What are my chances // help on school list

[jhatch]

Hi all,

I would appreciate any insight regarding my chances as an applicant this cycle and also my dental school app list. Regarding my choice of dental schools, I am a Texas resident and due to family reasons I am not looking to go too far OOS. Throughout college I was somewhat undecided on what field of healthcare I wanted to pursue and due to pressure from family I was pushed into taking the MCAT and applying to medical school after my junior year. However after an internship at a hospital I learned medicine is not for me. I've always been interested in dentistry and decided to pursue this career 100%. I just don't want it to look like dentistry is my 2nd choice when I apply due to my previous medical apps, the truth is dentistry is a very expensive route to pursue and thats been a hard pill to swallow.

Stats:
cGPA --> 3.62
sGPA --> 3.5
I had a rough start my freshman year, however the past 4 semesters I have had a strong upwards trend with my lowest GPA being 3.79.

DAT: BIO 20 / GC 21 / OC 19 TS 20 RC 26 QR 17 PAT 19 --> AA 21

Shadowing --> 150 Hours General
Volunteering --> 150 hours
Research --> 300 hours Cancer research - OChem Synthesis Lab - No Pubs.
Employment --> Self-employed through college - 40Hrs/Wk
EC's: Habitat for Humanity, tutored various subjects, competitive video game player w/ tournaments etc.
---slightly worried about my lack of EC's, running a business full time + college tends to take up my time lol.

School List:
UT San Antonio
UT Houston
Univ. Tennessee

I plan on submitting my app mid June.

I would appreciate any insight,
Thank you all for your time

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[Cthuluhoop]

Your application looks pretty solid. Your GPA is pretty good, and your AA and TS are decent

I think you have a chance, but you're also only applying to 3 schools, and while I'm not a Texas resident I've heard about how competitive getting a spot at any Texas dental school is. So you if you are dead set on applying to only 3 schools, be prepared to apply a couple more times, or add more schools to lessen the risk of not getting in on your first try. I agree that dental schools are absurdly expensive and there are many that are just simply not worth going to at the CoA they charge, but if this is the career you want, it's the price of admission into it these days, and there are more reasonable schools you can apply to, a handful offer IS tuition after one year, however you would have to move away from Texas

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Take A&P 1/2 at a CC and apply to TAMU in Dallas. Not worth risking it with your stats on only two IS schools.

Don’t apply to Tennessee. Apply to schools that offer IS after one year like UB, Maryland, stony, OSU, etc

 

[jhatch]

Take A&P 1/2 at a CC and apply to TAMU in Dallas. Not worth risking it with your stats on only two IS schools.

Don’t apply to Tennessee. Apply to schools that offer IS after one year like UB, Maryland, stony, OSU, etc

Sorry, I failed to mention that I plan on taking an online microbio course since that is the only class I am missing concerning their pre-reqs. Could you elaborate more on your comment regarding "Take A&P 1/2 at a CC"?

Thats interesting you mention that about Tennessee, if I'm not mistaken on their website they say they offer in state tuition the next semester after you obtain an in-state residency, but once again this is only my understanding I could be completely wrong. My fiance lives in Tennessee, so hypothetically once we get married I'll obtain an automatic state residency.

 

[jhatch]

Your application looks pretty solid. Your GPA is pretty good, and your AA and TS are decent

I think you have a chance, but you're also only applying to 3 schools, and while I'm not a Texas resident I've heard about how competitive getting a spot at any Texas dental school is. So you if you are dead set on applying to only 3 schools, be prepared to apply a couple more times, or add more schools to lessen the risk of not getting in on your first try. I agree that dental schools are absurdly expensive and there are many that are just simply not worth going to at the CoA they charge, but if this is the career you want, it's the price of admission into it these days, and there are more reasonable schools you can apply to, a handful offer IS tuition after one year, however you would have to move away from Texas

Yea like I said in my previous reply I failed to mention that I am also applying to TAMU Dallas. Moving away from Texas is not an issue, as long as its not crazy far up north etc. Thank you for input!

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Sorry, I failed to mention that I plan on taking an online microbio course since that is the only class I am missing concerning their pre-reqs. Could you elaborate more on your comment regarding "Take A&P 1/2 at a CC"?

Thats interesting you mention that about Tennessee, if I'm not mistaken on their website they say they offer in state tuition the next semester after you obtain an in-state residency, but once again this is only my understanding I could be completely wrong. My fiance lives in Tennessee, so hypothetically once we get married I'll obtain an automatic state residency.

I noticed you left out the school in Dallas and figured it was because of the recent requirement for anatomy and physiology. You should take microbio at a community college or 4 year school unless you know the schools you're applying to accept online prereqs.

I don't think residency works like that for Tennessee, but if you can slip past the system I'd do it. Say you're a TX resident on TMDSAS and a TN resident on AADSAS.