Cost of applying question/ 1st shadowing experience feedback

[MRSMUFFEN]

Ok did my 1st 2 hours of shadowing today with my Dentist Dr. Z
He is so cool, real, and honest. We talked for about 20mins before and during him filling two cavities, Man got skills!

I was telling him, I am only applying to my top five choices for the 2010 cycle. He said I should apply to as many schools as I can. His points are valid concerning wanting to be accepted my first time around. I know this is a good idea, but it will be costly. I am really going to have to keep my full time job.

N*E* way I was just wonder how many schools you all are applying/applied to, and the cost including DAT testing and AADSAS fees?

Thanks in advance I love this forum.

PS.
He said he is going to teach me everything he can and supports me anyway, he can. I loved the whole experience and I'm so pumped and looking forward to reaching my goal.

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[DentalRocks09]

Well it really depends on ur current standing(gpa) and DAT scores really...i applied to about 15 schools that I thought i might have a realistic shot at getting in... to be on the safe side if ur stats are on the lower end id apply to about 14-17...higher end 6-8..

 

[Ranelar]

Many people suggest that everyone apply to 8-12 schools. With your GPA, I would make 12 your minimum. I applied to 20 schools with a slightly better overall GPA, and a slightly worse sGPA than yours. Of course, if I had only applied to my top 5 schools, it would have worked out in that I would have still been accepted, but trust me, getting in with our kind of GPA is the exception to the rule. You'd be testing fate by only applying to 5, and you could very easily end up wasting the year away thinking "what if..." if you don't get in.

The AADSAS processing fee is $195 for the first dental school, and $60 for each additional school. Most schools also have a secondary app and ask you to send in another $40-75 check with it. So, by applying to 20 schools I spent $1335 on my AADSAS application, and another ~$1200 on the school's secondary apps. Yes, it hurt my pocket because I support myself, but it's chump change in the long run. I mean, most people are taking out $150-$300k in loans for dental school. What's $2.5k compared to that? I was happier having peace of mind that I did everything I could do this year in order to get into dental school.

edit: The DAT costs $205 and it allows you to send the scores to 5 schools for that price. Each additional school is $25 I believe.

 

[NEdent]

my advice would be to absolutely rock the Dat, and that will give you a gauge as to how competitive you'll be considering your gpa is on the lower side. make sure and get a ton of shadowing hours as well or maybe some other work in the dental field so they know you've gotten exposure to the dentistry field and are going to be committed to it. check predents.com to see which school you might have a better shot at getting in to, and apply to those.

also, aadsas has a fee reduction program where you can get up to half of your money back that you paid through aadsas for the application process. i definately took advantage of it, and it saved me almost $300! you have to do a couple things to get it like fafsa and tax stuff, but it will be easy to get if you're financially in need of getting it. anyway, good luck to you in your application, it's quite stressful, but like everyone is saying, it's worth it in the long run.

 

[MRSMUFFEN]

Thanks for the feedback; By the way, that's just my BS BA GPA from WIU. I did rush through it in 3 yrs. I have no doubt I will Rock the DAT and my pre-reqs @ MCC & ASU, which will increase my undergrad and science GPA. This upcoming spring class schedule begins and I'll Ace them all. B's at least (worse case).

And I just found out my Sci gpa was off, I got mostly A's & two B's in my undergrad course and other classes so I think is actually almost or around 3.8 Nice, Go Me!

Not sure If I'm correct with the clasess I'm including, but I got 7 A's and 5 B's

 

[swellguy]

It looks like you have a lot going for you. If you can get your GPA/sGPA to around a 3.8 by the time you apply I would say that you are in really good shape, and if you do really solid on your DAT's (20+) your numbers will be really solid, add in some really good shadowing/volunteer hours and you will be looking good. Plus it looks like you are older and a minority applicant which certainly wont hurt your chances. Still only applying to five schools is kind of a gamble - in the long run like the above poster said, a few hundred bucks will be nothing compared to the six figure debt you are going to have, and if you don't end up getting in thats one less year of working as a dentist you are going to have (probably 125,000++). Personally I would find at least 8-10 schools that you were interested in, and if you got tons of interviews at your top picks you can always decide not to go to some if you want to save money. Just my two pennies, good luck!

 

[Heretotalk]

I believe aadsas average for schools applied was around 15 to 16 schools. You never know what some of the admission people are thinking thus more the better. I think its best to get it in one shot regardless of cost, because the next time around you still gotta pay and maybe more!

 

[MRSMUFFEN]

Thanks again, I'm just going to save about a 1k or so just for applications and testing. I've already picked 7 schools I would love to check out. Howard, Uof M, NC and, VCU just to name a few.