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- Apr 1, 2015
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Hi all,
Hope your week is going well. I'm looking for some quick guidance on my situation. I used the search function a bit and had trouble finding someone with a similar situation- sorry if this has been advised before.
Basically, I already graduated in 2011 (BS Bio; 3.55-o, 3.66-s) w/ all prereqs done. Since then, future schooling plans were put on hold as I had some hindering personal/family problems that arose after graduation to work through.
My situation is better now, however since then I have just been working odd jobs waiting tables, tutoring, and now working as a dental assistant in my family dentist's office (after shadowing for some time he slowly train me to assist). I had also taken some of the recommended ("nonpre-req") classes at my local CC so I don't forget how to study/keep my myself mentally stimulated. However, I took these classes very spaced out (4-10 units a semester) because with what was going on at the time I didn't feel like I could handle taking a full schedule (i.e. 12 units):
2012:
Fall: 4 units [Anatomy (4)]
2013:
Spring: 0 units [no classes taken]
Fall: 7 units [Cell bio (3) + lab (1), Immunology (3)] - these classes were taking at a state university
2014:
Spring: 10 units [Physio (5), Microbio (5)]
Fall: 0 units [no classes taken]
2015:
Spring: 4 units [Statistics (4)]
So my question is where to go from here. Even though I got As in all these classes above, the loads were obviously light. My undergrad semesters/quarters were all full-load, however that was long ago in 2011. I really believe I can handle d-school (as my family/personal situation is much better, and I feel my study habits have become more robust along with it), however based on what I've read here adcoms observe your academic ability as of recent, and so in my case I would have to re-prove I can handle the academic load right? Even despite having a decent undergrad GPA that would show that. Would doing really well on the DAT (>90th percentile which I think I could achieve with enough hard work) show that ? As many of the guides and user feedback on here show, it takes a lot of dedication and strict hard work (i.e. good academic abilities) to get supra-optimal scores on the DAT.
I don't mind taking another year taking full schedules, however I would prefer not if a great DAT or something would suffice. Upper-div. bio classes at my state university for "open university" students (which I would be since I already have a degree) is $295/unit which would add up quickly. But I suppose it's still a drop in the bucket in the big picture so if I need to do it I'll do it.
Everything else about my application is OK (Lots of volunteer hours, some leadership exp), and I could ask LORs from the professors from the above recent classes).
Please advise. Thank you, Peter
Hope your week is going well. I'm looking for some quick guidance on my situation. I used the search function a bit and had trouble finding someone with a similar situation- sorry if this has been advised before.
Basically, I already graduated in 2011 (BS Bio; 3.55-o, 3.66-s) w/ all prereqs done. Since then, future schooling plans were put on hold as I had some hindering personal/family problems that arose after graduation to work through.
My situation is better now, however since then I have just been working odd jobs waiting tables, tutoring, and now working as a dental assistant in my family dentist's office (after shadowing for some time he slowly train me to assist). I had also taken some of the recommended ("nonpre-req") classes at my local CC so I don't forget how to study/keep my myself mentally stimulated. However, I took these classes very spaced out (4-10 units a semester) because with what was going on at the time I didn't feel like I could handle taking a full schedule (i.e. 12 units):
2012:
Fall: 4 units [Anatomy (4)]
2013:
Spring: 0 units [no classes taken]
Fall: 7 units [Cell bio (3) + lab (1), Immunology (3)] - these classes were taking at a state university
2014:
Spring: 10 units [Physio (5), Microbio (5)]
Fall: 0 units [no classes taken]
2015:
Spring: 4 units [Statistics (4)]
So my question is where to go from here. Even though I got As in all these classes above, the loads were obviously light. My undergrad semesters/quarters were all full-load, however that was long ago in 2011. I really believe I can handle d-school (as my family/personal situation is much better, and I feel my study habits have become more robust along with it), however based on what I've read here adcoms observe your academic ability as of recent, and so in my case I would have to re-prove I can handle the academic load right? Even despite having a decent undergrad GPA that would show that. Would doing really well on the DAT (>90th percentile which I think I could achieve with enough hard work) show that ? As many of the guides and user feedback on here show, it takes a lot of dedication and strict hard work (i.e. good academic abilities) to get supra-optimal scores on the DAT.
I don't mind taking another year taking full schedules, however I would prefer not if a great DAT or something would suffice. Upper-div. bio classes at my state university for "open university" students (which I would be since I already have a degree) is $295/unit which would add up quickly. But I suppose it's still a drop in the bucket in the big picture so if I need to do it I'll do it.
Everything else about my application is OK (Lots of volunteer hours, some leadership exp), and I could ask LORs from the professors from the above recent classes).
Please advise. Thank you, Peter