Can Someone Point Me in The Right Direction

[BeachLuvr]

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Hey Everyone: Any advice would be very much appreciated! I am a Texas resident (Houston) and have applied to Baylor, UTHSC-SA, and UTDB-Houston. I also went ahead and applied to Meharry and New York University.
I'm wondering if I should take my DAT again or leave as is. I studied soooo hard the first time (with Kaplan), and I don't know if I can do better on some of the sections than I already did. Here's some basic stuff:

I recently did a Houston Summer Enr. Program at UTDB. I'm black/fem. and they were doing a big minority roundup, so I jumped on the opportunity.

My gpa overall is about 3.63 and science 3.37 overall.
The only research I've done was for a community college assignment...spoke on Fluoride/dangerous effects of (etc.) to a group of faculty and participated in programs working with children ... bringing dental info.

Ample extra curricular and work experience, and have worked with a dentist.

The problem comes in that I"m not sure about how far these scores will push me down. I"ve seen a thread that someone was already given a San Antonio interview invite and I'm guessing I"m not getting one because my application was sent to schools the first week in June...so I know they've had it awhile.

DAT AA: 17
PAT: 17
Overal science: 18

Reading, CHem: 18
OChem: 19
QR: 15
Bio: 16

So...not sure if I have a chance at any of the other schools or are these scores considered ridiculous. I'm not eligible to retake the DAT till the end of September. Would loovve to go to NYU or Houston, but any of course...would be awesome. Any thoughts?

Thank You and Have a Blessed Day!
beachluvr

 

[DDSSlave]

I'm a student at UT Houston. I'd say you have a decent chance at the Texas schools with your GPA and experience. True, your DAT is below average, but if you tried your best and don't anticipate improving it any, don't retake it. Getting a similar or lower score would not be good. Just be prepared to discuss that aspect during the interview. Also, AA F are by far the most underrepresented minority in dentistry. So, that may help. I don't know if Houston gives any pref to Summer Enr students. I know of students who were accepted and not accepted from the program. Don't get discouraged about not getting an interview yet. Takes time. Plus, Houston just finished up with summer clinic and boards, so they may just be getting started looking at apps. Good luck. Hope to see you interview this fall.

 

[kidcanada]

You did a really good thing by applying early in the cycle. It should help your chances. Your G.P.A is very competitive but your DAT marks could use some improving. If I were you I would re-write the DAT and not opt to have your marks directly sent to any of the schools you applied to. Find out what you get and then chose to send the new marks or not. The schools would never know. I like to be on the safe-side of things. You still have a very good shot at gaining admission with your current DAT scores. Since your Science GPA is lower than your overall GPA and your Bio mark on the DAT is below average, the adcoms may see this as a negative. If you are going to re-write the DAT, work hard on the Bio section because dental school deals mainly with biological science (aside from clinical training). Also if you can afford to apply to more schools than I would look into Howard because like Meharry they favor minority students; BU because they interview a lot of candidates; and Nova because it's a great school, they tend to focus on the student's GPA rather than their DAT score, and because your are a beachluvr.
Good Luck.

 

[coodoo]

Hey Everyone: Any advice would be very much appreciated! I am a Texas resident (Houston) and have applied to Baylor, UTHSC-SA, and UTDB-Houston. I also went ahead and applied to Meharry and New York University.
I'm wondering if I should take my DAT again or leave as is. I studied soooo hard the first time (with Kaplan), and I don't know if I can do better on some of the sections than I already did. Here's some basic stuff:

I recently did a Houston Summer Enr. Program at UTDB. I'm black/fem. and they were doing a big minority roundup, so I jumped on the opportunity.

My gpa overall is about 3.63 and science 3.37 overall.
The only research I've done was for a community college assignment...spoke on Fluoride/dangerous effects of (etc.) to a group of faculty and participated in programs working with children ... bringing dental info.

Ample extra curricular and work experience, and have worked with a dentist.

The problem comes in that I"m not sure about how far these scores will push me down. I"ve seen a thread that someone was already given a San Antonio interview invite and I'm guessing I"m not getting one because my application was sent to schools the first week in June...so I know they've had it awhile.

DAT AA: 17
PAT: 17
Overal science: 18

Reading, CHem: 18
OChem: 19
QR: 15
Bio: 16

So...not sure if I have a chance at any of the other schools or are these scores considered ridiculous. I'm not eligible to retake the DAT till the end of September. Would loovve to go to NYU or Houston, but any of course...would be awesome. Any thoughts?

Thank You and Have a Blessed Day!
beachluvr

Retake the DAT. Compitition has been really stiff in TX lately.

 

[DDSSlave]

If I were you I would re-write the DAT and not opt to have your marks directly sent to any of the schools you applied to.

Very good idea. I forgot you could do this.

 

[BeachLuvr]

Thanks...Everyone. I am going to retake the exam, and report scores if I like the way that they have turned out. I have started studying again and so hopefully things this go around will get much better. Thanks everyone ~

Beachluvr