how different is DAT from MCAT???

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

vincikai

Senior Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2005
Messages
189
Reaction score
0
here is a newbe question, how different or rather difficult is DAT away from MCAT??? i mean it is not too much a change for premed to study for MCAT and also take the DAT, right? :]
 
vincikai said:
here is a newbe question, how different or rather difficult is DAT away from MCAT??? i mean it is not too much a change for premed to study for MCAT and also take the DAT, right? :]
Hmm. It would look bad if you took both the MCAT and DAT. I mean, what do you want to become a MD or DDS? I spent my entire undergraduate career with my eyes set on dentistry. So, make up your mind and take either the MCAT or DAT. Oh, I also heard the DAT is much HARDER than the MCAT!!
 
Richnator said:
Hmm. It would look bad if you took both the MCAT and DAT. I mean, what do you want to become a MD or DDS? I spent my entire undergraduate career with my eyes set on dentistry. So, make up your mind and take either the MCAT or DAT. Oh, I also heard the DAT is much HARDER than the MCAT!!


While I have yet to take the DAT, I have heard the exact opposite. After perusing the material for both I am inclined to believe the DAT is substantially easier, but by no means easy. JMO
 
I've taken both and the MCAT is harder. Additionally I have yet to meet anybody that has a good acore on the MCAT who has not also done well on the DAT. I decided before I took the MCAT that I did not want to go to med school but took it anyway because I had paid for it. Dentistry is the way to go. Unless you wanna be a dermatologist or something, I guess that would be cool too. Or maybe a psychiatrist..........
 
ARguy said:
I've taken both and the MCAT is harder. Additionally I have yet to meet anybody that has a good acore on the MCAT who has not also done well on the DAT. I decided before I took the MCAT that I did not want to go to med school but took it anyway because I had paid for it. Dentistry is the way to go. Unless you wanna be a dermatologist or something, I guess that would be cool too. Or maybe a psychiatrist..........


I have taken both . I did really well on the MCAT and DAT both. The science matreial is very simular. But the DAT has plant stuff and classification stuff. Not real hard to learn that stuff. That said, the MCAT is WAY harder!!! The MCAT is longer, harder, and way more detailed. You can study forever with the MCAt and still not do well. that is not the case with the DAT. The MCAT is a test where you are have to be able to pluck information out of a passage and apply it to a concept of the sciences. The passage is about some in depth aspect of something that you have never heard of, but can reason through it with concepts. DAT is just discrete questions where its obvious what they are asking.
 
I agree with Hawk - the MCAT is harder. I took both the DAT and MCAT this August within 4 days of each other. But, preparing for mainly the DAT this summer with a Kaplan review course definitely helped me when I took the MCAT. They both have the same material except the MCAT tests physics and writing. Like Hawk said, the MCAT expects you to pull information out of a heavy science passage and apply it to concepts that you should already know. Sometimes answers can be derived from the passage but through reasoning. There are a some straight up questions, but not a whole lot. The DAT simply asks you straight up questions - you either know it or not. On the MCAT, you can know the information, but still get mixed up on your reasoning. That's what makes it harder. Anyhoo, I think that I'm a nut b/c I took both. But it's definitley do-able. Take it from me. Although, it most likely will come up in any interviews (if I get any this year). I was premed throughout my entire undergraduate career, and I graduated this May. I decided to look into dentistry by observing my family dentist this summer, and I really liked it. So, I decided to apply. I know what it's like to switch. Although I have no proof if I will be successful with it or not. Good luck to you in your endeavors!!! 🙂


vincikai said:
here is a newbe question, how different or rather difficult is DAT away from MCAT??? i mean it is not too much a change for premed to study for MCAT and also take the DAT, right? :]
 
Top