OAT vs DAT

[thanotoriousfob]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and I wanted to know if anyone here had experience with both the DAT and OAT. What I want to know is how comparable are the two exams in terms of difficulty? Straight honest answer would be great.

I was originally thinking about entering the dental field and I took the DAT two years ago and got 17 AA 18 TS and 20 PA I applied to schools made a couple alternate lists but never got through. Now I'm in a situation where I find myself not liking dentistry so much after doing many hours of shadowing. After so after many hours of shadowing and trying to know everything about the dental field, I found myself making the difficult decision that this is not the right career for me. Then I went to my optometrist a couple weeks ago and he brought up optometry as a career. Now I'm fascinated and want to know more about it and right now I would like to know more about the OAT. To cut my professional (or lack thereof) life story short I was hoping someone could answer my original question. Thanks in advance.

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[iKnome]

Ive never taken the DAT before, but from what i hear, the folks at the ADA make the questions on the OAT.

 

[thanotoriousfob]

Ive never taken the DAT before, but from what i hear, the folks at the ADA make the questions on the OAT.

Hmmm that's interesting. What are some good study materials? OAT destroyer, Exam krackers? I personally thought Kaplan was a waste of time for the DAT but what about for the OAT?

 

[ewotri]

I can relate to your story....anyways, The OAT and DAT are EXTREMELY similar. The only difference is the OAT has the physics section, and DAT has the PAT section. Physics section actually requires more studying time, but for the PAT, it's either you get it or dont.

Dont do Kaplan's classroom course. It is a waste of time. Just discipline yourself and memorize the kaplan book.

 

[thanotoriousfob]

I can relate to your story....anyways, The OAT and DAT are EXTREMELY similar. The only difference is the OAT has the physics section, and DAT has the PAT section. Physics section actually requires more studying time, but for the PAT, it's either you get it or dont.

Dont do Kaplan's classroom course. It is a waste of time. Just discipline yourself and memorize the kaplan book.

Thanks ewotri. So in your opinion the Kaplan book is a solid study guide for the OAT? Because from my experience, I felt the Kaplan book was too general for the DAT.

 

[ewotri]

yeah i think you'll be fine using the Kaplan material. For both the DAT and OAT, i used Kaplan and the destroyer. The destroyer helped me most in math and biology. if you have any questions, just PM me. best of luck

 

[xosandy]

Could I purchase the DAT destroyer to study for the OAT? Would using the DAT destroyer and Kaplan material (lesson block, flashcards, etc.) be sufficient?

 

[thanotoriousfob]

Could I purchase the DAT destroyer to study for the OAT? Would using the DAT destroyer and Kaplan material (lesson block, flashcards, etc.) be sufficient?

So from doing a little research on the grading curves for the DAT and OAT, it seems the OAT has a more favorable curve.

Can anyone correct me on this if I am wrong?

As far as studying materials go, The Opted exam questions look roughly the same as DAT in terms of difficulty. The DAT destroyer does not have a physics section. I think the Kaplan flash cards are total crap. They review the general stuff to a T but don't go into enough depth for the DAT (I don't know about the OAT since I haven't taken it).

It might be overkill but I think Examkrackers might be a solid way to go in terms of study material and of course textbooks.