A percentile rank tells you what share of candidates scored at or below a given score. These are the ADA’s published ranks, covering every score from 200 to 600 across all eight reported scores.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated September 11, 2026
Calculated from a national normative sample of more than 30,000 DAT attempts over a recent two-year period. The ADA recalculates these against newer samples over time, so treat them as a close guide rather than a fixed value.
The same score across four reported scores
Each reported score has its own distribution, so one number does not carry one meaning. This is the single most useful thing the percentile table shows.
Percentile rank for the same score, by reported score
Score
Academic Avg
Natural Sciences
Perceptual Ability
Reading
400
54%
53%
52%
56%
420
69%
67%
65%
69%
440
81%
79%
76%
79%
460
88%
87%
84%
86%
480
94%
92%
90%
91%
500
97%
95%
94%
94%
Full table
Showing percentile ranks for Academic Average. The centre of the scale is highlighted.
ScorePctl
2000%
2100%
2200%
2300%
2400%
2500%
2601%
2701%
2802%
2903%
3004%
3106%
3208%
33011%
ScorePctl
34015%
35020%
36025%
37032%
38039%
39047%
40054%
41062%
42069%
43075%
44081%
45085%
46088%
47091%
ScorePctl
48094%
49096%
50097%
51098%
52099%
53099%
540100%
550100%
560100%
570100%
580100%
590100%
600100%
How to read this
A percentile is a statement about the candidate pool, not about admissions. The people sitting the DAT are already self-selected, and the subset who matriculate score well above the median. So a score at the 50th percentile is genuinely average among test takers and below average among admitted students — see what counts as a good DAT score for that comparison.
Your GPA carries as much weight as your DAT.
Dental schools read your science and cumulative GPA alongside your scores. Work out both with our free GPA calculators.
A 400 Academic Average sits at approximately the 54th percentile, meaning about that share of candidates scored at or below it. The same 400 lands at a slightly different percentile in every other reported score, because each has its own distribution.
They are published by the ADA and calculated from a national normative sample of more than 30,000 DAT attempts over a recent two-year period. A percentile rank is the percentage of candidates in that sample who achieved the given score or lower.
Because each reported score has its own distribution. A 460 is the 88th percentile as an Academic Average but the 84th in Perceptual Ability — the underlying spread of candidate performance differs from one score to another, so identical numbers are not equally hard to reach.
Yes, when the ADA recalculates them against a newer normative sample. The scaled scores themselves stay comparable, but the percentage of candidates sitting below a given score drifts over time. Always check the current table before making a decision that turns on a single percentile.
Schools work from the scaled scores, and publish their averages in those terms. Percentile is most useful to you — it tells you where you sit in the candidate pool, which a scaled score alone does not convey.