DAT vs OAT?

[sill33gurl]

I was wondering if anyone had taken both tests, and if so, was one harder than the other?

I'm wondering because I took the OAT and did pretty well (except the RC) and recently decided to go into the dental field.

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[doctorloomis]

They are virtually the same with a few minor changes. Many of the test prep materials lump the OAT and DAT together when covering the lessons. If you did well on the OAT, then you will do well on the DAT. No reason to believe otherwise.

 

[Mila]

The only major difference is that the DAT has a perceptual ability section in place of the OAT's physics section.

 

[Law0830]

i agree with the other posts the OAT and the DAT are very similar besides the physics section. Any of the resources you used to study for the OAT like topscore kaplan destroyer and achiever will be more or less the same for the DAT.

 

[H2OPOLODENT]

I was wondering if anyone had taken both tests, and if so, was one harder than the other?

I'm wondering because I took the OAT and did pretty well (except the RC) and recently decided to go into the dental field.

The DAT and OAT are produced by the same testing company so as others have said, they are identical in terms of the types of questions you will see on the exam (except for physics/DAT. That is why, for instance, Kaplan teaches all of its DAT/OAT classes simultaneously.

 

[dentstd]

Physics and PAT aren't the only differences. The approach differs on the two tests. The questions on the OAT are a bit more terminology-based. The questions can partially be reduced to learning a series of definitions and key concepts. More specifically, the information are asked in much the same way as it's presented in the classroom. If you did well in the corresponding classes, then the OAT'll be quite easy. The DAT is also partially factual, in the sense that it covers the same material. But it's increasingly being applied to new situations you rarely see in class. The test writers try to present the question in a new and different way, so that's a small hurdle on the DAT.

There are official copies of both the DAT and OAT out there. You can verify everything I've said for yourself.