Question about graduation timing

[hamburger90]

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Hello everyone

First i want to thank all of your for taking the time to read this. It might be a little long, but maybe you can help a good individual have a better night sleep. First i want to give you some background information since it will make things easier:

Chemistry Major
All Pre-reqs completed with all As
Cumulative GPA 3.65
Sci GPA- 3.94 (B+ in Calc 2 🙁 )
37 credits left to complete BA in chemistry
Private Pilot/ Instrument Rated (256 hours of flight time)
21 Years Old
Volunteering and shadowing done.
Chemistry T.A
And Professional Tutor for a company ( All sciences). Is called "clutch tutoring" we are the best lol, you can like us on FB 🙂
DAT- Not done( will have it done by June 1st)

Now here is the dilemma: I want to apply this year, i don't want to wait another whole year of probably not doing much. But i still need 37 credits to graduate. Thats gonna be hard to fit in in the semesters that i have left (including summers).
I need your help from precious experience, would it be worth the try to apply this year? its going to be vey tight for me to graduate and am wondering how will dental school see this. I can put in a very good application this year but there aren't a lot of 3000 level classes under my belt ( By the summer i will have done only 6 3000 level courses). But for the school that i want to attend, i will have all requirements fulfilled and god willing A's in all of them (just need one more). I don't want to waste my time neither money if i don't stand a chance due to the fact that there is a big possibility that i wont graduate before the 2013 classes begin. It would be great to hear what some of you think about this situation, i am pretty sure that i am not the only one that has been on this boat before. Thank you all for your insight!

 

[avangusva]

You don't absolutely need a bachelors to get into dental school (for the most part, I don't know if there are any schools that require it). However, I would contact schools you were interested in first. I, personally, am in my year off and I am very very happy I took it. I graduated 4 years, so that wasn't the issue, but I just wanted some time off before school. Since you said that you have completed all of your pre-reqs, then you should be good to go for school. You have a great GPA and assuming that you study hard for the DAT, you should be fine. The trick with the DAT is that you want to be consistent across all sections so you don't miss any cutoffs or have one section bring down your TS or AA. Good luck!

 

[datdental]

You don't absolutely need a bachelors to get into dental school (for the most part, I don't know if there are any schools that require it). However, I would contact schools you were interested in first. I, personally, am in my year off and I am very very happy I took it. I graduated 4 years, so that wasn't the issue, but I just wanted some time off before school. Since you said that you have completed all of your pre-reqs, then you should be good to go for school. You have a great GPA and assuming that you study hard for the DAT, you should be fine. The trick with the DAT is that you want to be consistent across all sections so you don't miss any cutoffs or have one section bring down your TS or AA. Good luck!

There actually are some dental schools that require you to have a bachelors. For example, I know for sure that Midwestern University College of Dental Medicine - Illinois requires completion of a bachelor's degree prior to matriculation. Check out the latest ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools for specific information about what each school wants. This info can also be found on each school's website.

 

[youknowthedrill]

You mentioned that you wanted to attend a particular school. Your best bet is to see if you can meet with their admissions department and explain your situation. Some schools do admit students without degrees and others do not. I also wouldn't rely on the info in the ADEA Guide to Dental Schools. The listing for my state school indicates that they will admit students without a degree...but the dean of admissions said they haven't accepted anyone in that category in over 5 years. Their reasoning is that competition is up and there are too many qualified applicants.

 

[hamburger90]

NOVA has no bachelors requirements:

"Prior to matriculation, applicants must have completed a minimum of 90 semester-hours of coursework from a regionally accredited college or university. Not more than 60 semester-hours from community or junior college will be applied to the 90-semester-hour minimum.
" I live 10 minutes away from this school lol.

All thier requirements i will have fulfilled by the time i apply.
BUt i wil try to meet with someone from the school. Thank you very much everyone 👍

 

[futuretxdds]

You should look up each school you are planning to apply to and see if they require a degree. I know that quite a few schools DO require one. Harvard and Penn both require degrees.

Edit: Just saw that you're interested in NOVA and that they don't need one -- it might be worth finding out if not having a degree will put you at a disadvantage in terms of admissions, but since they don't say anything about it on the website probably not. Good luck!