Should I do a Masters??

[Wee Kings]

oGPA 3.47
DAT 19, 21 TS (didn't study much for it tbh)
Plenty of community service and shadowing
Strong LOR & an okay PS
Offered three interviews (NOVA -> waitlisted, UNE -> denied, Touro -> waiting to interview)

If it doesn't work out this semester I'm thinking that I should do the MS program of Oral Health at BU.
Do you people think this is the best thing to do? Or should I go the cheaper route and just retake the DAT, study hard and kill it?

Any advice would be sweet..

*this is my first time applying if that makes a difference..

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[Cthuluhoop]

In my opinion, no you shouldn't do a masters. What's your science GPA?
Your GPA isn't awful, it's not great, but it's definitely not bad. Retake the DAT and get a killer score by adjusting your study habits or by studying more. Rewrite your PS and include your perseverance of not getting in your first time but still are fully passionate about dentistry etc. Then have many people read it and have them give you advice on what to add/remove. Continue to shadow and volunteer when you have time to show you're staying active in dentistry still, and maybe work on your interviewing skills if you think they may be lacking

Unless you have someone funding your masters program, they are a money pit with the current interests rates of Federal Grad Plus loans. Unless you have someone paying for it and your GPA is really low, I wouldn't recommend someone getting their masters just to attend dental school.
That loan will accumulate interest immediately and all the way through dental school. That estimated $72,000 tuition including cost of living will balloon to nearly $100k by the time you graduate dental school. Add that to a high CoA school like NOVA, and it'll be a long dark road to pay that back

 

[knewstance]

I would highly recommend not taking at masters.

Study really well for your DAT and get over 21AA and you will have a pretty good shot at getting accepted.

 

[Wee Kings]

Thanks for advice. 100k just to further increase my chances of getting into dschool does seem pretty crazy...

 

[Wee Kings]

I would highly recommend not taking at masters.

Study really well for your DAT and get over 21AA and you will have a pretty good shot at getting accepted.

Maybe not as much so as doing the masters at BU but I definitely agree. I think it's possible for me to get over a 21 for sure.

 

[Cthuluhoop]

Dental school is already astronomically expensive, even if interest didn't exist, a masters at $72k just to raise your chances of admissions dental school is a terrible idea, unless someone is paying for it.

You can for sure get over a 21 if you really buckle down and study hard for the test, good luck!

 

[Wee Kings]

Dental school is already astronomically expensive, even if interest didn't exist, a masters at $72k just to raise your chances of admissions dental school is a terrible idea, unless someone is paying for it.

You can for sure get over a 21 if you really buckle down and study hard for the test, good luck!

Yeah..very true

 

[Let me out!]

I don't understand some of this. Please do not take this personally; I don't mean any offense.

Of the few things that you actually have control over, you screwed them over yourself. For the remaining time this cycle, you should contact the schools and express your interests. The best outcome would be to get in this cycle.

In the meantime, you can study for the DAT, take it, and ace it. Is it supposed to be something proud of to say "I didn't study much for it"? If not, you already know what the problem might have been.

I also don't know what "plenty" means in your question. Plenty of people get in with 3.5GPA and 19DAT. I can only guess that maybe your EC and experiences are weak compared to other applicants and that may have been the determining factor for the schools.

If you think that your PS is OKAY, then it is probably terrible. Get some readers to read it for you and consider working with an expert editor to finalize it for you. The PS is the FACE of your application before they invite you to an interview. You can have the best GPA and DAT scores, but if your PS sucks, you will not be invited.

NOVA is quite generous with providing interviews. They literally have 20 or so students doing interviews almost everyday for months, starting in August. They are very tough on choosing from those interviews, however. You might want to sharpen your interview skills as well.

With all that said, I also agree with above posters not to go masters. Masters generally provide schools that you can handle the upper level of coursework. Your GPA is fine (wtf is your sGPA?). It's the others things that matter. Thankfully... those can be relatively easily corrected or enhanced. With that, I think you should have no trouble getting in next cycle.

 

[Wee Kings]

I don't understand some of this. Please do not take this personally; I don't mean any offense.

Of the few things that you actually have control over, you screwed them over yourself. For the remaining time this cycle, you should contact the schools and express your interests. The best outcome would be to get in this cycle.

In the meantime, you can study for the DAT, take it, and ace it. Is it supposed to be something proud of to say "I didn't study much for it"? If not, you already know what the problem might have been.

I also don't know what "plenty" means in your question. Plenty of people get in with 3.5GPA and 19DAT. I can only guess that maybe your EC and experiences are weak compared to other applicants and that may have been the determining factor for the schools.

If you think that your PS is OKAY, then it is probably terrible. Get some readers to read it for you and consider working with an expert editor to finalize it for you. The PS is the FACE of your application before they invite you to an interview. You can have the best GPA and DAT scores, but if your PS sucks, you will not be invited.

NOVA is quite generous with providing interviews. They literally have 20 or so students doing interviews almost everyday for months, starting in August. They are very tough on choosing from those interviews, however. You might want to sharpen your interview skills as well.

With all that said, I also agree with above posters not to go masters. Masters generally provide schools that you can handle the upper level of coursework. Your GPA is fine (wtf is your sGPA?). It's the others things that matter. Thankfully... those can be relatively easily corrected or enhanced. With that, I think you should have no trouble getting in next cycle.

Dayum. No honestly thanks for the reply though. You definitely got me thinking about some things.
But yeesh, I don’t think I screwed anything up really.. I’ll continue updating nova and touro, and I already sent nova a letter of interest and will send touro one right after I interview there. Also my sGPA is a 3.5.
I’m definetly doing what I can to get in this cycle but just thinking of what I will do next in case I don’t