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Hi guys.
As a person who wrote both Canadian DAT and American DAT in the past, I would like to go over with you some of the similarities and differences between these two tests. Hope this review helps you choose the right exam for your purpose. What is written inside the brackets is based on my own personal experience.
- Canadian DAT does not have the Organic Chemistry and Quantitative Reasoning
( It was a big minus for me as I am a strong student in math and my math skills did not influence my overall score at the end. Also, I found it kind of unfair because your total science was an average of only two sections (GC and BIO) on Canadian DAT. In that sense, the american DAT allowed me to score higher overall because of the presence of QR and Organic Chemistry.)
- Even though Canadian DAT does not have OC, GC is not harder than American GC
( In fact, I found American GC much harder. I scored 24 on Canadian GC and 23 on American GC. I found Canadian GC more focused on calculations than concepts. However, no OC means more time to study the other sections!
- Reading comprehension is pretty much the same for the two exams
( my eyes got so much tired after reading two passages on American DAT... I had to constantly massage my eyes to get through this section).
- PAT is the same: because Canadian DAT is paper-based, you can draw or fold a paper to get through some of the angle comparison and paper-folding questions. I scored much higher on Canadian PAT. (In terms of the difficulty, not a significant difference).
- Yes. Canadian DAT has this section called Manual Dexterity (now became optional): This section is very unique. Basically, you go into the exam room and there is a blade, cylinder-like soap, a ruler, and a volatile marker in front of you. Along with those, they give you a 2D representation of what they want you to carve (dimensions,etc). And for 30 minutes you carve to imitate what is presented on the page.
( I did a horrible job on this section. scored 7/30 (~15%) but most do not care about this section because only the West Coast schools inc. UBC look at your carving score. I was invited to a handful of interviews with that carving score.. so no worries on that)
- As previously mentioned, Canadian DAT is paper based vs American DAT computer based.
( I like Canadian DAT better in this regard. I do not know why but I feel more comfortable with older technology..)
- One expects around 6-8 weeks to get his/her scores on Canadian DAT (the results come to you by snail mail) vs. American DAT gives your scores right at the end of the exam.
(the wait time was painful for me.. scoring takes long because of time it takes to mark your carved product..)
-Canadian DAT is held only twice a year (Nov and Feb of each year) vs American DAT almost every day.
(cDAT takes place during the busiest time of the year. In Canada, midterms start around in November and Feb.. it was a horrible experience for me to write such a big test after 4 midterms at school).
- As for studying material, I used Kaplan Blue book for the Canadian DAT. Ironically, it was not of great help. Many questions came from what I learned throughout my courses. Kaplan book was helpful for RC and GC. For the American DAT, I used Princeton Review and this was a good representative of material on the exam.
what else...
Overall, I would say American DAT takes much longer to prepare for than Canadian DAT. But, in terms of the difficulty, about the same. ( I scored AA 23 on Canadian DAT and AA 24 on American DAT..so pretty much the same difficulty).
Who writes Canadian DAT?
- For American students applying to Canadian schools, most schools accept American DAT. However, Canadian students applying to Canadian schools MUST submit Canadian DAT scores. Therefore, for those Canadian students considering Canadian options, write Canadian DAT well before the year of application. Also, for those Canadian students applying to American schools, I strongly advise to write the American DAT. Why? Some schools simply do not accept Canadian DAT (Some schools like Colombia explicitly state that they prefer American DAT). Also, there are more sections on the exam so that your weakness on one section can be overcome by a good score on the other.
Please leave any comments or questions below and I will do my best to answer your question!🙂
As a person who wrote both Canadian DAT and American DAT in the past, I would like to go over with you some of the similarities and differences between these two tests. Hope this review helps you choose the right exam for your purpose. What is written inside the brackets is based on my own personal experience.
- Canadian DAT does not have the Organic Chemistry and Quantitative Reasoning
( It was a big minus for me as I am a strong student in math and my math skills did not influence my overall score at the end. Also, I found it kind of unfair because your total science was an average of only two sections (GC and BIO) on Canadian DAT. In that sense, the american DAT allowed me to score higher overall because of the presence of QR and Organic Chemistry.)
- Even though Canadian DAT does not have OC, GC is not harder than American GC
( In fact, I found American GC much harder. I scored 24 on Canadian GC and 23 on American GC. I found Canadian GC more focused on calculations than concepts. However, no OC means more time to study the other sections!
- Reading comprehension is pretty much the same for the two exams
( my eyes got so much tired after reading two passages on American DAT... I had to constantly massage my eyes to get through this section).
- PAT is the same: because Canadian DAT is paper-based, you can draw or fold a paper to get through some of the angle comparison and paper-folding questions. I scored much higher on Canadian PAT. (In terms of the difficulty, not a significant difference).
- Yes. Canadian DAT has this section called Manual Dexterity (now became optional): This section is very unique. Basically, you go into the exam room and there is a blade, cylinder-like soap, a ruler, and a volatile marker in front of you. Along with those, they give you a 2D representation of what they want you to carve (dimensions,etc). And for 30 minutes you carve to imitate what is presented on the page.
( I did a horrible job on this section. scored 7/30 (~15%) but most do not care about this section because only the West Coast schools inc. UBC look at your carving score. I was invited to a handful of interviews with that carving score.. so no worries on that)
- As previously mentioned, Canadian DAT is paper based vs American DAT computer based.
( I like Canadian DAT better in this regard. I do not know why but I feel more comfortable with older technology..)
- One expects around 6-8 weeks to get his/her scores on Canadian DAT (the results come to you by snail mail) vs. American DAT gives your scores right at the end of the exam.
(the wait time was painful for me.. scoring takes long because of time it takes to mark your carved product..)
-Canadian DAT is held only twice a year (Nov and Feb of each year) vs American DAT almost every day.
(cDAT takes place during the busiest time of the year. In Canada, midterms start around in November and Feb.. it was a horrible experience for me to write such a big test after 4 midterms at school).
- As for studying material, I used Kaplan Blue book for the Canadian DAT. Ironically, it was not of great help. Many questions came from what I learned throughout my courses. Kaplan book was helpful for RC and GC. For the American DAT, I used Princeton Review and this was a good representative of material on the exam.
what else...
Overall, I would say American DAT takes much longer to prepare for than Canadian DAT. But, in terms of the difficulty, about the same. ( I scored AA 23 on Canadian DAT and AA 24 on American DAT..so pretty much the same difficulty).
Who writes Canadian DAT?
- For American students applying to Canadian schools, most schools accept American DAT. However, Canadian students applying to Canadian schools MUST submit Canadian DAT scores. Therefore, for those Canadian students considering Canadian options, write Canadian DAT well before the year of application. Also, for those Canadian students applying to American schools, I strongly advise to write the American DAT. Why? Some schools simply do not accept Canadian DAT (Some schools like Colombia explicitly state that they prefer American DAT). Also, there are more sections on the exam so that your weakness on one section can be overcome by a good score on the other.
Please leave any comments or questions below and I will do my best to answer your question!🙂
