another "what to do now" thread

Your DAT is great! your plan sounds good though, i would not retake the DAT though.

 

do NOT retake the DAT. enroll in a 1 year MA program.... georgetown, hopkins, BU, columbia...or better yet: your state univ. if they have one.

what school are you waiting on, by the way?

i'm on the waitlist of 3 schools so i'm kinda in the same boat as you!

good luck! jb!

 

I agree, your DAT is solid, there is no reason to retake that.

Also, if you have time, get shadowing experience or do other volunteer work if you are lacking at all there. Even if you have a lot, it doesn't hurt getting more hours and it shows you are dedicated for applying the second time around. The 1 year MA program is a good idea too.

 

Even though your DAT is pretty good, I think the easiest way to make your apps better is doing well on your DAT. But if you have passion for the MA program, I think that's a good usage of your time too. But if you are planning to apply again on 08 cycle DAT would be my choice.

Also, JB what schools are you wait listed??

 

i agree with the other posts, dont retake the DAT. its your GPA that needs to be worked on.

 

I would encourage you to apply to more schools than you did the first time, or apply to completely different schools. Your DAT is good, but your correct that your GPA is fairly low.

 

I would go with your plan of doing a one year masters program. Your sub 3.0 science GPA is what really drags down your appllication. Your DAT is solid, but it might be worth retaking if you feel confident you can improve. A stronger DAT can help compensate at least a little bit for a weaker GPA. You do have a really good DAT, but with your GPA you may need a great DAT.

Another suggestion is to contact some of the schools you applied to this past year to ask them about your situation and see what their thoughts are on what will be best to improve your application chances. They may give you some helpful input and they may be more likely to remember you next year when you reapply.

Good luck.

 

If the school outright told you that your GPA was not in a competitive range, I would take their word on it.

Your DAT scores are pretty good!

The 1 year Masters sounds like a good option.

 

you have great Dat scores. Personally, I think if you just apply early for the next cycle you will have a decent chance of getting in. With another year of school and a masters, maybe some more service/shadowing etc, you should not have a problem getting in. Don't get down on yourself, you are right on the border and if you keep trying you will get in.

 

hi guys i'm a newbie and in a similar situation as dds_chick. any help would be greatly appreciated!

my stats are:
GPA: 3.26
sGPA: 3.18
DAT (taken twice): 21AA, 22TS (23BS, 22GC, 21OC), 17PAT, 19RC, 19RC (but 24 on the 1st DAT).

i got rejected from all 15+ schools that I applied. i think maybe because i retook my DAT reeeally late (in january! but some schools did say that they would accept the scores...)

i am definitely applying again for 2008 and i have a few questions about the postbac/master's programs, so please help! i applied to the bu ma program recently but am afraid that it's too late... what schools have late deadlines so i can still apply now? i'm doing some research now on this but would appreciate any additional info!

also, if i do get into a one-year master's/postbac, and submit my application in early june, will my application be put on hold until my fall grades come out? if not, my gpa will remain the same and nothing much will be different from the old application besides my work experience and personal statment, right? then how could i best strengthen my status?

what do you guys think? i'm also thininking of taking summer classes, but the grades for those won't come out until july/august, after i've submitted my application. what should i do?

thanks in advance!

 

I would raise the GPA in both instances. Most school averages went up this last cycle. I know temples 2011 class average is a 19 DAT and a 3.3-3.4 GPA.

 

dds72... i can't believe you didn't get into any of the 15 schools you applied to. I have a very similar gpa but haven't taken the dat. You dat seems great though! Did admissions tell you you what was holding you back??

Although 3.1-3.2 aren't the average, they are still within the range of being acceptable, I would think.

 

when i called them they generally told me to improve my gpa and apply early this year. they did mention that my PAT was below average (they're looking for 18-20), but since i'm not confident that my other sections can remain the same or even better, i decided not to retake it.

my pre-dental advisors, on the other hand, told me to get my master's degree first and then apply in 2009... so i'm a bit confused now.

any suggestions? thanks!!

 

This is not related, but I'm sympathetic to this post. I applied very late to just a few schools in 2004. When I reapplied this cycle, I met with a chair from a school I applied to last time. He said "you know, with your GPA, you would have gotten in had you applied 2 years ago." I said "I did apply two years ago." He said... "yeah, but you applied late." Do you know how that makes someone feel? I could have been in the class of 2009! Oh well, didn't happen. Things seem to happen for a reason.

Many graduate programs have deadlines in May/June I thought...some even July. It is generally program based, not school based from what I am looking at. I know I applied to my grad school in May (VCU) but that was in 2002 before I ever even thought about applying to dental school. Good luck to you.

 

to those trying to still get into a masters program....don't let the GRE hold you back from applying to these schools. the GRE is not very hard. i would compare it to the old SAT. the vocab may give some of us trouble but the math is the same as the SAT. or who knows, you may be great at verbal but sucky at math. either way it DEF not as hard or time consuming as studying for the DAT. and if it means getting into a masters program to improve your chances of getting into a dental school later on....hunker down and take the GRE. good luck you guys.