Bachelors degree or not and advice PLEASE

[succedaneous32]

I applied in 2003 and interviewed in AZ,2004, (which I still love), but did not get in. I have a descent GPA, many years of experince in the dental field, but I need to retake the DAT. (My last score was stinky). My questions are this:
Is it really neccessary to get a bachelors degree? I have all my prereq's done and my AAS. I was hoping experience would outway the need for a bachelors degree.
I have a dilema of only being able to maybe apply to my home state- UW eek!
In case some of you do not know, the UW is quite sticky about stats and accepting VERY intelligent people.
HELP!!!!
I really need to be honest and say that I do not think I can pull a 20 or even an 19 on the DAT. I hated that stupid test!!!!!!!! Yes, I did kaplan.
Thanks for the opinions.

 

[nothen2do]

A kid in my class was accepted to UW in his junior year, so he will not get his degree. But, he always set the curve and had some ridiculous dat stats (AA25...). If you're close to getting your bachelors, why not.

 

[joooj86]

I was in your shoes, i was gonna apply without getting a BS, I have a 4.0 gpa ..activities, research,shadowing..blahblah.. I Still saw it was very hard to get accepted without a BS.. I probably need a 21 and be able to impress adcoms in the interview..I have decided to go for the major.

 

[Jess_SB]

A kid in my class was accepted to UW in his junior year, so he will not get his degree. But, he always set the curve and had some ridiculous dat stats (AA25...). If you're close to getting your bachelors, why not.

Are you at UCSB? I know a guy that got accepted to UW as a junior too - Pete - same guy?

to the OP:
the bar is set a lot higher for applicants without bachelors. The only cases I've heard have been students who are on track for a bachelors and have incredibly high stats. If you have >3.8 GPA in your prereqs and >20 on the DAT it might happen...but I still wouldn't count on it. If I were you I would earn my degree.

 

[Profchaos]

A kid in my class was accepted to UW in his junior year, so he will not get his degree. But, he always set the curve and had some ridiculous dat stats (AA25...). If you're close to getting your bachelors, why not.

UW doesn't seem to care whether you have a degree or not. A friend of mind got into UW without BS, but he has a 3.99 gpa and 22 dat. UW knows those kind of people can keep their stats and finish the degree if they want to. Thus why not grab those elite before other schools find out. That's where they are smart at.

 

[nothen2do]

Are you at UCSB? I know a guy that got accepted to UW as a junior too - Pete - same guy?

Yes and yes

 

[vertical bite]

I applied in 2003 and interviewed in AZ,2004, (which I still love), but did not get in. I have a descent GPA, many years of experince in the dental field, but I need to retake the DAT. (My last score was stinky). My questions are this:
Is it really neccessary to get a bachelors degree? I have all my prereq's done and my AAS. I was hoping experience would outway the need for a bachelors degree.
I have a dilema of only being able to maybe apply to my home state- UW eek!
In case some of you do not know, the UW is quite sticky about stats and accepting VERY intelligent people.
HELP!!!!
I really need to be honest and say that I do not think I can pull a 20 or even an 19 on the DAT. I hated that stupid test!!!!!!!! Yes, I did kaplan.
Thanks for the opinions.

you need DAT and gpa, dental experience is crap and wont help you if you have a bad DAT AND GPA.

You need to just study and stay off of SDN.

Quit being a dreamer and just do it. plain and simple.

Anyone can go get dental experience and shadow and volunteer, so I say big ****.

Get good grades and DAT then you can say you did something.

 

[Jaws]

A bachelors degree won't hurt, especially if you are on the boarderline.

However, it really depends on the school that you are applying to. Some of them either explicitly require a bachelors (I believe that USC is in this catagory) or others implicitly require them if you are an out of state resident (Baylor is in this catagory).

I would talk to the schools that you were rejected from, and see if they conduct some sort of analysis on your file, and tell you exactly what you need to do to get in. I know that some schools do this, and it can probably answer your questions a little better than we can.

 

[succedaneous32]

Thanks everyone. Why do some schools say that a BS is not required?! Oh well, you are right and I should go get my basket weaving degree. Just kidding!

 

[wimmcs]

If you take a look at the stats to find how many people get in w/o BS, you will find that not many make it. Again, those who make it have awesome DAT scores and very high GPA. Why not complete your degree and re-take the DAT to get at least 18+ score? Good luck!

 

[DIRTIE]

I have noticed that their are alot of people on this site that don't know what the hell they are talking about. I know because I am one of those that got in without! At my school I know that there are atleast 10 people who are going to d-school this fall without a degree. I would say that they look for 100 credits probably.

 

[wimmcs]

Since d-school is competitive, then I would imagine that not having a bachelors is a big disadvantage. I can't believe the # of people you know getting in w/o bachelors to d-school. Doubtful.

 

[Profchaos]

Since d-school is competitive, then I would imagine that not having a bachelors is a big disadvantage. I can't believe the # of people you know getting in w/o bachelors to d-school. Doubtful.

I have to agree with this. I was in a bit of disadvantage that I didn't manage to graduate yet. And I was clearly told in most of my interviews. It also depends on what kind of school he was talking about.

 

[DIRTIE]

Here is a list of the schools that my buddies and I have gotten into without a bachelors degree. UNLV, Case, Marquette, Tufts, Loma Linda, Maryland, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Nova, Creighton, Iowa, Columbia, Temple, VCU, AZ
Say what you want but its true. As for me I only got into three of them and I have ave stats 3.5/18

 

[succedaneous32]

Maybe it just depends on what the schools are looking for? Who knows what that is. Thanks again for the advice.