DAT Conversion Chart and Percentile Ranks

DAT scores have been reported on a 200 to 600 scale in 10-point increments since March 1, 2025. This DAT conversion chart uses the American Dental Association concordance and percentile tables to convert an old 1 to 30 score to the new scale and find the percentile rank for a current score. Both tables are reproduced below.

You can use the tables to read an older score on the current scale, compare attempts reported under different systems and see where a score stands nationally. The focus here is DAT scoring and conversion. IMA’s guide to the Dental Admission Test covers the exam itself, including dates, timing and preparation.

DAT Score Conversion at a Glance

• DAT scores have ranged from 200 to 600 in 10-point increments since March 1, 2025, replacing the former 1 to 30 reporting scale.
• On the Academic Average concordance row, an old score of 18 is approximately 390, 20 is approximately 420 and 21 is approximately 440.
• The mean Academic Average was 407.84 across 17,430 DAT attempts completed from March 1 through December 31, 2025.
• For the 2025 entering class, 52.5% of first-time, first-year dental school enrollees had an Academic Average of 21 or higher on the old scale, approximately 440 or higher on the new scale.

The New DAT Score Reporting Scale

On March 1, 2025, the ADA’s Department of Testing Services replaced the 1 to 30 reporting scale with a 3-digit scale running from 200 to 600 in 10-point increments. The underlying DAT content did not change. The ADA describes the change to DAT scoring and reporting as a psychometric improvement intended to estimate candidates’ skills with greater precision.

If you tested before the change, your score remains valid. Earlier results are still available in their original 2-digit format in the Department of Testing Services Hub. However, all official DAT results sent to ADEA AADSAS since March 1, 2025 use the 3-digit scale, including psychometrically converted results from earlier administrations. This gives admissions officers one scale for comparing applicants. You can still self-report either format when applying to dental school with ADEA AADSAS.

The change also ended unofficial score reports at testing sites. The ADA says the additional analysis required by the new system means results are no longer available immediately after the exam. This reporting change does not make an older score obsolete or require you to retest solely because your report uses the former scale.

DAT Score Conversion Between the Two Scales

The American Dental Association Department of Testing Services developed the official DAT concordance table from more than 30,000 attempts completed during a recent two-year period. Each attempt was scored under both systems. Scores were treated as approximately equivalent when they occupied similar relative positions in their respective distributions.

Find your old score in the left column of the conversion table above, then move across to the specific score type you want to convert. This distinction matters because the equivalent can differ by section. A given old Biology score does not necessarily convert to the same 3-digit value as the identical old Quantitative Reasoning score.

The ADA’s examples illustrate how to read the table. A Quantitative Reasoning score of 15 is approximately 340, while a Biology score of 18 is approximately 390. For Academic Average, old scores of 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 correspond to approximately 370, 390, 410, 420, 440 and 460.

These are concordant scores, not a mathematical rescaling formula. For example, you should not multiply an old score by a fixed number or interpolate a decimal score that the table does not provide. Use the row and score category published by the ADA. The new system has 41 reportable values from 200 through 600, compared with 30 values on the old scale, which gives the current system more score points for distinguishing performance.

DAT Percentiles for 3-Digit Scores

A percentile rank tells you the percentage of candidates in the national normative sample who earned that score or lower. The American Dental Association percentile table is based on more than 30,000 DAT attempts from a recent two-year period and provides separate percentiles for all eight reported scores.

Use the percentile table above by finding your 3-digit score and reading across to the correct score category. Do not use the Academic Average percentile column to interpret a Biology or Perceptual Ability score because the percentile attached to the same scale score can vary across categories.

For Academic Average, 390 is at the 47th percentile, 400 at the 54th, 410 at the 62nd, 420 at the 69th, 430 at the 75th, 440 at the 81st and 450 at the 85th. As a section-specific example, the ADA places a Quantitative Reasoning score of 460 at the 85th percentile, meaning 85% of candidates in the normative sample scored 460 or lower in Quantitative Reasoning.

A percentile describes relative performance within the normative sample. It is not the percentage of questions you answered correctly and it is not your probability of admission. The 2026 DAT Candidate Guide states that there is no official passing score. Each dental program decides how it evaluates the result, so percentile standing should be read alongside the class profiles and admission context discussed below.

How a DAT Scale Score Is Produced

There is no public chart showing exactly how many questions you must answer correctly to receive a particular DAT scale score. The ADA does not release raw-score thresholds because the number required varies with the exam form administered. Multiple forms are necessary for retesting and test security.

Your reported result is a scale score, not a raw number correct or a percentile. Different forms contain different questions and can differ in difficulty. Psychometric equating accounts for those differences so scores from separate forms can be compared meaningfully. This is why a claimed universal table equating a fixed number correct with 400, 450 or another score would be misleading.

Apart from the two composite scores, DAT scoring uses Item Response Theory and the three-parameter logistic model. According to the ADA User’s Manual, that model considers question difficulty, how effectively a question distinguishes among skill levels and the effect of guessing. The DAT does not subtract points for guessing, although the model accounts for a question’s susceptibility to guessing when estimating skill.

A small number of experimental questions are not scored, and they look the same as scored questions. Together, differing forms, equating and unscored items explain why counting remembered correct answers cannot reproduce your official result.

The Eight Scores on a DAT Report

A DAT report contains eight results: Academic Average, Survey of the Natural Sciences, Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Perceptual Ability, Quantitative Reasoning and Reading Comprehension. Academic Average and Survey of the Natural Sciences are composite scores calculated from other parts of the exam.

How the Academic Average Is Calculated

The Academic Average calculation uses Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Quantitative Reasoning and Reading Comprehension. Those five scale scores are averaged and rounded to the nearest 10-point increment, so a calculated mean of 343 is reported as 340, as the ADA DAT User Manual sets out.

Perceptual Ability is not part of the Academic Average. On IMA’s count from the question totals the ADA publishes, the five included areas cover 190 of the 280 scored questions on the report, and Perceptual Ability covers the remaining 90. Excluding it from the composite does not remove it from your report. Dental schools can still consider the separate Perceptual Ability result under their own admission criteria.

How Total Science Changed

The ADA uses two names for the science composite: its score list calls it Survey of the Natural Sciences, while its scoring answers call it Total Science. Its calculation changed on March 1, 2025. Before that date, Total Science reflected performance across the Survey of the Natural Sciences section and was not simply the rounded average of Biology, General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry. For administrations after March 1, 2025, it is the rounded average of those three science scale scores.

That definition change is important when you compare reports from different dates. The concordance table helps compare relative score levels across scales, but you should still recognize that the science composite itself is now calculated differently.

Current National DAT Score Averages

Across 17,430 examinations administered from March 1 through December 31, 2025, the ADA DAT User Manual reports a mean Academic Average of 407.84 with a standard deviation of 51.62. That mean describes all attempts in the period, not only applicants who entered dental school.

The other means were 402.08 for Survey of the Natural Sciences, 405.32 for Biology, 398.76 for General Chemistry, 402.09 for Organic Chemistry, 405.32 for Quantitative Reasoning, 427.69 for Reading Comprehension and 406.84 for Perceptual Ability. Because each score category has its own distribution, compare your section results with the corresponding section mean rather than treating every score as interchangeable.

First-time test takers had a mean Academic Average of 413.9, compared with 396.3 for repeaters. They also had a higher mean on every other reported DAT score during the same period, including Survey of the Natural Sciences means of 408.7 and 389.5. This group-level pattern does not show that retaking lowers an individual’s score or predict whether your own score will improve.

If you retest, schools receive your complete attempt history. Scores cannot be voided at your request after you complete any part of an administration. Candidates must wait 60 days between attempts, may test no more than four times in a 12-month period and need permission supported by a recent dental school application after three or more attempts.

Academic Average Bands in Dental School Admission

Every US and Canadian dental school requires the DAT, and each one sets its own criteria for how much weight the result carries. When reviewing dental school requirements, distinguish a published entering-class average from a minimum requirement. An average describes enrolled students as a group and is not automatically a cutoff.

ADEA’s report on the 2025 entering class covers 13,657 applicants and 7,073 first-time, first-year enrollees. Its DAT figures use the former 1 to 30 scale because that class applied during the transition. The conversion column in the band table below uses the ADA Academic Average concordance values.

The band table above shows a clear difference between applicant and enrollee distributions. Among enrollees, 52.5% had an Academic Average of 21 or higher, approximately 440 or higher on the current scale. That compares with 33.8% of applicants. Scores of 19 to 20 accounted for 31.3% of enrollees and 28.5% of applicants, while scores of 17 to 18 represented 11.9% of enrollees and 21.3% of applicants. These figures show how selective dental school admission is, but they do not isolate the effect of the DAT from grades and the rest of an application.

The mean Academic Average was 19.6 for applicants and 20.9 for first-time, first-year enrollees in the 2025 entering class. Those decimal means should remain on the 1 to 30 scale because the concordance table does not supply decimal conversions. ADEA also reports that the enrollee mean rose from 18.5 for the 2000 entering class to 20.9 in 2025.

Use the national bands as context, then compare your record with the programs you are considering. IMA’s guide to average DAT scores at every US dental school provides the broader school-by-school view. Remember that a score is reviewed beside your GPA and the rest of your application.

DAT Averages Published by Individual Dental Schools

The school table below brings together average DAT scores from 18 schools’ own admissions or class-profile pages. Each row identifies the entering class and the scale the school used. Schools moved to the 200 to 600 scale at different times, so a 1 to 30 figure and a 200 to 600 figure should not be compared as if they were the same measure.

The school table above illustrates why the class year and scale must stay attached to every number. Among the 3-digit profiles, Creighton University reported a 420 Academic Average for its Fall 2025 entering class, while Penn Dental Medicine reported 483.85 for its Class of 2030. Among profiles still on the 1 to 30 scale, Midwestern University, Illinois reported 19.0 for its Class of 2027 and the University of California, San Francisco reported 23.1 for its Class of 2029.

The University of Minnesota sits between those two, at 20.87 for the same entering year.

Those endpoints describe different schools, entering years and reporting systems. They do not establish a national ranking or show that one program offers better training. Use each profile to understand the students who enrolled there, then check whether the school publishes separate minimums or other admission expectations. Reading the profiles next to each other also shows how hard it is to get into dental school, and admissions committees weigh a score beside your grades and your record of hands-on exposure to the field, such as a pre-dentistry internship.

How DAT Scoring Differs From MCAT Scoring

The DAT reports eight scores and does not combine them into one overall total. The MCAT reports four section scores from 118 to 132, then adds them to produce a total from 472 to 528. IMA’s guide to MCAT percentile ranks and score ranges covers that system in detail.

Both exams use scaled scoring to account for differences among test forms, and neither penalizes guessing. However, their historical-scale policies differ. The ADA publishes a concordance table linking the DAT’s former and current scales. The AAMC says scores from the current MCAT, launched in April 2015, cannot be meaningfully converted to the earlier MCAT scale because the exams assess different concepts and skills.

The reports also arrive on different schedules. A DAT score report reaches schools in three to four weeks; an official MCAT score takes 30 to 35 days. These similarities do not make the scales interchangeable. A DAT percentile or scale score cannot be translated into an MCAT total.

Using Your DAT Score to Plan Your Next Step

Start with the column that matches the score category on your report. Convert an older result with the concordance table, check the appropriate percentile column and compare your Academic Average with the enrollee bands and school profiles above.

Keep the three comparisons distinct: a percentile compares you with everyone who tested, an entering-class average describes a group of enrolled students and a published minimum is one school’s own rule. Once you know where your score sits, use it alongside your academic record and your broader plan for becoming a dentist to decide whether to apply, refine your school list or consider another attempt.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the DAT Conversion Chart?

The DAT conversion chart is the ADA Department of Testing Services concordance table linking scores on the former 1 to 30 scale with approximate equivalents on the current 200 to 600 scale. It was developed from more than 30,000 attempts scored under both systems. Use the column for your specific score category because identical old scores can convert differently across sections.

What Is a 20 on the DAT on the New Scale?

An old Academic Average of 20 is approximately 420 on the new scale. The equivalent may differ for another score category, so check the appropriate column rather than applying the Academic Average conversion to Biology, Perceptual Ability or another section.

What Is the Average DAT Score?

Among everyone who tested from March 1 through December 31, 2025, the mean Academic Average was 407.84, with a standard deviation of 51.62 across 17,430 attempts. Enrolled students score higher: ADEA put the mean Academic Average at 20.9 for first-time, first-year enrollees in the 2025 entering class against 19.6 for applicants, both on the former 1 to 30 scale.

What Percentile Is a 450 on the DAT?

An Academic Average of 450 is at the 85th percentile in the ADA’s national normative sample. Percentiles vary by score category, so a 450 in Biology, Reading Comprehension or another section should be read from that section’s own column.

How Many Questions Do You Need Right for a Given DAT Score?

There is no fixed public number. The ADA does not release how many questions must be answered correctly for a particular scale score because the threshold varies by exam form. Different question difficulty, psychometric equating and unscored experimental questions prevent a universal raw-to-scale conversion.

How Is the DAT Academic Average Calculated?

The Academic Average is the rounded mean of Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Quantitative Reasoning and Reading Comprehension scale scores. Perceptual Ability is reported separately and is not included. The calculated average is rounded to the nearest 10-point increment.

Do Dental Schools See Every DAT Attempt?

Yes. If you take the DAT more than once, the score history sent to selected dental schools includes every attempt. Results cannot be voided at your request after you complete any part of the examination, so a retake should be considered with the full testing history in mind.

Is the DAT Scored Like the MCAT?

No. Both exams use scaled scoring, account for differences among forms and do not penalize guessing, but their reports are structured differently. The DAT provides eight scores without one total. The MCAT adds four section scores from 118 to 132 to create a total from 472 to 528.