Late Start

[Usama]

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Hello Peers,

My name is Usama and I'm currently a junior doing my bachelors in Biology(BS).
I have a few questions relating to taking the Dat and applying to schools.
So I am into my second semester of junior year my gpa is 3.5. In my opinion this seems low and I havn't really done anything significant in terms of shadowing or volunteering yet. I have just finished the process of becoming a F-1 student and gotten left behind. I have started studying for the DAT which I hope to take somewhere near the end of summer(August). The reason for this is Organic chemistry 2 is being taught only then and I need it to review for the Dat as well as hopefully bump my gpa up. Now I know this means I would be applying very late. So I was thinking of waiting and applying at the end of my senior year. Is this acceptable? I would spend my senior year catching up on my shadowing and volunteering.
Let me know what you guys think.

 

[NMC2010]

First, your GPA is a little lower than the average, but it isn't bad. Try to keep raising it and you should be alright if you do well on the DAT. Start your volunteering now in school clubs if you can. Same goes for shadowing. I figured I'd spend more money on a post-bacc/masters if I didn't go for it, plus I really didn't wanna wait a year to beef up my application, so I applied.

As you mentioned, you've got two options:

1. If you're willing to risk ~$2,000 with far lower chance of getting in: You can apply in early August. This is basically what I did. My application was sent out on August 9th, as I took the DAT July 19th. I did 90% of my shadowing this past June, as well as wrote my PS and gathered all info + studied for DAT during that time.

This is not the greatest of ideas, BUT... it can pay off on the chance that you might get accepted. Basically what happened for me - I applied to 7 schools, and only got 1 interview, 1 acceptance.

2. Play it safe, and have a better shot at getting in: Wait a year. This can help you focus on your studies in organic chem and the DAT both and will allow you to get lots more volunteering and shadowing hours. The obvious downside is you wait a year, but you also have a much better chance and don't blow thousands of dollars applying and don't get in.

In the grand scheme of things, one year isn't much... but then again, $2,000 is a drop in the bucket to the rest of the money you'll spend (and earn) because of dental school.