Safe schools

[Paca444]

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I have read very mixed comments in the forums about safe schools and minimum reqs for DAT scores. At this point should all state schools be eliminated? Any advice would be appreciated.

I am ready to apply this week. I have already taken the DAT and have all of my LOR already in.
GPA 3.5
sGPA 3.15 (C's in OC)

DAT
AA 17
TS 17
Bio 18
RC 19
PAT 20
GC 16
OC 17
QR 14! (Yep, joined the low QR club)
Btw, took MCAT- 8,9,10,p (60th percentile)

Health Care Experience:
EMT
Life Guard
Surgeon's Assistant(with some dental exposure)- 5 years

 

[Dentisting]

I have read very mixed comments in the forums about safe schools and minimum reqs for DAT scores. At this point should all state schools be eliminated? Any advice would be appreciated.

I am ready to apply this week. I have already taken the DAT and have all of my LOR already in.
GPA 3.5
sGPA 3.15 (C's in OC)

DAT
AA 17
TS 17
Bio 18
RC 19
PAT 20
GC 16
OC 17
QR 14! (Yep, joined the low QR club)
Btw, took MCAT- 8,9,10,p (60th percentile)

Health Care Experience:
EMT
Life Guard
Surgeon's Assistant(with some dental exposure)- 5 years

I dont think you should apply this year. Its already kinda late, and your DAT is pretty bad, but maybe if you apply to all the schools, you might get lucky with like 1 or 2 interviews.

 

[lindell12a]

I would go ahead and apply. Your DAT scores aren't so great for applying late but I mean, go for it! 🙂

You're ahead of me, I still haven't submitted my application and I'm taking my DAT in October! Yikes. I'll need a AA 27 to get in 😉

 

[Cymbidium]

At this point I think it's safer to apply early next year. It's so competitive to get into any school these days that I'm not sure there are really any "safety schools" out there anymore.

I'm not sure if this is true - but the only reason why you might want to apply this year is so that you can be a "re-applicant" next year. I think re-applicants tend to get more interviews and looked at by more school, provided that they improved their application from last cycle.

 

[Paca444]

I was going to be too late last year, so I didn't apply because people said that I wouldn't want to be considered a re-applicant. Guess it depends on who you ask. And yeah, I'm a complete idiot to have to wait an entire year to reapply and then still be late. That considered I have to apply to at least some schools, the list is as follows so far:

Boston University School of Medicine (BU)
Case School of Dental Medicine (CWR)
Columbia University (CUL)
Creighton University (CRE)
Marquette University (MQT)
Medical University South Carolina (MSC)
New York University (NYU) NY
Nova Southeastern University (NSU)
Southern Illinois University (SIU)
State University of New York at Buffalo (BUF)
State University of New York Stony Brook (SUSB)
University of Connecticut (CONN)
University of Detroit Mercy (UDM)
University of North Carolina (UNC)
West Virginia University (WVA)

Are there any that I should definitely not apply to?

 

[Cymbidium]

I would throw Temple, USC and Tufts and maybe even Pitt into the mix too. Unless you don't want to go to those schools.

I would drop Stony Brook and UCONN (the class size is like 30 students - I'm not so sure your stats are competitive enough). I'm not sure about the other state schools you applied to (Illinois, WVA, UNC and MSC).

 

[john9192]

I would eliminate Columbia b/c they weigh heavily on DAT scores. Their average is like 21.

 

[Dr IWannaBe]

If you are comparing your scores to the many people here on SDN, then, of course, your scores may be low, but in the general applicant pool you are about in the middle, but your PAT is above the "pack". Your overall GPA is good, although your sci gpa could be a bit higher, but that's difficult to raise, because it sometimes takes so many classes to get it right where you want it. Your experience is good. I'm not sure how many Dental shadowing hours you have, though. All in all, I'd say go for it. You have nothing to lose, but D-school to gain! I wish you the best!