DAT scores explained: the 200-600 scale, percentiles and averages
Since 1 March 2025 the Dental Admission Test reports every score from 200 to 600 in 10-point steps. If you read forums, school websites or older prep books you will still see numbers like 19, 21 or 23 - those are on the retired 1-30 scale. This guide covers what each score on your report means, how the Academic Average is built, where a given score falls in the ADA's percentile table, and what admitted students tend to score.
From 1-30 to 200-600
The old scale had 30 points, so a single point covered a large slice of test takers. The new scale spreads the same ability over 400 points in 10-point steps, which gives 41 possible scores. The ADA scores the new test with item response theory, so a scaled score depends on which questions you answered correctly, not only on how many.
Two practical consequences. First, there is no official way to turn a 1-30 score into a 200-600 score; the ADA has not published a concordance. Second, a raw count of correct answers on a practice test cannot be looked up in a fixed table, because the real conversion depends on the difficulty of the questions on your form. Our page on how DAT600 estimates a 200-600 score explains how we deal with that.
What is on a DAT score report
You receive eight scores, each on the 200-600 scale:
- Biology, General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry - the three parts of the Survey of Natural Sciences, each scored on its own.
- Total Science - one score for the whole Survey of Natural Sciences section, covering all three sciences together.
- Perceptual Ability - the six spatial subtests. See DAT sections explained for what each one asks.
- Reading Comprehension and Quantitative Reasoning.
- Academic Average - the summary number most schools quote.
The Academic Average (AA) is the average of five scores: Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Reading Comprehension and Quantitative Reasoning. Perceptual Ability is not in it, and neither is Total Science. Schools look at PAT separately, so a strong PAT cannot lift a weak AA, and a weak PAT does not pull the AA down.
DAT percentiles by score
The table shows the ADA's published percentile for each score from 300 to 560 in 20-point steps: the share of a national sample of more than 30,000 attempts that scored at or below that number. Scores below 300 and above 560 are rare on every scale.
| Score | Bio | GC | OC | TS | PAT | RC | QR | AA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 300 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| 320 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 8 |
| 340 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 15 |
| 360 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 29 | 28 | 25 |
| 380 | 40 | 39 | 41 | 39 | 39 | 43 | 41 | 39 |
| 400 | 54 | 53 | 54 | 53 | 52 | 56 | 54 | 54 |
| 420 | 67 | 66 | 67 | 67 | 65 | 69 | 67 | 69 |
| 440 | 78 | 78 | 78 | 79 | 76 | 79 | 78 | 81 |
| 460 | 86 | 86 | 85 | 87 | 84 | 86 | 85 | 88 |
| 480 | 92 | 92 | 91 | 92 | 90 | 91 | 91 | 94 |
| 500 | 95 | 94 | 94 | 95 | 94 | 94 | 94 | 97 |
| 520 | 97 | 96 | 96 | 97 | 97 | 95 | 96 | 99 |
| 540 | 98 | 97 | 97 | 99 | 98 | 96 | 98 | 100 |
| 560 | 98 | 98 | 98 | 100 | 99 | 99 | 98 | 100 |
Bio = Biology, GC = General Chemistry, OC = Organic Chemistry, TS = Total Science, PAT = Perceptual Ability, RC = Reading Comprehension, QR = Quantitative Reasoning, AA = Academic Average.
Read across a row and the scales are close but not identical. A 500 is the 97th percentile on the Academic Average but the 94th on Perceptual Ability, because the AA averages five scores and averages bunch toward the middle. That is why the same number means more on the AA than on a single section.
Average DAT scores for first-time test takers
The ADA's DAT User's Manual 2026 reports these means and standard deviations for first-time takers who sat the test between March and December 2025. The two tables come from different samples, so a mean here does not land exactly on the 50th percentile above.
| Score | Mean | SD |
|---|---|---|
| Biology | 411.4 | 71.8 |
| General Chemistry | 404.9 | 69.2 |
| Organic Chemistry | 409.6 | 70 |
| Total Science | 408.7 | 64.6 |
| Perceptual Ability | 410.7 | 70.8 |
| Reading Comprehension | 432.5 | 59 |
| Quantitative Reasoning | 411.1 | 57.3 |
| Academic Average | 413.9 | 54.8 |
Most section means sit a little above 400 with a standard deviation near 70, so roughly two in three first-time takers score between about 340 and 480 on a given section. Reading Comprehension has the highest mean (432.5) and Quantitative Reasoning the narrowest spread (SD 57.3).
What dental school enrollees score
Admitted students score well above the first-time average. ADEA reported the 2025 entering class's mean Academic Average as 20.9 and mean Perceptual Ability as 20.3on the old 1-30 scale. Converted with the estimate we use across the site (84 + 17 × old score), that is roughly 439 AA and 429 PAT, est. An AA near 440 sits around the 81th percentile, against about the 62th for the first-time mean.
Treat the converted figures as a guide, not a cut-off: the ADA publishes no official conversion, and every school weighs GPA, experience and interviews alongside the DAT. Many schools still list their class averages on the 1-30 scale. The dental school finder compares your AA and GPA with each school's entering class and marks converted numbers as estimates.
Using a practice score well
- Look at the range, not the point. A 40-to-100-question section cannot pin a score down to 10 points.
- Compare first attempts. A retaken form measures memory as much as skill.
- Track the AA and PAT separately, the way schools read them.
- Use timed, full-length sittings for the trend line and short drills for the weak spots - the practice test guide covers how to combine them.
Common questions
- What is a good DAT score on the 200-600 scale?
- It depends on the schools you apply to. First-time test takers averaged about 414 on the Academic Average, and dental school enrollees averaged roughly 439 (an estimate converted from the old 1-30 scale), which sits near the 81th percentile.
- What is the DAT Academic Average?
- The average of five scores: Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Reading Comprehension and Quantitative Reasoning. Perceptual Ability and Total Science are not part of it.
- When did the DAT change from 1-30 to 200-600?
- The ADA moved to the 200-600 scale, reported in 10-point steps, on 1 March 2025. Scores earned before then stay on the 1-30 scale.
- Can I convert an old 1-30 DAT score to the new scale?
- Not officially. The ADA publishes no concordance table. Sites that show a converted number, including ours, are estimating; we mark those numbers as estimates.
- Where do these percentiles come from?
- From the ADA's published percentile table for the new scale, built from a national sample of more than 30,000 DAT attempts. A percentile is the share of that sample scoring at or below a given score.
Sources: ADA, “Understanding the New DAT Score Reporting Scale” (Table 2, updated 29 January 2025); DAT User's Manual 2026 (Table 4); ADEA U.S. Dental School Applicants and Enrollees, 2024 & 2025 entering class (Tables 1, 4, 6, 9). DAT on the 1-30 scale.
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