EC vs Grades

[lxx]

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Hey guys,

I will be entering the fourth year of my biochemistry degree and, somehow, was able to work myself up to a 4.0. I want to apply to dental school sometime in august, however my ECs are not very strong, as I only have 33 hours of shadowing dentists and 24 hours volunteering at a hospital. Assuming I get around 20s on my DAT sections, would my grades be able to compensate for my low ECs? Given my ECs, are there any schools I should absolutely rule out? Also, from reading some posts on this website, it looks like dental schools don't really care about the DAT math score. Does this mean they wouldn't really care for a high math score? Math is probably my strongest section. I was also a teaching assistant a few years ago for a kids math class, but I forget how many hours I did it for .

Since I'm a biochem major, I've taken biochem I and II, biochem lab, cell bio, and a&p I thus far. How much do dental schools really care about one's science electives?

Thanks! 🙂

 

[Manic324]

Hey guys,

I will be entering the fourth year of my biochemistry degree and, somehow, was able to work myself up to a 4.0. I want to apply to dental school sometime in august, however my ECs are not very strong, as I only have 33 hours of shadowing dentists and 24 hours volunteering at a hospital. Assuming I get around 20s on my DAT sections, would my grades be able to compensate for my low ECs? Given my ECs, are there any schools I should absolutely rule out? Also, from reading some posts on this website, it looks like dental schools don't really care about the DAT math score. Does this mean they wouldn't really care for a high math score? Math is probably my strongest section. I was also a teaching assistant a few years ago for a kids math class, but I forget how many hours I did it for .

Since I'm a biochem major, I've taken biochem I and II, biochem lab, cell bio, and a&p I thus far. How much do dental schools really care about one's science electives?

Thanks! 🙂

Grades and DAT >>>>> ECs for most schools as long as you have their required # of shadowing hours.

It doesn't sound like you've taken too many science classes yet though I'd add some if possible

 

[shaidester]

Make sure you have the minimum shadowing hours for a school. I didn't have too many volunteering hours but I had stellar gpa and dat scores to compensate.

 

[JLT223]

You have no ECs aside from 24 volunteer hours at a hospital?

 

[Charles_Darwin]

You should definitely try to boost the shadowing hours- many schools have a minimum of 40, others more than that

 

[lxx]

Grades and DAT >>>>> ECs for most schools as long as you have their required # of shadowing hours.

It doesn't sound like you've taken too many science classes yet though I'd add some if possible

Hmmm, I really thought I had quite a few science classes under my belt since it looks like dental schools mainly require gen chem, gen bio, ochem, and gen physics. I do have some more science classes planned out for the next two semesters so I hope they will be sufficient.

 

[lxx]

You have no ECs aside from 24 volunteer hours at a hospital?

Yeah, pretty much. I was also a grading assistant for a sociology class, but I'm not sure where to put that since I did it for credit.

 

[JLT223]

Yeah, pretty much. I was also a grading assistant for a sociology class, but I'm not sure where to put that since I did it for credit.

Just wondering, any specific reason why? Some schools that are more service based won't look upon it favorably.

 

[lxx]

Just wondering, any specific reason why? Some schools that are more service based won't look upon it favorably.

To be completely honest, it's mainly because I just didn't plan well for it early on.

 

[JLT223]

To be completely honest, it's mainly because I just didn't plan well for it early on.

Fair enough. Honesty is the best policy when it comes to these applications!

 

[lxx]

Fair enough. Honesty is the best policy when it comes to these applications!

Haha yeah. Do you know any schools that I should absolutely rule out?

 

[LuckBloodandSweat]

I think GPA and DAT are probably the most important but try to shadow about 30 more hours or so!! Math is my favorite subject too lol and somehow it wasn't even my best on my DAT lol. I'm sure you can get into some schools with that 4.0 🙂

 

[kdforthree]

Regarding how much dental schools value QR: in my opinion, the section will most likely be the least valued compared to the other sections of the DAT. However, it will still contribute to your AA which is obviously critical. Just make sure you don't bank on a high QR score to cover up the other sections you may struggle with and work on those weaknesses specifically when studying, since the other sections will be of more importance.