Chances for acceptance for dental school with career change?

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deleted1047198

Hi
currently podiatry student
I have a 3.6 gpa from my masters in biomedical , 3.6 science gpa
3.3 undergrade cumulative
I have tons of volunteer experience, was a organic chem ta for a year
plan on getting dentist shadowing hours this summer/fall
planning to take Dat this summer as well

if my DAT is high enough 21+ , do I still have a shot at an acceptance?

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I would just stay in pod school at this point. The grass is always greener on the other side.
 
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Hi
I am a currently on leave of absence from podiatry School. I realized half way through my first year that It wasn't something I wanted to pursue. I have always had a passion towards dentistry and applied to podiatry school for parents sake. My first semester grades were not great, second semester were better but I deicided to take leave. I have dealt with a lot of personal obstacles as well and since in my program they allow me to repeat the year and mark the year as repeated on the transcript. I thought that would be better in terms of applying to dental school, since I could mark my first semester grades as incomplete and then send the new grades in the fall ( since I am technically considered a freshman). I am hoping that my new fall semester podiatry grades will prove that I can handle the science load and perform well. I realize it is a waste of money to attend pod school this fall if I want to ultimately get into to dental school, but parents want me to stay in until I get a acceptance.

besides that I have a 3.6 gpa from my masters in biomedical , 3.6 science gpa
3.3 undergrade cumulative
I have tons of volunteer experience, was a organic chem ta for a year
plan on getting dentist shadowing hours this summer/fall
planning to take Dat this summer as well

if my DAT is high enough 21+ , do I still have a shot at an acceptance?
Unfortunately I think your chances would be very, very low. Not only did you apply to a different profession and matriculate into it, you will also be repeating your first year. Doing well the second time around won't really show that you can handle the rigorous course load. In addition, not sure if you have any dental experience like shadowing and volunteering, and because of COVID, you likely will not be able to get enough to be able to apply this cycle. This means that in all likelihood, you will have to apply next cycle to have a solid shot (schools don't look too favorably on "future" hours listed on apps...).

Also, the biggest thing you'll have to do is show dental schools that you won't back out of dentistry the same way you are doing with podiatry currently. And you'll also need strong LORs to support your change in career.

If you are sure about dentistry, you could do this, but I would not recommend applying this cycle because you need to show commitment to the dental field first, and a few months of dental experience after already being in podiatry school won't cut it. Def would've been a different scenario had you not started podiatry school at all. Personally, I would stay in podiatry..

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
 
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Listen if you want to quit foot school, quit. But really think deep down what it is next you want to do for your next move. You sound like you want to just jump from one health professional school to the next. Maybe being a health professional is just not for you, and don’t take that personally. It takes a special person to want a career only dealing with feet and it also takes a special person to also want to only deal with teeth. You’re wanting to leave one extreme profession for another...Not good. Honestly, the grass is not greener on the dental side, and I wouldn’t waste time, energy and money going down that route. Consider a different profession
 
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Also you have so many strikes against you applying.

1) leave Of absence
2) weak podiatry school transcript
3) coming from a different profession

you are a red flag to the admissions committee. you failed to perform in the year you were in podiatry school, and then you left. you look like someone who is unsure of what they want to do, and can’t handle a first year curriculum. You also, I’m guessing, most likely did a masters to boost your gpa to apply to foot school but then didn’t do well your first year.

you will also need letters of recs from 2-3 of your podiatry faculty as well as from your academic dean or head of admissions Vouching for you, so they would have to be part of this discussion too.

your personal statement will have to explain and convince the admission committee why they should take you seriously and interview you and accept you. Saying my parents wanted me to apply to foot school won’t cut it.

even if you were to apply this summer which most likely won’t happen as you don’t have a dat score and testing sites are closed, how are you going to convince schools that in less than a year you are fully committed to dentistry. You will seem false, and look like a rat jumping from a sinking ship to whatever is floating.

like I said, take this time off to think what you want to do and how you will go about it


Good luck
 
How much have you already taken out in loans for podiatry school? Everyone has a limit of how much in federally subsidized loans you can take out for graduate education (I think), so if you have already taken a significant chunk out, that difference will have to be made up with private loans. You need to consider the financial impact of taking on more graduate loan debt.
 
Why do you want to go to dental school? Is it because you’re unhappy with your current focus? That’s not a good reason. You’re competing with tens of thousands of highly qualified applicants who have stayed on a predental track throughout their entire undergrad career. They have shadowing hours from dentists/specialists, some work in the field for experience as assistants/techs/hygienists, and almost of all of them have a good amount of recently completed community volunteer hours. How do you plan on completing any of those requirements with a full course load in pod school? You’re essentially a high risk with your current academic history. How will you stack up next to current applicants who have a strong ambition to become dentists? Their personal statements speak to their strengths and willingness to succeed.

Honestly, from what you wrote, I don’t see a true reason why you’d want to go into the dental field. Except maybe because its not what your parents wanted for you. If I was on the adcom, I wouldn’t consider you as an applicant because of your history to not follow through with commitments. Just my opinion but I’d say stick it out through your current career track.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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