Chances of being admitted to dental school

[dentist409]

Hi everyone, I could really use some feedback concerning my chances of being accepted into dental school. I am currently a senior studying Biopsychology at the University of Virginia. I didn't know what I wanted to do for a while and thus didn't take any science classes my first year. I was then pre-pharmacy, but after working in a pharmacy I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have hoped, My dentist encouraged me to look into dentistry because I love working with my hands and creating art. I officially decided to to switch to pre-dent towards the end of my junior year. After I graduate, I will still need to take gen chem 2 w/ lab as well as a second English class. I plan on taking these classes at a local college during my "gap year". Here are some of my stats and ECs.

- 3.5 GPA
- 3.4 science GPA
- DAT ? (I plan on taking it mid-June)
- 2 years as a pharmacy clerk at a hospital
- pre-pharmacy club (1 year)
- pre-dental club (1.5 years)
- I will be cramming the 100 hours of shadowing into my last semester (does this look bad? I really didn't have a choice here )
- 1 year as a Board member of a historical dorm(I spend around 10 hours a week in this role)
- 20 hours of volunteering (I plan on volunteering more before graduation)
- various orchestras and other musical ECs
- I am tutoring biology during my last semester

Is my GPA acceptable enough to get in? Would a good score on the DAT make up for my GPA? In general, my ECs have been pretty scattered over my four years. It took time to find ECs that I actually enjoyed and cared about. For example, I continued doing music, however I did not remain with a single musical organization and instead spent a few semesters trying out different ones. The same goes for a few other clubs not listed. Will this hurt my application? I was always involved in something. Also, should I worry about not having research experience? I plan on participating in research after I have graduated and submitted all of my applications.

Overall, I feel like I am a behind all of my pre-dental peers. It took a while to figure out what I wanted to do and thus I was not as goal oriented as others during my undergrad. I would really appreciate any feedback, Thank you so much for your time in advanced!!!

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[REACHOn]

Looks solid. For the DAT you should be scoring 20+ for a strong application. At the end of the day there are people are are getting in to school with lower GPA and DAT scores but what I gave you is for a solid numbers application. Aside from the numbers, each school is different as some prioritize volunteering, other look at shadowing. Aim for 100+ shadowing hours with multiple dentists and if you can assist. If you are going to tell admissions that you went from pharmacy to dental you need to make sure you let them know you did you homework. There seems to be a trend of people in pharmacy looking into other options because they are scared at how saturated it is out there and sadly dental is in a similar situation but it's not as bad but the dental debt is what really drives people away (about 300-500k in loans). Pick a career you will enjoy and stick with it You like to use your hands then dentistry is definitely a good choice.

Word of caution. When you apply for the cycle make sure you do not take a summer course or else it can delay your application. Example: You turn in your AADSAS application July, but your summer courses runs till Aug and grades aren't posted until Sept, your application will be kept on hold and you will basically turning your application late. Everyone knows how important it is to turn your application in early!

Good luck!

 

[princeafrica]

Looks solid. For the DAT you should be scoring 20+ for a strong application. At the end of the day there are people are are getting in to school with lower GPA and DAT scores but what I gave you is for a solid numbers application. Aside from the numbers, each school is different as some prioritize volunteering, other look at shadowing. Aim for 100+ shadowing hours with multiple dentists and if you can assist. If you are going to tell admissions that you went from pharmacy to dental you need to make sure you let them know you did you homework. There seems to be a trend of people in pharmacy looking into other options because they are scared at how saturated it is out there and sadly dental is in a similar situation but it's not as bad but the dental debt is what really drives people away (about 300-500k in loans). Pick a career you will enjoy and stick with it You like to use your hands then dentistry is definitely a good choice.

Word of caution. When you apply for the cycle make sure you do not take a summer course or else it can delay your application. Example: You turn in your AADSAS application July, but your summer courses runs till Aug and grades aren't posted until Sept, your application will be kept on hold and you will basically turning your application late. Everyone knows how important it is to turn your application in early!

Good luck!

You can still submit your application without your summer courses on there. I took summer courses this past summer and didn’t include them on my application

 

[REACHOn]

You can still submit your application without your summer courses on there. I took summer courses this past summer and didn’t include them on my application

You are right. If you just want to take the course and not put it into your application for consideration or for that grade boost then you can omit it and perhaps update it after. I took an Anatomy course during the summer and my application was held back until it was processed. I called in to confirm that my primary application was held because of the Anatomy course, and I did not need the course (I had Mammalian Physiology to cover that Anatomy already). I wanted it for the tiny grade boost to jump my GPA up to that 3.5 mark. It was just a word of caution because the OP stated that they would be taking courses that they would need to apply for dental school during the summer.

 

[DSchoolorBust202X]

Hi everyone, I could really use some feedback concerning my chances of being accepted into dental school. I am currently a senior studying Biopsychology at the University of Virginia. I didn't know what I wanted to do for a while and thus didn't take any science classes my first year. I was then pre-pharmacy, but after working in a pharmacy I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have hoped, My dentist encouraged me to look into dentistry because I love working with my hands and creating art. I officially decided to to switch to pre-dent towards the end of my junior year. After I graduate, I will still need to take gen chem 2 w/ lab as well as a second English class. I plan on taking these classes at a local college during my "gap year". Here are some of my stats and ECs.

- 3.5 GPA
- 3.4 science GPA
- DAT ? (I plan on taking it mid-June)
- 2 years as a pharmacy clerk at a hospital
- pre-pharmacy club (1 year)
- pre-dental club (1.5 years)
- I will be cramming the 100 hours of shadowing into my last semester (does this look bad? I really didn't have a choice here )
- 1 year as a Board member of a historical dorm(I spend around 10 hours a week in this role)
- 20 hours of volunteering (I plan on volunteering more before graduation)
- various orchestras and other musical ECs
- I am tutoring biology during my last semester

Is my GPA acceptable enough to get in? Would a good score on the DAT make up for my GPA? In general, my ECs have been pretty scattered over my four years. It took time to find ECs that I actually enjoyed and cared about. For example, I continued doing music, however I did not remain with a single musical organization and instead spent a few semesters trying out different ones. The same goes for a few other clubs not listed. Will this hurt my application? I was always involved in something. Also, should I worry about not having research experience? I plan on participating in research after I have graduated and submitted all of my applications.

Overall, I feel like I am a behind all of my pre-dental peers. It took a while to figure out what I wanted to do and thus I was not as goal oriented as others during my undergrad. I would really appreciate any feedback, Thank you so much for your time in advanced!!!

You don't need to worry much about participating in research if it doesn't particularly interest you. If you're able to get into some kind of dental-specific research and just want to try it out, go for it, but I don't think there's a huge emphasis on it.

Focus on doing well in your final classes, preparing for the DAT, and continuing shadowing and volunteering. That's more than enough to earn an acceptance.

 

[MavsFanForLife]

Hi everyone, I could really use some feedback concerning my chances of being accepted into dental school. I am currently a senior studying Biopsychology at the University of Virginia. I didn't know what I wanted to do for a while and thus didn't take any science classes my first year. I was then pre-pharmacy, but after working in a pharmacy I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have hoped, My dentist encouraged me to look into dentistry because I love working with my hands and creating art. I officially decided to to switch to pre-dent towards the end of my junior year. After I graduate, I will still need to take gen chem 2 w/ lab as well as a second English class. I plan on taking these classes at a local college during my "gap year". Here are some of my stats and ECs.

- 3.5 GPA
- 3.4 science GPA
- DAT ? (I plan on taking it mid-June)
- 2 years as a pharmacy clerk at a hospital
- pre-pharmacy club (1 year)
- pre-dental club (1.5 years)
- I will be cramming the 100 hours of shadowing into my last semester (does this look bad? I really didn't have a choice here )
- 1 year as a Board member of a historical dorm(I spend around 10 hours a week in this role)
- 20 hours of volunteering (I plan on volunteering more before graduation)
- various orchestras and other musical ECs
- I am tutoring biology during my last semester

Is my GPA acceptable enough to get in? Would a good score on the DAT make up for my GPA? In general, my ECs have been pretty scattered over my four years. It took time to find ECs that I actually enjoyed and cared about. For example, I continued doing music, however I did not remain with a single musical organization and instead spent a few semesters trying out different ones. The same goes for a few other clubs not listed. Will this hurt my application? I was always involved in something. Also, should I worry about not having research experience? I plan on participating in research after I have graduated and submitted all of my applications.

Overall, I feel like I am a behind all of my pre-dental peers. It took a while to figure out what I wanted to do and thus I was not as goal oriented as others during my undergrad. I would really appreciate any feedback, Thank you so much for your time in advanced!!!

Yes your gpa is acceptable to get in. Get a 19-20 on the DAT apply broadly and you will be good to go

 

[ab117]

I was accepted to VCU from out of state with a 3.49 overall GPA and a 21. As long as your whole application is relatively strong and you get 20+ on the DAT you’ll be competitive.

 

[dentist409]

Thank you to everyone for the advice. Can't tell you how much I appreciate it! I feel a lot more confident about my application