Do Dental Schools like research experience? (If so, how much?)

[DigitalDental]

Hey all,

I'm kind of a second rate applicant, but the one thing I have going for me is research experience. I've worked in two labs over my college career.

Lab 1: I worked about 750 hours over six months (I was employed as a full time research assistant.) at an Audiology lab working with a deaf and hearing impaired population. I handled a lot of paperwork, collected a lot of data, analyzed a ton of data, (I'm an Excel god now.) and ran a lot of experiments.

Lab 2: I worked at a university Biochemistry lab for about six months over a span of two years. (250 hours approx.) (I worked there for two months over my freshman year summer, and for four more months during my sophomore year summer.) This research was part time work. I collected buckets of data and did a good amount of data analysis also.

So in conclusion I have about 1000 hours of experience with research. I'm wondering if my strong background in research will be able to help buff out some of my sub-par stats and get me in the door for a few interviews.

I have a:
Overall GPA of: 3.35
sGPA: 3.24
BCP: 3.29
DAT: Have not taken it yet, but I'm aiming for at least a 20. (Hopefully higher, fingers crossed!)
Shadowing hours: 120 (All with a general dentist)
Volunteering hours: 30 (As a chair side assistant, general dentist again.)

In particular I'm worried about my low tier GPA. A large part of it stems from my poor performance freshman year. I've maintained a 3.5+ GPA for 2 years now however. In particular I'm really interested in attending the University of Minnesota dental school. I'm in state for MN, so I got that going for me.

So what do yall think of my chances? I understand that most research oriented schools look for a higher GPA, but I also have a stupid amount of research hours for a pre-dent. Also, sorry to make another "chance me" type thread, but I couldn't find one with as many research hours as I do.

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[Medin2017]

Hey all,

I'm kind of a second rate applicant, but the one thing I have going for me is research experience. I've worked in two labs over my college career.

Lab 1: I worked about 750 hours over six months (I was employed as a full time research assistant.) at an Audiology lab working with a deaf and hearing impaired population. I handled a lot of paperwork, collected a lot of data, analyzed a ton of data, (I'm an Excel god now.) and ran a lot of experiments.

Lab 2: I worked at a university Biochemistry lab for about six months over a span of two years. (250 hours approx.) (I worked there for two months over my freshman year summer, and for four more months during my sophomore year summer.) This research was part time work. I collected buckets of data and did a good amount of data analysis also.

So in conclusion I have about 1000 hours of experience with research. I'm wondering if my strong background in research will be able to help buff out some of my sub-par stats and get me in the door for a few interviews.

I have a:
Overall GPA of: 3.35
sGPA: 3.24
BCP: 3.29
DAT: Have not taken it yet, but I'm aiming for at least a 20. (Hopefully higher, fingers crossed!)
Shadowing hours: 120 (All with a general dentist)
Volunteering hours: 30 (As a chair side assistant, general dentist again.)

In particular I'm worried about my low tier GPA. A large part of it stems from my poor performance freshman year. I've maintained a 3.5+ GPA for 2 years now however. In particular I'm really interested in attending the University of Minnesota dental school. I'm in state for MN, so I got that going for me.

So what do yall think of my chances? I understand that most research oriented schools look for a higher GPA, but I also have a stupid amount of research hours for a pre-dent. Also, sorry to make another "chance me" type thread, but I couldn't find one with as many research hours as I do.

I had none and they didn't care. Got in everywhere I needed to with a ~3.9ish and a decent DAT.

 

[DentalNucleicAcid]

Research experience can only help you for dental, it won’t hurt to not have it though. But since you have it, it might buffer your lower gpa a little. As for the gpa itself, don’t worry it’s not too low. I had the same exact sGPA and overall GPA but an above average DAT and was fine. I didn’t have research. Just make sure to do well on your DAT, (21 at least, hopefully 22+). If you do that and apply broadly I’m confident you’ll get in

 

[DigitalDental]

Thanks for the reply nucleic. I'll focus on demolishing that DAT!

 

[Arthur Jeffries]

schools like research but its not gonna offset a low dat or a below average (<~3.5) gpa. it will however help you stand out in interviews which can make a big difference

i would aim for 22+ on your DAT (no easy task) with a minimum of 20 in each section. if you are able to accomplish this then you have a good shot assuming everything else on your application is well rounded