Any advice?

[portlander]

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This is my first time posting on this message board, but I have been reading and soaking up info for a while now.

I have just graduated from Whitman College in May, with a Biochemistry major and physics minor and have the intention of going to dental school in fall of 2003. Whitman College is a small liberal arts school (~1300 students) that is getting more and more competative to get into. I had a 4.0 in highschool taking all AP classes and a 1460 on my SATs.

I'm just about ready to submit my AADSAS application (by sometime next week) and I am scheduled to take the Kaplan prep course and take the DAT in late August.

My overall GPA is about 3.35, and science is slightly below that. My concerns come from some previous post indicating that GPA is always weighed hevier than DAT scores. But isn't GPA dependent on an individual's course load as well as undergraduate institution? I was hoping to rock the DAT and have a pretty good chance of acceptance. Now I'm getting a little worried because of my GPA.

I would love any advice any former applicants about any additional things I should do to improve my application package. Should I be worried? Maybe I shouldn't worry until I get my DAT scores back.

As far as dental experience, this is what I have: I've volunteered at OHSU's dental clinic for a summer, and observed with a dentist for four or five months, as well as writing my undergraduate thesis on fluoridation of public drinking supplies.

Please help me with any input!! Should I be worried? What would good schools for me to apply to. SO far I am planning on applying to OHSU, Creighton, Columbia, Tufts, UNLV, Marquette, U of P, Boston U, NYU, and maybe Arizona.

 

[deciduous]

I had 3.34/3.39Sci did well enough (20/20/18) on DAT & got into all 3 TX schools I applied to. Don't worry

 

[racemic01]

I don't really understand why you're throwing out your HS grades/SAT. Are you concerned about dental schools looking down on your undergrad? If so, I doubt they'll notice. If they do ask during the interview, tell them it was a competitive but enriching school and you're happy you went there, but don't tell the interviewer you got a 1460.

I think your GPA is good. Not steller, but not poor. Do dent schools account for the classes you take? Sure, but you make it sound as if your course load was much more difficult than the average applicants'. Taking calc, biochem, advanced biochem, p-chem, and advanced bio classes are not uncommen. Unless you took a number of adv classes outside bio/biochem I doubt your transcript will draw much attention.

I think your exposure to dentistry is great.

The only potential concern I would have is taking the DAT a bit late, but that could be unavoidable. You may want to ask for other's opinions on that.

All in all, I think you are a solid applicant. Do well on the DAT and you should get into a fair number of schools.