Hi Everyone,
I'm a to-be non-traditional applicant (26 rn), and I was wondering whether I should apply in 2025 or 2026. My GPA is around 3.85, and I previously scored in the 95th percentile for the MCAT, so I expect I'll do fine on the DAT provided I take it very seriously.
Background:
I have all the prerequisite coursework completed from when I was in college, and I'm not starting totally from scratch since I was once going to apply to medical school. I also have a lot of research experience and some publications. Of course, I understand the two routes are different, and I understand the importance of shadowing and doing volunteer work to better acquaint myself with dentistry before I apply.
I'm confident in building enough hours of shadowing/patient experience to, at least, match other applicants, on paper, if I apply in 2025. However, I'm aware an extra year will make me more competitive and solidified as an applicant as opposed to cramming it in.
Additionally, I don't want to retake coursework, and I don't want to take on a full-time dentistry-related job (part-time is doable only if it would very significantly help my chances). I am also not worried about any cost-benefit analysis. I only plan on applying once.
My main concern is that the age of my coursework already limits my options, and applying in 2026 will limit my options even further due to 10-year expiration dates (some programs have no expiration- I've already contacted schools to ask). As a non-trad applicant with less prep work compared to other applicants, I'm aware my chances of admission are that much lower, so I'm worried about being limited to mostly competitive programs if I apply in 2026. I would also very much rather matriculate when I'm 28 rather than 29.
I'm worried that my chance of admission would be very low in 2025. However, I don't know if the increased range of schools would be better than a more solid application to fewer, maybe more competitive schools. To be clear, I'd like my 2025 chances to lean more toward "Yeah, I feel like that could reasonably work out if you don't have high expectations" rather than "There's a possibility, but I wouldn't count on it."
Summary:
I can be ready to apply in either 2025 or 2026, but my already limited options will become even fewer if I wait for 2026. I'm willing to take a hit on my admission chances as long as they wouldn't be clearly bad if I applied in 2025.
Tl;dr:
2025: more schools, less solid application (crammed)
2026: fewer schools, schools may be more competitive, more solid application (semi-spread out)
Thank you for reading this long post. I apologize if I come off as ignorant (I am) or abrasive. I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions.
For reference, the following schools have no expiration on coursework:
I'm a to-be non-traditional applicant (26 rn), and I was wondering whether I should apply in 2025 or 2026. My GPA is around 3.85, and I previously scored in the 95th percentile for the MCAT, so I expect I'll do fine on the DAT provided I take it very seriously.
Background:
I have all the prerequisite coursework completed from when I was in college, and I'm not starting totally from scratch since I was once going to apply to medical school. I also have a lot of research experience and some publications. Of course, I understand the two routes are different, and I understand the importance of shadowing and doing volunteer work to better acquaint myself with dentistry before I apply.
I'm confident in building enough hours of shadowing/patient experience to, at least, match other applicants, on paper, if I apply in 2025. However, I'm aware an extra year will make me more competitive and solidified as an applicant as opposed to cramming it in.
Additionally, I don't want to retake coursework, and I don't want to take on a full-time dentistry-related job (part-time is doable only if it would very significantly help my chances). I am also not worried about any cost-benefit analysis. I only plan on applying once.
My main concern is that the age of my coursework already limits my options, and applying in 2026 will limit my options even further due to 10-year expiration dates (some programs have no expiration- I've already contacted schools to ask). As a non-trad applicant with less prep work compared to other applicants, I'm aware my chances of admission are that much lower, so I'm worried about being limited to mostly competitive programs if I apply in 2026. I would also very much rather matriculate when I'm 28 rather than 29.
I'm worried that my chance of admission would be very low in 2025. However, I don't know if the increased range of schools would be better than a more solid application to fewer, maybe more competitive schools. To be clear, I'd like my 2025 chances to lean more toward "Yeah, I feel like that could reasonably work out if you don't have high expectations" rather than "There's a possibility, but I wouldn't count on it."
Summary:
I can be ready to apply in either 2025 or 2026, but my already limited options will become even fewer if I wait for 2026. I'm willing to take a hit on my admission chances as long as they wouldn't be clearly bad if I applied in 2025.
Tl;dr:
2025: more schools, less solid application (crammed)
2026: fewer schools, schools may be more competitive, more solid application (semi-spread out)
Thank you for reading this long post. I apologize if I come off as ignorant (I am) or abrasive. I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions.
For reference, the following schools have no expiration on coursework:
- University of Kentucky
- Midwestern University (AZ and IL)
- Tufts
- University of Iowa
- Kansas City University
- University of Nevada Las Vegas
- University of Lousiville
- University of Michigan
- University of Pennsylvania
