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
M

MedicalGuy123

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I'm totally bumped at my mcat score, and thus decided to switch to Dentistry. Physics in the MCAT was a absolute killer. I've shadowed Physicians and Dentists during undergrad, so I don't have to worry about whether the dental field is right for me. For those who took both tests, what is your opinion?
 
hellofuturedentists said:
If you didn't do well on the MCAT, no worries! The DAT is a walk in the park and you'll make a wonderful dentist 🙂
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I wouldn't say it's a "walk in the park". They are both hard in their own ways. DAT doesn't have physics but we do have PAT
 
MedicalGuy123 said:
I'm totally bumped at my mcat score, and thus decided to switch to Dentistry. Physics in the MCAT was a absolute killer. I've shadowed Physicians and Dentists during undergrad, so I don't have to worry about whether the dental field is right for me. For those who took both tests, what is your opinion?
Click to expand...

you should look into pharmacy before dentistry bro.

or try carribean MD or better yet physician assistant. dental is too ez for u.
 
MolarBear93 said:
Dentistry isn't a cop out career of you can't cut it in medicine. In a lot of ways dentistry can be harder, especially if you go into general practice
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I'm aware of that, but physics in the mcat realized I wasn't cut for the test. By no means I'm saying the Dentistry is a backup plan, as I enjoy working in Health Profession.
 
MedicalGuy123 said:
I'm aware of that, but physics in the mcat realized I wasn't cut for the test. By no means I'm saying the Dentistry is a backup plan, as I enjoy working in Health Profession.
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That is exactly what you said... it was a backup plan cause you bombed the MCAT lol "I'm totally bumped at my mcat score, and thus decided to switch to Dentistry"
 
One section on the mcat, and you're rendered non-suitable for the profession? That spells trouble
 
If you took the MCAT and bombed it, and are deciding on dentistry because of that, that means you're using dentistry as a back-up. Don't lie to yourself, please.

MCAT is harder than the DAT bar none. And with the new MCAT 2015, the difference became more staggering. The PAT section can be mastered with practice. The way the MCAT is set up is a lot more challenging. With the DAT, all of the questions are just straight up question and answer.

Do what you like, and no offense, but people like you who use dentistry as a backup aren't really welcome here.
 
y3nd0 said:
If you took the MCAT and bombed it, and are deciding on dentistry because of that, that means you're using dentistry as a back-up. Don't lie to yourself, please.

MCAT is harder than the DAT bar none. And with the new MCAT 2015, the difference became more staggering. The PAT section can be mastered with practice. The way the MCAT is set up is a lot more challenging. With the DAT, all of the questions are just straight up question and answer.

Do what you like, and no offense, but people like you who use dentistry as a backup aren't really welcome here.
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have you taken both tests? OP specifies this in the original question.
 
studentdent00 said:
have you taken both tests? OP specifies this in the original question.
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No, but I don't need to actually take the exam to know which is more difficult.

Stop trying to stir controversy with people in the forums, please.
 
y3nd0 said:
No, but I don't need to actually take the exam to know which is more difficult.

Stop trying to stir controversy with people in the forums, please.
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so you are just speculating... akin to leaving a review on a product without actually purchasing it...

Stop speculating, "please."
 
studentdent00 said:
so you are just speculating... akin to leaving a review on a product without actually purchasing it...

Stop speculating, "please."
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actually I agree with @y3nd0 here, you don't need to take the MCAT and the DAT to know which one is harder, clearly and obviously, thou many reject, the MCAT is much harder than the DAT. It is so to select and weed from a bunch of premed to select few. The same with DAT. If one day there are 100 k people applying for 10k spot in dental schools, it will get harder too.

I personally took the MCAT (old version) and the DAT.

people should accept the fact that DAT is much easier than the MCAT. Of course without base knowledge, both are hard. Now with the abortion new MCAT 7 hr long, it is true that the difficulty level between MCAT and DAT is staggering.

However, lets look at PCAT and GRE required for chiropractor, PT, PA. GRE is basically a joke and does not weight as much in PA requriement while PCAT exams............welll with that many schools, it is a formality to say at most.
 
studentdent00 said:
so you are just speculating... akin to leaving a review on a product without actually purchasing it...

Stop speculating, "please."
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Not speculation when I have seen mock exams of the MCAT, taken one section of the exam "just for fun", seeing the types of questions they ask, and knowing that physics, being an actual scientific discipline, will be more difficult to master vs a section that requires only practice to build solving skills (PAT). Backed up by actual people on SDN who have taken both exams, backed up by the pre-allo forum.

I've seen your other posts on here. Take your condescending attitude elsewhere, please.
 
I just don't understand what is up with people who claim DAT is similar in the difficulty compared to the MCAT.

MCAT is designed to weed out, to trash.

DAT, not so much.
 
y3nd0 said:
You can go put it back. Haha. Not going to waste any more time with studentdent00. Seen their posts and they are a subtle troll.

Ain't nobody got time for that!
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What a shame...the popcorn was BOGO, extra butter :arghh:

But anyways...There ain't room for trolls up in here my friend!
 
Two different careers...two different tests...two different lifestyles. Neither should be (or is) a fallback for the other. You must love what you will do, or else you are DEFINITELY in the wrong field...especially in healthcare.
 
studentdent00 said:
ubject does not negate the effort required to ace the PAT section, which is perceptual in nature and can be very challenging for someone who just doesn't have good enough perceptual ability. Doing practice problems and memorizing physics formulas might be less cumbersome than trying to figure out how many cubes there are or trying to differentiate seemingly identical angles.

Save your cute speculation skillz for something else, "please."
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The thing here is MCAT physics section is not about memorizing physics formulas bros.........you can understand physics from bottom up or you dont get it at all. This requires a lot of time.

PAT you can learn the skills in the short time period.

sounds like someone got raped by DAT PAT and is jealous of people with the natural spatial analytical skills.
 
Losers









Jk



Presents

And

Dentists


Rule

Who needs a MD when an apple a day can keep the doctor away!



Right. Guys ?
 
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
 
Last edited:
I havent taken the MCAT but I know that as a foreigner, I would not do well because of of long passages, even if I were passionate about being a physician.
 
The MCAT is more applicational . The DAT is more "recall".
 
Carbohydrates said:
*pull a chair, open a coke*
Dang I'm enjoying this
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Wait....


ImageUploadedBySDN Mobile1438483528.698644.jpg
 
OSUkid said:
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
Click to expand...

Fellow pre-dents: Wise words have been spoken. Heed them well.
 
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