a few questions (and any advice welcome)

[dreamitdoit]

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Ok, so here is some of my story:
First of all, I am a married 32yo mother of two so unfortunately I can't make some of these big decisions as lightly as some of you younger folks (like moving across the country or quitting my job to pursue a master's program)!
I have a successful career as an embryologist and have acquired many skills and experiences that will be directly relevent to dental school and dentistry in general:excellent micromanipulation/hand skills, involvment in research, a plethora of opportunities to interact with patients -discussing many aspects their IVF cycle, management of billing, sterile technique, maintaining CEUs for a professional society, etc... The reasons I am interested in dentistry is that I have always been fascinated by medicine and the human body and I love working with my hands. Also, I do not feel challenged or fulfilled in my current career and furthering my education in this field will not increase my earning potential unless I want to be a director, which is mostly administrative (boring).

Growing up in a low socioeconomic class, I also have a strong drive to serve the under-served or at the very least be able to help any and all patients in need, not just those who are wealthy This is one thing that is unfortunate about my current field, IVF is definitely a priveledged science.

I Graduated 2006 with a BS in Biology, oGPA 3.5 (can someone please tell me how I figure out my sGPA?)
The amount of time that has passed since I completed coursework seems to be somewhat of an issue at some schools. I was thinking of taking an upper level class or two to show that I can still excell in academics even though I'm not a spring chicken anymore 😉 Is this a reasonable option or do I really need to be in a formal program?

I literally have zero volunteer hours but I did serve 4 years in the Army Reserves (over a year as active-duty-for-training and 3 years as a reservist). I should note that I finished top of my class in the training to become a Medical Laboratory Technologist, which was quite an accomplishment. Does military service count as volunteer or any other category that will help my appication?

I have not taken the DAT yet and part of my dilemma is whether I should bother busting my butt to study and take it this summer in order to apply for the upcoming cycle or whether I should get other things in order first (volunteer hours and recent courses) to make me a stronger applicant and take the DAT at some point between now and next summer.

Thank you for reading and any advice you can offer!

 

[y3nd0]

Some of these questions should definitely be addressed with a representative from a dental school. I personally can't answer some of your questions. But, I do think that you should wait a year before you apply. You should get some shadowing done (100 hours, which is required by most, if not all, schools). I'm not sure if military service counts towards volunteer work, but I'll take a guess and say that it does not. It can be something you put in your application as an extracurricular (and the top in class thing can be listed as an accomplishment).
As for the 8 year old pre-reqs... that will definitely be an issue at some schools. You should try calling or emailing a dental school you feel like you would be interested in (perhaps a state school) to see if they have a cap on how old your pre-reqs can be.
To show that you are still able to perform well in class, I would definitely take some upper level classes (perhaps biochemistry or some other recommended classes like microbiology or histology).

As for how to calculate your science GPA, take a look at this list from the ADEA to see which classes will count toward your sGPA and how to calculate it:
www.adea.org/dental_education_pathways/aadsas/Applicants/GeneralInstructions/Documents/ADEA%20AADSAS%20Course%20Subjects.pdf

http://www.adea.org/uploadedFiles/A...ralInstructions/Documents/GPACalculations.pdf

I hope someone with more experience can comment on your situation.