Need Advice

[nyckid10]

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Hello Everyone,

I was supposed to graduate in May but got this crazy intestinal illness the week before finals. I was hospitalized and was unable to even finish my courses. I got incompletes in all of the courses and my teachers gave me permission to take the final exams the next semester. I have yet to take them.

I still planned on applying this summer and take my DATs and then send in my completed grades to the schools once I finished the courses. However, little did I know that I would be sick all summer in bed, unable to do anything. Right now I finally got over this illness (whew!) and actually have the energy to apply, take my DATs, and finish the courses I missed. I know it is extremely late in the cycle to do so but still want to give it a shot. I have my application completed.

My overall GPA is 3.4, and my science is around 3.1, and it should go up to 3.5/3.2 after I complete my courses. I am planning on taking the DAT in middle of November. Will schools be deterred from even giving me a shot since I have incompletes on my transcript and since I applied to late? I do have a very valid reason why this happened.

It's kinda depressing seeing all your friends/classmates getting interviews already when you have yet to apply, because of something out your control :/

Any advice or suggestions on what to do is appreciated.

 

[scvpredent]

I would like to encourage you but honestly there are such HUGE delays in processing that many schools won't see your application until mid or late December, possibly even Jan....and by that time, even with your very valid excuse, there's kind of nothing they can do because most schools will be quite full by then. Also, your stats so far are okay, but without a really good DAT score, it'll be your average application competing against thousands of others for a few precious spots. And since you haven't taken the DAT yet you can't really assess how competitive you'll be before you apply. If you apply ASAP and wait for them to receive the DAT scores, again, you don't know what they'll be. Then if you reapply next year you'll have a lot of extra stuff to fill out because you would be a reapplicant. I think it'd also be much mere financially beneficial to wait, applying is crazy expensive.

This is just my opinion but I really think its practical. I'm very sorry that you went through that illness 🙁

 

[theringmaster1]

I agree with svcpredent. It would probably be beneficial to apply next year early in the game. However we are all pre-dental students and don't exactly know what the adcoms want. If you apply this month, I think you might get several post-Dec interviews.

Also don't worry too much about your GPA. My science GPA was around yours and my overall GPA was a lot lower at about 3.3 I seriously considered doing post-bac to get my GPA up but took a shot and applied this year. I did it pretty late too around late August and ended up with a couple pre-Dec interviews, which I'm really grateful for. Also the incomplete grade won't be a deal-breaker if you explain yourself (when they ask you). I had two horrible grades and when asked during an interview I just explained my situation and the interviewer was understanding and didn't grill me. Now whether I get accepted or not is a whole different story...

 

[janzendds]

I think if you really really want to apply this cycle, keep it limited to a few schools...Tufts, BU, NYU, maybe your state school. You might have a shot, and if you don't get in then you haven't wasted tons of time and money. Otherwise, wait until next cycle.

Also, I'm sorry to hear about the circumstances, I'm kind of in the same boat with the late applications due to my mother passing away. But there's nothing we can really do about it, and it doesn't speed up the delays in processing. To be honest, even though I have competitive stats, I wish I had waited until next cycle and applied in the first batch.

 

[awaitsimpatient]

Just apply next cycle and don't rush to study for your DAT

 

[nyckid10]

Thanks to you all for replying. Money really isn't an issue. My mother is willing to help me even if I have a 10% chance of getting in. I also thought that I will apply to only like 3 schools (NYU, BU, Tufts).

I heard a lot of stories of people getting accepted last minute....that kinda gives me hope. And some even had below average stats. Yeah we really don't know what exactly adcoms wants.

I really don't care if I get rejected, as long as I know I gave it a shot.

I have a bunch of LOR's and over 200 shadowing hours....maybe that will do some justice.