Did I make the right choice?

[Sbsox30]

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Hello All,

Well over the past few weeks, I have been on the fence about whether I should apply to schools this year or take a year off to strengthen my application. I go a small,private liberal arts college in Virginia and was planning on applying to Dental Schools this year.

My first two years I was not the best student and probably had around a 3.0 gpa going into my junior year. So this year, I really buckled down and raised my gpa to a 3.3 with a BCP of a 3.1. I was happy with the improvement but I still knew that my chances at gaining an acceptance were very slim. So I decided to put off my application until next year, with hopes of strengthening my application.I am set to take the DAT at the end of August, and have set up shadowing with a dentist twice a week. Last summer I worked full time with an Orthodontist, so I have some experience but have not logged any hours shadowing a GD.

So my question is, did I make the right choice? I feel like I will have a better chance of getting in next year, but the question still lingers about what if I had applied this cycle. So what should I focus on over the next couple months? I know that I have to get my shadowing up, but what should I do during my year away from school to make sure that I will gain acceptance somewhere next year?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

[Bis-GMA111]

Hello All,

Well over the past few weeks, I have been on the fence about whether I should apply to schools this year or take a year off to strengthen my application. I go a small,private liberal arts college in Virginia and was planning on applying to Dental Schools this year.

My first two years I was not the best student and probably had around a 3.0 gpa going into my junior year. So this year, I really buckled down and raised my gpa to a 3.3 with a BCP of a 3.1. I was happy with the improvement but I still knew that my chances at gaining an acceptance were very slim. So I decided to put off my application until next year, with hopes of strengthening my application.I am set to take the DAT at the end of August, and have set up shadowing with a dentist twice a week. Last summer I worked full time with an Orthodontist, so I have some experience but have not logged any hours shadowing a GD.

So my question is, did I make the right choice? I feel like I will have a better chance of getting in next year, but the question still lingers about what if I had applied this cycle. So what should I focus on over the next couple months? I know that I have to get my shadowing up, but what should I do during my year away from school to make sure that I will gain acceptance somewhere next year?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

well it doesn't matter what anyone says about you making the right choice or not, bc the decision that you've made is more or less irreversible....so no point in dwelling on it 🙂 . IF you're confident that you can blow the DAT out of the water and decide to send your transcripts in soon, you may have a shot at some schools..but most likely you won't because after all is said and done, your app will be fully completed by the second week of september-ish.

but, in my opinion i would enroll in a post bacc to get your grades up. if you do really well on your DAT you may not need to enroll in a post bacc, however. just continue to show interest in the field..shadow, volunteer around the community, and perhaps get a part time job

 

[theleatherwalle]

the poster above broke it down well.

no-one can really tell you until you take the DAT. You could have a 4.0 then flop on the DAT and get a 15. You could have a 2.5 hve no shot in hell then get a 29 on the DAT. Take your DAT if you do score well. Then send out a few aps and hope for the best.