Dumb to apply? Your advice please!

[dentaldreaming]

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Currently having doubts as to whether to apply this cycle or not due to my dumpy DAT score.I am an agricultural economics major and come from a rural area (town of 37 people). I would really like to serve in a rural area long term and wrote about that in my personal statement. In the upcoming year, I'm finishing up Organic Chemistry 1/2, Physics 1/2, genetics, anatomy and Biology 2. Here are my stats:

GPA: 4.0
Shadowing hours: 120
Volunteer: 1000 hours. Emergency Medical Responder for local ambulance, Hospice patient visitor, etc.
Extracurriculars: 700 hours plus leadership roles (President of 2 college organizations, leader/officer in other ones too)
Job Experience: 2 internships in the agriculture field (previously wanted to enter the ag industry) and teaching assistant in senior commodity trading level course
LOR: Strong from math professor, chemistry professor, previous boss, and a dentist
DAT: Scoring 16/17 on practice tests from DAT bootcamp. I do have about 1 more month to study so hopefully I can up this, but not too much guaranteed.

Please let me know if it is a waste of my money to submit my app! Has anyone been admitted to dental school with that low of a DAT?

 

[WolfsBane]

Your taking the dat without bio 2 genetics or orgo 2?


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[Kingfish23]

I'd recommend scoring much higher on your practice tests before taking the real DAT. The classes that you're planning to take (Orgo 2, Bio 2, Genetics) can make up a significant portion of the SNS part of the DAT. I would always recommend taking these classes prior to attempting the DAT as it will help solidify your knowledge. However, it is possible to do well without them. In this case however, time is not on your side. You need at least a 18AA to get into Dental school with a solid GPA and EC's. If you were to apply with an 18AA, apply broadly.

 

[Stanelz]

No one here can tell you your chances without an actual DAT score. With that said, if you are only scoring a 16 on practice test I would buckle down figure out whats going on and fix the areas you are struggling in because on practice tests you wanna be scoring very close to your goal. I believe my average practice test score on BC was around 19-20

 

[redhotchiligochu]

When I saw the 4.0 GPA I was like "oh no, not this thread again..."

















But like everyone's said, it really depends on your DAT score. Some schools have cutoff at 16/17 for any one section

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Finish your upcoming year before attempting to take the DAT. Taking it prior to having taken Organic Chemistry, half of biology, genetics, etc. is just going to make the test needlessly difficult. You'll be in a much better position to do well by the end of next year. Plus you won't be missing more than half your pre-reqs at the time of your application.

 

[Faefly]

Yeah, wait another year.
Why are you using the word dump? I would consider it reckless not dump.
Don't ruin your chances by attempting to take the dat before really preparing, you haven't taken Bio 2 or orgo 2 yet.

 

[Dental2000]

For the DAT, you can learn all the Chemistry stuff from chads videos. Not having orgo 2 under your belt prior to taking the DAT isn't an issue.

Maybe a breakdown of what materials you are using for the DAT might allow us to guide you a bit better?

 

[tyjacobs]

Currently having doubts as to whether to apply this cycle or not due to my dumpy DAT score.I am an agricultural economics major and come from a rural area (town of 37 people). I would really like to serve in a rural area long term and wrote about that in my personal statement. In the upcoming year, I'm finishing up Organic Chemistry 1/2, Physics 1/2, genetics, anatomy and Biology 2. Here are my stats:

GPA: 4.0
Shadowing hours: 120
Volunteer: 1000 hours. Emergency Medical Responder for local ambulance, Hospice patient visitor, etc.
Extracurriculars: 700 hours plus leadership roles (President of 2 college organizations, leader/officer in other ones too)
Job Experience: 2 internships in the agriculture field (previously wanted to enter the ag industry) and teaching assistant in senior commodity trading level course
LOR: Strong from math professor, chemistry professor, previous boss, and a dentist
DAT: Scoring 16/17 on practice tests from DAT bootcamp. I do have about 1 more month to study so hopefully I can up this, but not too much guaranteed.

Please let me know if it is a waste of my money to submit my app! Has anyone been admitted to dental school with that low of a DAT?

Very hard to answer your question without real DAT score, but a score of 16 or 17 AA is too low. Aim for 19AA+ and you should be good

 

[WheatLom]

A 19, and a 4.0 will be more than enough. You should be good.

 

[FanOfCostco]

Dumb to apply. Everybody and their mothers all have 4.0 gpa now a days. You need to be aiming for 29/30s on the DAT to have a chance.