should i wait until summer 2008 to apply for dental school

[biology5]

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should i wait until the 2009 cycle, my overall GPA is 3.61, and sciGPA~3.25, and planning to take the dat again in october?

 

[Flipper405]

Depends on your current DAT, and your financial considerations. If you have money to burn, then go ahead and apply now, but you are going to be kinda late even if you're applying now, not to mention having to wait until october.

then again... I'm applying next year... so disregard everything I said and go get accepted this cycle 😛

 

[biology5]

i'm gonna be applying in a location you'll likely not apply to, but for information i got a 19 PAT, 17 AA (TS 18, RC16, QR 16). you think that it's too late into the cycle and should wait? don't have money to burn, and does dental schools look at the overall GPA or is science GPA a greater factor in the school's decision to accept student?

 

[dark_horse]

I would say apply, you never know what school will pick you up. You could have a 4.0 and they still won't take you. How is the rest of your resume? Good patient experience/observation hours?? Good letter of recommendations? I think your grades are fine, if you want to play it safe and not waste money, apply to an in-state dental school / dental school that has agreement with your state. Unless you really want to go to top dental school, apply now, apply next year..just keep your interest high and let the schools know who you are. Do observations at the school, volunteer there, just get involved.

Good Luck!!

 

[briansle]

i'm gonna be applying in a location you'll likely not apply to, but for information i got a 19 PAT, 17 AA (TS 18, RC16, QR 16). you think that it's too late into the cycle and should wait? don't have money to burn, and does dental schools look at the overall GPA or is science GPA a greater factor in the school's decision to accept student?

Do not apply this year. Wait for the next cycle, and apply early. Like whenever AADSAS opens up.

In the mean time... take whatever time you need to raise that DAT score. I'm sure you realize your DAT scores are weak.

Since money is a factor, make this a one-time deal. I'm positive you could do way better on the DAT based on your SciGPA. Postpone your test date, and keep doing practice questions until you've seen them all. Then take the test, apply, and get accepted.

 

[Dental156]

please excust typos as im doing this from my cell... Iwas in the same boat as you last year. My gpas were borderline, I toke my dat in october( which i scored average on), and I was just finishing up prereqs as i sent my app in, in november! I applied to 3 local schools and quickly got denied from two of them but went for an interview for the third. I ended up getting waitlisted and then denied but for me it was a huge learning experience. I learned to apply early and to have all my lor's ready to go in may. However, it was discouraging getting denied and it was a huge pain appling all over again. Whatever you do make sure you are still observing/ volunteering and taking steps to make your application flawless for the following cycle. Btw, the schools will be asking you how you improved your app.

 

[DrSmiles12]

I would wait until next year. If you got a 17 on the DAT and your waiting until now to apply a lot of people with higher stats might make it harder for schools to see your application through the stack they allready hase