Has the DAT gotten harder in the last decade?

[AM4EVA]

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Hi SDN folk,

i was curious to know because as i chat with other dentist and even my older sibling, a dentist, (she took the DAT about 8 yrs ago), they all seem to say the same thing: DAT is a doable exam and in fact most don't even seem to think of it as a standardized exam.
correct me if im wrong but i feel that if one approaches the exam with this positive mindset and tons of hard work then it may just be doable. However on the mcat forum, we can see the mindset there: for the most part the exam is seen as very difficult and may even have a threshold to it. so i compare the two bcuz i was considering med school for a long time but decided that it just wasn't for me; i got very close to taking the mcat but called it off. idk but perhaps it was the combination of the passages and content and i guess i just didnt prepare well or didnt take it seriously enough.
anyway my question to my fellow sdners is that do you guys think that the dat exam has gotten harder in the past decade? are these dentists who took the exam a few yrs ago right about the dat being doable?

thank you one million in advance, SDN!!!

 

[Blue87Fiero]

Is that DAT doable? Yes so is the MCAT,PCAT,OAT...ect

I don't know if the DAT has gotten harder or if people just score better, but dental school is harder to get into now than it was a decade ago.

Good luck with dat....

 

[two thirty]

It may not be "harder", it's just the fact that it is graded on a curve and admissions are getting more competitive.

 

[ekephant]

This will be a tough question and the only people that will really know for sure are the test writers. Obviously current dentists will tell you that the DAT is doable, they've done it. Many other people are doing it too. Just keep working hard and I'm sure soon you will be saying the same thing. Good luck with your studies!

 

[qnzbabi91]

It may not be "harder", it's just the fact that it is graded on a curve and admissions are getting more competitive.

I couldn't have said it better myself. The competition is rougher. Ten years ago an 18 was a competitive score, now not so much.

 

[spoog74]

Hi SDN folk,

i was curious to know because as i chat with other dentist and even my older sibling, a dentist, (she took the DAT about 8 yrs ago), they all seem to say the same thing: DAT is a doable exam and in fact most don't even seem to think of it as a standardized exam.
correct me if im wrong but i feel that if one approaches the exam with this positive mindset and tons of hard work then it may just be doable. However on the mcat forum, we can see the mindset there: for the most part the exam is seen as very difficult and may even have a threshold to it. so i compare the two bcuz i was considering med school for a long time but decided that it just wasn't for me; i got very close to taking the mcat but called it off. idk but perhaps it was the combination of the passages and content and i guess i just didnt prepare well or didnt take it seriously enough.
anyway my question to my fellow sdners is that do you guys think that the dat exam has gotten harder in the past decade? are these dentists who took the exam a few yrs ago right about the dat being doable?

thank you one million in advance, SDN!!!

yes, the DAT has gotten harder. Just ask around, some people who have retaken the DAT's will admit it was harder the second time around.

 

[Lovepredent]

I think that we just have better resources now which makes the exam doable.. I feel as though by just studying with kaplan, going over destroyer, crack the pat and using the reusable paper or scratch sheet to practice provides a solid platform for all of us nowadays. It's probably the same level in terms of difficulty but our world is much more open now. Sharing our experiences with different sections of the exam. It's also neat that everyone shares their pitfalls which allows the next batch of students to perform better . Feel lucky to be in this generation than 10 years ago ; )

 

[doc toothache]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=391238

 

[AM4EVA]

I think that we just have better resources now which makes the exam doable.. I feel as though by just studying with kaplan, going over destroyer, crack the pat and using the reusable paper or scratch sheet to practice provides a solid platform for all of us nowadays. It's probably the same level in terms of difficulty but our world is much more open now. Sharing our experiences with different sections of the exam. It's also neat that everyone shares their pitfalls which allows the next batch of students to perform better . Feel lucky to be in this generation than 10 years ago ; )

Yes this is very much true🙂

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[AM4EVA]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=391238

Hey
Thank you for the link👍👍👍
I can calm down and carry on now.
It had good valid points

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