gpa/DAT not in great shape..need some direction!

[skylark]

I took the DAT today...i need help deciding options!

I am a CA resident, and go to a UC school. I need help deciding where I should apply other than some schools already on my list. or maybe where to apply for postbacc

Buh Buh BREAK it DOWNNNNN..

sGPA: 3.12
cGPA: 3.3 or higher..highest possibly 3.4 after adding in nonscience CC classes i took (general psyc, calc, asian american studies, poli sci, econ, etc). i did this my senior yr in hs and got As in all.

DAT
PA: 19
QR; 17
RC: 21 (yay? does this even matter much?)
BIO: 17 (i know this sucks...im quite disappointed/surprised at how i did)
GC: 19
OC: 20

TS: 18/AA:19 (how is this realistically...NOT compared to SDN standards..is it avg/below avg?)

ECs: I have unique ones for sure. athlete in a club sport that is highly competitive and wins medals. started a unique club and is very professionally run (lots of my profs are very impressed with this EC), volunteer (100hr) + dental volunteer/shadowing (30hr+ will continue over summer), another leadership position at a very popular pre-health club. and some other not as important stuff

RECs: should be pretty good. got them from dentist, undergrad business prof, bio lab prof, biochem prof. Got As in all of these.

Application: will start soon but need to figure out where to apply. my list now is UOP, Western, USC, ASDOH, UNLV, Nova, Case, BU, NYU. I would like to look at Maryland, UCLA + UCSF (cus im in CA anyway), Tufts, Michigan. any other suggestions?

Also, where do people apply for pre-dental postbacs that tend to do well? I couldnt find these. just in case i need to take this route. THANKS!!!!

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[UCfan]

I took the DAT today...i need help deciding options!

I am a CA resident, and go to a UC school. I need help deciding where I should apply other than some schools already on my list. or maybe where to apply for postbacc

Buh Buh BREAK it DOWNNNNN..

sGPA: 3.12
cGPA: 3.3 or higher..highest possibly 3.4 after adding in nonscience CC classes i took (general psyc, calc, asian american studies, poli sci, econ, etc). i did this my senior yr in hs and got As in all.

DAT
PA: 19
QR; 17
RC: 21 (yay? does this even matter much?)
BIO: 17 (i know this sucks...im quite disappointed/surprised at how i did)
GC: 19
OC: 20

TS: 18/AA:19 (how is this realistically...NOT compared to SDN standards..is it avg/below avg?)

ECs: I have unique ones for sure. athlete in a club sport that is highly competitive and wins medals. started a unique club and is very professionally run (lots of my profs are very impressed with this EC), volunteer (100hr) + dental volunteer/shadowing (30hr+ will continue over summer), another leadership position at a very popular pre-health club. and some other not as important stuff

RECs: should be pretty good. got them from dentist, undergrad business prof, bio lab prof, biochem prof. Got As in all of these.

Application: will start soon but need to figure out where to apply. my list now is UOP, Western, USC, ASDOH, UNLV, Nova, Case, BU, NYU. I would like to look at Maryland, UCLA + UCSF (cus im in CA anyway), Tufts, Michigan. any other suggestions?

Also, where do people apply for pre-dental postbacs that tend to do well? I couldnt find these. just in case i need to take this route. THANKS!!!!

I am sorry to inform you that your current circumstances will probably not be enough for UC schools. If you have a good research experience and publications, you may be get into UCSF (because they love UC students). However the chance you have is slim. However I know one person got into USC similar score to yours (just with slightly higher science GPA 3.3) last year. I can strongly recommend you to apply USC, Western and ASDOH (I am not familiar with Nova, Case, BU, NYU) as soon as possible(if you apply for this cycle). Maybe you can get into them, but it is still hard to predict your chance to get in!

 

[dentalmon]

maybe you should re-take the DAT .. but as of right now. i think its best if you apply early and the more schools in the East coast like NYU, tufts, Temple, Boston, Nova. . . i'm sure there's still i chance to get in. But i would re-take the DAT def.

 

[THINKOFMYFUTURE]

Here I'll cut the slack.
1.Apply Early this cycle: you might get in. EC's are cool, but , obviously Dschools (as with any professional school) want them numbers. Yours are below avg on the GPA front and your DATs are on par (maybe slightly above). As long as you apply early, you've maximized what you could do with those stats. You can also retake your DAT's ASAP for better scores (this is totally based on you).
2. While waiting, apply for post-bac, or master's program to raise your GPA. You don't wanna wait till you get your rejections.. that'd be too late for postbac/masters.
3. If you get in this cycle, great. Retract apps from postbacs
4. IF you don't , raise your GPA, reapply early whilst doing the program.
GL

 

[sweeteepy]

How do you "raise your GPA" by applying for a post-bac or master's program? Does your undergrad GPA not carry on and if you apply to dental school later on they will only count your GPA from your post-bac?
-Because I have a friend who has a really sucky GPA right now (because he switched from engineering) and he has already taken about 150 hrs as an undergrad. So for him to pull up his GPA is kind of tough. Getting into a post-bac or Master's program would help raise his GPA..how?

 

[somethinpositiv]

How do you "raise your GPA" by applying for a post-bac or master's program? Does your undergrad GPA not carry on and if you apply to dental school later on they will only count your GPA from your post-bac?
-Because I have a friend who has a really sucky GPA right now (because he switched from engineering) and he has already taken about 150 hrs as an undergrad. So for him to pull up his GPA is kind of tough. Getting into a post-bac or Master's program would help raise his GPA..how?

It wouldn't. A Masters GPA would be looked at separately. You can't erase a bad undergrad GPA, you can only show that you have the capacity to do well in graduate-level coursework by getting a Masters with 3.8-4.0.

 

[somethinpositiv]

TS: 18/AA:19 (how is this realistically...NOT compared to SDN standards..is it avg/below avg?)

Your DAT is average for matriculants (19 AA / 19 TS is average). If you also had an average GPA (3.5) you'd be in pretty good shape, but your GPA is quite a bit below average...

In my opinion you'll probably need to retake the DAT for a 20-21+ to have a good chance with your GPA..

 

[skylark]

would it be too late to apply for postbacc/SMPs right now? i guess it would be a backup like someone posted earlier in case i dont get in this year. so i dont lose a year either.

where do most predents go to for post bacc or SMP that successfully get admission to dental school? im from CA, so i would like to go somewhere nearby.