Is the MCAT and DAT somewhat identical in terms of difficulty

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MCAT or DAT harder?

  • MCAT

    Votes: 92 81.4%
  • DAT

    Votes: 21 18.6%

  • Total voters
    113
Who cares if it's his back up plan, you don't run a monopoly on who's a pre dent. He might love dentistry , and be a better dentist than any of you one day.
Futile arguement
If the latter were true, we wouldn't have an issue. But from the original post, it seems like the OP wasn't serious/passionate about becoming a doctor (because it was one section of one test that is holding them back), and is ready to move on to the "next best thing." The OP seemed to abandon ship real quick to find something new once the tough got going.

Call me a conservative for having this mindset, but I would rather have a classmate who truly wants to be in dental school, or someone who, after realizing the lifestyle or career of being a doctor was not suitable for them, decided to pursue dentistry. Not someone who would tell me, "Oh, I bombed the physics part of the MCAT. The DAT was easier so that's why I'm here." On top of that, they're possibly taking the place of someone who truly wanted to be a dentist, not a "failed pre-med turned pre-dent."

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If the latter were true, we wouldn't have an issue. But from the original post, it seems like the OP wasn't serious/passionate about becoming a doctor (because it was one section of one test that is holding them back), and is ready to move on to the "next best thing." The OP seemed to abandon ship real quick to find something new once the tough got going.

Call me a conservative for having this mindset, but I would rather have a classmate who truly wants to be in dental school, or someone who, after realizing the lifestyle or career of being a doctor was not suitable for them, decided to pursue dentistry. Not someone who would tell me, "Oh, I bombed the physics part of the MCAT. The DAT was easier so that's why I'm here." On top of that, they're possibly taking the place of someone who truly wanted to be a dentist, not a "failed pre-med turned pre-dent."
I understand, even though his reasons might be wrong, it still does not change the fact he or anyone like him can be a great dentist. Over time things change, and people change. Also I understand you would rather want a determined pre dent who is passionate but if the world worked like that it would be a different world. For example , M.Faraday a great physicist, sure you heard of him like faraday constant, he lacked basic proper education. If scientists said we only welcome people who are well versed in the sciences and mathematics then we would not even witness some great scientists, like Faraday. I know this is a drastic point, but all in all my point is anything can happen over time, and maybe dental school might shape him to become a great dentist, some personal experiences in the future, or something else, point is he can be a better dentist than you and I, just because he might be a lousy person now, no one can limit his potential to become a great dentist.

So it isn't fair for someone to not be welcomed to a career even if it is backup plan, because in time he might love that career. We all know there are medicine fan boys and dental fan boys but in the end of the day it is a futile argument, and if he is a good dentist doing satisfactory things then I don't, nor should anyone else have a problem with that even if he yells it from the rooftop everyday it's his backup plan.

Also about the last part, if someone is truly a passionate pre dent, then nothing is stopping them except themselves. You can't blame them not getting in because a failed pre med took the spot. Adcoms can obviously see through some of these things, and in the end of the day it is competitive, no one said it was easy. Plus if they were passionate enough then they were smart enough to realize they need to become competitive.
 
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I might catch some SDN hate for this, but I'll be honest:

How many of you, at one point, were pre-med? You may have switched to pre-dent before even shadowing a doc, but the point was that you wanted to serve people, and do so in any way possible.

I want to be a dentist, but if I couldn't (maybe I have a back problem that wouldn't allow me to spend long hours hunched over), then I would look into pre-med or another health profession.

Some of you are too defensive about the whole "It's hard to do what I do because I do it and you can't because it's so hard" mindset.

If dentistry is OPs backup, and he simply wants to serve people, then I have no problem supporting him. On that note, here's my DAT vs MCAT 2 cents:

If you've spend all of the time studying for the MCAT to come up ~barely~ short, then come at it twice as hard to make sure you pass it with flying colors (half the work is already done). If you missed the mark only because of your physics or social sciences, then take a crack at the DAT. You'll have to learn some new things, but the Chem/Bio/Orgo are similar. If you don't understand those subjects well, you won't succeed on the DAT either.
 
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I might catch some SDN hate for this, but I'll be honest:

How many of you, at one point, were pre-med? You may have switched to pre-dent before even shadowing a doc, but the point was that you wanted to serve people, and do so in any way possible.

I want to be a dentist, but if I couldn't (maybe I have a back problem that wouldn't allow me to spend long hours hunched over), then I would look into pre-med or another health profession.

Some of you are too defensive about the whole "It's hard to do what I do because I do it and you can't because it's so hard" mindset.

If dentistry is OPs backup, and he simply wants to serve people, then I have no problem supporting him. On that note, here's my DAT vs MCAT 2 cents:

If you've spend all of the time studying for the MCAT to come up ~barely~ short, then come at it twice as hard to make sure you pass it with flying colors (half the work is already done). If you missed the mark only because of your physics or social sciences, then take a crack at the DAT. You'll have to learn some new things, but the Chem/Bio/Orgo are similar. If you don't understand those subjects well, you won't succeed on the DAT either.
If you aren't born a pre-dent then your banned from these forums lol. Honestly we all high functioning individuals , we can deduce that from this argument we know why some of you have a strong inclination to fan boy over dentistry, I don't wanna say anything but I'm sure your already know. Hint... MCAT is harder than DAT. Therefore...
Also who cares, most pre meds I know are detriments and really just clueless about medicine. Most of them don't even understand medicine or helping people, they just want the money and respect, and also impress someone. Who's gives a **** at the end of the day, I'll pick dentistry over medicine any day.

P.S. I always say I'm smart enough to not be a doctor, because dentistry is a better option. I tend to look down upon pre meds because a majority of them deserved to be looked down upon, I probably only have been inspired by 2 doctors in my life to contemplate medicine, one was Galen and the other Avicenna, both who are long dead. Which says something.
 
@OSUkid

Oh, I have no doubts about the OP's ability to be a great dentist, and I also do believe someone's mind can be changed once they dip their feet deeper into the profession (in this case, dipping feet means going to dental school). It was from the lackluster original post justifying his change from pre-med to pre-dent only because of a physics score. This clearly shows he wasn't too strongly interested in medicine. Makes me doubt his dedication to dentistry as well.
But, as I said, I completely agree with you. Even if someone did not have their heart in the profession, that does not make them any less capable.

Response to last part: I'm imagining myself in someone elses' shoes. If I worked as hard as I could but could only get around average for GPA and DAT, had a shot at my state school, my only interview, only to have my spot taken from someone who didn't really want to be there in the first place, I would feel pretty upset. Doesn't stop me from reapplying the following year. It's the fact that someone who would rather be somewhere else (med school) is taking a spot in the class.

@jweaver421 Just for the record (if you're keeping one), I never was pre-med. Never had any inkling towards it. Being a medical doctor really wasn't for me, nor was being a pharmacist, nurse, etc. If for some reason I was unable to perform dentistry, I really wouldn't know what to do. I had no backup plan. Haha.
 
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