Chances of Getting into Dental School this Year

[gorillakiller]

Just a fair warning: I am new to this website and this is my first post

I graduated from UF last year with a B.S in Biology and am going to apply this 2018-19 cycle. I took the DAT last year and here are my results:

Academic Average 20
Biology 22
General Chemistry 22
Organic Chemistry 21
Perceptual Ability 17
Quantitative Reasoning 16
Reading Comprehension 18
Survey of the Natural Sciences 22

I have a cumulative UF GPA of 3.47 and an upper division GPA of 3.55. My first two years of undergrad weren't the best. I received a C- for Chem I and then retook it and got an A+, got a C+ in calculus, and a C in Physics II. I did much better in my upper-division courses. I received a B+ in Orgo I and an A- in Orgo II, A- in Biochem, A+ in Microbio, and A+ in Physiology. I pretty much had either an A or B in my courses after my second year. I didn't, however, take Anatomy. I also dual enrolled in high school for business administration and have a perfect 4.0 for that.

I have 100+ hours of dental volunteering but 0 hours of dental shadowing. However, I do plan on starting to shadow a dentist this week. Also, is volunteering at a clinic count as shadowing?

I am a registered pharmacy technician and have work experience, have done genetic research for 2 years, and have started a volunteering program at a local retirement community in which high school students can gain volunteering hours for their Bright Future requirement.

I've collected multiple LORs from my professors, most notably from the head biochem professor. I know some schools require an LOR from a dentist, and I'm hoping the dentist I shadow will write me one.

My question is: what are my chances of acceptance into dental school this cycle? Is my DAT score too low? What about my GPA? What schools would you guys recommend me applying to? I'm thinking about:

Nova
LECOM
UF
Creighton
Georgia
Maryland
Boston

Are any of these out of my league?

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[SmileswithKammy]

I’m going to be dead honest with you. I think your stats are stellar, but your PAT and QR scores are going to kill you. I’ve heard some schools really look at the PAT section as an indicator of future success as a dentist as well. I’ll be looking forward to the responses of other knowledgeable folks on this thread.

 

[887194]

Get those shadowing hours up. Volunteering can be considered shadowing depending on what you did. Also, add a few schools, your list is too short. You can add schools such as MWU-AZ, ASDOH and a few who will give you instate-tuition after 1st year.

 

[BeggarsCantBeChoosers]

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[predentalstudent132]

I had a 16 PAT, I would definitely say it posed an issue but I guess everything else checked out and I ended up getting lucky and getting in somewhere, but honestly a 17 is not a 16 so I dunno

 

[Dentalschoolbro]

I would suggest retaking the DAT if you could, just to be safe. Your science scores are good, so just try to improve on the other sections.