Should I apply for 2005 or 2006???

[katieTX]

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Hi everyone,

I am in dilemma and need help to make decision. I am a sophomore at a community college in TX, GPA 4.0, no shadowing experience, work part-time at disability office and some volunteer. Also I can get good LORs from science professors, and supervisor at work. I plan to take DAT some time in this summer. I have none university hours under my belt beside 64 hrs at CC after this Spring, and A.A. after the summer I'll transfer to UTA and plan to take some more upper level biology classes in my junior year.

My question is: should I apply for 2005 cycle or wait until 2006?

If I should apply for 2005, what schools do you think I have 1% of any chance? I saw so many excellent stats in this forum and it scares me

What i should do to increase my chance to get in somewhere???

Responses from everybody is extremely helpful. Thanks a tons.

 

[sxr71]

I think if you start shadowing someone in the summer and get a good DAT score you will be in good shape. Just take all science classes when you arrive at UTA, and put that in your AADSAS application as classes that you are going to take. I think you have a good shot of making it with your solid GPA, and a hopefully excellent DAT score.

 

[katieTX]

please, please, please!!!! after you read my post, leave me some words of what you think about this.
I really need help to make my decision. I wanna get in at the first try because I have limit money for application fee, so please, reply my post. Thank you so much.

 

[futureD]

We cannot make the decision for you.

You need to guage how competitive you are for yourself. Do you feel that you are ready to apply in 2005 or 2006? You know shadowing experience is important. DAT score is VERY important. Do you feel that I can explain to your interviewers (if you get an interview) that you're ready for dental school without university courses? The ultimate issue is when do YOU think you're ready to apply because it is YOU who will be in the hot seat explaining yourself to interviewers. Of course, if you can first explain yourself to yourself, then it is cake to explain to your interviewer.

Something to consider: All professional schools ( med, dental, pharm) are very competitive for at least the next four or so years or for as long the economy remains stagnant. This is due to the fact many many more people are applying and scores, GPAs are continuing to rise.

 

[Aaronpsr]

This is kind of strange....but I was nearly in the same situation at that point of my education. When I was a sophmore at a CC, I had a 4.0, lots of shadowing..ect and I considered appplying early.

Now, I can't make the decision for you....but ultimately I decided to just wait until the the summer after my junior year to apply and take the DAT. Personally, the decision I made was simply to become a more educated person. I really valued my time as an undergraduate and enjoyed taking upper level Biology courses at my University.

Practically speaking, it is probably better to wait as well. Getting accepted with just CC hours (even with a stellar GPA) and no prospect of a Bachelor's degree is going to be very difficult. Like FutureD said, the competition is getting incresingly stiff. Applying on time may save you money, a lot of heartache, and points on your GPA (applying can be very taxing on your grades!)

Best of luck to you, I wish you well. If you have any questions, just pm me.

 

[sxr71]

Now that we know that you want to apply only once, I think the situation is different from just giving it a shot this year.

I would get some DAT preparation materials and the Top Score Pro CD and start studying and periodically take practice tests. If you are getting good consistent scores in 20s using some of the practice tests at your disposal and you are happy with those scores, then I would take the test this year.

Other things I would do, is to call a couple of schools you are interested in and ask someone there about how they perceive someone with your background.

Even if you feel later that it isn't worth applying this year, you still have gotten your DATs out of the way and that will help make your application process next year a little smoother (and it gives you the chance to improve your scores in case you need to).


It might help to take summer classes at UTA to at least have a few grades from a 4-year university.

It would also help us to know which science classes you still need to take (if any).

 

[katieTX]

Thanks everyone for your reply. I made up my mind, and once again, I wanna know what u think about it.

I will apply for 2006 in order to:
- take more upper level biology classes at UTA, and plan to get BS in Biology before starting dental school
- more time to prepare for DAT to get >=20s
- try to get any kinds of shaddowing experience and more volunteer hours
- take some dental assistant courses at my CC to have better knowledge about dentistry
- more time to play piano and bowling
- and enjoy undergrad years

That's all I can think of. Please let me know if anything else I can do to improve my chance to get in at the first shot. I really appreciate all your help.