Newly accepted D1's...Advice!

[jmac81]

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Hey Newly acceted D1's!

First of all...Congrats! You have all worked hard to get to where you are, and you deserve it. But now that most of you are on cloud nine as you accept your offers, I was wondering if you would give me some advice/help/reassurance.

i would really like to go to a west coast school, preferably cali(i am from the midwest), but i wanted to hear what you guys had going into your interview/app phases for gpas, dats, and where you have been accepted.

I have a 3.4 now and got a 17 average and 18 pat, any advice on schools you would also recommend would be great. Cant wait to hear back, and congrats again


Clap it up for the new D1's!!

 

[type-s]

17 academic is somewhat low for cali schools. 18 pat is fine. just to be on the safe side, i would raise that gpa. also, work/volunteer at a dental clinic.

 

[DesiDentist]

Yes, I agree w/ type-s,

You should get at least a 19 on your academic score for the DAT. You gpa is fine for (USC, UOP, Loma Linda) but it doesn't hurt to raise it. If you want to go to (UCLA, UCSF) you should hit at least a 20 DAT and 3.5 gpa. Your PAT is good for most schools, but UCLA and UOP might need some water to swallow that PAT.

I think it is feasible to raise your DAT score 2 points easily. But no one wants to retake the DAT. I would contact admission directors and tell them your scores and see what they have to say.

DesiDentist

 

[IrightI]

When you mention gpa, ex: 3.5, 3.8 etc... Are you refering to math, and science, or overall?

-Thanks 😕

 

[DesiDentist]

Technically, i'm refering to overall. Dental schools expect sci gpas to be around that but lower. around 3.3-3.5. if you can have your sci gpa above your overall or non-science that doesn't hurt you, it may help you since you illustrate high achievment in hard sciences which represent dental curriculum.

DesiDentist

 

[ohgee]

I got accepted into UCLA with 17PAT, but I have above 20 overall. I am just saying here, lower PAT score shouldn't be such a big problem.

 

[tinker bell]

If you're not a CA residents, and you have 17/18, you can say good-bye to the big 2 UC schools.
UOP told me specifically when I visited the school that they want DAT scores of 20 across the board. I even have everything way above 20 and they still wait for my Fall grades(everything above B) A few of my classmates have to retake the DAT because they have 17/18 scores (that's uop and ucsf advice)
The average score for UCSF is 21 (average), UCLA is 22(average). I think that USC is a bit easier. But check out their scores as well.
Your GPA is fine. You can always do better in the DAT.
And you have time. Retake that test.
Why do so many CA students go to the east coast for dental school? Except they go for Ivy League school or moving reason, the majority of them go because they don't get accepted to CA school.
Don't try to discourage you to move to our state, but try your best with the DAT and you'll have a chance.
T

 

[DesiDentist]

Tinker Bell is right on the money. I would reassess your application and focus on what you can do to improve. retaking the DAT is the first step, then getting a ton of experience.

Good luck,

DesiDentist

 

[acrunner]

take a year off after undergrad and do something meaningful. this will set you apart and get you in if you get the schools ave.

 

[jmac81]

hey guys,

Thanks for all of your advice. ny question is this though...i amost think i would rather go anywhere, whether it was out west, out east, or heck even the mdwest than take that retchid test again...i cant imagine having to study for it all over again!!! Do i have a shot at any schools with these scores? i would really love to hear back, especially from any of you who may have been in my same boat and were accepted!

Thanks guys

 

[Rhea]

If you don't really have a preference for your state school, or selected few other schools, then you don't have to worry about retaking the DAT. You will definitely get into some schools with your stats.

 

[tinker bell]

But that can't be guarantee. Since I got rejected 3 yrs ago with a 20/18 DAT scores, I can never rely on anything under 20 any more. And I applied to 25 schools that time.
🙁

 

[jmac81]

Hey guys,

Thanks for your advice! Tinkerbell, what did you have for a gpa, what did you do to make yoiurself look better? Do you guys think enrichment programs over the summer look good on your resume? any other advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[type-s]

if you don't have any school preference, then apply to schools with low ave. stats. don't apply to harvard or upenn. but research every school and see which schools fit into your stats. with 17 academic, it's 50/50. apply as many as possible and apply EARLY! (that's if you are applying for class of 2008)

 

[Rhea]

Well, the way I see it, with a 17/18 and a 3.4, his chances are more than 50/50....especially if he beefs up his application with dental experience, research experience, extracurrics.
If his gpa was also below 3.0, then of course I would say it'll be a bit hard.

 

[tinker bell]

What did I do to make myself look better? I spent more time shadowing dentist. Assisting at dental board. Doing research, published 2 papers (neuroscience) as first author, developed a patent on a neuronal development technique. I also do post-bac, taking only graduate level classes. (if you already graduated, don't take any more mediocre undergrad level classes, they want at least 2 hard core science classes). This semester, I'm taking Pharmacology, recombinant DNA tech, pathophysiology.
Next semester: head & neck anatomy, histology & yoga (yeah).
Summer: biochem, oral histology (self study, I already got the oral histo. book, looks really cool).
My undergrad GPA from UCD: somewhere near 3.0....don't bother to remember the number.
DAT score: in the 98% and up.
Best of luck to all of you who are re-taking the DAT.
T

 

[RSXer]

Type-s: Hey, what kinda car do you drive? Just wondering what your name stands for 😉


And to mke this post a bit more on the topic, here's a link to a great thread for you to use. Its got all the stats of SDNers that applied this year, where they applied, interviewed, and got accepted (assuming they've updated their posts 😉 )

Check it out: STATS Page