Few questions....

[budda10000]

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1st: Next quarter will be the quarter i wrap up all the essential classes for the DAT but i was wondering if i should take physiology and genetics before or after the DAT?

2nd: I had a horrible freshman year GPA 2.85 but I was away from school for 5 years and since I have been back I have had a rock solid 3.98 for 3 years now. Will my old GPA even be looked at? My Sci GPA is 3.97 since I took them all more recently.

3rd: Will submitting my application in june w/ out my DAT scores help with admission? I will be taking the DAT in mid july....

Any advice is appreciated.
thanks

 

[dentalWorks]

1st: Next quarter will be the quarter i wrap up all the essential classes for the DAT but i was wondering if i should take physiology and genetics before or after the DAT?

2nd: I had a horrible freshman year GPA 2.85 but I was away from school for 5 years and since I have been back I have had a rock solid 3.98 for 3 years now. Will my old GPA even be looked at? My Sci GPA is 3.97 since I took them all more recently.

3rd: Will submitting my application in june w/ out my DAT scores help with admission? I will be taking the DAT in mid july....

Any advice is appreciated.
thanks

for 1) If you can take those classes before the DAT, I think it will "help". I don't think its going to make THAT much of a difference in your biology score. But the advantage of taking these classes before the DAT is..... well your studying time will be lowered. You will spend less time focusing on the biology section and more time on the chemestries (which IMHO, is where 80% of every pre-dental student should be putting thier science-preparation time anyways)

for 2) with an almost 4.0 sGPA, you got NOTHING to worry about, trust me 🙂

for 3) short answer = Not going to help, mater of fact, its going to slow down your application. You see, you submit your AADSAS in early June, say, it takes 2-3 weeks for AADSAS to verify everything, then, AADSAS will send your application to your designated schools by late June / early July......THE PROBLEM IS schools won't even touch your file until they have your DAT.....

When you take the DAT in mid-July, rumors has it that it takes about 4 weeks for AADSAS to get your scores and to have them forwarded to your designated schools..... what does this mean? Your file won't be complete until mid-August.

 

[Impulse155]

Im sure it will be looked at however im sure your cumulative is pretty good as well. If you dont mind me asking what is your cumulative?

As for should you take genetics and physiology before or after the DAT. If you have started looking at DAT material there is a decent amoutn of genetics in it and a decent amoutn of pyhsiology. If I was you I would review your Genetics and Phys really quickly and if you think it needs work I would take classes on each.

 

[budda10000]

welll crap... so much for an early app... I suppose i could take it early july but that really only leaves a few weeks for prep-time... Part of the reason I got that GPA is I take the time to prepare correctly:/ no bueno

 

[4thMolar]

1) I believe there was some genetics when I took the DAT, but it's not essential for you to take these classes before the DAT. What you learn during your preparation should be sufficient for the most part.

2) Wouldn't worry about it too much. If it was just two semesters and you have improved greatly since then, it's not going to hurt your chances much.

3) You can go ahead and submit it in June and give yourself a break from constant DAT studying. I would at least work on it a bit before you take your DAT and start getting ideas about your personal statement in motion and contacting your LORs, etc.

 

[budda10000]

Im sure it will be looked at however im sure your cumulative is pretty good as well. If you dont mind me asking what is your cumulative?

As for should you take genetics and physiology before or after the DAT. If you have started looking at DAT material there is a decent amoutn of genetics in it and a decent amoutn of pyhsiology. If I was you I would review your Genetics and Phys really quickly and if you think it needs work I would take classes on each.

My cumulative Is probably in the neighborhood on 3.7 since most of my GPA has been weighted on the more recent stuff. Im not done with school either, still have another year after this since im pursuing a chemistry minor and biochemsitry classes. I kind of figured my science GPA would prove im a good student..

 

[namiie]

welll crap... so much for an early app... I suppose i could take it early july but that really only leaves a few weeks for prep-time... Part of the reason I got that GPA is I take the time to prepare correctly:/ no bueno

Take the DAT when you're ready. An "early", complete app with a less-than-stellar DAT score won't help you more than a stronger, slightly "later" app. And for what it's worth, it only took AADSAS 2 weeks to send my DAT scores out (took them in early August).

And yes, take genetics! It's very helpful.

 

[budda10000]

Yes im using this quarter to get all the stuff done.. I had a scheduling conflict that left me with a rather light load>:/
Anyway i normally take a really hefty load so preparing for Dental school during the regular year is basically impossible.

thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[dentalml]

I think taking a genetics class would be really helpful. I got quite a few genetics questions on my DAT and I definitely would not have gotten a perfect score on the bio section if I took the test before taking a genetics class. So if u can fit it into your schedule I would highly recommend it !

 

[yappy]

Lets be clear for my and the OP sake - if one wants to be in the first mailing list, assuming all other aspects of the application are submitted, what is the latest one should take the DAT? June 15th is a date I've heard thrown around ... anyone have any input.