school choices

[Subcharge]

---

Members do not see this ad.

hi! im a cali native and just recently knocked out the DAT with some killer scores on the sciences but not so much the second half of the exam. i have a 3.0 GPA for both overall and science and wanted to know what my chances of acceptance to schools like UCLA and UCSF (dream school). my medium range schools are UOP, USC and LLU and i havent really thought of any safety schools yet. but my question is as follows:

i have a low gpa but my DAT scores will make up for that (hopefully). what are some schools that i can apply for and have a fairly good chance of getting in.

PA- 19
QR - 17
RC - 19
BIO - 21
GC - 22
OC- 25😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
TS - 22🙄
AA - 21

 

[dymm]

Hey I'm in a similar situation with a low gpa and fairly high DAT. I don't think we have a good chance of getting into UCLA and UCSF (my dream schools also)... especially for me since I do not have any research experience at all.
I would add WesternU (Pomona, CA).
I am also thinking about applying to neighboring state schools like UNLV, OHSU, Midwestern-AZ, and ASDOH (if you have good amount of community service hours).
If you are open about going to east coast schools, then you might want to look into schools like BU, Tufts, NYU, Pitt, Case Western, and Midwestern-Illinois.

I am also applying this cycle so I obviously have not gone through the whole process myself (nor do I know everything about applications, schools, etc..), but best of luck to you!! maybe we will be classmates at some CA school in the near future 👍

 

[R3DEUCE]

Congrats!

Haven't taken my DAT yet but I'm in the same situation as you GPA-wise. I'm banking on my age, professional experience and hoping for a good score once my test comes. My thing is... I'm not tied to my state. I'll go anywhere. Definitely check out that adea book. They have all the stats on the schools, min./avg. GPA, DAT scores, etc. Need to make an informed decision because all of these schools will gladly take your application fees even if they don't plan on considering you. Best of luck!

 

[Mattkman90]

OOO... you did a great job on the DAT. I don't think you should have much of an issue.

 

[Subcharge]

do you think it would be necessary to purchase the ADEA book with all of the latest stats or just stick to using the next best thing: predents.com?

thanks for all the support guys, its great to know that theres applicant with similar profiles. just out of curiosity, how many shadowing hours do u guys have? and what do think is the bare minimum and what is a comfortable range of hours to work with? i kno this question has been asked before but i wanna know how you guys are doing specifically. i have maybe 20ish hours of shadowing but 300 hrs of community service

thanks!

 

[Subcharge]

thanks for the positive words, dymm. r u applying this cycle?

 

[dymm]

I don't think predents.com is reliable at all. I have the ADEA book and I guess it's a good resource to have. I've also been going to the websites of the schools I'm interested to read up on everything.
As for the EC stuff.. I have a lot of hours volunteering at a dental clinic but almost no community service hours. I don't know how that will play out.

yea I'm applying this cycle and hoping for the best

 

[sacapuntas]

Please don't take my post as anything besides trying to be helpful. I am not trying to insult you in any way, only sharing with you information I have gathered as I have researched a lot in the 5 months since I took my DAT in January (I have a GPA and DAT a little higher than yours, but same idea).

I don't think you are competitive for schools like UCLA and UCSF. I also don't think you have safety schools. Just because we did well on the DAT does not erase our below average transcripts.

We do not have the luxury of 'safety schools' as getting into any dental school will be an uphill battle. You should apply broadly to lots of OOS private schools and continue to take classes to up your GPAs in the event you do not make it in this year.

Again, please only take this as my advice and it is no slight against you.

 

[Subcharge]

Hey sacapuntas, u can suck it! Haha jk jk. That's good advice, u always want to stay on top of your toes. U think I should start off on predents.com? Or buy the adea book?

 

[R3DEUCE]

I honestly can't recall how many hours of shadowing I have... Probably more or less what you have in volunteer hours. I really don't know what's considered acceptable. Definitely a good question. I'm sure all schools vary. I only have 80 hours of volunteering on paper. I've volunteered at different events for our school's Pre-dental club a couple of years back but I'm sure they don't have a record of that.

 

[ushaseos]

Your DAT won't be a problem but GPA can be depending on how choosy the school wants to be. I'd recommend getting the ADEA book since it has a lot of good stats to consider and it is only $40. There is no gold mine of information in there, its just a concise set of info for you to scan through. If you already have a good idea of where you want to apply, then pre-dents is probably enough. I am from Cali too so I'd recommend Western U's Dental as a sort of safety school. It is kinda new so maybe it isn't as competitive as the rest.

Now if you're any sort of URM, then your chances are much higher but all of the above is assuming you are not.

 

[R3DEUCE]

Now if you're any sort of URM, then your chances are much higher but all of the above is assuming you are not.

Do you really think being an URM has its perks in states like Cali? The idea is foreign to me since I live in Miami, FL where "minorities" ARE the majority.

 

[ushaseos]

Do you really think being an URM has its perks in states like Cali? The idea is foreign to me since I live in Miami, FL where "minorities" ARE the majority.

I don't want to side track the discussion, but being a URM is an advantage regardless of location. This isn't a discussion of whether such special quotas are a good idea, or whether it is fair. It is just the fact that it is a statistical advantage for the right person in the right circumstance. I only put that in because the OP never said anything about being URM, but if he/she is then that changes things up a bit.