DO vs Dental

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Members do not see this ad.
Not trying to flame the discussion here or offended anyone, but the consensus is the MCAT is a more challenging than PCAT/DAT/OAT/GRE and we all know that professional schools rely heavily in these standardized tests. Therefore, one can conclude that it's probably a little easier to get into dental school than DO school. On the other hand, there is the grade replacement aspect of DO which make it more forgiven, but not all DO applicants use it... I have no dog in this fight since I am a MD student.
 
Last edited:
I wonder if the wise Goro or other admins (both dental and medical) would be regretting offering acceptances to some ppl on this thread by now.
 
BestDoctorEver said:
Not trying to flame the discussion here or offended anyone, but the consensus is the MCAT is a more challenging than PCAT/DAT/OAT/GRE and we all know that professional schools rely heavily in these standardized tests. Therefore, one can conclude that it's probably a little easier to get into dental school than DO school. On the other hand, there is the grade replacement aspect of DO which make it more forgiven, but not all DO applicants use it... I have no dog in this fight since I am a MD student.
Click to expand...

MD agreeing. He/She Has no reason to support a DO.
Case in point.
 
feeling-dizzy said:
I wonder if the wise Goro or other admins (both dental and medical) would be regretting offering acceptances to some ppl on this thread by now.
Click to expand...
I would say likely not. People are allowed to have discussions and disagreements. That's part of the fun of being educated.
 
TheBoiii said:
MD agreeing. He/She Has no reason to support a DO.
Case in point.
Click to expand...
How can any med school accept this immature arrogant person? Probably LUCOM. I would take UCLA Dental School anyday.
 
feeling-dizzy said:
How can any med school accept this immature arrogant person? Probably LUCOM. I would take UCLA Dental School anyday.
Click to expand...

Lucom bashing now? Your're just as "bad" as me.
No, it is a top DO. try 27+ 3.6+
 
TheBoiii said:
Lucom bashing now? Your're just as "bad" as me.
No, it is a top DO. try 27+ 3.6+
Click to expand...
Yawn, no, just show you that there are a wide range of diffculty among admission of DO and dental schools. Getting into LUCOM will be less challenging than getting into UCLA dent. But getting in WesternU DO will certainly harder than say Alabama dent (sorry). So just stop with the arrogant already, fyi, 27 MCAT is not considered even competitive for DO programs in California. You should feel lucky that you are accepted, instead of bashing other healthcare professionals, whom you once day will depend on.
 
I said 27+. and i do feel lucky, but 27 is not an easy score to get.
 
TheBoiii said:
I said 27+. and i do feel lucky, but 27 is not an easy score to get.
Click to expand...
Nobody said 27 is easy to get. But you need to have the appreciation for other healthcare professional schools. Please realize they work their butts off to get accepted to thier schools too, not just you. PA, Pharm, Vet, Dent, Med...they are all competitive and only bright individuals can get in. My provider was a PA, but he taught at medical school for the last 20 yrs and have been practicing just as long; I would listen to him more than a rookie MD fresh out-of-school, sorry. Be humble man and respect other healthcare professionals too if you want them to respect you; it will make your life alot easier.
 
Thread-Dumb.jpg
 
@feeling-dizzy
Dipdoc said:
@user3
No there hasn't.
@BestDoctorEver
You make it seem like 'taking' the MCAT is what's difficult. Taking the MCAT is easy. Anyone can do it. It's scoring well on the MCAT (as in 30+) that's difficult, which is something that is most often lacking in DO applications. There's no safe haven for people who score poorly on the DAT.

Edit: I could also say that the fact that you guys have grade replacement obviously makes admissions easier, but I won't. Because you can't just arbitrarily choose ONE factor of applications and say that it determines which is harder. They are both so different that you can't possiblt compare.
Click to expand...

Dipdoc said:
Because anecdotal evidence always proves sooo much... I have several stories of people who have scored well on both or scored poorly on both.

Either way I already agreed the MCAT was harder. My argument is that you guys don't have to score high enough on the MCAT for it to make a difference. And that the test alone isn't enough to make overall admissions that much 'harder'. Grade replacement remember? GPA also factors in.. As well as a bunch of other things.
Click to expand...


lolz your friend dipdoc(me?) doesn't seem to think so. if "well" is only 30, and 27 is a score that's "not high enough to make a difference" between the MCAT and DAT... I respectfully disagree
 
TheBoiii said:
@feeling-dizzy





lolz your friend dipdoc(me?) doesn't seem to think so. if "well" is only 30, and 27 is a score that's "not high enough to make a difference" between the MCAT and DAT... I respectfully disagree
Click to expand...
That's why I included percentiles in my numbers. Percentiles are revealing as to how many people take that test are actually able to reach that score. Side by side comparison of percentiles (could run a paired t-test, if you wish) are really the only statistically meaningful way of comparing two unlike things.
 
Daneosaurus said:
That's why I included percentiles in my numbers. Percentiles are revealing as to how many people take that test are actually able to reach that score.
Click to expand...

This is why is said it really doesn't matter, because pool of students/test takers is much different and test itself is much different. Thus, OK, we can never objectively compare the two.
 
TheBoiii said:
This is why is said it really doesn't matter, because pool of students/test takers is much different. Thus, OK, we can never objectively compare the two.
Click to expand...
I do agree with this. The pool of applicants is different. But not so much different as to say that d-school applicants are inferior academically to med school applicants. Here is my unsubstantiated speculation: most people who are granted acceptance to dental school, would likely also do well on the MCAT. The fact that we don't have to take the test doesn't mean that we're incapable of doing well on it.
 
Daneosaurus said:
I do agree with this. The pool of applicants is different. But not so much different as to say that d-school applicants are inferior academically to med school applicants. Here is my unsubstantiated speculation: most people who are granted acceptance to dental school, would likely also do well on the MCAT. The fact that we don't have to take the test doesn't mean that we're incapable of doing well on it.
Click to expand...

Agree with the sentence following the bolded. Not with the bolded. Passage based vs solely discrete changes the game SO much. And when you made the bolded statement, did you mean scores well enough for MD and DO, or just DO?
 
TheBoiii said:
Agree with the sentence following the bolded. Not with the bolded. Passage based vs solely discrete changes the game SO much. And when you made the bolded statement, did you mean scores well enough for MD and DO, or just DO?
Click to expand...
I meant that the same people would likely score in the same percentiles.

What I am not saying: You can study for the DAT and score in the 90th percentile, then proceed to take the MCAT the following day and also score in the 90th percentile.

What I am saying: A person who studies for the DAT hard enough to score in the 90th percentile, is also likely capable of studying for the MCAT hard enough to score in the 90th percentile.
 
Daneosaurus said:
I meant that the same people would likely score in the same percentiles.

What I am not saying: You can study for the DAT and score in the 90th percentile, then proceed to take the MCAT the following day and also score in the 90th percentile.

What I am saying: A person who studies for the DAT hard enough to score in the 90th percentile, is also likely capable of studying for the MCAT hard enough to score in the 90th percentile.
Click to expand...

Respectfully still disagreeing with that. Passage based questions is the devils work. I had no problem with discretes
 
It would be crazy to compare the MCAT with the DAT... I took both tests and the MCAT is on a whole different level. @Daneosaurus I suggest you take a look at one of the MCAT practice test... If the MCAT was straight recall or just solving simple problems like the DAT, premeds would be dancing on the street... To be honest, these two tests are not even close in term of difficulty... The only section that is challenging (or conceptual) in the DAT is the PAT. The MCAT is entirely conceptual--even a stand alone question in the MCAT is a pain the ass*... However, I have no idea which program is more difficult to get into as they require different stuff.
 
Last edited:
demayette said:
It would be assassin to compare the MCAT with the DAT... I took both tests and the MCAT is on a whole different level. @Daneosaurus I suggest you take a look at one of the MCAT practice test... If the MCAT was straight recall or just solving simple problems like the DAT, premeds would be dancing on the street... To be honest, these two tests are not even close in term of difficulty... The only section that is challenging (or conceptual) in the DAT is the PAT. The MCAT is entirely conceptual--even a stand alone question in the MCAT is a pain the ass*... However, I have no idea which program is more difficult to get into as they require different stuff.
Click to expand...

FINNNALY. someone whose taken both posts.

I thought it was gonna be every dental kid ever vs me on this one...
 
The MCAT requires one to be able to make inferences, deductive reasoning, analysis of graphs etc... This is a very conceptual test. Knowing a bunch of facts won't get you anywhere for that test... On the other hand, when I took the DAT, it was mostly about recalling facts and do straight forward problems (except for the PAT section)... I had 22 for the DAT studying for a month and half... I have to add 2 more months on the top of the time I studied for the DAT to get above mid 20s in the MCAT. I remember that right after finishing taking the DAT, I took AAMC 3 and score in the low 20s.
 
demayette said:
It would be crazy to compare the MCAT with the DAT... I took both tests and the MCAT is on a whole different level. @Daneosaurus I suggest you take a look at one of the MCAT practice test... If the MCAT was straight recall or just solving simple problems like the DAT, premeds would be dancing on the street... To be honest, these two tests are not even close in term of difficulty... The only section that is challenging (or conceptual) in the DAT is the PAT. The MCAT is entirely conceptual--even a stand alone question in the MCAT is a pain the ass*... However, I have no idea which program is more difficult to get into as they require different stuff.
Click to expand...

And with that new MCAT coming, it's going to get worse. Sure glad we dodged that bullet.
 
darklabel said:
And with that new MCAT coming, it's going to get worse. Sure glad we dodged that bullet.
Click to expand...
Agree... That test was a nightmare for me.
 
Last edited:
BestDoctorEver said:
It makes a difference when there are different group of people taking the test... One of my best friends had a tough time with the MCAT (could not break in the mid 20s), but scored 23 in the DAT, which is like scoring 35 MCAT according to what he told me... He is attending a good dental school now...
Click to expand...

This is completely correct. I know--I have taken both exams multiple times.
 
BestDoctorEver said:
I think you are missing a very key point here... How easy it is to get 80 percentile in the DAT vs. the MCAT?
Click to expand...

Having taken both exams exams more than once, I can tell you that scoring 80th percentile on the DAT is light years easier. On the DAT most of my subsections were over 90%, whereas on the MCAT I had to practically kill myself to get a 30, which wasn't even 80%-ile.
 
demayette said:
Why would you take both multiple times?
Click to expand...

I wasn't happy with my earlier MCAT scores so I re-took it. My DAT scores expired because I wasn't sure what I was going to do, so I had to re-take it later when I applied but I wanted to have a score on hand. I also spent some time in graduate school and that spanned the two-year window of score expiry for the DAT.
 
Silent Cool said:
I wasn't happy with my earlier MCAT scores so I re-took it. My DAT scores expired because I wasn't sure what I was going to do, so I had to re-take it later when I applied but I wanted to have a score on hand. I also spent some time in graduate school and that spanned the two-year window of score expiry for the DAT.
Click to expand...
ok... I think almost everyone who took both test would say that they are not on the same level at all...
 
It really doesn't matter anymore.

Since we're all going to be doctors.

Not sure why you guys have such hard-ons for things in the past. And honestly, if this is all that goes on in the medical forums Im so glad I never went there.
 
DentalDoge said:
It really doesn't matter anymore.

Since we're all going to be doctors.

Not sure why you guys have such hard-ons for things in the past. And honestly, if this is all that goes on in the medical forums Im so glad I never went there.
Click to expand...
There are some posters in the allo forum who don't think dentists are doctors, so the pre-osteo is not that harsh on dentists compared to the allo forum...
 
BestDoctorEver said:
There are some posters in the allo forum who don't think dentists are doctors, so the pre-osteo is not that harsh on dentists compared to the allo forum...
Click to expand...

And there's people on the pre-allo forum who don't respect DOs and think their degree is significantly inferior. Who cares what they think?
 
Dipdoc said:
And there's people on the pre-allo forum who don't respect DOs and think their degree is significantly inferior. Who cares what they think?
Click to expand...
There is some truth to that, but in all practical purposes MD = DO....
 
What i mean by that, is that all pre-doctoral programs give out doctorates. Including PharmD, PhD, AuD, etc.

At the end of the day, you do what you do that makes you happy. And just happens that 4 day work weeks makes me very happy.
 
DentalDoge said:
It really doesn't matter anymore.

Since we're all going to be doctors.

Not sure why you guys have such hard-ons for things in the past. And honestly, if this is all that goes on in the medical forums Im so glad I never went there.
Click to expand...
DentalDoge said:
What i mean by that, is that all pre-doctoral programs give out doctorates. Including PharmD, PhD, AuD, etc.

At the end of the day, you do what you do that makes you happy. And just happens that 4 day work weeks makes me very happy.
Click to expand...
Always trying to show how great dentistry is. Lol pathetic

*dental student makes posts complementing dentist, dental students like it *
 
Last edited:
b-rad12 said:
Lol, a majority of these people are pre-med / pre-dent.

Statistically speaking, a majority of these people won't be getting into any program.
Click to expand...

The person who created this thread is an accepted med student
 
TheBoiii said:
Always trying to show how great dentistry is. Lol pathetic

*dental student makes posts complementing dentist, dental students like it *
Click to expand...

Are you saying dentistry ISN'T great?

Really. Where do you get off? Are you really implying I think dentistry is better than other healthcare profession?

What I AM implying is that now I know why my friends never go on SDN forums when they were applying for med schools.

And you're right. This IS pathetic. And you're in the middle of it.
 
DentalDoge said:
What i mean by that, is that all pre-doctoral programs give out doctorates. Including PharmD, PhD, AuD, etc.

At the end of the day, you do what you do that makes you happy. And just happens that 4 day work weeks makes me very happy.
Click to expand...

PharmD is a nice degree to get if you never want your doctorate to be acknowledged 🙄
 
AAMC (MD) 2009 average gpa of Matriculants: 3.66
2009 Total Applicants: 42,269
2009 Total Enrollees: 18,390
2009 acceptance ratio: 44%

ADEA (DDS/DMD) 2009 average gpa of Matriculants: 3.54
2009 Total Applicants: 12210
2009 Total Enrollees: 4,871
2009 acceptance ratio: 39.9%


Because the criteria for admission to dental school or medical school involves more than just GPA, and the acceptance ratio is lower for dental school than medical school, it is impossible to say that "medical school is harder to get into than dental school".
 
b-rad12 said:
Lol, a majority of these people are pre-med / pre-dent.

Statistically speaking, a majority of these people won't be getting into any program.
Click to expand...
This is true.
 
allenlchs said:
PharmD is a nice degree to get if you never want your doctorate to be acknowledged 🙄
Click to expand...

Let's be glad there are no Pharm or pre-Pharm students in this thread. That could add a whole new level of drama.
 
Can someone please explain why the dental clinics are so expensive for schools?
 
hawruh said:
Can someone please explain why the dental clinics are so expensive for schools?
Click to expand...
Dental clinic is like private practice; everything has to be bought and maintenanced (from student tuition). From dental chair, Xray machines, handpieces, instruments...they are all expensive and will breakdown constantly without replacement. And each student must have their own set of instruments enough to fill two big lockers. Dentists must have those instruments and machine to work (can't drill or pull teeth with barehand, at least not the way you like it) because they do not get paid by talking and palpation (physical exam) like physicians (primary care). Hence why dental clinic is so expensive.
 
DREDAY said:
AAMC (MD) 2009 average gpa of Matriculants: 3.66
2009 Total Applicants: 42,269
2009 Total Enrollees: 18,390
2009 acceptance ratio: 44%

ADEA (DDS/DMD) 2009 average gpa of Matriculants: 3.54
2009 Total Applicants: 12210
2009 Total Enrollees: 4,871
2009 acceptance ratio: 39.9%


Because the criteria for admission to dental school or medical school involves more than just GPA, and the acceptance ratio is lower for dental school than medical school, it is impossible to say that "medical school is harder to get into than dental school".
Click to expand...

There are many Dental schools that are associated with medical schools, these are predominantly Allopathic medical schools.

A few DO schools have Dental schools, Midwestern U Arizona, Nova Southeastern, and AT Still all have dental programs.

Some DO schools also have Podiatry programs, Midwestern Arizona and DMU have Podiatry programs.

Dentistry is just a different field from traditional medicine, Podiatry though seems to be a subset of Medicine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
New DO school vs reapplying
Replies
11
Views
3K
EEqualsRx2
E
Ho0v-man
DO vs Carib MD podcast episode
Replies
3
Views
2K
Ho0v-man
Ho0v-man
S
Interesting Take - Canadian MD vs US DO
Replies
2
Views
2K
sky778
S
D
OCOM vs NSU DO school
Replies
7
Views
2K
chilly_md
chilly_md
S
Making a decision: PA vs DO
Replies
29
Views
4K
Sneakerdoc
S
Top Bottom