Realistically, What Do You All Think I Need To Get In This Year?

[DATownsME]

Alright, so here we are, 2:00 A.M. and I can't sleep. Why? Well I'm sure it's the same for many of you but the DAT is really starting to get to me. No, I'm not about to have a breakdown or anything but the stress is more than I expected. I read over this forum a couple times a week to get some ideas and set better goals for myself so thank you all in advance for that. So it's August 25th and no I haven't taken the DAT yet. Late? Yes I already know that. My test is scheduled for September 19th. Really Late... Yes I already know that but due to a need to work a good 40 hrs a week to pay for the prep materials/ application fees (mom and dad can only help so much), this is what I'm left with. I will not push it back and I can't bring it forward which leads me to my main purpose for this post:

What Do !!! I !!!! Need to Get In for Fall '09?

Here's My Stats:

Graduated: May '08. w/ B.S.
CumGPA: 3.42
SciGPA: 3.34
NonSci GPA: 3.59
BCP GPA: 3.16 (explain in a sec)

Total Shadow Hours: 972 (3 Doctors in 4 Years) = About 120-130 Days

Letters: 3 Strong Science, 1 Very Strong Dental (These 4 in Committee like service), 1 Average Dental (not long/indepth enough)

I do have that dreaded "bad semester" in my junior year. I attended one school my first 2 years (not a Community College) and transferred after my sophomore year to another school which I had always wanted to attend but had parental influence to attend my first university originally. In that bad semester I had 2 C's 1 C+, (4 C's overall on my transcript). My parents had lost both their jobs the summer i transferred and by the time spring semester rolled around I was strapped and had to work 35-40hrs/week with a full schedule of classes. Hence the 3.16 BCP

Needless to say you can see that overall I am in the "Average" range and worried how I'm going to do on the DAT, especially with the pressure of NEEDING a 20+ in my opinion.

1) Do you think I can get in for the Fall'09 class (GPA, plus taking DAT so late?)
- if you do, what do you think I need to be competitive?

Thank you all so much for the help you've already given without knowledge and good luck to you all!

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[DROCKINDAHOUSE]

dont worry too much about the dat man...honestly u could stress urself out to the point that u dont do good on ur actual test. ur stats seem fine, u dont have a terrible gpa and u have alot of dental experience. of course u will hear everyone on this forum say that u need to score at least 18's on every section to be competitive so that should be a startin point. I'll tell u somethin tho that my predent advisor told me, and this guy has been doin it for almost 20 years, he literally said "the key to acceptance is the academic average and total science sections." If u can get a 20+ in these two sections then u should be alright with ur gpa. no matter how it goes apply to ur state schools and prolly just private ones unless u make something crazy on the dat like a 24 AA. good luck to u

 

[DATownsME]

thanks for the words man. Appreciate it

 

[mistero]

You might want to take a look at this. This is the average DAT scores and GPA for students entering dental school in 2006. This is not to get you upset, but I assume the numbers will only go higher.
http://www.dentalstudentbooks.com/dental_school_statistics.html