Chances for dental school

Started by Kingfish23
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Kingfish23

Kingfish23

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Just took my DAT for the first time

21AA/20TS/22Bio/17GC/22OC/26RC/17QR

I'm currently in a masters program with a 4.0 through 22 credits.My Ugpa is a 3.15, but my sGPA is a 3.4 with a very strong upward trend in my last 60 credits including 4 semesters of a 4.0 in 3000/4000 level science electives that Dental schools recommend (biochem, immunology, upper division anatomy and physiology, molecular and cell biology, genetics, microbiology etc.)

I've worked 25+ hours a week for 4 years now as a waiter to help pay for school, but I have 250+hours of shadowing and 100+ hours of volunteering.

What are my chances??


School list:
Tufts
Nova
Temple
Detoit mercy
UF (state school)
Maryland
BU
VCU
NYU
 
Looking good, not perfect, but you definitely have a good chance. the 17's on your DAT may be a concern for some schools but if you applied broadly I can't see why it would be an issue.

You have good EC's as well. Apply early and broadly and I am sure you will get in somewhere

Refer to Doc toothache's resources to narrow down schools. Have your PS read by people and make sure your transcripts and letters get sent quickly.
2015 Guide to Dental School Admission
 
Stanelz said:
Looking good, not perfect, but you definitely have a good chance. the 17's on your DAT may be a concern for some schools but if you applied broadly I can't see why it would be an issue.

You have good EC's as well. Apply early and broadly and I am sure you will get in somewhere

Refer to Doc toothache's resources to narrow down schools. Have your PS read by people and make sure your transcripts and letters get sent quickly.
2015 Guide to Dental School Admission
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Thank you for your response! I just check out DocT's guide and it is excellent. When you say apply broadly, are there any schools you could specifically recommend?
 
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Kingfish23 said:
Just took my DAT for the first time

21AA/20TS/22Bio/17GC/22OC/26RC/17QR

I'm currently in a masters program with a 4.0 through 22 credits.My Ugpa is a 3.15, but my sGPA is a 3.4 with a very strong upward trend in my last 60 credits including 4 semesters of a 4.0 in 3000/4000 level science electives that Dental schools recommend (biochem, immunology, upper division anatomy and physiology, molecular and cell biology, genetics, microbiology etc.)

I've worked 25+ hours a week for 4 years now as a waiter to help pay for school, but I have 250+hours of shadowing and 100+ hours of volunteering.

What are my chances??


School list:
Tufts
Nova
Temple
Detoit mercy
UF (state school)
Maryland
BU
VCU
NYU
Click to expand...

add touro and add lecom
 
Kingfish23 said:
How was the clinical experience at Buffalo?
Click to expand...

Despite being bitter at times, I would say I had a pretty decent clinical experience, but I can't say everyone feels the same. Don't get me wrong, I think there's many things that can and need to be improved. But I think the new dean is heading in the right direction with it. But overall I would give the school 4/5 stars.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Kingfish23 said:
Are they out of state friendly as well?
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They are private, so they are not necessarily beholden to any state residency requirements. I think they reserve a few seats for Wyoming students, however, I am not sure... I would think you would have a good shot there given your stats.
 
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You should definitely apply confidently! You're definitely in the game with those numbers. One thing I might suggest is possibly taking some time in your essays to talk about how you jumped from that low GPA to your perfect GPA. Were there any sparks of motivation/did you realize what you want to do or maybe there were personal reasons for the undergrad GPA? I'm not sure what your situation is but you should try to hit on it because I'm sure the schools will be curious to see how you matured and were able to get such a good upward trend.

Personally, I didn't do a masters program but I did drop a class and had a low GPA my first semester, so I wrote about it and how I changed in my optional essay. Nothing long or dramatic, but honest and showed what I learned/how I matured.
 
aggietxdent said:
You should definitely apply confidently! You're definitely in the game with those numbers. One thing I might suggest is possibly taking some time in your essays to talk about how you jumped from that low GPA to your perfect GPA. Were there any sparks of motivation/did you realize what you want to do or maybe there were personal reasons for the undergrad GPA? I'm not sure what your situation is but you should try to hit on it because I'm sure the schools will be curious to see how you matured and were able to get such a good upward trend.

Personally, I didn't do a masters program but I did drop a class and had a low GPA my first semester, so I wrote about it and how I changed in my optional essay. Nothing long or dramatic, but honest and showed what I learned/how I matured.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the words of confidence! I honestly didn't have the motivation to do well until I started taking science courses that I enjoyed. Once I had begun to take classes such as microbiology and biochemistry, I knew I had found my calling, as the information would be engraved in my mind effortlessly. I spent an incredible amount of time tutoring other students in my classes in an effort to help my peers succeed, and that is when I knew I could achieve something as great as dental school if I just kept trying, and achieving A's. Did you talk about the change that you had made in your personal statement as well? Or did you save it for other areas on the application ?
 
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