I don't agree with this train of thought. Basically you are using an analogy similar to saying that the caliber of your undergraduate school is indicated by your DAT scores. This would be true if the only materials used to prepare for the DAT were what you learned in class. However, just like the DAT students prepare using outside sources such as dental decks. Just like you are hard pressed to find someone who aced the DAT just by going to class, you will be hard pressed finding someone who aced the boards just by going to class. Maybe at some schools it will be possible to pass just by attendance but that is still in large part due to the student making the most of the time available and less so the school, otherwise this would be a more commonly observed pattern.
I think how well you do on the DAT/MCAT is
in some way a reflection of how well you were taught in undergrad and can be used to a certain extent to evaluate the undergraduate school you came from. I didn't see anything on the DAT that I hadn't seen before in undergrad. Now some of the stuff I remembered because of a
combination of the way it was taught to me at my school and some of it I remembered because of
my own studying. A lot of the stuff I just forgot and got wrong. But all of the DAT material was taught to me at some point in time in undergrad. With the exception of the PAT everybody here should have
somewhat mastered the subjects on the DAT solely as a result of the education they received at their university and the DAT score would have reflected that education to a certain extent. For example at some schools OC is a joke. Their exams are easy as hell. But some schools demand you to master the subject a little more in order to pass the classes. Is this not true? How well you were taught in college will play a factor in how well you do on the DAT.
Undergrad Education + Independent Studying = How well you do on DAT
You mean to tell me that after all the studying students do in dental school, and all the tests, and all the time in the lab that you haven't been taught everything you need to know to pass the national boards?!! Now you may not remember everything you learned but the dental school has made their best effort to teach it to you. And that level of effort is what determines how good the dental school education is. Some dental schools will demand that their students master those subjects a little more to pass their exams than other dental schools will. And this level of difficulty will be reflected in the scores students make on the boards. What you learn in dental school and how you were taught it will play a MAJOR role in how well you do on the boards regardless of how much extra time you put in with dental decks. Don't get me wrong it would be stupid not to do extra independent studying, but the foundation you use to do well on the boards will come from how well the dental school you attend built that foundation.
Dental School Education + Independent Studying = How well you score on the Boards
Some dental schools will build those foundations a little better than others schools will, and the first term in that equation will be higher resulting in higher boards scores.
Bottom line, you cant tell me that how well you are taught at a dental school has nothing to do with how well you do on the national boards. And if it has
ANYTHING to do with how well you do on the boards then board scores can be used to rank the strength of that dental schools education.
Now are you telling me that how good the education is at your dental school is has NOTHING to do with how well you do on the boards???
If this is what you are saying then we will have to agree to disagree.
