In a sour pickle (?Help/advice?)

[studentdental8]

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[toothshine]

I would say go ahead and apply for dental school. I don't think you need to retake your DAT - you have great scores. And SMP/Master's is usually reserved for people with < 3.0 GPA, or so I thought anyway...

If you want to be safe, apply for both dental school and a SMP/master's; that way, you won't be stuck doing nothing for a year.

 

[shyfox9p]

I have the same resume (kind of), but with an SMP. I would probably apply to a few more schools to increase your odds. You don't have to retake the DAT.

 

[studentdental8]

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[shyfox9p]

I'm doing Barry University's program. The classes there are similar to the ones you will take your first year in dental school. For example, my histology class used the same exact notes as those given to NOVA students. If you do well in the program (3.5 GPA and above), you will do well in dental school. This lowers the probability of you failing your first year, which makes you look good. I know of people who started and didn't finish the SMP because they got an acceptance. Most had a post-december interview and the schools wanted to see how they did that first semester.

 

[studentdental8]

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[dp93]

i bet you could get in without an SMP.

 

[shyfox9p]

Doing the SMP/Masters during a gap year doesn't hurt. You have to do something during that year anyway. I live near Barry and I know several people who are now in dental school because of the program. It was an easy choice for me.

 

[Sissi Romy]

Hi, I've been a lurker for some while but decided finally I need some SDN advice...

I don't know if I should apply to SMP or a Masters in biomedical, or just apply straight to dental school and not apply to a SMP, but still have a gap year (I am a rising senior).

My current stats are:
3.3 overall (3.5 after senior year if lucky) upward trend, 3.15 sgpa (3.2 after senior if lucky).
DAT AA 21 / TS 22 / 21 PAT (should I retake?)
150+ hours shadowing at 2 different dental practitioners
2 years of research experience
teaching experience at a high school / volunteering in ER room
Philanthropy chair of a fraternity (leadership exp)

Also, not sure if difficulty of school, credit hours, or major matters (read a lot on here that it doesn't) but I'm a Biomedical Engineer at Cornell (avg 20 credit semesters).



The dental schools I would really, really want to go to are: Boston, NYU, Tufts, Columbia, Buffalo, and Rutgers.
I am in a conundrum so any advice would be appreciated!

I am guessing that Barry is in FL, you are closer to MD, why don't you check out UMBC Master of Molecular Biology. It can be done in 1 year as long as you have the required prereqs, that you can take during your senior year before getting admitted to UMBC. Grads from that program have been admitted to dental and med schools after having 3.0-3.2 undergrad GPA (I am sure I can't generalize, it depends on other factors with these applicants, obviously). You will need to work hard to get ~3.6-4.0 to show dental schools the upward trend+grad courses completion but you will be taking hard upper division science courses (that will prove to dental schools that you are a solid applicant apt to be successful in DS ) and will have an MS degree to show for your efforts before matriculating in DS.
http://biology.umbc.edu/grad/graduate-programs/apmb/

 

[yeslek88]

3.3 is the mean GPA at some schools, and you did well on the DAT and have good ECs. I think you could get in without the SMP. Would you be applying next summer?

 

[studentdental8]

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