Taking DAT and then taking the MCAT????

[monkeykey]

Has anyone taken the DAT first and then decided to take the MCAT afterwards? Did taking the DAT help you significantly with the MCAT? If so what were your scores on the DAT and then the MCAT. I'm taking the DAT in a week but am considering medicine instead now and any perspectives would be nice!

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[Dr. Let 'er Buck]

I didn't take the DAT, but a good friend of mine was studying for it while I studied for the MCAT. We studied together quite a bit and I learned (to a certain extent) what the DAT is like.

It seemed very similar to the MCAT but not as in depth. We termed it the 'MCAT lite'. She had a spatial section that I didn't, but most other areas overlapped somewhat.

I guess the DAT could be somewhat helpful in studying material for the MCAT, but a large part of the MCAT is mastering the test specifics that the DAT doesn't have. One example is that you get a calculator to use in the DAT but not MCAT.

 

[monkeykey]

I didn't take the DAT, but a good friend of mine was studying for it while I studied for the MCAT. We studied together quite a bit and I learned (to a certain extent) what the DAT is like.

It seemed very similar to the MCAT but not as in depth. We termed it the 'MCAT lite'. She had a spatial section that I didn't, but most other areas overlapped somewhat.

I guess the DAT could be somewhat helpful in studying material for the MCAT, but a large part of the MCAT is mastering the test specifics that the DAT doesn't have. One example is that you get a calculator to use in the DAT but not MCAT.

What areas of the science did you find less in depth on the DAT. I've studied probably 350 hours for the DAT at this point and it would be nice if some of that carried over like 100 hours or so towards the mcat.

I'm just hoping I wont decide I want to take the MCAT and then have to completely restart studying from the ground up like I did for the DAT.

 

[Dr. Let 'er Buck]

The big one I noticed was Biochem. For the MCAT it is advantageous to memorize all of the amino acids and their associated charges. The DAT didn't seem to require this much.

It also seemed to require less Ochem. The MCAT touched on various aspects like mechanism (sn1, sn2, etc), and knowing reduction/oxidation potentials, and galvanic cell function (Cathode/anode material, charge). Enantomers, chirality, aldehydes and ketones, stereo chemistry, thermo, sterics, etc. The DAT study material barely touched upon many of these.

The MCAT also has the physics section. It didn't seem like the DAT had any physics beyond F=MA.

It has been a year since last studying for the MCAT but those are what I remember.

 

[FutureSurgical]

Why are you studying for both? What's making you consider medicine instead of dentistry?

 

[monkeykey]

Why are you studying for both? What's making you consider medicine instead of dentistry?

Basically I was busy in college and I only shadowed dentists because it provided a better lifestyle compared to physicians but now I’m realizing that I hate physical labor and dentistry has a lot more of that then one would think an now I want to look at medicine a little bit.

 

[HKSZYU]

I took both DAT and MCAT. I took DAT first, MCAT a few months later. I can go through it by MCAT Section

Chem/Phys
I think the section where the DAT was most helpful was chemistry. DAT covers general and organic chemistry pretty in depth. In fact, I'd argue it goes more in depth than the MCAT on some areas, like orgo reaction mechanisms. I don't think I had to do any additional orgo review, and only marginal gen chem review when it came time for MCAT content review.

DAT doesn't cover physics at all, so there was no overlap there. I'm not a strong physics student, so relearning all the formulas was tiresome and took a significant amount of time.

Bio/Biochem
DAT is physiology heavy, so it prepared me well for MCAT physiological systems questions. That said, there's divergence in terms of concepts covered between the exams. For example, DAT had a stronger focus on ecology and evolutionary biology (I think I even remember photosynthesis questions on some practice exams.) MCAT doesn't have that. MCAT does, however, expect concepts from microbiology and immunology that aren't present on DAT.

Moreover, DAT has very little biochemistry on it. While I was familiar with pathways for DAT, MCAT requires a much higher level of comprehension.

CARS
DAT Reading Comprehension preparation should help you with MCAT CARS. I think DAT Reading was easier, because generally DAT questions were quite literal and would align chronologically with the passage. CARS doesn't do that.

Psych/Soc
DAT does not have this section, so your DAT prep will not be helpful here. That said, there are many online resources for self-studying this material.

Overall Assessment
MCAT is harder in terms of breadth and depth of information. More than that, though, what I found most challenging about MCAT was just the format of the exam. DAT is made up of entirely discrete questions. The questions don't actually require that much thought, as as long as you've memorized the correct information. Conversely, the majority of MCAT questions are passage based, so you need to not only know the information, but be able to recognize and apply it. Plus the sheer amount of reading on the MCAT makes it much more tiring than DAT.

 

[akimhaneul]

Dat is not helpful at all for MCAT. Way too easy compared to MCAT

 

[Kardio]

OP, I skimmed through your post history. I think you're going to have a very difficult time convincing anyone that your heart is in medicine. I strongly agree with LizzyM's response to your post from June:

I don't get the feeling that you have any interest in patients or caring for the sick. Do give that a considerable amount of thought before you go further down this path.

It seems like you've recently finished college and are in the swings of figuring out how you want to spend the rest of your life. It can be a confusing time - it was for me.

What's wrong with taking some time to relax, explore your passions, and game-plan once you've found what you love?

I wasn't ready for medical school when I graduated college. I didn't have the grades or emotional maturity. I worked a clinical gig for a year and explored my options. I only went back to school (to buff my transcript) because, after a year of trying, I could not picture myself as anything other than a doctor.

 

[monkeykey]

I took both DAT and MCAT. I took DAT first, MCAT a few months later. I can go through it by MCAT Section

Chem/Phys
I think the section where the DAT was most helpful was chemistry. DAT covers general and organic chemistry pretty in depth. In fact, I'd argue it goes more in depth than the MCAT on some areas, like orgo reaction mechanisms. I don't think I had to do any additional orgo review, and only marginal gen chem review when it came time for MCAT content review.

DAT doesn't cover physics at all, so there was no overlap there. I'm not a strong physics student, so relearning all the formulas was tiresome and took a significant amount of time.

Bio/Biochem
DAT is physiology heavy, so it prepared me well for MCAT physiological systems questions. That said, there's divergence in terms of concepts covered between the exams. For example, DAT had a stronger focus on ecology and evolutionary biology (I think I even remember photosynthesis questions on some practice exams.) MCAT doesn't have that. MCAT does, however, expect concepts from microbiology and immunology that aren't present on DAT.

Moreover, DAT has very little biochemistry on it. While I was familiar with pathways for DAT, MCAT requires a much higher level of comprehension.

CARS
DAT Reading Comprehension preparation should help you with MCAT CARS. I think DAT Reading was easier, because generally DAT questions were quite literal and would align chronologically with the passage. CARS doesn't do that.

Psych/Soc
DAT does not have this section, so your DAT prep will not be helpful here. That said, there are many online resources for self-studying this material.

Overall Assessment
MCAT is harder in terms of breadth and depth of information. More than that, though, what I found most challenging about MCAT was just the format of the exam. DAT is made up of entirely discrete questions. The questions don't actually require that much thought, as as long as you've memorized the correct information. Conversely, the majority of MCAT questions are passage based, so you need to not only know the information, but be able to recognize and apply it. Plus the sheer amount of reading on the MCAT makes it much more tiring than DAT.

Thanks! I found this to be extremely helpful. If you don’t mind me asking what kind of scores did you get on both tests? At least in terms of percentiles? Do you think getting a 90th percentile on the DAT would be the same difficulty as getting a 65-70 percentile on the MCAT?