I'm an average/below average pre dental student, what are my chances this cycle?

[deleted969224]

Hi everyone! I'm currently a junior biology major and in need of advice here. I hope to apply early in the 2019-2020 cycle; the second week of June to be exact. I'm worried that my application is weak, here are my stats:

science GPA: 3.37
Overall GPA: 3.54
DAT score: Have not taken it yet, I plan to take it in late April/early May. I am taking the iprep dental course and am aiming for a 21 or 22 AA.
Shadowing: 75 hours with an orthodontist, currently shadowing a General dentist and will accumulate about 100 hours from this office before submitting my application. (75 ortho, 100 general)
Volunteer: 40 hours from working with a club on campus (community service such as beach clean ups, soup kitchen)
Currently volunteering at an Assisted Care Facility/senior center and will accumulate about 100 hours before submitting app.
Letters of Rec: 1 strong letter from orthodontist, 1 letter from general dentist (hopefully strong), 1 physics prof (strong), 1 psychology prof (strong), 1 general chem prof (average letter I'm assuming, I wasn't that close with this prof but have no other option)
Research: N/A
Extra curricular's: Leadership/board position in cultural club (Pakistani Student Association) for 1 year, general member for 2 years.

I know I am not the strongest applicant. I couldn't make up my mind in undergrad, I was pre-med and then pre-pa, now im pre-dental; I've shadowed a physician and PA and ultimately chose dentistry. But with my low stats, It worries me since my chances seem low. I really wish to pursue a career in dentistry but because I wasn't so serious my first two years in college, I'm lacking with extra curricular's and a strong GPA. I really want this and feel that I can express it in my personal statement; I find dentistry interesting and like an art form. I'm very interested in music, I play piano. I like working with my hands. I have the passion..just not the ideal application lol.

What do you think my chances would be of getting accepted if I apply the cycle of 2019-2020? I am willing to apply to however many schools it takes, 15 at least.

Thank you.

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[yasc]

I'm not too different then you. I didn't know I wanted to go into dentistry until I was a junior and graduated with a not so impressive 3.43gpa and a 3.45 sgpa. My first two years I barely cracked a 3.0. My volunteering and shadowing hours are also similar to yours. I ended up with 21aa/22ts on the dat and so far got 4 interviews and 1 acceptance this cycle. I've never heard of iprep I just used dat bootcamp and chads vids and thought that was more then enough.
In short you definitely have a chance! Just keep those grades up, bump up those hours a bit, and work your butt off to kill the DAT!

 

[deleted969224]

I'm not too different then you. I didn't know I wanted to go into dentistry until I was a junior and graduated with a not so impressive 3.43gpa and a 3.45 sgpa. My first two years I barely cracked a 3.0. My volunteering and shadowing hours are also similar to yours. I ended up with 21aa/22ts on the dat and so far got 4 interviews and 1 acceptance this cycle. I've never heard of iprep I just used dat bootcamp and chads vids and thought that was more then enough.
In short you definitely have a chance! Just keep those grades up, bump up those hours a bit, and work your butt off to kill the DAT!

That's so great! Congrats on your acceptance, hopefully you'll get a few more too. Reading this was definitely helpful and encouraging, thanks.

 

[yasc]

That's so great! Congrats on your acceptance, hopefully you'll get a few more too. Reading this was definitely helpful and encouraging, thanks.

No problem! So I just checked out iprep DAT course and it cost a absurd amount imo $1700 is way more then you'd pay if you used datbootcamp and destroyer which almost everyone recommends (including me!) And is proven to work. Just my two cents.

 

[otlcat]

Great extracurriculars! I think if you score a 22 or higher on the DAT then you would have a pretty good chance! I think as long as you have an upward trend in your grades, you should be fine with the stats. Just make sure you have a solid PS and explain any grade mishaps if you have any!

And I don't think you need to apply to 15+ schools. Unless money isn't an issue for you, you should consider the cost on applications, secondary fee, and travel fee if you get interviews. In my opinion, it should be 15 max (10-13 is fine tbh). Honestly, if you don't get interviews with 10 schools, I don't think anything will change with 20, because there is probably a fundamental issue with your application.

Start preparing for your PS now if you haven't already and definitely study hard for the DAT! Apply as early as possible and come up with a good list of schools to apply for!

 

[doctortran99]

Did you get your DAT score back?