Another chance thread

[niv3k]

Hey guys, finally done with the application and all. Just wanted to see what people thought of my chances..

A little background info: been in undergrad for about 6 years total, I was actually in nursing school for a little less than a semester and withdrew because I just knew I didn't want to do that for the rest of my life. I graduated December 2013 so I am taking a gap year (applying for 2015).

BCP gpa : 3.55
Science : 3.48
Non science : 3.50
Total gpa : 3.49

DAT (PA/QR/RC/B/GC/OC/TS/AA):
19/18/20/21/20/22/20/20

Volunteer experience :
-Ophthalmology clinic ~250 hours/2 years
-Science fair judge ~4-5 hours/1 time
-Audubon center (which is a conservation park around here where I live) ~50 hrs/6 months
-March of Dimes Mother's Day spa event (I work as a nail technician so painted and designed people's nails) ~12 hours/5 times I do it every year
-Biology club 12 hrs/half a semester (just went to meetings and we cleaned up two diff parks)

Shadow experience:
General dentist : 20 hrs
Another GD : 8 hours
Orthodontist : 9 hours
Prosthodontist : 8 hours
Another GD : 8 hours
Periodontist : 4 hours
Oral surgeon : 7 hours
Endodontist : 5 hours

Totaling 69 hours

Work experience:
Nail tech from 2009-now
Served at a restaurant in between then for a year

I feel worried because of my whole nursing school gimmick. I was just there for a month and withdrew after clinicals because I just started to realize that this wasn't something I wanted to invest my time and money into because I didn't feel I would be happy in the future. I had just chose nursing school because I didn't want to do pre med anymore and at that time there were things going on in our immediate family that made me just want to finish school more quickly. Felt that nursing was a good option because we have a fast track 2 year BSN program, I could get out work, and come back to further my schooling anytime. When I withdrew I also withdrew with a WF not knowing that would hit my GPA.

Also, I work full time, have been ever since before nursing school so I have one day off a week to do whatever. In between school work, shadowing, and just life/time off, I just feel like I haven't had the opportunity to get in as many shadow hours as others on my day off and my volunteer hours aren't all that great to me either. I lack dental volunteer hours and I actually have only been volunteering for the march of dimes event for the past 2 years.

The only thing I am banking on are my grades/DAT score, letters of recommendation (getting one from my orthodontist and committee letter), and the fact that I am a nail technician so I have experience in the service industry, am pretty good with my hands, and I know what it's like to do some type of service on someone's body part? Lol

Do you think my interviewers will look down on the fact that I haven't had any dental volunteer hours? Or that I haven't volunteered for anything major in a long time? Or my withdrawal from nursing school? Or the fact that I'm taking a gap year??

Thanks for any help guys

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[B0wMNj]

You'll definitely get interviews, and from there its really up to you. I would probably up the shadowing hours to around 100 though.

 

[CraigHack]

I think the single biggest thing you'll have to face is explaining why dentistry is the right choice for you. You're not the first person who made a switch from a different profession track to dentistry, but I suspect (being a clueless pre-dent myself) that adcoms want assurance that you'll be committed to dentistry. That doesn't come from explaining why nursing was wrong for you. It comes from a compelling set of reasons why dentistry is right.

I think you have enough shadowing hours, although some schools prefer to see closer to the 100+ mark. It certainly wouldn't hurt your chances.

You don't need dental volunteer hours. Schools weigh volunteer work and dental shadowing, but those are separate categories and unrelated to "dental volunteering". If you dig around SDN you'll find some interesting discussion about dental missions that some students go on.

I've never heard anyone on SDN mentioning that a gap year hurts your chances.

I'm guessing from your post that your applying this year with the intention to start school in 2015? I would recommend applying to plenty of schools (10-15+). Your GPA and DAT scores are just about "average" for most dental schools. You can refer to the 2014 ADEA guide to verify that for yourself. Your public in-state school will probably be your best bet, in terms of cost of attendance and probability of admission, but include some private schools as well to increase your chances of admission this year. The exact schools you should apply to will require you to do some research on your own.