NEED HELP !! Stressed Out !!

[cowsgomoo]

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Hi all hope you can give me some advice.

This is my situation, i am entering my second year of college with junior standing with 61 hrs of classes under my belt with a GPA of 3.85. I attend Georgia State University and am a chemistry major. I have yet to take the DAT's and hope to do so in the summer of next year after taking the Kaplan DAT classes during my Spring semester. I have visited many dentist specially this summer where i visited 3 general dentists, 1 oral surgoen, 1 periodontist, and an endodontist. The only doctor i spent a fair amount of time is the endo specialist for about a total of 2 weeks. At the other dentists i spent only one day each at their clinic.

I wanted to know how well as far as score range i would have to perform on the DAT's in my current situation considering that i can maintain my GPA. I also wanted know how much does it matter what school you graduate from becuase i have friends who think i am a fool for attending GSU and not Georgia Tech which i was accepted at too. I have a couple of schools in mind that i want to attend like Medical College of Georgia, University of North Carolina, University of Florida, University of Texas and Harvard as a long shot. Are there any other good schools i am missing or are any of these bad choices?
I also wanted to know if i am cutting it close for the DAT's if i graduate Spring 2006 and hope to attend dental school in Fall 2006.
I was wondering how all this looks as far as getting into a dental school i would like the brutal truth i dont want some sissy resonses to make me feel better because i am going to feel a lot worse if i dont make it in and atleast now i have a chance to fix some of my pitfalls. My biggest concern is that i am at the wrong school for my undergrad and i hope this will not be my downfall.
So please advise in any way possible. (Even if it is negative in nature.)

 

[sinned]

1. Taking the Kaplan in the spring of 05 and taking your first DAT in the early summer would be ideal, then if you don't do as well, you have time to prepare and take the 2nd one if you need to...

2. Higher GPA is better than going to a "prestigious" school and getting a lower GPA, so don't worry about the fact that you are at GSU...you shouldn't just apply to "good" schools and it seems like you are picking these schools based on their academic stats, but you should really think about the price of each school, the area, the weather, and the clinical experience that each offers, the national board scores, housing around the school, and etc.

3. I would say with your GPA as long as you get over a 20 on your DAT's you should get into most of the schools, but you might need something like 23 average to get into Harvard, and other harder dental schools...

 

[aphistis]

Hi all hope you can give me some advice.

This is my situation, i am entering my second year of college with junior standing with 61 hrs of classes under my belt with a GPA of 3.85. I attend Georgia State University and am a chemistry major. I have yet to take the DAT's and hope to do so in the summer of next year after taking the Kaplan DAT classes during my Spring semester. I have visited many dentist specially this summer where i visited 3 general dentists, 1 oral surgoen, 1 periodontist, and an endodontist. The only doctor i spent a fair amount of time is the endo specialist for about a total of 2 weeks. At the other dentists i spent only one day each at their clinic.

I wanted to know how well as far as score range i would have to perform on the DAT's in my current situation considering that i can maintain my GPA. I also wanted know how much does it matter what school you graduate from becuase i have friends who think i am a fool for attending GSU and not Georgia Tech which i was accepted at too. I have a couple of schools in mind that i want to attend like Medical College of Georgia, University of North Carolina, University of Florida, University of Texas and Harvard as a long shot. Are there any other good schools i am missing or are any of these bad choices?
I also wanted to know if i am cutting it close for the DAT's if i graduate Spring 2006 and hope to attend dental school in Fall 2006.
I was wondering how all this looks as far as getting into a dental school i would like the brutal truth i dont want some sissy resonses to make me feel better because i am going to feel a lot worse if i dont make it in and atleast now i have a chance to fix some of my pitfalls. My biggest concern is that i am at the wrong school for my undergrad and i hope this will not be my downfall.
So please advise in any way possible. (Even if it is negative in nature.)

1) Go see your physician, get some Xanax, and adhere religiously to the dosing instructions.

2) 3.85 is an excellent GPA, extremely competitive for dental school. I apologize in advance for the bluntness, but if you need to be told that...

3) Your alma mater won't matter (or is it your alma matter won't mater? 😉).

4) Get a solid score on your DAT (think 18 across the board; you don't need 25's everywhere to get into dental school, contrary to what your attitude toward your GPA suggests you probably think), and you'll be golden.

5) RELAX. At the rate you're going, you're going to spring an aneurysm on your DAT morning, and your hard work won't matter a dung beetle's poo unless you make it to graduation without having a CVA.

Having offered all that unsolicited psychoanalysis, academically you're in great shape. Keep it up for a couple more years and you'll have your pick of schools to choose from. Good luck.

 

[Rezdawg]

Threads like this stress me out. Me and my 3.0 gpa.

 

[cowsgomoo]

Rezdawg,

Sorry if i have stressed you out but its just that i have heard alot of bull about being accepted into dental schools and how no matter how high my GPA is at my school i will be second rate compared to others at supposedly better schools so i just wanted to know where i stacked up if this was true. Thanks for the help everyone and keep the advice coming you cant get enough of it in my opinion (as long as it is not complete bull).

I guess i will only feel better once i get into the school i want. Most preferably at Medical College of Georgia because of cost, location, and being close to my family. Has anyone heard anything about this school that i should be aware of. I do know it has a leading aesthetic dentst in Dr.Goldstein.

One other question i had was that how would my experience at the different dentist be recieved and whether i need more actual work as an assistant and not just an observer. Also how would i make this evident to the selectors that i have visited these dentist as it would be foolish for me to ask the dentist that i only visited one day for recommendation letters. i will be getting one from the endo specialist if that matters and she is the one who sent me to the others to broaden my horizon.

 

[MrBenny]

you don't need a 23+ to get into harvard, columbia, penn, i.e the "prestigious schools".. if you maintain your gpa, and get above 20s on your DATS, you'll be set for those schools..

 

[Rezdawg]

Rezdawg,

Sorry if i have stressed you out but its just that i have heard alot of bull about being accepted into dental schools and how no matter how high my GPA is at my school i will be second rate compared to others at supposedly better schools so i just wanted to know where i stacked up if this was true. Thanks for the help everyone and keep the advice coming you cant get enough of it in my opinion (as long as it is not complete bull).

I guess i will only feel better once i get into the school i want. Most preferably at Medical College of Georgia because of cost, location, and being close to family.

Well, dont worry...you will be just fine. Your GPA is impressive, regardless of your undergrad GPA. Just do a decent job on the DAT and you will be choosing your destination.

 

[eric275]

In your original post you mentioned that you were wanting to apply to a D-school in Texas. If you are looking for schools that you have good chance of getting into, I would look at applying to some schools that have higher acceptance rates for out of state residents. Texas schools do not accept many out of state residents so your chances of getting accepted may be a bit low at those schools. Granted that if you have a great gpa and DAT score it may not be as big of an issue.

If you are just interested in applying to schools because of location, school name, etc. without regard to acceptance stats for non residents, than disregard my statement. On the other hand, if you are more interested in getting accepted into dental school and still want to apply to Texas schools, you may want to add some back-up schools that historically accept a larger number of non-residents. A good publication that gives admissions stats (gpa's, DAT scores, resident/nonresident), tuition costs, and decent information about all dental schools is the ADEA's Dental School Guide that costs $35, http://www.adea.org/AADSAS/default.htm. Once you open the link just click on "applicants" and then "ADEA publications'. In my opinion it is the most complete guide and the most useful of the guides that I have come across. It might be useful for you to look through and get an idea of what the schools are looking for so that you can make an informed decision when choosing what schools to apply at.

 

[Sprgrover]

Breathe, cowsgomoo, breathe...Okay. If someone tells you that you are second-rate, for what ever reason, that's grounds to either dismiss what ever 'advice' they are shoveling at you or take it with a sizeable bag of salt. I think assisting is great, but I have been told that shadowing is just as good as what dental schools are wanting is for you to simply have first-hand exposure to the practice of dental medicine. From what I have been told and my experience thus far, applying to dental school is not like being accosted by the Spanish Inquisition: you don't have to painfully explain every misdeed and redeem yourself through detailed proof of good acts and faith. If an admissions committee asks for proof of each shadowing experience, you can simply provide them with the name of contact information for that doctor. As far as getting a letter, you have almost a year to cultivate a relationship with a dentist whom I am sure will be flattered to write you a letter of recommendation. So far you are a very competitive candidate (something others have echoed) and your are on a good track - so sit back and enjoy the ride. Fretting and naming an ulcer 'DAT' won't get you there sooner. Best of luck!

 

[cowsgomoo]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am sure it will help in calming me done .