possible to apply to start in 2011?

[yanksgiants]

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here's my situation. I just finished my undergrad and was planning on going to physical therapy school, but now im considering dental school. i have taken calc, bio, physics and chem, but not organic chem. If i took orgo 1 and 2 over this summer and took the DAT in say September, would it be possible to apply for admission to a program starting in fall 2011? when do most schools have deadlines? i'm just trying to get an idea if its possible so i don't have to take more than 1 year off of school.

The other issue is with letters of recommendation. All my letters from undergrad were specifically for physical therapy, not dentistry, and were not from the major science classes that i took. Could i get them out of my orgo classes if i take them at a community college this summer?

thanks in advance

 

[fourrings]

yes. theoretically it would be possible to still apply for the 2011 cycle by september. however, it probably wouldn't be an ideal situation. it sounds like you'd be rushing your studying for the DAT plus rushing your actual application. even if you did get your application in by september, it'd be considered late in the game.

of course if your GPA is strong to begin with and your DAT scores turn out to be great as well, then turning in your application that late might not even be an issue.

as for the LOR...of course you could get them from whatever ochem class you take, but considering you need 2 LOR, it's a bit of a risk to bank on forming good relationships/getting strong LOR from the only two classes you take.

basically i would weigh how strong your application to see whether it's worth it to rush that whole process.

hope that helped some!

 

[davidius]

For best success you will want to apply June 1st, the earliest date possible through the AADSAS website. In order to do this you will want to take your DAT before then because it takes the ADA about a month to verify your scores and send them to your respectively chosen schools. Granted, it does not always work this way. You do not need your DAT scores to submit your AADSAS application but schools will not complete your application until they receive a paper copy of your DAT scores.

I submitted my AADSAS app mid-late August just after I finished the DAT. Ultimately my app was sent out by late September. This is about the latest you would want to submit your application and consider that earlier applications generally are more successful. It is not uncommon for people to apply more than once - no one person's story is the same.

You might consider taking Organic I soon (Spring?) and Organic II (Summer) and a simultaneously review for the DAT. You'll want to volunteer if you haven't already, as well, and contact your previous teachers to change your letter wording + get letters from dentists that you shadow (depends on the schools of course). The DAT will test on Organic material but it is possible to get decent scores without taking the coursework; just harder. I used Kaplan but not everyone's a big fan.

I know it seems like a lot and it is but it is doable if you plan accordingly. Of course, there is the option of spreading it out over another year and this makes sense in regards to time conflicts, financial burdens, etc. I was faced with the same choice and figured to give it a shot this year and have my backup for next year which proved a successful strategy; at least for me.

Good luck.