Appendix B: DAT percentiles for total and section scores
| DAT Percentiles | DAT Total Score | DAT Perceptual Ability | DAT Quantitative Reasoning | DAT Reading Comprehension | DAT Survey of the Natural Sciences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on dental school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into dental school using his exclusive approach.
