Could I get into dental school with a 3.8 GPA, 25 on DAT, & almost nothing else?

[FROGGBUSTER]

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[SuperTank]

I've focused very hard on doing well in school and the DAT these past few years; as a result, I do not have many volunteer hours, zero research, and no extracurriculars. However, I do have 100 hours of shadowing experience. Also, I did not work - I was a full-time student.

I am thinking of taking a year off to beef up my application (doing more volunteer work and perhaps getting a research position). However, if I can get into any dental school now, I think I would just go for it now.

What do you guys think?

Your application depends on a lot more than just your stats. If you truly have no volunteer/extra curricular/community service/ etc... I don't know. Your scores are really high, but I just can't say if there is any set of scores that can cover up a complete void in those sections of the DAT. BUT, you never know. Go ahead and apply, but in the mean time START DOING SOMETHING! Volunteer, get involved in a softball league, do some free tutoring, just do something. Then, if you do get interviews, you'll have some stuff to talk about. If you don't get interviews, you'll have a head start on your application for next year.

 

[UBDent19]

I'm interested to hear what you find out. I'm in a similar boat. Good GPA & DAT, but I've been in a different field for the past 7 years. I volunteered and did some research back in college but it's been a long time. I've got 100 hours of dental shadowing/experience but I am still worried that lack of volunteer work will get in my way.

 

[FROGGBUSTER]

I'm interested to hear what you find out. I'm in a similar boat. Good GPA & DAT, but I've been in a different field for the past 7 years. I volunteered and did some research back in college but it's been a long time. I've got 100 hours of dental shadowing/experience but I am still worried that lack of volunteer work will get in my way.

I'll post in this thread if I discover something. Can you do the same please?

 

[gigawatt]

I'm interested to hear what you find out. I'm in a similar boat. Good GPA & DAT, but I've been in a different field for the past 7 years. I volunteered and did some research back in college but it's been a long time. I've got 100 hours of dental shadowing/experience but I am still worried that lack of volunteer work will get in my way.

I think adcoms stress volunteering and community service more for younger applicants in college or not too far removed from it because it shows a desire to serve others, and--what I would argue is even more important--a social ability to work with patients and colleagues. The interview gets at this as well.

A high GPA/high DAT candidate isn't going to be worth the dental education a school puts into him/her if he/she has the personality of a wall and can't interact with people. Patients won't want to come see him/her and people won't want to work with him/her...bottom line.

For older candidates farther removed from college, your maturity will/should shine through first and foremost and hopefully part of this is well-developed social skills. Also, you'll have a substantial work history to back that up. Having led projects, managed people, etc. in the real world is plenty to compare to the kid in college that started a club or did X number of service hours.

I wouldn't worry about getting interviews with solid stats in your cases. Just be prepared to make a good, personable impression at those interviews and you'll be golden. 👍