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DAT science Vs MCAT science
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The MCAT is much harder in my opinion. With the DAT, most of the questions rely on your ability to memorize and regurgitate facts. On the MCAT...it's applied reasoning.
The reading section of the MCAT is much harder as well since it involves a lot of tone questions, the RC section of the DAT however doesn't rely as much on your understanding of the passage but more so on how well you can skim and search for "keywords".
The reading section of the MCAT is much harder as well since it involves a lot of tone questions, the RC section of the DAT however doesn't rely as much on your understanding of the passage but more so on how well you can skim and search for "keywords".
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I agree with your take on the science... MCAT seems harder (though I have not taken it)....
But in terms of RC.. i think DAT is now focusing on putting more tone Q's and such ( i think its partially the reason for lower RC scores lately).... at least what i've heard.... someone confirm? I guess it depends what exam you got.
I've taken both tests, and while I did comparatively better on the MCAT than I did on the DAT, I still think the MCAT is much harder... only because most of the questions are passage-based. It's a more mentally draining test. Plus, I like math and the PAT a lot, so overall I found the DAT much more enjoyable.
and yea, I didn't do as well on DAT RC than I did on MCAT verbal because I went into the test not expecting many tone questions, just detail questions based on my practice test experience, but I was mistaken! They must be making the RC on the DAT with more questions on tone and inferring the author's purpose. It caught me off guard.
and yea, I didn't do as well on DAT RC than I did on MCAT verbal because I went into the test not expecting many tone questions, just detail questions based on my practice test experience, but I was mistaken! They must be making the RC on the DAT with more questions on tone and inferring the author's purpose. It caught me off guard.
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Your test taking strategies have to differ during both test. If you had open book, for example, you would get near 100% on the DAT. If you have open book for MCAT, you won't. I wrote the DAT with the assumption that it was the same as MCAT and I got proven wrong. My MCAT scores are 40T, my DAT is 23/22/22 but I was hoping for higher on the DAT. I took the 2 weeks between the tests to study PAT. If you have any more questions please feel free to shoot me a PM.
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Although both tests are of different format, I dont think that simply memorizing and regurgiating for the DAT will get you a good score. You have to be able to think critically during the whole test and the same goes for MCAT. Therefore I think that it really is pretty comparable or at least recently become pretty comparable to MCAT in different ways.
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Did you start your own thread and ask a question so you can respond to your own question? Just wondering.
+1, verbatim!
My friend applying to med school and i "swapped" tests while we were prepping for mcat and dat. she ended up with 20 on dat and mcat score of 33. i got a 20 and an mcat score of 32. just like cobalt, i expected the tone questions on the mcat, so i did well in this area. however i got rocked on the real dat b/c i was not ready for tone questions about ethics and morality...
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Holy crap you got a 40 on the MCAT?! That is analogous to like a 27 DAT, perhaps higher. You should tell d-skools that you got that MCAT score and despite that, your heart is still with dentistry.
Yeah... a 40 on the MCAT is a reaaaaaaaaaaallllllyyyyyyy high score.
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40 on mcat? 99% percentile?
anyway, i have taken both. my opinion is that they are way different. on the DAT, you either know it or you dont. on the MCAT, even if you do not know it, you can probably get answer from the passage as most of it is passage based. So that can make the MCAT harder or easier depending on if you are great at reading passages or suck....
anyway, i have taken both. my opinion is that they are way different. on the DAT, you either know it or you dont. on the MCAT, even if you do not know it, you can probably get answer from the passage as most of it is passage based. So that can make the MCAT harder or easier depending on if you are great at reading passages or suck....
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a 40 is the cutoff for the start of the 99.9%ile group....thats equilvent to a 25 on the DAT
only 1 person last year got a 27 on the DAT thats 100th%ile....
anyway, DAT and MCAT are VERY different tests its difficult to compare one to the other....MCAT is based less of straight memorization compared to the DAT, thus if your a great test taker and have excellent reasoning ability you'd prob score better on the MCAT if equal prep was used.....if you were not superior at reasoning then a straight memorization test such as the DAT would be easier for you....
IMO the MCAT is a superior test since it has a higher volume of takers thus it can be better designed for its purpose. Also I find less value in pure memorization and I attribute higher intellegence to reasoning....although this can be argued its a simple IMO.
The DAT has recently began to add reasoning questions where they will put a few question in various areas with the assumption that you have a general idea of the field or concept but have not studied this area directly, thus you have to pick "the best answer" and base it off your knowledge in the field. I had a few in the bio section and reading comp sections.
I believe it depends on the situation. If you prepare for each test for one year, you will do better on DAT because it is mostly memorizing facts, and regurgitating them as one of the SDNers said. However, If you start studying for both of them just two months before your test, MCAT will be easier. For most of the questions on MCAT, you need some background in science + reasoning abilities to answer the questions. Not so much memorizing involved.
MCAT RC
*passages are easier than DAT passages
but questions are more challenging
*passages handle a variety of topics
, while DAT passages deal with difficult&unfamiliar science topics
What they measure is different!
MCAT= Critical thinking, problem solving skill
DAT=Superfast reading on science journal & articles, superfast information gathering and synthesis
BTW, I have never took MCAT, but I did take a few sample tests before.
*passages are easier than DAT passages
but questions are more challenging
*passages handle a variety of topics
, while DAT passages deal with difficult&unfamiliar science topics
What they measure is different!
MCAT= Critical thinking, problem solving skill
DAT=Superfast reading on science journal & articles, superfast information gathering and synthesis
BTW, I have never took MCAT, but I did take a few sample tests before.
