What Is a Good DAT Score? Percentiles, Averages, and Targets by School Tier

"What's a good DAT score?" is the most-asked question in pre-dental forums — and since the March 2025 switch to the 200–600 scale, most of the old answers floating around are outdated. This guide gives you the current numbers: what average test-takers score, what admitted students score, and what you should target based on the schools on your list.

The short version

• The national average DAT Academic Average is roughly 400–410 (about the 50th–60th percentile).
• The average admitted student at U.S. dental schools scores around 440–450 AA on the new scale (approximately 20–21 on the old 1–30 scale).
• 440+ AA is a good score for most applicants. 470+ makes you competitive at top-tier programs.
• Schools weigh your Academic Average first, PAT second, then look at section balance and your GPA alongside.

Start with the percentiles, not the vibes

A "good" score is relative — relative to other test-takers, and relative to admitted students. Start with the test-taker distribution (ADA official percentile table, Academic Average):

Here's the critical nuance most guides skip: the 50th percentile among test-takers is well below the 50th percentile among admitted students. The people who take the DAT are already self-selected pre-dental students, and the subset who actually matriculate score well above the median. A 400 AA is genuinely average among everyone who sits the exam — and below average among the people who get in.

For the full mechanics of how scores and percentiles work, see DAT scoring explained.

What admitted students actually score

On the old 1–30 scale, the average Academic Average for students admitted to U.S. dental schools was consistently reported around 19–21, with most sources centering on roughly 20. Translating through the ADA's concordance:

So the typical admitted student lands around 430–450 AA on the new scale. For calibration, one published data point: UCSF's Class of 2029 averaged 23.1 AA on the old scale — roughly 470 new scale — with admitted students ranging from 18 to 28 old-scale.

That gives you a realistic frame:

• Below 410: below the typical admitted range. Possible with an exceptional GPA and application, but you're fighting uphill.
• 410–430: the low end of the admitted range. Fine for less competitive programs, especially with a strong GPA.
• 440–450: the heart of the admitted range. This is "a good DAT score" for the average applicant.
• 460–470: above the typical admitted average. Competitive at strong programs.
• 470+: top-tier territory.

Score targets by school tier

Dental schools don't publish official DAT cutoffs, but their admitted-student profiles cluster predictably. Use these as planning targets (Academic Average; approximate):

Two warnings about this table. First, these are planning targets, not cutoffs — schools admit below these numbers every cycle when the rest of the application is strong. Second, your GPA moves the target: a 3.9 science GPA gives you more room on the DAT than a 3.2 does. Admissions is a portfolio, not a single number.

Which scores do schools actually care about?

Not all eight reported scores carry equal weight:

1. Academic Average (AA) — the headline number. This is the score that appears in class profiles and rankings. Maximize this first.
2. Perceptual Ability (PAT) — the second headline. Many schools weigh it nearly as heavily as the AA, and some have informal PAT minimums (often around the old 18, roughly 420–430 new scale).
3. Total Science (TS) — watched closely because it reflects your science foundation; a big gap between TS and AA (in either direction) gets noticed.
4. Section subscores — used to check for balance. A 460 AA with a 380 in Reading Comprehension raises an eyebrow; schools want to see that you can handle the reading load of dental school.
5. Quantitative Reasoning — historically the least-weighted section, but a very low QR score still hurts.

The practical rule: no section below ~410, AA as high as you can push it, PAT within striking distance of your AA.

Should you retake? A decision framework

Retaking is common, but it's not free — it costs another full registration fee, requires a 90-day wait between attempts, and all scores are reported to schools. Use this framework:

• AA below 400: retake, unless your GPA is exceptional (3.8+) and you're targeting less competitive programs. You're below the test-taker average.
• AA 400–430: retake if you're targeting competitive programs or your GPA is below ~3.5. Consider a retake if one section is dragging your average down and you know you can fix it.
• AA 440–450: retake only if you're targeting top-tier schools and you have a clear, fixable reason you underperformed (ran out of time, test-day illness, one bad section).
• AA 460+: do not retake. The risk/reward is terrible — a score drop looks worse than a 460 ever will.

One more consideration: schools see all attempts. A 420 → 460 progression tells a good story. A 450 → 440 regression tells a bad one. Only retake when you have a concrete plan to improve, not just hope.

Next step: know your target, now build the plan to hit it. Our DAT study schedule 3 month lays out a realistic 12-week schedule — and when you're ready to choose prep materials, compare the top options on DAT prep.