Hey guys im taking the MCAT in august. Would the DAT be something I should take? I have heard its similar with only slight overall concept changes.
Anyone else thinking about taking both?
Anyone else thinking about taking both?
Last edited:
lol you gonna start a war!!!
Hey guys im taking the MCAT in august. Would the DAT be something I should take? I have heard its slightly easier with only slight overall concept changes. The main being calculus which I am good at. Apparently its more regurgitating facts than problem solving like the MCAT.
Med school is my preference but dentistry could be a "back up." Anyone else think about this?
Get outa here lol. Just go to a D.O. school and stay in medical field.
Getting that OD is infinitely easier than getting DDS.
Hey guys im taking the MCAT in august. Would the DAT be something I should take? I have heard its slightly easier with only slight overall concept changes. The main being calculus which I am good at. Apparently its more regurgitating facts than problem solving like the MCAT.
Med school is my preference but dentistry could be a "back up." Anyone else think about this?
Yo you gotta stop putting down other health care professions...
You probably take similar classes as DO students as in dental school. and DO's is same thing as MD...
I dont know about OD...
Peanuts, I'm sorry to cause miscommunication, but I am not actually putting any professions down...
I am just stating the fact that DO schools are easier than dental schools to get in in general, because I thought that information would be important to the OP because obvious he has medical field as his top choice and dental as a "back up" because he has the idea that dentistry is "easier" than medical field to get into.
I am just pointing out that if he wants to do med, he could go to OD school with less effort.
I didn't say anything about one being better than the other in terms of professions, just in difficulties in admissions.
Get outa here lol. Just go to a D.O. school and stay in medical field.
Getting that OD is infinitely easier than getting DDS.
Thanks for the help those of you who didn't attack me. I am new to the boards and didn't realize there was so much hostility between the fields. To me its quite an achievement to do either. That is why I "carelessly" worded my initial post.
My intention wasn't to "insult" the dental folk. I have always thought med school was more competitive simply because of more applicants. Although that is changing more and more everyday. I wasn't trying to hint at superior intelligence or anything remotely close.
I have spoken with a few people who have taken both (did well) and they said the DAT was easier. That is why I made the assumption. Both tests ask questions in different manners but cover more or less the same material with a few variations. I know the perceptual concept is on the DAT but that doesn't seem like it would take too much time to master. I guess some people are better at a particular testing style than the other which means it might be good to try both.
I edited my post but let me rephrase my question. Would it be advantageous to take both the DAT and the MCAT in hopes of increasing ones chances of being accepted to med or dental school? Or are the tests so different that studying for both is impractical.
but keep in mind, the dental application asks if you have taken the mcat, so now you're no longer at an advantage with your dental application.
Why is getting into dental school so different than medical?? I have EC's, shadowing experience in both fields, the basic prereq's. . . and an MCAT / DAT score. What is so different? Im not a med school reject and im a solid applicant unless I bomb the MCAT which is unlikely. I have been scoring ~35's on my AAMC practice tests. I have a 3.4 GPA right now which should be around 3.5 come august.
their going to see that you have no passion or drive for either field (which you may) but its going to come across as a person just trying to get in wherever will take him/her. Choose one a stick with with. You dont want to go to medical school and then figured you like dentistry more or vise versa. See which one your more passionate about and stick with it, you will get in eventually, even if it take a couple of tries
but keep in mind, the dental application asks if you have taken the mcat,
Exactly my point. They are too different, and the OP obviously doesn't care where he goes in, just wants to be a doctor.
Because he said dentistry is a "back up" in his original post, (even though he modified it now, if you want to see it look at my post that quoted him), I suggested him to go into DO school if his back up is to become dentistry, since DO school is easier than dental schools to get in.
Also, DO would give him same abilities as MD, so I thought he would be happier.
If he bombs the MCAT, he could just go into OD rather than having to study for a different test like DAT (which he will most likely bomb also if he bombed the MCAT) and fail to get into dental schools as well.
Well thanks for the advice (some of you).
My mom,dad,3 uncles, 2 grandparents, and 2 cousins are all physicians with a couple of them being specialized dentists. I have been around doctors all my life and I know quite a bit about many fields. I see how their life is in and out of the hospital.
Perhaps because of that both fields have aspects that really appeal to me. So much that I could see myself doing either.
Investing so many years is more than just following your passion (to me). Becoming a doctor ideally has to be a balance between many factors from work hours to personal enjoyment. You can LOVE what you do but if you don't have enough time for your family or yourself . . . its not worth it. It is a complicated collaboration of factors that is impossible to "anticipate" right now or even in med school. If you follow that perfect path to your destination than consider yourself blessed, because that is a rarity.
Save the hassle and choose one. Are you not confident enough? If you like both so much, take time to single out the professional school you wish to attend the most. I'll admit...I was torn between a few things, and even applied for them, but in the end it became a HUGE confusion and I lost big time. So learn from my mistakes and CHOOSE just one path. It's nice that you have an open attitude; however, unfortunately dental school and medical school are two separate paths (for now).
I hope you know that it's overkill to study for both the MCAT and DAT. You've got to be a freak of nature to do well in both.
this guy is right, except for doing well on the DAT and the MCAT, i did well on both of them and im no smarty. they do overlap a lot, but dont underestimate either of them. just because you do well on the MCAT doesn't mean you will do well on the DAT!
lol I wouldn't say that; you definitely possess "high" intelligence. Also remember, it takes MOST people multiple attempts to get a "good" enough score.
Not sure if they overlap a lot. However, you'll be studying MORE subjects to have a firm grasp of the material before taking both tests. MCAT has physics, gchem, ochem, verbal, writing, and bio sections. DAT has math, bio (larger scope), gchem, ochem (need to know alkene/aromatic series), reading comp, and PAT (which can take a few weeks to a few months of preparation to fully understand rules of the section). It's tougher to study for both compared to one of them.
To the OP: Therefore, just choose one, and hope to do well in it!!! It's not worth the hassle or confusion. It complicates things. I'm just trying to save your sanity.
Good luck.
no it doesnt. it asks if you have applied to other types of proffesional schools.
this is probably worse than asking if you've taken the mcat. it shows that you have desire to go to med school and have put the time and effort in to applying. it would probably be brought up during a school interview too.
so moral of the story...spend a couple hundred and take mcat, but don't apply to med school.
Hey guys im taking the MCAT in august. Would the DAT be something I should take? I have heard its similar with only slight overall concept changes.
Anyone else thinking about taking both?