Need Help

[shinysmiles]

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Hello to all,
I am new to sdn forums and just in awe of it. Really amazed with all the help and inputs and outputs for all the profession...so I also need help regarding my stats:

I have done my undergrad in biomedical engineering with overall gpa of 3.5 and science gpa of 3.8 and passed out in 2008.Since then I have been working in pharmaceutical field and have reasonable job..But now I am interested in dentistry (My wife has been my inspiration as she is dentist) and would like to apply to schools. I am preparing for DATs in which I aim to score around 22/23. My big confusion is due to severe competition for dentistry..how much I stand chance to get admission for dental school.(as my drawback is the lack of dental experience untill now and strong resume restricted to biomedical and pharmacy field). What if I dont score well in Dat? What should I do to strengthen my application? Please guide..thanks a lot

 

[AlexOdentchkin8]

Hello to all,
I am new to sdn forums and just in awe of it. Really amazed with all the help and inputs and outputs for all the profession...so I also need help regarding my stats:

I have done my undergrad in biomedical engineering with overall gpa of 3.5 and science gpa of 3.8 and passed out in 2008.Since then I have been working in pharmaceutical field and have reasonable job..But now I am interested in dentistry (My wife has been my inspiration as she is dentist) and would like to apply to schools. I am preparing for DATs in which I aim to score around 22/23. My big confusion is due to severe competition for dentistry..how much I stand chance to get admission for dental school.(as my drawback is the lack of dental experience untill now and strong resume restricted to biomedical and pharmacy field). What if I dont score well in Dat? What should I do to strengthen my application? Please guide..thanks a lot

You really have nothing to worry about. Even with your lack of dental experience, your wife being a dentist is a big plus. With a GPA of 3.8, assuming you study efficiently, a 22 would make sense. If you score a 19, you would still get interviews. Below that, I might take it again.

You should try to accumulate as much shadowing hours as you can. A rule of thumb is over 100 hours to be competitive.

Also, when do you plan on applying? If this year, you should applying as early as possible. I believe June 4 is when AADSAS opens up and since dental schools work on rolling admissions, the earlier you apply, the better chance you have of landing an interview.

 

[dentalWorks]

Hello to all,
I am new to sdn forums and just in awe of it. Really amazed with all the help and inputs and outputs for all the profession...so I also need help regarding my stats:

I have done my undergrad in biomedical engineering with overall gpa of 3.5 and science gpa of 3.8 and passed out in 2008.Since then I have been working in pharmaceutical field and have reasonable job..But now I am interested in dentistry (My wife has been my inspiration as she is dentist) and would like to apply to schools. I am preparing for DATs in which I aim to score around 22/23. My big confusion is due to severe competition for dentistry..how much I stand chance to get admission for dental school.(as my drawback is the lack of dental experience untill now and strong resume restricted to biomedical and pharmacy field). What if I dont score well in Dat? What should I do to strengthen my application? Please guide..thanks a lot

I am assuming you've shadowed your wife, so you know what dentistry is.

My friend, with a 3.5 and 3.8 science, and assuming you get 20+, you are competitive. You don't need dental experience to get into dental school. 4500 pre-dents get into dental school each year and MANY of them have never worked a day in a dental office. But dental exposure (from shadowing) this is a must. You need to show (and convince yourself) this is something you really want.

What do you mean by "What if I don't score well in Dat?".... how low are we talking? 19-20 range you are golden. 17-18 range and its iffy, bellow 17 = retake.

 

[shinysmiles]

thanks for the reply....

 

[AwesomeTeeth]

I would still suggest you go shadow someone else besides your wife. Because I think a letter of rec from your wife would be frowned upon by the adcoms.

 

[dentalWorks]

I would still suggest you go shadow someone else besides your wife. Because I think a letter of rec from your wife would be frowned upon by the adcoms.

truth.

I had to shadow another GP (aside from sister) because LORs from family members are not accepted.

 

[shinysmiles]

surely...I m definitely planning to shadow some dentists...apart from my wife...and also I am planning to apply for academic year 2013...so I guess everything will work out by then..just wanted to be sure that how should I convince dental community that I am genuinely interested in dentistry apart from my experiences...so the purpose of this post...thanks a lot guys...

 

[amdrocks]

Your stats are excellent, especially you were majoring in Biomed.

A 20+ on DAT and 100 hrs of shadowing will be enough.

As for the personal statement, why do you want to switch from engineering to dentistry?

There has to be one thing that makes you interested in dentistry; otherwise, you won't be here at this forum.

At one of my interview, I met a guy who's about 27-28th of age and he was a Mechanical Engineering major (B.S., M.S., and doing Ph.D at the time). His wife was a dental hygienist. I know he got accepted.

If you really want to be a dentist, you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[TheScienceGuy1]

OP, your GPA is very good (especially science). I would do some shadowing (some schools require 100 hrs). Since, your wife is a dentist you can shadow her for a while and then she can can probably set you up with other dentists you can shadow.


Make sure you have all of the prerequisites to schools you are applying too.

Study for DAT. Around 17-18 on DAT should be enough (but since you did good in bio engineering, you could probably score around 20 if you study hard).

BTW: You don't really need much dental experience to get into dental school. As long as you have some shadowing hours and explain to adcoms why you are interested in dentistry, you would be fine.

 

[AwesomeTeeth]

Study for DAT. Around 17-18 on DAT should be enough (but since you did good in bio engineering, you could probably score around 20 if you study hard).

Umm I don't think a 17-18 would be good enough. You really should be shooting for something 20+ regardless of your GPA just to be safe. Anything under 19 and you're probably touching minimums on some subject areas. But I'm sure OP can score 20 or higher since he had a tough major. 👍

 

[shinysmiles]

Umm I don't think a 17-18 would be good enough. You really should be shooting for something 20+ regardless of your GPA just to be safe. Anything under 19 and you're probably touching minimums on some subject areas. But I'm sure OP can score 20 or higher since he had a tough major. 👍

Thanks Awesome Teeth...
You all have really boosted up my confidence..keeping my fingers crossed..I would like to score 20+ on DATs ..but I am little weak in Biology so lets see...trying really hard to study that one....rest all subjects are good for me...will keep you all posted..thanks again for all the help and suggestions...

 

[Maygyver]

You're definitely in a good position. You had a tough undergraduate major and you have work experience. Just make sure you get some shadowing hours in, and perhaps see if you could maybe work with your wife around the office. It's good that you don't have any red flags so all you need to do is add the small things and the one big thing (DAT) and you are set. Best of luck.