chances w/ LOW GPA and high DAT? & advise!

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dentist11tx

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just wanted to know yalls honest opinion on my chances of getting in to the 3 dental schools in Texas. Baylor, UTSA, UThouston.

I don't want to apply JUST to apply and find out i didn't get in and have to find new letters LOR and stuff. I would like to hav a solid application by next year.:xf:

GPR overall: 3.29
GPR Science: 3.18 😡
DAT AA: 21
DAT TS: 21

PAT: 20
BIO: 18
OCHEM:23
GCHEM:24
MATH:19
RCOMP:19


I have 2 C's in my freshman year that screwed me over. and lots of B's only recently have i improved my gpr. last semeser i had a 4.0
I have good shadowing experience, volunteer, leadership, research.

I plan to wait this application cycle and take the year off. and hopefully find a place to work...any hints on what to do the year after i graduate to improve my acceptance chance ??? more school? volunteer? dental assistant?

THANKSS GUYS!!
 
I personally don't really think a 21 is that high in terms of DAT scores 😕
 
yes?

I was thinking a 22 for AA? 23 for TS? 😕
 
suhshi said:
i would say its the average of accepted students at many schools
but a 21 AA is usuallly around the 90th percentil
Click to expand...

21 AA is currently the 97th percentile.

As far as Texas schools go, average scores of last years accepted is 19 AA for all 3 schools, but their gpa averages are higher than yours.

Baylor is your best bet as far as your stats go, but you should have a chance if you are able to bring some diversity to dental school.

You may want to apply to schools outside of Texas where you will end up paying more but will have a better shot. I don't think your stats give you the luxury to apply to only 3 schools, but you'll get in somewhere.
 
Last edited:
highhopee said:
21AA is 97th percentile? since when?!??!
isn't 23AA 97.9th percentile?
i don't think the difference between 21AA and 23AA will be 0.9 percent...
I think you are being biased because you have 21AA...
Click to expand...

my 21aa from 2 weeks ago was 97.2 percentile

read the Ada instructions: that's an example of percentile
 
Dude you're GPA isn't that low. It's below average, but with some EC's, etc, and a decent DAT, I don't think you'll get rejected from 100% of the places you apply to.
 
Your GPA is not bad and your DAT looks fine. If want to make some money for dental school do that, meanwhile if you want to improve your GPA take a couple of upper level classes each semester.
 
guys the percentiles are different at every test date because its only the percentile of you against everyone else who was taking the DAT on that day not everyone who's taking the DAT ever.

when i took the DAT i got a 21 AA and it was the 91.4 percentile and my reading comp at 24 was 99.7 but those percentiles dont even show up on an official score report because they're different everytime

OP i have similar stats to you, you can check my predents if you want, its definitely the low end for GPA but i'm trying to keep hope and if i dont get in this time i'm going to do a masters to try to get my GPA up and try again
 
So I'm a little confused about what your question is... Are you wanting to know your chances for this cycle or next?

If you're just planning on working over the next year, that's probably not a great idea. At least for Baylor (and for your GPA). Baylor likes to see you continually taking classes and improving your GPA.

Last year I applied with a 3.34cGPA, 3.37sGPA, and a 21AA. Somewhat similar stats. I interviewed at Baylor and Houston. Have been waitlisted at both.

I don't think it would hurt you to apply this cycle but I would really work on improving your GPA. I don't see how not going to school is going to help your chances.

BTW, a 21 IS a high DAT score. CANgnome is spending too much time reading DAT breakdowns on SDN.
 
Those are good DAT scores in my opinion and the GPA isn't that bad. I mean, it's not great but it definitely could be worse. Another thing you have going for you is that it sounds like you've shown a fairly decent upward trend with your grades, which can't hurt. How much shadowing have you done and have you been a part of student groups or other extra curricular activities outside of school? If yes, I would say apply. If you're really not sure though, you'd be doing someone else out there a favor by not applying this cycle because that's less competition for them 😉
 
alanan84 said:
So I'm a little confused about what your question is... Are you wanting to know your chances for this cycle or next?

If you're just planning on working over the next year, that's probably not a great idea. At least for Baylor (and for your GPA). Baylor likes to see you continually taking classes and improving your GPA.

Last year I applied with a 3.34cGPA, 3.37sGPA, and a 21AA. Somewhat similar stats. I interviewed at Baylor and Houston. Have been waitlisted at both.

I don't think it would hurt you to apply this cycle but I would really work on improving your GPA. I don't see how not going to school is going to help your chances.

BTW, a 21 IS a high DAT score. CANgnome is spending too much time reading DAT breakdowns on SDN.
Click to expand...

Maybe o_o

Perhaps it is just myself pushing so hard to get that 23+ for TS
 
I think your DAT has to be a little bit higher to have an effect of counterbalancing your GPA....

Good luck!
 
You're limiting your schools way too much. With your scores you'll definitely get in somewhere but it might be a start-up school like Midwestern in Illinois or something not the cheapest three schools in the country. Come on those three schools know that every applicant would pick their school over a more expensive one and they have the right to be picky. As far as dental schools go cheapest is the best route (although for some reason there are Harvard elitists who think name means something). Coming out with less debt is every applicant's dream.
 
threeblindmice said:
You're limiting your schools way too much. With your scores you'll definitely get in somewhere but it might be a start-up school like Midwestern in Illinois or something not the cheapest three schools in the country. Come on those three schools know that every applicant would pick their school over a more expensive one and they have the right to be picky. As far as dental schools go cheapest is the best route (although for some reason there are Harvard elitists who think name means something). Coming out with less debt is every applicant's dream.
Click to expand...



midwestern in illinois is not a start-up school, whatever that is. check your facts.

GORILLAUNIT you're such a douche, i wish adcoms could see.
 
mustardseed5 said:
midwestern in illinois is not a start-up school, whatever that is. check your facts.

GORILLAUNIT you're such a douche, i wish adcoms could see.
Click to expand...

Hmm, you may want to check YOUR facts. Midwestern in Illinois is starting up a new dental school with their first entering class in 2011. That pretty much would be my definition of a start up school as well...

Why is Gorillaunit a douche again?
 
threeblindmice said:
You're limiting your schools way too much. With your scores you'll definitely get in somewhere but it might be a start-up school like Midwestern in Illinois or something not the cheapest three schools in the country. Come on those three schools know that every applicant would pick their school over a more expensive one and they have the right to be picky. As far as dental schools go cheapest is the best route (although for some reason there are Harvard elitists who think name means something). Coming out with less debt is every applicant's dream.
Click to expand...

I agree, the OP shoud definitely apply to some OOS schools.
 
I wouldn't necessarily say your GPA is low; it's more like average.
Your DAT scores, on the other hand, are pretty competitive.
Nevertheless, it depends on the school you apply to:

-Some school put their emphasis on the DAT scores!
-Others put their emphasis on the GPA!
-While most schools look at both. This makes sense, because if you have a low GPA and a great DAT it pretty much means that you slacked off throughout your undergrad, and decided to buckle down on do well on your DAT all the sudden! Dental schools don't necessarily like this. They like students who have consistently maintained a strong academic record.
If you have a great GPA but a low DAT, then that makes your GPA somewhat questionable. Which classes did you take? Where did you obtain that GPA? It could also mean that you're a weak test taker when it comes to standardized test, which isn't a good thing either.
So, the most ideal situation is for an applicant to have both a decent GPA and DAT. I think you're pretty close to that 🙂
 
i was told to apply to Columbia because they tend to take students with lower GPAs and higher DATs, also NYU and BU have lower average GPAs because the tuition is so expensive

I know you mentioned only being interested in the Texas schools but IMO it'd be better to apply to more and give yourself a better chance, I'm applying to 14 schools this cycle

and besides lower average GPAs i looked for schools with a good OOS acceptance rate (paying attention to the region b/c a lot of schools favor their regions even if OOS friendly) and any schools that really value extracurriculars/ shadowing/ volunteering because i have a ton of that 🙂 hope that helps!
 
thanks guys! this is really helping me. but I don't know it might be too late to get the application in now for first round of interviews. Is it??

I havn't even started TMDSAS (for texas) anyone know the approximate date to have it in for review early??

I would just have to get my essays together I already have my LORs etc.
 
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