Advice for what to do next please...

[Ohsnap23]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey everyone what would you do it my situation?

BACKGROUND:

Application mailed out: 7/8 , rejected from 4 out of 15 schools applied to

Overall: 3.34
Science: 3.21
Residency: South Carolina

DAT: 1st attempt was 19 AA/ 18 TS/ 17 PAT / 2nd attempt was 17AA/17 TS/17 PAT (Unfortunate I know...)
Great LOR, PS, extras, volunteer (400+ hours), shadowing (150+), etc.
I have a huge upward trend.

I am expecting the worst and planning ahead. If you were in my position would you do an unofficial post bachelor's (taking a few upper classes) or a 1 year master's? I'm not sure how highly a graduate GPA is looked upon compared to taking more undergraduate classes. I am definitely planning on retaking the DAT a 3rd time and destroying it. Any advice would be great. Thank you in advance.

PS: Called some schools and I was rejected for a low Science GPA and a low 2nd DAT.

 

[wengerout]

Hey everyone what would you do it my situation?

BACKGROUND:

Application mailed out: 7/8 , rejected from 4 out of 15 schools applied to

Overall: 3.34
Science: 3.21
Residency: South Carolina

DAT: 1st attempt was 19 AA/ 18 TS/ 17 PAT / 2nd attempt was 17AA/17 TS/17 PAT (Unfortunate I know...)
Great LOR, PS, extras, volunteer (400+ hours), shadowing (150+), etc.
I have a huge upward trend.

I am expecting the worst and planning ahead. If you were in my position would you do an unofficial post bachelor's (taking a few upper classes) or a 1 year master's? I'm not sure how highly a graduate GPA is looked upon compared to taking more undergraduate classes. I am definitely planning on retaking the DAT a 3rd time and destroying it. Any advice would be great. Thank you in advance.

PS: Called some schools and I was rejected for a low Science GPA and a low 2nd DAT.

1 year masters for sure. What happened with 2nd take on the DAT? With this next one being your last shot you need to go all out. How did you study for the ones before?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[nebuchadnezzar90]

Did you also apply with your first DAT score or just took it again without applying?

 

[Dewey2012]

You and I have similar stats, and my DAT score also went down my second attempt. 3rd attempt I used DAT Bootcamp faithfully and brought my AA from a 16 to a 21. Also completed a 2 year MS in Biomedical Sciences last year. This is my second cycle applying, and so far I've had 3 interview invites out of 5 schools I applied to

 

[NavyDDS1990]

Hey everyone what would you do it my situation?

BACKGROUND:

Application mailed out: 7/8 , rejected from 4 out of 15 schools applied to

Overall: 3.34
Science: 3.21
Residency: South Carolina

DAT: 1st attempt was 19 AA/ 18 TS/ 17 PAT / 2nd attempt was 17AA/17 TS/17 PAT (Unfortunate I know...)
Great LOR, PS, extras, volunteer (400+ hours), shadowing (150+), etc.
I have a huge upward trend.

I am expecting the worst and planning ahead. If you were in my position would you do an unofficial post bachelor's (taking a few upper classes) or a 1 year master's? I'm not sure how highly a graduate GPA is looked upon compared to taking more undergraduate classes. I am definitely planning on retaking the DAT a 3rd time and destroying it. Any advice would be great. Thank you in advance.

PS: Called some schools and I was rejected for a low Science GPA and a low 2nd DAT.

graduate programs should work better since they LOVE seeing A's from the graduate courses.
Make sure you kill the 3rd DAT otherwise it will raise a huge red flag.
Good luck!

 

[nice_guy1]

You can take the DAT more than 3 times, so this is definitely not your last shot. But you should prepare like it your last shot tho, because you don't want to take four times. I took it 4 times, and got 4 interviews this cycle. I made small improvement each times. Most of my interviewers were impress that I took it four times. They said it shows character and my determination for dentistry. Other than improving your DAT, just take enough postbac courses at your undergrad university to bring up the sgpa to at least a 3.3 and with a 20AA DAT I think you have a good chance. Also apply early for next cycle. Like in June. I had my first interview invite on 6/21 for this cycle. So the earlier the better.

 

[rolltide15]

You can take the DAT more than 3 times, so this is definitely not your last shot. But you should prepare like it your last shot tho, because you don't want to take four times. I took it 4 times, and got 4 interviews this cycle. I made small improvement each times. Most of my interviewers were impress that I took it four times. They said it shows character and my determination for dentistry. Other than improving your DAT, just take enough postbac courses at your undergrad university to bring up the sgpa to at least a 3.3 and with a 20AA DAT I think you have a good chance. Also apply early for next cycle. Like in June. I had my first interview invite on 6/21 for this cycle. So the earlier the better.

How did you take it 4 times. I thought you were only allowed to take it 3 times? I commend your determination!

 

[nice_guy1]

How did you take it 4 times. I thought you were only allowed to take it 3 times? I commend your determination!

After your third attempts, you have to contact adea and ask for permission to take it for the fourth times. Just show them proof that you have applied to dental schools and want to make improvement for the next cycle. But after your fourth attempts, they make you wait a whole year if you want to take it again for the 5th times. Hopefully, I get in somewhere this year so I never have to see that test again haha.

 

[rolltide15]

After your third attempts, you have to contact adea and ask for permission to take it for the fourth times. Just show them proof that you have applied to dental schools and want to make improvement for the next cycle. But after your fourth attempts, they make you wait a whole year if you want to take it again for the 5th times. Hopefully, I get in somewhere this year so I never have to see that test again haha.

I am sure you will! They will see your undeniable determination. Thank you for the info, it makes me feel a lot better!

 

[DMDDDSHopeful]

You and I have similar stats, and my DAT score also went down my second attempt. 3rd attempt I used DAT Bootcamp faithfully and brought my AA from a 16 to a 21. Also completed a 2 year MS in Biomedical Sciences last year. This is my second cycle applying, and so far I've had 3 interview invites out of 5 schools I applied to

That's something I wish I did, use DAT Bootcamp. It's seriously the single biggest source for the increased AA scores we see on SDN. Anyway, @Ohsnap23, I would suggest a graduate study for sure. You had a reasonable shot with your 19AA, but not with a 17AA unless you are lucky.

 

[Ohsnap23]

1 year masters for sure. What happened with 2nd take on the DAT? With this next one being your last shot you need to go all out. How did you study for the ones before?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

Hey thanks for the reply, my second DAT I studied a month but only really hard for 2 of the weeks because I had finals. I wanted my DAT done with before June 1st because I thought it would make a huge difference that I had everything ready to go. I also studied a month the first time but it was over winter break! I used DAT boot camp, Chads, and some destroyer. I definitely know I can get that 20+. Why the 1 year master's if I may ask?

 

[Ohsnap23]

Did you also apply with your first DAT score or just took it again without applying?

I got brainwashed by this website thinking a 19 wasn't a good score. But mainly the 17 PAT made me want to retake. I applied once with both scores.

 

[Ohsnap23]

You and I have similar stats, and my DAT score also went down my second attempt. 3rd attempt I used DAT Bootcamp faithfully and brought my AA from a 16 to a 21. Also completed a 2 year MS in Biomedical Sciences last year. This is my second cycle applying, and so far I've had 3 interview invites out of 5 schools I applied to

I'm rooting for you man! That's an incredible jump and I hope to be as successful as you. How did the master's classes compare to undergrad classes in terms of course load/rigor? I'll be doing a 9 month master's however.

 

[Ohsnap23]

graduate programs should work better since they LOVE seeing A's from the graduate courses.
Make sure you kill the 3rd DAT otherwise it will raise a huge red flag.
Good luck!

I hope so! I will definitely study hard and make those A's and 20+ thank you for the response!

 

[Ohsnap23]

You can take the DAT more than 3 times, so this is definitely not your last shot. But you should prepare like it your last shot tho, because you don't want to take four times. I took it 4 times, and got 4 interviews this cycle. I made small improvement each times. Most of my interviewers were impress that I took it four times. They said it shows character and my determination for dentistry. Other than improving your DAT, just take enough postbac courses at your undergrad university to bring up the sgpa to at least a 3.3 and with a 20AA DAT I think you have a good chance. Also apply early for next cycle. Like in June. I had my first interview invite on 6/21 for this cycle. So the earlier the better.

Thank you for the detailed response! I applied as early as I could and that was actually the reason I rushed my second DAT. So you think a post Bach is all I need instead of taking a master's? I think I need a good amount of sciences to actually get my science GPA up since I was an exercise science major! On a side note, that's awesome you stuck with it and I wish you all the best!

 

[DMDDDSHopeful]

I got brainwashed by this website thinking a 19 wasn't a good score. But mainly the 17 PAT made me want to retake. I applied once with both scores.

There are a ton of people getting interviews and acceptances with 19-20AA. There's even more people that refrain from posting because, like you said, people want to make them feel crappy about a 19AA--which has been the matriculated average for a very long time. The only thing I can say to those people is to go to their local dentist and see if they are unsuccessful/incompetent because they had a 19AA or less. You'll do well! Good luck!

 

[Ohsnap23]

There are a ton of people getting interviews and acceptances with 19-20AA. There's even more people that refrain from posting because, like you said, people want to make them feel crappy about a 19AA--which has been the matriculated average for a very long time. The only thing I can say to those people is to go to their local dentist and see if they are unsuccessful/incompetent because they had a 19AA or less. You'll do well! Good luck!

Haha exactly! I mean 19AA is like 80-85%, but hey some people just love showing off or condescending others. Each to their own. Academics is half the battle once you actually get into dental school !

 

[Dewey2012]

I'm rooting for you man! That's an incredible jump and I hope to be as successful as you. How did the master's classes compare to undergrad classes in terms of course load/rigor? I'll be doing a 9 month master's however.

Thanks! I'd say the grad level classes were more difficult than undergrad. But because I wasn't taking other bs classes like history and english along with them, it made me much easier for me to focus and make better grades than I did in college.