Tough Decision...In need of some HELP/ chances

[nevrgiveup]

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Hi SDN,

I'm a California resident and I submitted my application this cycle was mailed out July 29. I retook my DAT on July 23rd, so technically my application is not "fully complete".

My stats are:

Overall GPA: 3.48
Science GPA: 3.43

DAT:

PAT: 24 🙄
QR: 20
RC: 22 😱
BIO: 20
GC: 19
OC: 22

TS: 20
AA: 21

That being said, I applied for most of the Californian schools and all the privates that are oos "friendly". I would rate my ec and letters of rec as average since I can't compare mines to others.

The big question is begins here... will I need to take a smp to get into dental school? I have just been offered a spot at the Midwestern Biomedical program and I'm not sure if I should attend or not. I'm not confident I'll get in this cycle and wanted to do this as a type of insurance so that I can reapply next cycle in case I don't get accepted this cycle. I'm so torn because the program starts in 2 weeks and I haven't even paid my deposit yet! I don't even know where I will live or how financial aid will work out. And at the very end...I don't even know if I really need it either!

What should I do? What are my chances with/without the program? Thanks guys

 

[gn4]

I don't think you will need it. I think you will get in somewhere with those stats. That's just my opinion though. Just depends on where you applied

 

[two thirty]

How many total did you apply to? I think you're fire if you applied broadly and don't have horrible ECs/LORs

 

[sacapuntas]

Your stats are strong...what made you apply for the SMP out of curiosity? Have you already applied one cycle with your old DAT scores?

 

[nevrgiveup]

Your stats are strong...what made you apply for the SMP out of curiosity? Have you already applied one cycle with your old DAT scores?

I took my dat earlier this year in March and got a 19/19/22...but with a 16 in RC. I knew I had to retake the dat because a 16 rc just won't cut it. In case I didn't score well on my retake I applied super late to the smp program. I'm pretty nervous this cycle because my scores are not too great and I applied very late

 

[nevrgiveup]

How many total did you apply to? I think you're fire if you applied broadly and don't have horrible ECs/LORs

I applied for 14 schoola in total...all cali and oos friendly privates

 

[sacapuntas]

I took my dat earlier this year in March and got a 19/19/22...but with a 16 in RC. I knew I had to retake the dat because a 16 rc just won't cut it. In case I didn't score well on my retake I applied super late to the smp program. I'm pretty nervous this cycle because my scores are not too great and I applied very late

I really think you are underestimating your application, numbers wise at least. Without any knowledge of the rest of your app, you look to be in pretty decent position to be starting D-school next fall.

 

[two thirty]

I applied for 14 schoola in total...all cali and oos friendly privates

Oh you'll get one easy.

 

[nevrgiveup]

Though I might not necessarily need the smp, do you think it would still be a good idea to do it anyways?

 

[trendboxs]

me too, I'm pretty nervous this cycle because my scores are not too great and I applied very late.thanks

 

[gn4]

Though I might not necessarily need the smp, do you think it would still be a good idea to do it anyways?

if you've got the money, why not?

 

[lmr9y]

I think you have a good shot at getting in D-school this cycle. However, if I remember correctly, Midwestern's Program is one year so youll have the summer off before D-school starts. If you have the financial ability to, I'd go to Midwestern so you can take upper-level science classes and be further prepared for D-school. Plus it'll give you something to talk about in interviews (e.g. "I've already faced this course in graduate school and feel more confident to succeed in dental school, etc etc"). Plus I feel a SMP usually opens more doors when applying to schools. And like you said, if this cycle isn't favorable (but I think it will be), you'll have more opportunities for the following cycle. Just my 2cents.

 

[Baba Yaga]

Though I might not necessarily need the smp, do you think it would still be a good idea to do it anyways?

No. SMP's are risky and expensive.

Are you going to be taking on extra debt to be doing this? Dental school is already extremely expensive and I wouldn't tack on extra debt on top of that. Even if your parents are going to pay for your SMP, I can think of better options for that chunk of money (eg. use it to pay off some dental school loans or if you're getting out of d-school debt free due to parental support, put it away to use when you want to start a practice).

If you want to do more science coursework, go right ahead. But do an informal post-bacv at a local/nearby school so you don't have to take out loans or spend too much money doing it.

Here, I pulled this from the post-bacc forums for you. It certainly applies in your situation...just replace med school with dental school.

1. doing an SMP is doing med school on a 5 year plan. That means you have maybe 25% more student debt during residency and beyond. Debt shapes your choices.
2. An SMP is an audition for med school. You shouldn't audition if you have stats that can get you in by applying the normal way. Because if you fail the audition, you get a huge red flag on further attempts to get into med school.
3. SMP students sitting with M1's are under more pressure than M1's. If you get a C as an SMP student, you've blown it. If you get a C as an M1, you're fine. If you get more than one C as an SMP student, you might as well pack up and go home. But as an M1, you can usually remediate. The difference being that the M1's still get to be MD's if they make mistakes, within reason.
4. Doing an SMP and applying to med school at the same time usually means you're a late app, because med schools want to see your first semester SMP grades. Generally it means you're applying for a waitlist spot.

If you don't NEED an SMP, don't do one. Personally I'd say 3.3 is the highest reasonable GPA for doing an SMP. People think it's a paid ticket into med school, or a way to get out of retaking the MCAT, or that it speeds things up. No.

All that said, an SMP has obvious benefits, such as getting set up to have an easier M1 year with time to do research or whatnot, and for me it was a total game changer.

Best of luck to you.

If you want more advice on this, I suggest you check out the post-baccalaureate forums under interdisciplinary forums. Although they are mainly MD-focused, they have more posters who have experience with SMP's than this forum does.