How late is late?

[drtagman]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey I used to be a pre med and now im pre dental and have a few questions about the whole proccess

1.If I send in my letters of rec in about a week and it takes them 4 weeks to get there is that pretty late for a completed application?

2. I have a 2.9 sci GPA 3.2 overall History major, but 21 AA and 20 PAT, will the DATS balance my GPA?

3. I send in my AADSAS app about 3 weeks ago, when do you get confirmation that they have sent it to schools?

Thanks
Fabian
??2009

 

[jes1ca]

Dear Drtagman,

1. No, you'll still be plenty early. That would put you in around Mid-August, which is still a very reasonable date for your application. I applied late last year (like October) with no problem getting in to some schools at least.

2. I think that your high DAT will support you. I cannot say that it will make up for a lower GPA entirely. If the rest of you application is strong and you interview well, I think you have a good chance of getting into dental school.

3. You can call AADSAS and ask them what date it will be sent to schools. Another alternative is that if Infosource is running for your class, it will tell you what date stuff is being mailed.


Good Luck!
Jessica

 

[Dr.SpongeBobDDS]

I may be completely wrong here, but it looks like you may have decided that your grades are too crappy for med school so you're just going to use dentistry as an alternative. I would really reconsider if that is your motivation. For one thing, your chances of getting into dental school are still going to be pretty iffy with your GPA. For another, people who choose dentistry as a substitute for medicine tend to hate their jobs for the rest of their lives. Dentistry is just too different from medicine. Just because dentists are called Dr. doesn't mean they get that special "Dr." treatment and prestige that so many pre-meds crave. If deep down you really wanted to be an MD, but "settled" you will always think of yourself as just a dentist.

If you want to do medicine think about trying DO schools or the Caribbean. Your chances of getting into a Caribbean school are actually a lot better than getting into dental school, anyway. Just my honest opinion.

 

[Dr.SpongeBobDDS]

If on the other hand, you really truly want to do dentistry - go for it. I'm sure with some hard work you'll eventually get in somewhere. Don't give up on your dreams, man. 😀

 

[toothcaries]

i think your good dat scores should make you an attractive candidate..
a 3.2 is not out of the range of being average.

you should get interviews, and then it will be up to you to close...
be honest. be yourself. be able to communicate and explain yourself well. hopefully, u have shadowed/volunteered so u have an idea what you are getting yourself into..

shouldn't be a problem.

good luck.

 

[rwilli477]

As a side note to the OP, you may want to consider sending your letters of recommendation directly to the schools to which you've applied. This way, you will not be waiting another 4 weeks on AADSAS. The contact information for each school can be found here:

https://aadsas.adea.org/html-bin/section_4_working.htm

 

[Starzz]

i def. think the dat will balance out ur gpa.. the way i c it..there are many reasons people have issues on their gpa's, maybe the classes were harder, or just overall didn't study enough.. i think if u have a decent reason for having a lower gpa than it should be cool with the adcoms.. but either way a 21 on the dat is nothing to worry about.. u'll be set..

 

[drtagman]

thanks for the help, hope to keep posting with interviews and hopefully acceptances
ps. do all schools send out secondaries, and the ones that do what type of questions do they ask?

 

[Sprgrover]

I am fairly certain all schools have some form of secondary application. Most of the ones I have received thus far have an essay question that follows along the lines of "why did you choose our school?" Several have spaces for you to elaborate on any extra-curricular activities, honors, awards, reseach and the like. The word limit is usually around 500 words per response. All have you restate your biographical information: address, date of birth, and so on. Some will even ask for your SAT and ACT scores, so you might want to go hunting for them so you'll be ready. Also, they are not as long nor as time consuming as your application for AADSAS.