is it too late for me to apply the next cycle? texas res.

[artvandelay786]

I only recently decided to switch to predental from premed. I am a third year and I have taken most of the requirements and plan on taking the DAT in the summer. My GPA is around the average and I think with some hard studying I could do well on the DAT.

My worry is that because I only have about 15 hours of shadowing so far, I will not be able to reach 100+ hours over the next semester and that will be grounds for rejection. Also, would it look bad if i got most of my shadowing the semester before I applied?

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[mts2801]

I had a little more than half of my shadowing hours in the spring semester before I applied and it didn't hurt me at all. I don't anything about applying to TX schools, but I certainly don't think you're too late to apply next cycle (from my experience).

 

[artvandelay786]

thanks! just out of curiousity, how many shadowing hours did you manage to do in the spring semester before you applied?

 

[mts2801]

~40 hours. 8am-Noon every Wednesday for the 10 weeks for Spring Quarter. I had done 60 hours in HS, so I ended up totaling 100. I think you could manage
3 hrs/wk x 15 week semester. You could also do some shadowing in the summer before you submit your app also. I didn't send everything in until Aug 1st so I could have shadowed more in the summer (if my car hadn't broken down!)

 

[arlmay]

I had 55 and was accepted. It was at like 5 different offices

 

[Minion]

I am a Texas applicant also, same cycle as you are applying.

I think it would look bad if you put all your hours last minute. It showed that you are finally looking at the profession of dentistry, how can you explain this in your motivation essay?

It is still worth a shot, they just don't want people trying to switch out of dentistry lol.

 

[squigloo]

I got about 80-90% of my shadowing hours early in the summer of this past cycle, and it didn't seem to hurt me. Based off of a 15-week semester, you would need less than 3 hours each weekend to end up with over 100 altogether. That's not too difficult, and definitely not worth postponing your life for a year over.