Improvements for a shot at dental schools?

[omenakaya]

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After being a SDN member for awhile, I curious to know what I could do of attempting to be a successful URM applicant for dental school by considering advice and tips from all you wonderful people if appropriate.😀

First I a graduate in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry with a minor in General Business from a public 4-year university. My stats were:

Overal GPA : 2.34 ( 1.85 GPA from a community college bringing it down low)
Science GPA : 2.83
21AA/19PAT/20TS

Also I was President of the Chemistry club (2010-2011), Community Chair for the Undergrad Student National Dental Association(2009-2010), 3 different research projects, and shadowing a oral surgeon at the dental school nearby the university I enroll in for almost a year now, and also a student intern for my center of health research dept.

I will be pursing a masters in biochemistry for Fall 2011 (taking 12 in fall 2011 and 12 in spring 2012) while doing a "informal" postbacc of 11 credits (spring 2012) then retake my DAT and apply for the 2013 cycle. Whatelse could I improve iin order to show I have mature?

 

[evanyou]

I can feel your strong determination from your extracurricular activities, so it's best idea to focus your all on the master program and aim for 4.0. As I said, I am sure you have a leadership skill and a strong will to become a dentist, but ADCOM might doubt if you can handle a classload at dental school.

After being a SDN member for awhile, I curious to know what I could do of attempting to be a successful URM applicant for dental school by considering advice and tips from all you wonderful people if appropriate.😀

First I a graduate in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry with a minor in General Business from a public 4-year university. My stats were:

Overal GPA : 2.34 ( 1.85 GPA from a community college bringing it down low)
Science GPA : 2.83
21AA/19PAT/20TS

Also I was President of the Chemistry club (2010-2011), Community Chair for the Undergrad Student National Dental Association(2009-2010), 3 different research projects, and shadowing a oral surgeon at the dental school nearby the university I enroll in for almost a year now, and also a student intern for my center of health research dept.

I will be pursing a masters in biochemistry for Fall 2011 (taking 12 in fall 2011 and 12 in spring 2012) while doing a "informal" postbacc of 11 credits (spring 2012) then retake my DAT and apply for the 2013 cycle. Whatelse could I improve iin order to show I have mature?

 

[Jackson-Ave-Dental]

I don't think a DAT retake is necessary... as that isn't the weakest link in your application. It would be more wise to knock off as many 4.0s as possible to bring that gpa up!

 

[amalgamgrillz]

I don't think a DAT retake is necessary... as that isn't the weakest link in your application. It would be more wise to knock off as many 4.0s as possible to bring that gpa up!

You need to calculate how many credit hours of a 4.0 you'll need to bring you at least a 3.1 cGPA and sGPA. If, after all of this, you aren't at a 3.2+ in each, then I would retake your DAT. You did well, but it's not going to save you from a weak GPA.

 

[PDizzle]

General advice given so far is good. Your DAT is decent. Don't retake it yet. Focus on increasing your GPA in a post-bac.

You said you are a URM. If you're black go ahead and add Howard and Meharry and apply this year. If not, wait till you get your GPA above 3.0 to save quite a bit of money.