Should I wait until next year...

[googlygrape]

So I know after reading a million posts about amazing scores and such that my scores are pretty bad, but I called USC today and they seemed alright about it as opposed to NYU which was "retake the DAT"

My biggest concerns are my DATs and a C- in orgo 2. Here is my DAT breakdown:

PA 19
QR 17
RC 19
BIO 17
GC 18
OChem 16

TS 17
AA 17

The 16 in orgo is what kills me, because it just shows a trend i guess (i didnt think it was hard but i guess i was wrong -_-)

My gpa is a 3.34 accum and my extra curriculars include:
-shadowing/interning at a dentist's office (part of the NYU admissions board actually, haha) for over a year now
-I'm the top cadet in my AFROTC program (wing commander aka president) and have been very active ever since i first began. graduated top 20% at boot camp, just overall leadership has been top notch. was 1 out of 2 cadets teaching an entire class of 25 freshman
-volunteer in the community with my sorority and was also formal chair (planned biggest event of the year)
-public affairs officer in arnold air society (air force community service frat)
-also interned at a dermatology office for the summer of 2007 before school started, it was paid

what do you guys think? i know im probably going to hear a lot of criticism so im ready for it. i guess if i wanted to fight my case, im really passionate about this and couldnt see myself doing anything else in my life. if dental school doesnt work out this year i will have to serve as a real air force public affairs officer hahaha. however i wont give up my dream.

thanks for the input!

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[Huskk]

Depends on where you are financially. You know what the average stats are, but you can't get in unless you take a shot.

 

[UndergradGuy7]

GPA is a little below average, but not bad.
DAT is below average.


To put this into view...
The average DAT of people taking the exam is 17 AA. If you were to have a chance, then so would everyone else... since you are at the average.

Re-take, aim for 19. Shouldn't be that much harder. You already studied for it once, if you studied a lot and used the stuff everyone mentions in the dat forum then you can for sure get a 19+.

Just my opinion... sure someone will come and post how they got in with a 17. But the majority I don't think do.

And yes you need to re-take that C-.

 

[coolslugs]

So I know after reading a million posts about amazing scores and such that my scores are pretty bad, but I called USC today and they seemed alright about it as opposed to NYU which was "retake the DAT"

My biggest concerns are my DATs and a C- in orgo 2. Here is my DAT breakdown:

PA 19
QR 17
RC 19
BIO 17
GC 18
OChem 16

TS 17
AA 17

The 16 in orgo is what kills me, because it just shows a trend i guess (i didnt think it was hard but i guess i was wrong -_-)

My gpa is a 3.34 accum and my extra curriculars include:
-shadowing/interning at a dentist's office (part of the NYU admissions board actually, haha) for over a year now
-I'm the top cadet in my AFROTC program (wing commander aka president) and have been very active ever since i first began. graduated top 20% at boot camp, just overall leadership has been top notch. was 1 out of 2 cadets teaching an entire class of 25 freshman
-volunteer in the community with my sorority and was also formal chair (planned biggest event of the year)
-public affairs officer in arnold air society (air force community service frat)
-also interned at a dermatology office for the summer of 2007 before school started, it was paid

what do you guys think? i know im probably going to hear a lot of criticism so im ready for it. i guess if i wanted to fight my case, im really passionate about this and couldnt see myself doing anything else in my life. if dental school doesnt work out this year i will have to serve as a real air force public affairs officer hahaha. however i wont give up my dream.

thanks for the input!

C/Googlygrape,

I think you should apply this year, even just to USC.

However, you would want to re-take the DAT in the future if you don't get in. A 16 in OC will not meet the cutoff at many other schools. You will have to re-take orgo 2 before you matriculate as well.

Haha I think Arnold Air Society is much more than just a "community service frat".

Best of luck with your Air Force career. I hope you would end up at a base with an AEGD program.

 

[DQLEUCD]

So I know after reading a million posts about amazing scores and such that my scores are pretty bad, but I called USC today and they seemed alright about it as opposed to NYU which was "retake the DAT"

My biggest concerns are my DATs and a C- in orgo 2. Here is my DAT breakdown:

PA 19
QR 17
RC 19
BIO 17
GC 18
OChem 16

TS 17
AA 17

The 16 in orgo is what kills me, because it just shows a trend i guess (i didnt think it was hard but i guess i was wrong -_-)

My gpa is a 3.34 accum and my extra curriculars include:
-shadowing/interning at a dentist's office (part of the NYU admissions board actually, haha) for over a year now
-I'm the top cadet in my AFROTC program (wing commander aka president) and have been very active ever since i first began. graduated top 20% at boot camp, just overall leadership has been top notch. was 1 out of 2 cadets teaching an entire class of 25 freshman
-volunteer in the community with my sorority and was also formal chair (planned biggest event of the year)
-public affairs officer in arnold air society (air force community service frat)
-also interned at a dermatology office for the summer of 2007 before school started, it was paid

what do you guys think? i know im probably going to hear a lot of criticism so im ready for it. i guess if i wanted to fight my case, im really passionate about this and couldnt see myself doing anything else in my life. if dental school doesnt work out this year i will have to serve as a real air force public affairs officer hahaha. however i wont give up my dream.

thanks for the input!

You have some good EC but the gpa and DAT's are on the avg. to low end. I would retake O Chem and redo the DAT's. Probably Just apply to the schools you really want to go to and see if you will get in with those EC's but the DAT's need to be higher to be competitive. Just apply to USC and see what happens, if it does not work out, you have next year.

 

[SuperTank]

Do a little research into how much you'll spend to apply to the two or three schools you stand an ok chance of getting into, and if you can risk losing the money, go for it. But here are some other things to think about:

At this point, you are very late in the game. How close is your application to being completed? Have you gotten your LOE's yet? Have you started on your personal statement? Have you sent your transcripts to AADSAS?

AADSAS won't mail your application until your GPA is verified, which could take until early September assuming you had your school send it out tomorrow. That means schools won't even get your application until mid September. By that point, many schools have already sent out interview invitations, and some will have even started to conduct interviews. Long story short, there are a lot of applicants in front of you in line, and your stats (which are the first thing they'll look at) won't really bring your application to the top of the pile.

It sounds like you already know that the odds aren't really on your side right now, but if you can get everything together quickly, you never know. Good luck!

 

[peanutb123]

1. You have good PAT, RC, and QR.
SO you are good in those area and if you practice little bit more you will do better in those sections.

2. Its very obvious you did not study the right way for sciences. So try to study them diff. by reading diff. breakdown and completely understanding topics.

3. just b/c you shadow at the admission committee officer that does not give you a direct ticket.

4. When you called schools you probably talked DID NOT talk to the adcom people. + they will tell you to apply most of the time even if you do not have good stats just so that they get more APP $.

5. STUDY hard for DATS apply next year.

 

[googlygrape]

thanks everyone for the advice...

i was thinking just to call all the schools and get one more check up (try to talk to someone who can give me better insight besides a secretary) and go on from there. my biggest motivation to just finish is because i have my LORs and stuff ready, its just the personal statement brushing up and DAT that had me so late. i have 1 LOR from a cell bio teacher, 1 from neuroscience, 1 from colonel in the air force, and 1 from the dentist i shadowed.

we'll see what happens, i know that no matter what i can always try again next year, i wont give up! hahaha. ill let everyone know how it goes!

and does anyone recommend a better way to study? honestly i didnt practice PAT or RC or QR much at all, only sciences (weird huh) all i did was kaplan online course, but i guess i focused on the wrong parts. the bio was SO random, GC wasnt too bad, and OC i thought i did better, wish i could see the test!

 

[UndergradGuy7]

Did you just take the DAT, or when is the earliest you can retake?

Anyway go look at the dat forum. Doing kaplan usually is not enough.

 

[peanutb123]

Why dont you ask the adcom guy who you shadow?

Other than that schools will not give you advice until you apply, they say its depends on so many factors for everyone. they want to see everything before they tell you what to do.

regarding to how to study go to dat section there are people with high scores who post how they studied etc... check them it will also include all the materials that they used. Good luck