Should I retake the DAT?

[CCMyster]

I'm currently a junior in my second semester who's scheduled to graduate a semester early
oGPA: 3.33
sGPA: 3.12
100 hours of shadowing
>100 hours of volunteering/community service hours

DAT
AA: 19 TS: 19 Bio: 18 GC: 20 OC: 19 QR: 19 PAT: 20 Reading: 21

Also, do any of my classes from senior year count toward my gpa?
I knocked out all the requirements and plan to take some easier classes for senior year to raise the gpa, hopefully those classes will actually factor into the gpa calculation

With the extra semester I plan on shadowing more, is there anything else I could do to spice up my seemingly lackluster application?

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[changtw]

All courses taken throughout your UG career count towards your GPA. Were you told otherwise?

I would highly recommend doing what you can to add some upper division science courses during your senior year to raise your sGPA (and oGPA). Other than GPA being a little low, things look OK.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Your GPA is on the lower side so I would retake it.

 

[CCMyster]

Oh, I had thought that since application normally starts in the summer between junior and senior years that dental schools would only see up until that point
I was mistaken but its glad to know for sure now
Thanks for the advice

 

[changtw]

Oh, I had thought that since application normally starts in the summer between junior and senior years that dental schools would only see up until that point
I was mistaken but its glad to know for sure now
Thanks for the advice

Oh! I see what you mean. So up until this summer (when you submit your application), your GPA will only reflect courses you've taken up until that point. However, you will also have to write down your In-Progress or Planned courses, and when the time comes (around December/January), you will go back on the AADSAS portal and do an academic update.

I've read some mixed things about this. Some people are worried that ADCOMS will dismiss the application right away after seeing a low GPA, making the academic update that comes later on useless. These people end up finishing off the semester/year with high grades, and apply the following cycle instead with the higher GPA. I've had some friends that went the low GPA, then academic update route, and received interview invites a few weeks after providing an academic update in Jan.

 

[NavyDDS1990]

I'm currently a junior in my second semester who's scheduled to graduate a semester early
oGPA: 3.33
sGPA: 3.12
100 hours of shadowing
>100 hours of volunteering/community service hours

DAT
AA: 19 TS: 19 Bio: 18 GC: 20 OC: 19 QR: 19 PAT: 20 Reading: 21

Also, do any of my classes from senior year count toward my gpa?
I knocked out all the requirements and plan to take some easier classes for senior year to raise the gpa, hopefully those classes will actually factor into the gpa calculation

With the extra semester I plan on shadowing more, is there anything else I could do to spice up my seemingly lackluster application?

From my personal experience, it will be difficult to be invited for interviews with your GPA, and with your DAT.
If I were you I would graduate on time and do informal post-bacc for at least 2 semesters and make 4.0's while taking upper level science courses.
And I would retake DAT as well.

 

[AlyssaRof2012]

Your DAT isn't great since your gpas are on the lower side. I have gpas around the same and someone from the admissions department of a dental school told me to make a ~21/22 in all categories to have a solid shot. I would just wait and apply next year. Take those semesters in between to raise your gpas. Either that or retake the DAT to get above average scores.

 

[CCMyster]

well its been a year since I posted this, I finished undergrad and started working as a dental assistant, got some great experience and saw some awesome things. I retook the DAT as well. Last cycle I got only one interview which resulted in a waitlist. I hope this year I get better results. Thanks guys for your help thus far.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

well its been a year since I posted this, I finished undergrad and started working as a dental assistant, got some great experience and saw some awesome things. I retook the DAT as well. Last cycle I got only one interview which resulted in a waitlist. I hope this year I get better results. Thanks guys for your help thus far.

You improved your DAT by a lot, congratulations on that. I hope you do a breakdown with some advice for students on how you improved your scores - I think it would be really helpful.

 

[DAT Destroyer]

well its been a year since I posted this, I finished undergrad and started working as a dental assistant, got some great experience and saw some awesome things. I retook the DAT as well. Last cycle I got only one interview which resulted in a waitlist. I hope this year I get better results. Thanks guys for your help thus far.

Congratulations! Wow, major improvement! You should have much better results this year.

Message me if you want any advice.

Dr. Jim Romano

 

[CCMyster]

You improved your DAT by a lot, congratulations on that. I hope you do a breakdown with some advice for students on how you improved your scores - I think it would be really helpful.

There was only one main difference.

First attempt: Princeton review course, Kaplan, Chads videos, lots of stress. Also took it after my sophomore year thinking that bio, gen chem, and orgo were fresh in my mind.

Second attempt: none of the above prep materials (in my opinion they're outdated and not as effective as what I used), also I took it after undergrad was over and after taking upper level bio classes such as biochemistry, a&p, and microbiology which I loved and did fairly well in in undergrad compared to intro bio. The main difference though was the DAT Destroyer book. It really blows away the competition in terms of preparing you for the test. Why bother taking timed practice tests over and over again (with minimal improvement) when it's much better to know the material like the back of your hand?
I took the actual DAT summer course with Dr. Romano and he really is the best instructor out there! He explains every single concept way better than any undergraduate professor could. His class is much more affordable/reasonable than some of the other courses I took in the past as well. If you can go through the actual destroyer about 2 times thoroughly then you should be fine. The course is mainly a refresher for those who may not remember everything they learned in undergrad. Hope this helps!

PS. Not sure if this is worth its own individual post since it's really not much different than most people's "improvement" posts... DAT Destroyer is the answer.

 

[CCMyster]

Congratulations! Wow, major improvement! You should have much better results this year.

Message me if you want any advice.

Dr. Jim Romano

Thanks for everything Dr. R!