School Rec's, Chances, Etc.

[rjroberts12]

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this is my second time applying to dental school, and i was wondering what my chances are this time around. here are my quick stats:

undergrad: vanderbilt, b.a. in biology
sGPA: 2.8
oGPA: 3.0

DAT (june, 2007)
pat: 16
qr: 19
rc: 19
b: 21
gc: 16
oc: 16
ts: 18
aa: 18

currently doing a master's at vanderbilt and will graduate in spring of 2010, all A's and one B so far.

i worked more than full-time during my undergrad career and have some volunteer work with kids in a couple of different programs i.e. big brothers/big sisters.

i've been working full-time in a research lab at vandy since i graduated. i will be on two papers, and i have presented a poster at a research day, and what i do directly translates to dentistry (i do microdissections on embryos and we look at developmental problems that have ramifications in craniofacial development). i also attend various research seminars as well.

i feel really good about my p.s. i talked about how my undergrad record doesn't reflect me as a student and how i've gone on to do well in my master's program etc, etc, etc. basically, i owned up to not doing as well as i could have but am turning it around now (which is all true).

i also have 300+ hours of shadow/volunteer experience with 2 different dentists (w/ rec's from both). other two rec's were very good sci professors (one is the guy i'm working for now and the other is the director of my master's program).
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questions:
1) should i retake the DAT? if the resounding answer is yes, i can be ready as soon as mid-july. i feel i can do better a lot better on the pat, about the same on bio, qr, and rc, but i'm worried about both chems.

2) what schools do i have the best shot at? i already applied to ohio st, case western, usc, nyu, boston, tufts, louisville, temple, and marquette (i'm an ohio resident and am looking at air force dentistry, so since they'll foot the bill, cost won't be an issue).

3) how should i feel about my chances? i feel like if i can just get an interview, i'll be okay, but what do you all think about both my chances of getting an interview and getting in?

i bounce between being really, really nervous to feeling okay, so any feedback/encouragement would be awesome but don't pull punches.

muchos gracias (i'm not bilingual but i wanna do the spanish rosetta stone, any thoughts?)

 

[sfrice80]

You gpa is pretty low and you have 2 science sections and a PAT thats pretty low. Out of state schools will be tough to get into because your competition for those spots are usually through the roof! If I were in your position, I would re-take the DAT, cuz if you re-take it and do really well on it, you've drastically improved your chances for interviews. As it sits right now, I would re-take your DAT. On the upside, your EC's are really good!

 

[doc toothache]

Retake.