DAT Diagnostic and Initial Thoughts...

I took my first DAT Diagnostic yesterday. It is not that I expected to do well on it, but I wish I could have done better. And by better, I mean better in the Natural Sciences portion. The other three sections (reading comprehension, perceptual ability, and math) went all right.

If every section were an organ, the Natural Sciences portion is the heart of the DAT. There is an immense amount of information expected of the test taker, and rightfully so. I mean, you cannot expect someone to do well in the school part if they cannot perform on what is considered basic knowledge of the biological world.

Still, I question how the other DAT test components, specifically the reading comprehension, provide a measure of future performance. I guess I am still at a loss for how a timed reading test tells how "good" of a reader you are. As someone who reads particularly slow reader, I find the timed reading comprehension nerve-racking; I constantly check the time and judging whether or not I have enough time to answer the questions.

A possible and plausible response to my issues regarding reading comprehension would be: "well, if you cannot read distill the necessary information quickly from a passage, then that is going to hurt you in Dental School because we read..." And they are right. But, maybe a more effective way to test reading skills would be to read a passage and then evaluate its validity by writing about it. This is similar to how the GRE conducts its writing portion.

If nothing else, shouldn't dentists be able to communicate their thoughts in a well organized and concise manner both orally and in writing?