Please help...in dilemma

[jehovahjireh]

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Hello, so i am currently a senior majoring in biology planning to graduate this summer. My original plan was to apply this summer for d school and have a gap year. But as of now i still havent taken the dat, no recommendation letters, and my GPA is pretty low which is 3.0 cumulative and 2.6 science gpa. I have about 80 shadowing hours and about 400 hours in volunteering at church. Im registered to take the DAT soon and honestly i dont feel confident at all. I still havent taken orgo 2 which i was planning to take it this summer. I was originally planning to study for the dat while in school but that was almost impossible as i was taking 4 300 and 400 hard science courses and trying to get an A. (If i do get all As in this sememster, and during the summer i believe that my cum. Gpa would be over 3.1 and science gpa around 2.9) Is it a right decision for me to just not take the DAT if im not feeling confident at all and havent studied much? Like i havent even solved any reading comprehension questions yet.

What my new plan is not take the coming dat, which i will forfeit the fee and get ready studying for the gre for 1 year master school and apply this fall to compensate for my low gpa. Or should I not take the dat this time, and take the dat during the summer somehow and still apply within this cycle? Or should i just apply for 1 year masters program? What kind of good 1 year masters program are there? Is it hard to get into those masters program?

Thanks a lot in advance for reading this long dilemma of mine. I'm really in need of help choosing what the best decision for me would be.

Sent from my SM-G930V using SDN mobile

 

[sspeacock]

I wouldn't take the DAT if I were you. It's the type of test you only want to take once and you need to be confident that you'll crush it. Take a look at some review books-- if the questions in those books scare you, then you're probably not ready!

Allow yourself 1-2, maybe even 3 months (depending on your science knowledge) to focus on studying for the DAT. You may be able to take the o-chem 2 course and study for the DAT at the same time, but try not to commit yourself to too many things at once while studying.

Let's say your current semester ends the first week of June. If you study for the DAT intensely, you can take it mid/late July. This is when I took my DAT. Your scores will probably be sent mid-August, which is an OK time to submit in the app cycle. Given your GPA, timing and which schools you apply to are crucial, so this may or may not be too late for you depending on which schools you plan to apply to. If you choose to go this route, you should draft your CV and PS NOW and have your profs work on your LOR so you can submit your app the first week its opens and just send in your DAT scores after (which is what I did).

I haven't looked into masters or post-bacc programs, so I can't really advise which programs or best nor can I guarantee that they'll improve your application much. You might want to ask a pre-health counselor about this one. Depending on how many science courses you've already taken, a 1-year masters may not improve your GPA much at all. Try doing the math-- will getting all A's in a master's program significantly increase your science GPA (which matters much more than your overall GPA)? Is it worth the money paying for a master's program for this increase? If you can really slam the DAT, it'll greatly help offset your GPA and you won't have to worry as much about the master's program.

 

[smallfries2005]

Hello, so i am currently a senior majoring in biology planning to graduate this summer. My original plan was to apply this summer for d school and have a gap year. But as of now i still havent taken the dat, no recommendation letters, and my GPA is pretty low which is 3.0 cumulative and 2.6 science gpa. I have about 80 shadowing hours and about 400 hours in volunteering at church. Im registered to take the DAT soon and honestly i dont feel confident at all. I still havent taken orgo 2 which i was planning to take it this summer. I was originally planning to study for the dat while in school but that was almost impossible as i was taking 4 300 and 400 hard science courses and trying to get an A. (If i do get all As in this sememster, and during the summer i believe that my cum. Gpa would be over 3.1 and science gpa around 2.9) Is it a right decision for me to just not take the DAT if im not feeling confident at all and havent studied much? Like i havent even solved any reading comprehension questions yet.

What my new plan is not take the coming dat, which i will forfeit the fee and get ready studying for the gre for 1 year master school and apply this fall to compensate for my low gpa. Or should I not take the dat this time, and take the dat during the summer somehow and still apply within this cycle? Or should i just apply for 1 year masters program? What kind of good 1 year masters program are there? Is it hard to get into those masters program?

Thanks a lot in advance for reading this long dilemma of mine. I'm really in need of help choosing what the best decision for me would be.

Sent from my SM-G930V using SDN mobile

If you're graduating this May, I would use the summer to study and give the DAT in beginning of August. I would look for a program which will allow you to start a Masters degree without GRE. An example of this is the one year Master of Arts degree in Biomedical sciences offered by Midwestern University. There are plenty more. These Masters degree are designed to help you get into professional school.

Point being, you need to do a Masters degree because your GPA is too low. You don't have time to waste studying for GRE so looks for programs designed for helping enroll into professional school. Only take the DAT once you have had an entire 2-3 months to study with no school or work (unless you absolutely need to be working). You want to pass the first time as all the prep can take a toll on you.

Don't worry about your undergrad GPA. Just look ahead and move forward doing the best that you can. Best of luck to you on your journey!