2025 DAT Scoring Change
As some students may be aware, DATs taken on or after March 1, 2025 will no longer be scored on a 2-digit scale (1 to 30). Instead, the DAT will follow a new and more precise scoring system with the results being reported on a 3-digit scale (200 to 600) instead.
To ensure that you know exactly what to expect on test day, DATBooster will be updating our practice test scoring to reflect these changes. Starting in 2025, our practice tests will provide you with a 3-digit score as well as a 2-digit score. From March 1st, 2025, our practice tests will only include the 3-digit score.
This new scoring system has been designed by the American Dental Association (ADA) to be a more accurate metric to estimate students’ skills, and is meant to benefit the test takers as well as dental admissions programs.
I. What's changing for test takers on March 1, 2025:
- Test takers will receive a more accurate assessment of their preparedness for dental school on a 3-digit scale (200 to 600) that increases in increments of 10 (e.g. 200, 210, 220… 600) instead of a 2-digit scale (1 to 30)
- Test takers will no longer receive an unofficial score report immediately after taking the exam
- Official scores will be released 3-4 weeks following test administration
II. What will remain the same:
- Test content, sections, and format
- Sections include: (1) Biology, (2) General Chemistry, (3) Organic Chemistry, (4) Perceptual Ability, (5) Reading Comprehension, (6) Quantitative Reasoning
- Scoring components will continue to include individual section scores, a Total Science score (TS), and an Academic Average (AA)
- Applicants will continue to self-report their scores on the ADEA AADSAS application the same way that 2-digit scores have been reported in the past
- Official scores will be sent from the ADA
III. FAQ:
How will dental schools compare the 2-digit and 3-digit scores when assessing different applicants?
Dental school admissions committees will be provided with conversion tables from the ADA that can be found here.
What if I already took the DAT and received a 2-digit score?
Both 2-digit and 3-digit scores are valid and can be reported on ADEA AADSAS. If you take the exam before March 1, 2025, then you will still receive 2-digit scores and an unofficial score report at the testing center. If you take the exam on or after March 1, 2025, you will receive your official 3-digit scores 3-4 weeks after taking the test.
What’s a good DAT score under the new scoring system?
As per the ADA’s conversion and percentile tables for the new scoring system, highly competitive DAT scores (90th+ percentile) are expected to be around 470+.
The average accepted academic average (AA) will likely be around 420-440 (equivalent to a 20-21 AA).
Why will I have to wait 3-4 weeks to receive my score instead of immediately receiving an unofficial score report?
The new scoring system is more sophisticated and requires additional analysis to be a precise measure of your abilities. Prometric testing centers will not have the capability to display test results under the new scoring scale.