Thoughts on my app

[chegginit]

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I started off this journey thinking that I was going to apply to medical school. But, after three years of working in the emergency department - running research - I've changed my path to dentistry. A bunch of thought has gone into this decision, but I still feel unsure. So I have a few questions and was curious if I could grab some feedback about my overall chances as a candidate.

Would 28 be too old to matriculate into dental school?
Would medical research be frowned upon? What about publications in medical journals?
Would having my MPH better my chances? Being 4 years removed from undergrad, I felt that I should show that I can handle a graduate level course-load. Factor in that I can get my MPH for dirt cheap, and it's a tough proposition to leave on the table.
I have to calculate my sGPA but my guess is ~3.2ish, cGPA ~3.3.
I took the DAT once (cold-turkey) and scored AA19, PA 20, RC 23, everything else above 18. But again, I took it thinking I wasn't going to apply. I'm studying again.
I have over 1k hrs of volunteer time, 100hrs of dental shadowing (and growing).
I have 200+hrs of patient contact experience at a local free clinic where I take vital signs and administer physicals.
My EC encompass a wide-and-large frame.
In my current profession, I am responsible for our volunteer program; interviewing and hiring candidates.

I'm sure this more, but I was curious as to what people think of my application up to this date?

Thanks!

 

[Likkriue]

28 is not too late. I myself will be 25 and turning 26 in like a month after I start.

Your ECs look solid but I think you should start racking up some volunteer hours.
Your gpa isn't lethal so that's good, gotta score high on the dat to offset it.

 

[chegginit]

Thanks Likkriue! I should have specified it better, but I have over 1000hrs of volunteer time.

 

[Dr5paceman]

Your app looks good to me. I also made the switch to pursuing dentistry a few years out of undergrad and was premed also - feel free to PM me if you ever need someone to talk to about your decision.
I don't think that you need to do an MPH to get into dental school, but if you can get one for cheap and are interested in one, go for it. Medical research/publications didn't cause problems for me, but I did I get "why not medicine?" at one school. Less people asked that than I thought they would.

Btw studying for the DAT was kind of challenging for me after being out of school for a while. I ended up taking way more time to get through much less study material than what seems to be recommended around here. It's just my 2 cents, but be prepared for some trial/error when making a DAT study plan off of the DAT breakdowns on SDN.

 

[chegginit]

Thanks Dr5paceman! I appreciate all the insight!

 

[Toothout]

I think your app looks great!
Get the MPH
Do more dental related EC (Mission of Mercy, GKAS...) and retake (since that's what you want).
You'll be all set.