Should I apply this cycle or wait for next year?

[Doc90]

I was pre med before and mid june this year i changed to dentistry. I am already done with my undergrad. The prob was my experience in dental field i had no experience whatsoever. So I decided to shadow a dentist and soon enough they hired me to work as a dental assistant and taught me many many things! I totally love it. But here is the problem. I really want to apply to dental schools this year and I havent taken my DAT yet. I have my personal statement almost ready. I already took a year off and now if I dont apply this year it will be like me wasting 2 more years. I really dont want to do that! I have asked my friends who are in dental school and they said that its too late to apply now..can someone please tell me if i should apply this cycle or next? And what are my chances of getting in? I really want to apply to this cycle but I know money is a big investment so I really dont want to waste that either knowing the fact i wont get in. Here are my stats:
Also, I was thinking I will apply to dental schools by this weekend and take my DAT in mid oct and send my score then?

My GPA is 3.4
Science GPA is 3.3
Experience hours around 300 (shadowing and working as a dental assistant)

I finished really good in my undergrad last three semesters i had GPA of 3.6-3.8 (mostly science classes)

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[Danielqta]

The schools won't even consider you until they receive your DAT scores, and it takes a couple weeks for them to send in. So essentially, you'll be a December applicant. Considering that's the deadline for most schools, I assume the only people they look at during that timeframe are people with top-tier stats.

 

[ktbb]

Good to hear you found your love in dentistry! However, it would be a waste of time and money to bother applying this cycle as it is already really late into it. At the very latest, mid-August should be a general deadline to have LORs, transcripts and DAT scores in.

Although you weren't looking forward to having another gap year, it would be a really good to hammer out your personal statement and focus on your DAT. You could even pick up some community service or something as well.