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khalua89

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hi everyone I've been a member for sometime now but have been reluctant to post anything on this site for sometime
Reason being, dentistry has become so competitive and the grades posted on this site are somewhat daunting and make my scores look average.
Well i took the DAT 9 months back and applied in mid September and haven't gotten one interview.
Its safe to assume i wont be getting in for this cycle.
During the course of this year i have done over 250 hours of volunteering at the nyu clinic As well as working full time as a dental assistant at another practice.
my dat scores consisted of
AA - 19
TS - 21
OC - 22
GC - 21
BIO - 20
RC - 17****
PAT - 19
QR- 18

GPA- 3.49
SGPA- 3.39
here's my dilemma obviously the grades posted on this site are not representative of the avg scores to get into dental school but i wanted to have you dental hopefuls weigh in.
I know i should have taken some sort of courses during this year....... but we all make mistakes.
currently i plan on applying june 4th, with these grades.( reason being the small applicant pool.)
I also plan on doing a masters program at UMDNJ this upcoming year. obviously i plan on taking competitive courses and im aiming for a high gpa.
Basically i was wondering what you thought my chances were of getting into school with these grades and sending my scores from the masters mid cycle probably mid Janurary????
open to all responses and suggestions

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hi everyone I've been a member for sometime now but have been reluctant to post anything on this site for sometime
Reason being, dentistry has become so competitive and the grades posted on this site are somewhat daunting and make my scores look average.
Well i took the DAT 9 months back and applied in mid September and haven't gotten one interview.
Its safe to assume i wont be getting in for this cycle.
During the course of this year i have done over 250 hours of volunteering at the nyu clinic As well as working full time as a dental assistant at another practice.
my dat scores consisted of
AA - 19
TS - 21
OC - 22
GC - 21
BIO - 20
RC - 17****
PAT - 19
QR- 18

GPA- 3.49
SGPA- 3.39
here's my dilemma obviously the grades posted on this site are not representative of the avg scores to get into dental school but i wanted to have you dental hopefuls weigh in.
I know i should have taken some sort of courses during this year....... but we all make mistakes.
currently i plan on applying june 4th, with these grades.( reason being the small applicant pool.)
I also plan on doing a masters program at UMDNJ this upcoming year. obviously i plan on taking competitive courses and im aiming for a high gpa.
Basically i was wondering what you thought my chances were of getting into school with these grades and sending my scores from the masters mid cycle probably mid Janurary????
open to all responses and suggestions

Just apply earlier. It looks like you should be fine.
 
I don't see anything outrageously wrong. A 19/21/19 are respectable scores with 3.5/3.4 GPAs. Some might say RC 17 could be trouble because it's becoming an important thing schools look at or meeting cutoffs for schools or whatever, but I think it's fine.

Even though you didn't take classes over the year, you improved your application with volunteering and assisting. Enrolling in a masters program is good and all, but I think one of the biggest things against you last cycle was applying in September. The masters think will look good, but by the time you have any grades for your first semester, it might be too late for it to have a huge impact (if any).
 
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Listen, I think your stats are fine, with volunteering and assisting and (maybe i skipped it but hopefully you have a decent amount of shadowing) you should get a few interviews if you apply early. Seriously your stats are not bad they're solid, is your personal statement and letters of recommendation good? It would be unfortunate if the only thing holding you back are these things that are immediately within your control...
 
I had very similar scores and gained an acceptance from two schools. For stats like ours, in-state schools are pretty helpful. I was also accepted to an out of state school school but I still feel like the out of state thing is kind of a gamble...depends on who reads your application I guess. Aside from my stats my application was pretty unique and I think this was a huge factor in getting the OOS interview invite.

The volunteering at NYU is great but it doesn't really stick out. I did a similar volunteering thing for a dental school and they told me it wouldn't help much..they'd rather see me getting involved with a private practice or pursuing something else. You have a reasonable shot if you apply early but some extra flare to the app is needed in my opinion.
 
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