Advice for my future

[Vaheb]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey all, just trying to take advantage of all the opportunities out there to become a candidate for a dental school since I feel that my chances are very slim this cycle.

I have been doing research on different SMP programs, and have acquired a lot of information about different programs. I have also looked at normal masters programs.

I am currently in my fall quarter of my senior year at UCLA. My GPA as of now is 3.05 overall, 3.0 BCP, and 2.92 science. My DAT is 21AA/22TS/23PAT. I wrote the exam September of 2011 after my second year. I have 400 hours of dental volunteering, 120 hours of non-dental volunteering mentoring/tutoring jr. high kids and over 600 hours of research experience in a well established lab at UCLA.

I have currently applied to 25 schools and have gotten 6 or 7 rejections so far, not sure at the moment and I can't say i'm too sad but I am disappointed. 😕

I am going to bust my ass this year to increase my GPA a little bit cause I know it won't make too much of a difference.

The question is: Do you guys think I should reapply next year if I get my science a little bit up more? Or just do the Masters program and then apply. I'm only worried that my DAT is going to expire and I REALLY do not want to take that exam again, especially after receiving a competitive score.

Thank you,
V

 

[steveymcdubs]

Honestly? I think you might be okay. Your GPA isn't the best, but going to UCLA (or UW, haha) makes it a little better, your test scores are great, and you have a ton of experience.

I would wait it out a bit longer; you still have a ton of applications out.

Hey all, just trying to take advantage of all the opportunities out there to become a candidate for a dental school since I feel that my chances are very slim this cycle.

I have been doing research on different SMP programs, and have acquired a lot of information about different programs. I have also looked at normal masters programs.

I am currently in my fall quarter of my senior year at UCLA. My GPA as of now is 3.05 overall, 3.0 BCP, and 2.92 science. My DAT is 21AA/22TS/23PAT. I wrote the exam September of 2011 after my second year. I have 400 hours of dental volunteering, 120 hours of non-dental volunteering mentoring/tutoring jr. high kids and over 600 hours of research experience in a well established lab at UCLA.

I have currently applied to 25 schools and have gotten 6 or 7 rejections so far, not sure at the moment and I can't say i'm too sad but I am disappointed. 😕

I am going to bust my ass this year to increase my GPA a little bit cause I know it won't make too much of a difference.

The question is: Do you guys think I should reapply next year if I get my science a little bit up more? Or just do the Masters program and then apply. I'm only worried that my DAT is going to expire and I REALLY do not want to take that exam again, especially after receiving a competitive score.

Thank you,
V

 

[Vaheb]

Thank you.

Any other advice?

 

[autoclavemonkey]

Hey all, just trying to take advantage of all the opportunities out there to become a candidate for a dental school since I feel that my chances are very slim this cycle.

I have been doing research on different SMP programs, and have acquired a lot of information about different programs. I have also looked at normal masters programs.

I am currently in my fall quarter of my senior year at UCLA. My GPA as of now is 3.05 overall, 3.0 BCP, and 2.92 science. My DAT is 21AA/22TS/23PAT. I wrote the exam September of 2011 after my second year. I have 400 hours of dental volunteering, 120 hours of non-dental volunteering mentoring/tutoring jr. high kids and over 600 hours of research experience in a well established lab at UCLA.

I have currently applied to 25 schools and have gotten 6 or 7 rejections so far, not sure at the moment and I can't say i'm too sad but I am disappointed. 😕

I am going to bust my ass this year to increase my GPA a little bit cause I know it won't make too much of a difference.

The question is: Do you guys think I should reapply next year if I get my science a little bit up more? Or just do the Masters program and then apply. I'm only worried that my DAT is going to expire and I REALLY do not want to take that exam again, especially after receiving a competitive score.

Thank you,
V

Depends on what schools rejected you. If those schools are known to pick applicants with high GPA, I think you should apply again. You have a good DAT score and experience. I'm wondering if there are other parts of your application that's holding you back. Are you absolutely positive you have good letter of recs? How about your personal statement. I feel like alot of applicants don't seem to value the portion of the app as much.

 

[awaitsimpatient]

Its probabbly your science gpa..you should take higher level science classes next semester..i have low sgpa so next semester going to take 5-6 graduate level classes and hopefully all A's then maybe i can increase to 3.2 or 3.3..but dont go crazy right now, just wait for other schools and as a back up be ready to take lots of science classes next semester!! Btw schools expiration is 2-3 years depends on schools so you can apply next cycle 2013 and following cycle 2014(but super early)...good luck

 

[Vaheb]

Hey guys, I ended up receiving an interview at Roseman this morning 😳

 

[Longcatislong]

Hey guys, I ended up receiving an interview at Roseman this morning 😳

Congrats and good luck 🙂

 

[shulk]

If you don't get in this year (and you still have a lot of schools to hear from!) I would imagine the best thing you could do would be to increase your GPA since your DAT and EC activities are quite strong.

Looks like you already got an interview though, and I wouldn't be surprised if more ended up coming! Good luck!