Signing up for the DAT, need your help! :)

[hellonurse]

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Ok buddies, I am signing up for the DAT so I need to know where to apply..here's my info:

Florida Resident
oGPA: 3.9+
sGPA: 3.95+
*Research in organic chemistry
*volunteering at hospital and free dental clinic
*50 hrs shadowing
*honors college/graduate level honor's thesis
*Chemistry tutor

Where I am applying:
UF
Nova
Pittsburgh
Upenn
NYU
USC


What other schools should I go for? Thank you all for your help, I really appreciate it. 😀



Edit: Very important, I took 2.5 yrs at CC. Prereqs @ CC=Bio I and Gen Chem I & II.

 

[hellonurse]

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[DrAwesome]

Hey Hellonurse,

can't really help you but I am having the same problem (have been lurking around the forum the past couple of days but haven't posted anything yet)...congrats on that gpa though, that's gonna look really nice on the application 🙂 My guess would be that you'd probably competitive at most/all schools if you do well on the DAT (so why not also apply to Columbia, UCLA, might be worth a shot 🙂 ), but I am new to this whole thing and thus have no clue.....which Is why I am asking exactly the same question (where to apply) as well:

International Student (Orginially from Germany, but am currently in the process of getting Quebec/Canada permanent residency)
oGPA: 3.86
sGPA: 3.75
*Research assistant in 2 labs (but clinical psych and clinical neuropsych)
-> 1 pub + 1 manuscript submitted + 1 in preperation (currently analyzing data)
-> 1 conference presentation
* 1 year as full-time lab manager/lab coordinator (graduating now, applying this summer, doing this during this upcoming year)
* on the editorial board of a student research journal
* some academic stuff (Dean's List, 2 honours theses, graduating with first class honours, some academic achievement award in my home state in Germany with following boring banquet courtesy of the state's senate of education)
* fluent in 2 languages, intermediate French and basic Spanish
* tutored 2 courses
* worked as physician assistant/surgical assistant in a private clinic back home for a semester
* a small amount of shadowing a general dentist

Schools I have picked thus far:
McGill University (Nr 1 choice, alma mater, good (but cheap) education, love it
Columbia + Harvard (very long shot, but if I don't try I am going to regret it and wonder what if, even if it means throwing money for the apps out of the window)

What others would you guys recommend? Those three up there are reaches, so I need some safeties and some target schools 🙂

 

[bjhath]

Ok buddies, I am signing up for the DAT so I need to know where to apply..here's my info:

Florida Resident
oGPA: 3.9+
sGPA: 3.95+
*Research in organic chemistry
*volunteering at hospital and free dental clinic
*50 hrs shadowing
*honors college/graduate level honor's thesis
*Chemistry tutor

Where I am applying:
UF
Nova
Pittsburgh
Upenn
NYU
USC


What other schools should I go for? Thank you all for your help, I really appreciate it. 😀

Out of curiosity, what is your major?

With a GPA like that, regardless of CC credits, apply anywhere you want. Take your pick. Score 20s+ on all sections of the DAT, practice your interview techniques, and wait for the acceptances.

If you haven't done so already, you need to evaluate, for yourself, what you want to do in your career and what you want while in dental school. Do you want to specialize? Work in research? Become a strong clinician? Do you want to go to a "big name" school? Ivy vs State? Public vs. private? How do you want to be treated as a student (peer or peon)? Do you want traditional instruction or PBL? Is debt a major concern? Do you want to stay in Florida? Where in the U.S. do you want to practice?

Good luck!

 

[hellonurse]

Out of curiosity, what is your major?

With a GPA like that, regardless of CC credits, apply anywhere you want. Take your pick. Score 20s+ on all sections of the DAT, practice your interview techniques, and wait for the acceptances.

If you haven't done so already, you need to evaluate, for yourself, what you want to do in your career and what you want while in dental school. Do you want to specialize? Work in research? Become a strong clinician? Do you want to go to a "big name" school? Ivy vs State? Public vs. private? How do you want to be treated as a student (peer or peon)? Do you want traditional instruction or PBL? Is debt a major concern? Do you want to stay in Florida? Where in the U.S. do you want to practice?

Good luck!

Thank you 🙂 My major is kind of like this pre-med thing that my school has. it's an actual major. It incorporates all our dental school prereqs. Additionally we take: Biochem, Micro, and 14 credits of upper level Bio and Chem. My top choice is UF. I have no idea how I am going to do on DAT. I am only setting aside 2 months to study over the summer. I really want to specialize, but who doesn't lol. So, I basically want to go wherever I can get the best deal/best school. If not UF, then what..is basically what I am asking myself over and over.

Here are more schools that I have chosen as far as price/stats:
Buffalo
Louisville
Columbia
UPenn
Creighton

 

[hellonurse]

DrAwesome, Thanks! Great job on everything 🙂 You have to look at what other international students did. Make sure you do your research so that you don't waste time/money..because you are in a different position than me. Hopefully someone on here will be able to hook you up with some awesome advice. Good luck buddy!!
\

 

[Waitlisted2009]

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[adizzle87]

I have to tell you that most people who come around asking "where should I apply" typically have low GPAs. Here's what I can tell you though...certain schools regard personality, social skills, and service higher than others (that is so long as you have mostly B's and A's and a decent DAT score, they will place a heavy emphasis on your extraciriculars). ASDOH, MWU, Howard, and Western I think are all schools that want your GPA and DATs to be good but you have to show to them that you are well rounded.

On the other hand there are some schools that place a super heavy emphasis on high stats like UCSF, UCLA, Harvard, Columbia, Ohio State, UConn just to name a few.

 

[hellonurse]

Deep down, I really want to go somewhere amazing. But without a DAT score, I also just want to get in.

I think I'll add 2 big name schools tops:
Upenn
UCLA

These will be my "easier" schools:
Nova
Buffalo
Louisville
Creighton

My one state school:
UF

 

[bjhath]

I have no idea how I am going to do on DAT. I am only setting aside 2 months to study over the summer.

2 months should be enough time to study for the DAT, if you are focused and use your time wisely. I studied for about 2 months for 6-8 hours a day, 5-6 days a week.

I took Kaplan and found most of it helpful. The online subject and practice tests are worth the money. I have heard mixed reviews about the on-site class. I had a great experience, but my Kaplan course was through a post-bac program that provided instruction that was way more in depth than the normal course. Others have thought the on-site class was crap.

I also reviewed old notes and my texts. The ADA recommended reference list is a good place to start. The ADA doesn't recommend reference texts just for the hell of it. There were MANY similarities between the information in Biology (Campbell and Reece) and questions in the bio section.😉

DAT Achiever was also a good resource and was money well spent. I took the full length tests, reviewed my scoring report, noted my weaknesses, and then went back and studied the areas in which I was weak.

On the subject of choosing schools: the ADEA Official Guide to Dental Schools provides comprehensive information for all U.S. dental schools. Pick up a copy here.

 

[klutzy1987]

Deep down, I really want to go somewhere amazing. But without a DAT score, I also just want to get in.

I think I'll add 2 big name schools tops:
Upenn
UCLA

These will be my "easier" schools:
Nova
Buffalo
Louisville
Creighton

My one state school:
UF

Buffalo is a state school. Im not sure that you want to apply to a state school (esp if its a NY state school ) as a backup. Gonna be tough to get in no??

 

[Wei87]

Buffalo is a state school. Im not sure that you want to apply to a state school (esp if its a NY state school ) as a backup. Gonna be tough to get in no??

I actually found out during my interview that Buffalo's policy changes from year to year. For example, they claimed that they did not discriminate in-state from out-of-state during last year's application cycle. But this year, they said they do give preference to in-state. Their policies seem to change from time to time, best to call to find out, it'll be a toss-up.

To be off topic a little (if people can tolerate my rant here), I am a little bothered by the fact that they seem to give preferences by your matriculate school... During my lunch with the adcom on my day of the interview, the adcom were talking to each other about how they have annually accepted 10 or more students from SUNY Geneseo for each incoming class. That's at least 1/8 of each incoming classes!! (assuming everyone accepts their offers) It might be just a coincidence, but I am still a little bitter about it 😛.