Taking DAT vs. MCAT

[Jeremy713]

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I am kind of new to this forum, but I had a question about taking the MCAT vs. the DAT for those who may have taken both the MCAT and DAT.

I JUST took my DAT this past Saturday my scores were:
21 Bio
18 G chem
19 O chem
19 TS
20 PAT
18 RC
and 15 QR
AA was an 18 out of 30.

The good thing about the MCAT is that there is no QR obviously which means no 45 minute high school word problem math section. The only thing is, is that I need to study physics again. BUT, the good thing is, is that I feel like I already have all the knowledge that you would probably need to take the biology, g chem and o chem sections of it. I am still kind of undecided between dental school and medical school so any feedback about ANYTHING of the sort will help me greatly.


Thanks in advance!
-Jeremy

 

[doc3232]

I am kind of new to this forum, but I had a question about taking the MCAT vs. the DAT for those who may have taken both the MCAT and DAT.

I JUST took my DAT this past Saturday my scores were:
21 Bio
18 G chem
19 O chem
19 TS
20 PAT
18 RC
and 15 QR
AA was an 18 out of 30.

The good thing about the MCAT is that there is no QR obviously which means no 45 minute high school word problem math section. The only thing is, is that I need to study physics again. BUT, the good thing is, is that I feel like I already have all the knowledge that you would probably need to take the biology, g chem and o chem sections of it. I am still kind of undecided between dental school and medical school so any feedback about ANYTHING of the sort will help me greatly.


Thanks in advance!
-Jeremy

Too many things wrong with your post.
It was a mistake to take the DAT. You shouldn't take the tests (MCAT/DAT) to see what you will do good in and then base your career on your scores.

Just because you didn't do so well in QR doesn't mean that you should give up on dentistry.

 

[adizzle87]

Definitely agree with doc, did you seriously take the DAT to "test it out"? I can tell you one thing, if you take both and you apply to either, they will ask you if you've taken any other sort of test. Your scores are about average for those who get into dental school but I had a bud who was held back by his 15 on QR, this was what ADCOMs were telling him.

So I would definitely figure out what you want to do first, then go on from there. If you choose dental definitely a retake because a lot of schools have minimum cutoffs for each section of the DAT. The MCAT is not as straight forward as the DAT but don't go into dental just because it is more straight forward in test taking...you might regret it for the rest of your life.

 

[Danny289]

Do you know for many dental schools, taking both MCAT and DAT is negative count?

 

[Shjfr]

I am kind of new to this forum, but I had a question about taking the MCAT vs. the DAT for those who may have taken both the MCAT and DAT.

I JUST took my DAT this past Saturday my scores were:
21 Bio
18 G chem
19 O chem
19 TS
20 PAT
18 RC
and 15 QR
AA was an 18 out of 30.

The good thing about the MCAT is that there is no QR obviously which means no 45 minute high school word problem math section. The only thing is, is that I need to study physics again. BUT, the good thing is, is that I feel like I already have all the knowledge that you would probably need to take the biology, g chem and o chem sections of it. I am still kind of undecided between dental school and medical school so any feedback about ANYTHING of the sort will help me greatly.


Thanks in advance!
-Jeremy

I didn't take it... but my girlfriend did and I have looked through her study materials (Kaplan). The orgo and gen chem seemed similar to Kaplan BB and the bio was a bit more detailed... which it should be anyways for the DAT (main reason I looked through the materials). So the material on the MCAT is similar, but I cannot tell you about the difficulty because I did not take it.

 

[Jeremy713]

Too many things wrong with your post.
It was a mistake to take the DAT. You shouldn't take the tests (MCAT/DAT) to see what you will do good in and then base your career on your scores.

Just because you didn't do so well in QR doesn't mean that you should give up on dentistry.

I think you misunderstood. Sorry I should have explained a little more clearly the reason I was considering taking both tests. I am not to worried about my QR score. I think my other scores are just fine and I should be able to get into my state school. I am not giving up on dentistry at all. I am simply still undecided as to the path I should take. I have shadowed both physicians and dentists. There are just many options for me to weigh out. I was simply asking if anyone had taken both tests and were able to break down the differences on how to study, material, etc.

I tknow dentistry would be a great career, but I also know there is much variety in the medical field as well. It's a tough decision, and I am not basing it off the scores I get on these tests. Just asking for the differences between them.

 

[Jeremy713]

Do you know for many dental schools, taking both MCAT and DAT is negative count?

I did not know that. I did know that dental schools (at least the one in my state) probably don't like it if you are undecided. They want you to be sure you want to do dentistry for the rest of your life when they review your application. Probably for reasons such as people dropping out and what not becauase they decide it's not for them.

Can I ask why this is a negative count though and how you got this information? Just because I take the MCAT as well and decide to go to dental school for example, doesn't mean I would still be unsure when applying. By then, I may have no doubts at all (in terms of being 100% dental school).

 

[lhtran07]

I took the MCAT a couple of years ago so the details are a bit fuzzy, but I thought it was much harder than the DAT. The MCAT questions are passage-based, so it requires more critical thinking and you can infer from reading the passages whereas with the DAT it's in question-answer format so either you know it or you don't. The RC section of the DAT has a lot of technical/scientific passages but the MCAT verbal reasoning section has various subjects (humanities, ethics, etc) and the questions are more tone based and require you to understand the theme and main ideas...it rarely asks for specific details like the RC.

I don't think its a negative to take both the DAT and MCAT when applying to dental school, but it would be negative to apply to both a dental and medical program in the same app cycle. But some schools still might question you on why you took both tests, so be prepared to answer that.

 

[doc3232]

I don't think I misunderstood you. You were implying that there was no QR in the MCAT which was to your advantage.

Anyway, what I said still stands. Decide on med or dent before taking the DAT again or taking the MCAT.

good luck

I think you misunderstood. Sorry I should have explained a little more clearly the reason I was considering taking both tests. I am not to worried about my QR score. I think my other scores are just fine and I should be able to get into my state school. I am not giving up on dentistry at all. I am simply still undecided as to the path I should take. I have shadowed both physicians and dentists. There are just many options for me to weigh out. I was simply asking if anyone had taken both tests and were able to break down the differences on how to study, material, etc.

I tknow dentistry would be a great career, but I also know there is much variety in the medical field as well. It's a tough decision, and I am not basing it off the scores I get on these tests. Just asking for the differences between them.

 

[Danny289]

I did not know that. I did know that dental schools (at least the one in my state) probably don't like it if you are undecided. They want you to be sure you want to do dentistry for the rest of your life when they review your application. Probably for reasons such as people dropping out and what not becauase they decide it's not for them.

Can I ask why this is a negative count though and how you got this information? Just because I take the MCAT as well and decide to go to dental school for example, doesn't mean I would still be unsure when applying. By then, I may have no doubts at all (in terms of being 100% dental school).

I got this information from one of my State school's dean in health care panel in my school. somebody asked her what can be a negative point in a application? she responded " seeing both MCAT and DAT in application". maybe it is issue for some schools.

 

[Jeremy713]

I got this information from one of my State school's dean in health care panel in my school. somebody asked her what can be a negative point in a application? she responded " seeing both MCAT and DAT in application". maybe it is issue for some schools.

How would they know if you took the MCAT or not though? I know you can choose to send scores to whatever schools you want to, so if you choose not to send the scores, I suppose they won't see them or know that you took it.

Anyways, thanks everyone for all the feedback and information! 😀

 

[Danny289]

How would they know if you took the MCAT or not though? I know you can choose to send scores to whatever schools you want to, so if you choose not to send the scores, I suppose they won't see them or know that you took it.

Anyways, thanks everyone for all the feedback and information! 😀

lol, wait for "doc toothache's" answer with his plain English.

 

[yuppers]

How would they know if you took the MCAT or not though? I know you can choose to send scores to whatever schools you want to, so if you choose not to send the scores, I suppose they won't see them or know that you took it.

Pretty sure that when you apply you agree to disclose all informantion.
The way I see you should not make to take two fun-packed standandized tests 🙂rolleyes🙂to known what career you like.

 

[dwd09]

Pretty sure that when you apply you agree to disclose all informantion.
The way I see you should not make to take two fun-packed standandized tests 🙂rolleyes🙂to known what career you like.

Not true. The AADSAS application in no way, shape or form requires you to disclose whether or not you took the MCAT. Having applied to med school...different story. The only way I see them finding out about the MCAT is if it comes up in a secondary or interview, in which case honesty is always the best policy.

 

[yuppers]

Not true. The AADSAS application in no way, shape or form requires you to disclose whether or not you took the MCAT. Having applied to med school...different story. The only way I see them finding out about the MCAT is if it comes up in a secondary or interview, in which case honesty is always the best policy.

Interesting.... since you give them all info about yourself including SS# can they check on their own?

 

[dwd09]

Interesting.... since you give them all info about yourself including SS# can they check on their own?

Hmm... I had no idea they could do that

 

[smust01]

I am kind of new to this forum, but I had a question about taking the MCAT vs. the DAT for those who may have taken both the MCAT and DAT.

I JUST took my DAT this past Saturday my scores were:
21 Bio
18 G chem
19 O chem
19 TS
20 PAT
18 RC
and 15 QR
AA was an 18 out of 30.

The good thing about the MCAT is that there is no QR obviously which means no 45 minute high school word problem math section. The only thing is, is that I need to study physics again. BUT, the good thing is, is that I feel like I already have all the knowledge that you would probably need to take the biology, g chem and o chem sections of it. I am still kind of undecided between dental school and medical school so any feedback about ANYTHING of the sort will help me greatly.


Thanks in advance!
-Jeremy

Base on your Chem, I think you will boom the MCAT. MCAT and DAT are 2 different tests. Like apple and orange. But MCAT is alot harder for someone who cant read fast or use logic thinking quiskly. DAT is more like whether you know it or not. I took both, and I boom the MCAT with all sections. Here is my DAT scores, biol 23. Gchem 24 ochem 24. ts 24. AA 22. MCAT I got 21 out of 45. if you wanna try it out, let me know what u get.

I knew someone can do good on the MCAT (30-32) but they dont really know much stuffs. but DAT you def need to know the materials before u hit it.

 

[adizzle87]

Here are the facts: you shouldn't have taken the DAT if you weren't sure dental was right for you. The 15 on QR is a big deal, some schools have strict cutoffs for each section, the most common number being 16.

So in my opinion you should contact the school to see if 15 is a problem, I can tell you that half of them will recommend a retake.

 

[JAMA0295]

I don't think that there is anything wrong with taking the DAT even if you're unsure of Dentistry as a career. As for writing the MCAT as well...why not?

If you have the choice narrowed down to those two, but still can't decide you might as well do something productive with your time and write some tests. When you do make your mind up, you'll already have the tests completed or if you get into both meds and dents then it will force you to choose the one you really want.

Don't let other people try to tell you what path is right for you. Good luck.

 

[yuppers]

Hmm... I had no idea they could do that

Neither do I, that why Im asking. Anyone??

 

[aka47g]

kk