Applying senior year as opposed to junior year.

[supraman]

Right now I have a 3.1 gpa and and I am about to conclude my sophmore year and basically I am going to get these grades:

(3) Orgo2 - C
(3) Phy- A
(1) Phylab - A
(4) MicroBio - B+
(3) Gen-ed - A

I am concerned about GPA and this point and I really need to make a transition in my college career (URI). Would you guys suggest I apply senior year (while improving like crazy) or just improve for junior year and apply then? Not sure what to do. Can you apply both junior and senior year if you don't get in?? If I score well on DATs, and hypothetically do well from here on in, will I be ok?

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[Lidopaine82]

Right now I have a 3.1 gpa and and I am about to conclude my sophmore year and basically I am going to get these grades:

(3) Orgo2 - C
(3) Phy- A
(1) Phylab - A
(4) MicroBio - B+
(3) Gen-ed - A

I am concerned about GPA and this point and I really need to make a transition in my college career (URI). Would you guys suggest I apply senior year (while improving like crazy) or just improve for junior year and apply then? Not sure what to do. Can you apply both junior and senior year if you don't get in?? If I score well on DATs, and hypothetically do well from here on in, will I be ok?

If i were you i'd apply now, as long as you have all the pre-reqs done why not? Sure it will cost $$ but you just may get in. If you don't, just inprove your GPA and apply again next cycle. no worries

 

[supraman]

thanks for the response...anyone else?

 

[tinman831]

thanks for the response...anyone else?

Go ahead and apply junior year. If you get in, then great. If not, then no biggie since you were considering applying your senior year anyways.

 

[maksidaa]

if you have the money, go ahead and apply. but do so with the expectation that you'll get good EXPERIENCE out of it and not that you'll actually get in. i'm not saying that you definitely won't get in, but i applied a year early with a 3.8 gpa and 21's on my DAT and i didn't get in anywhere. schools were happy to interview me, and i got great experience from it, but i spent well over $1500 and still didn't get in. if i had to do it again i would still apply, but i would apply to a lot more private schools and a lot fewer state schools. i know of at least one person with similar DAT scores as mine and a 3.5 gpa and they applied early and got one interview and no admission. if you have connections anywhere or you are a minority then you might have a different experience. if you have any other questions then i'd be happy to answer them.

 

[maksidaa]

also, another reason to apply early is that schools will see that even if you don't get in, if you apply a second time it shows determination. also, some schools will tell you what you need to do to improve your application and when you do what they say, they see that you're willing to work and improve and that will impress them. that's a lot of money to spend for what seems like minor details, but it's worth it in the long run if you get in.

 

[lgreen_aci]

I'd say play it by ear. Go ahead and get things ready to go as if you were going to apply junior year and then see how things look grade wise when when it starts getting closer to the time to apply. Worse case you will have everything ready to go for senior year.

How are doing as far as having all the pre-reqs done? I'd say if you feel you're ready to go junior year, do it. If not, then apply senior year. Nothing wrong w/ applying senior year. In fact it may show maturity if you take that extra year to try and improve yourself and better prepare yourself for entry into dental school.

I will be applying as a senior (and staying in school for the year in between applying and going to d school to finish up 2 pre-reqs, my bio degree, and a psych minor).

 

[supraman]

if you have the money, go ahead and apply. but do so with the expectation that you'll get good EXPERIENCE out of it and not that you'll actually get in. i'm not saying that you definitely won't get in, but i applied a year early with a 3.8 gpa and 21's on my DAT and i didn't get in anywhere. schools were happy to interview me, and i got great experience from it, but i spent well over $1500 and still didn't get in. if i had to do it again i would still apply, but i would apply to a lot more private schools and a lot fewer state schools. i know of at least one person with similar DAT scores as mine and a 3.5 gpa and they applied early and got one interview and no admission. if you have connections anywhere or you are a minority then you might have a different experience. if you have any other questions then i'd be happy to answer them.

Not to sound rude, but what are you in highschool? You have a 3.8/4.0 and very good DATs and you didn't get in??? Sounds fishy to me, but I basically have to step it up and my knowlege on dental tech lab work will assist hopefully in the interview...thx for the responses all

 

[nanali]

I'm pretty much in the same situation.. it's just that I thought that I was not going to graduate until fall 07 and so I planned to take the DAT next year.. but now I found out that I will be able to graduate next summer and so pretty much I have not study or prepared for the DAT at all. My question is that if I applied my senior year and did not get in.. can I try again afterwards.. or does it look bad since I've been out for so long? Thanks

 

[tonydds]

i had the same problem as you, wasnt sure what to do but i did know i had to raise my gpa. I started out with a 2.91 after my freshman year and then i worked my way up through my junior year and raised it to a 3.29 and a 3.47 science ( i had two 4.0 semesters and took classes in upper level biochemistry classes). I took my DATs after my sophmore year and scored a 20aa 21ts... i think you should at least show some significant improvement before you apply... dont just apply blindly, set up a game plan or course of action for the next few semesters before you apply and be ready to explain your low grades... its always easier to explain low grades when you show significant improvement. im a texas resident so i only applied to those in texas, i had all three interviews in texas, accepted to one, and waitlisted to another.

btw you can apply whenever the application opens regardless whether or not you applied the last cycle.

 

[maksidaa]

Not to sound rude, but what are you in highschool? You have a 3.8/4.0 and very good DATs and you didn't get in??? Sounds fishy to me, but I basically have to step it up and my knowlege on dental tech lab work will assist hopefully in the interview...thx for the responses all

unfortunately i am no longer in high school. i'm a senior in college right now. and i'm not the only one on sdn that applied with high stats and didn't get in b/c i was a junior and not a senior. 90%+ of all acceptances are to people that have degrees. of the 10% or so that do get in w/out degrees a lot of them are non-traditional students so they have good reason not to finish a degree. with most schools getting 1,000+ applications a year, there are plenty of applicants to choose from that are applying after their senior year so they look at those first. i was just trying to give you an idea of what to expect if you apply early. good luck

 

[L8DYV]

Right now I have a 3.1 gpa and and I am about to conclude my sophmore year and basically I am going to get these grades:

(3) Orgo2 - C
(3) Phy- A
(1) Phylab - A
(4) MicroBio - B+
(3) Gen-ed - A

I am concerned about GPA and this point and I really need to make a transition in my college career (URI). Would you guys suggest I apply senior year (while improving like crazy) or just improve for junior year and apply then? Not sure what to do. Can you apply both junior and senior year if you don't get in?? If I score well on DATs, and hypothetically do well from here on in, will I be ok?

Dont be let down if you don't get in because your GPA is a bit low to apply with out a bachelors. 3.1 is just way too low. Maybe if it was 3.5 (but then again this likely won't cut it) and rockin DAT scores. Just telling it like it is...

 

[L8DYV]

By the way, if you do decide to take a chance and apply, make sure you apply to a lot of schools to increase chances and contact the schools to find out whether or not they consider people in your situation. Some schools wont even look at your application without a degree (e.g. USC)

 

[greenday]

I would suggest you take DAT first and see if you'd rock it or bomb it.