Hey everyone!
Just some background information about my self to get things started.
My name is David Aldaz I am 21 years old and I am currently going into my last year of undergrad with 16 hours remaining which would be completed next may since the 12 hours left are upper level biology courses (Molecular Biology, Biochemistry lab and lecture, Statistics and Physics 2 lab and lecture.)
This last year will be my fifth year and I will graduate with a degree in Biology with a chemistry minor. I was expecting to graduate with my degree in 4 years but some unexpected circumstances came up and 5 years was the only other option. I do not know if being a student athlete helps his circumstance of if graduating in five years just throws everything down the drain.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, which consists mainly of my thoughts about dentistry, the application cycle and the DAT. I am very sure that dentistry is the career that I am going to pursue because spending a summer at Baylor college of Dentistry was an amazing experience that solidified the thoughts I had about becoming a dentist. This is a little bit of what I seem to be fighting inside of my self. After Baylor was over everyone went home and continued studying in preparation for the DAT. The first time I took the DAT I knew that I was not going to be ready because there was still a lot I needed to learn and I had just converted to pre-dent so when I started my internship at Baylor college of dentistry I had never seen a DAT test in my life. Now I know it is highly improbably to cover all the material that should be covered because there is always a few questions that are just thrown in there in which a guess will be the best option. My preparation the first time was average, what hurt me was my ability to learn. I am a hard worker and I learn through perseverance. This is usually a good thing but when it comes to standardized tests it is more of a negative because it takes me a little longer than average to grasp a concept well. I am not using this as an excuse I am simply saying that I am acknowledging the fact that that’s just the way I learn and must find a way to make it work. My main concern about the application cycle is that it has already opened and I have not begun. Applications are being sent in every second but mine is not close to being finished. It is very challenging to focus on finishing the application, personal statement, etc as well as mastering the DAT.
90% of what worries me is the DAT, simply because this would be my second time taking the exam. Now there is nothing wrong with taking the exam twice, what worries me is taking it for a second time and not having much improvement. I am a very positive person as well as a realistic one and I am considering both sides in this scenario. My GPA at the moment is a 3.47 and will continue to rise, and my first DAT score was a 16 AA. I do not have a breakdown right now because I have to look at it. I know my highest score was QR at 18 and the rest were around 14-16 with Perceptual Ability at a 17 I believe, it could have been lower. I find my self in a similar situation to last summer. The date I would like to take the DAT would be July 31 which is about 50-55 days a way including weekends, not including holidays or breaks or miscellaneous events. So 55 days is about 7 weeks. This is a sufficient amount of time to study and everything can be done. My problem is I am person that finds it difficult to study 8-12 hours a day because my brain is fried after 4-5 hours and out of those 4-5 hours I am really only getting 2-3 quality hours of work. Since it takes me a while to learn material. I have seen that in the 4-5 hours of studying I may have only covered 15-20 hole punching or cube counting problems or maybe around 1 chapter of biology with 40-50% retention. When I learn material I try to learn it very well, which in most cases is what happens but at the same time I learn best with small chunks of material. At that rate its difficult to feel ready for an important test coming up in just over a month. I am very scared that trying to apply and take the DAT within a month might not be the smartest decision. This is not good because last summer I made the decision not to apply telling my self that summer of 2014 I would have my application done before the Spring semester ends and I would be ready to tackle the DAT starting May and I would have it done by June and that schedule has not happened. Mainly because of my time management with spring semester classes and being on the road so much for tennis with the university. When May came around, I saw my self-struggling to finish the semester especially Anatomy and Physiology. I did well for the semester but it barely brought my GPA up from a 3.39 to a 3.47. When my roommate went into the hospital in March 2013 and I spent the remaining 6-7 weeks studying at the hospital and commuting in between school and the hospital. My GPA fell from a 3.67 to a 3.23 I believe. Again this is not an excuse it is just another factor thrown into the equation. I would not say my GPA is horrible but it could definitely use some improvement as well as my DAT score.
These are the options that are playing out in my head
1) I apply to dental school this cycle with the first DAT SCORE or 16 AA and GPA of 3.47, minimum shadowing hours and a few extra curricular such as Division 1 collegiate athlete, a few organizations, 1-2 leadership positions and no research. In this case I would simply focus on finishing the application within the next week or so and submitting it and waiting to see what happens.
2) I apply to dental school this cycle with the 2nd DAT attempt (I don’t know what the score will be but ill keep pushing for improvement and see what happens.) This would also include a GPA of 3.47, minimum shadowing hours and a few extra curricular such as Division 1 collegiate athlete, a few organizations, 1-2 leadership positions and no research. In this case I would simply focus on finishing the application and studying as much as I can for the DAT. I would take the DAT JULY 31,2014 and submit that score with my application. My Focus here is finishing the application well and kicking the DAT’s butt. MY WORRIES are from different posts on Student Doctor Network, one admissions counselor and several DENTAL students is repeating the DAT for the third time doesn’t necessarily mean you wont get in but your chances of acceptance have been reduced significantly if the rest of your application is not right. When I spoke to my Kaplan instructor she said almost this exact thing.
3) I apply to dental school this application cycle with my DAT SCORE of 16 AA and GPA of 3.47, minimum shadowing hours and a few extra curricular such as Division 1 collegiate athlete, a few organizations, 1-2 leadership positions and no research. I am not exactly sure when my DAT would be scheduled. This is different from option #1,2 because I would be taking my DAT TEST just at a later date and working very hard on my application improving in the areas that need improvement. Being that my last 2 semesters will be easier time wise because I will no longer be a student athlete so my days will finish at 3pm instead of 8pm. This would allow me the opportunity to participate in more organizations, increase my community service hours, shadow more dentists and become highly involved in the Pre- Dental club at my University. My main focus would be giving my self about 10-12 weeks to focus very hard on the DAT and then take the test. I would have to break down each day into the material that needs to be covered. Smaller chunks of material work better for me. I just want to do really well on my DAT and have a chance to increase my GPA to the highest Possible.
I am looking for Advice because I do not want to keep pushing off my application until I feel 100% certain because that day may not come. I am currently 21 years old, will graduate at 22 years old and I am looking or some advice going forward. I am not sure if there is a certain age you should apply by, if gap years affect your chances, if being denied once affects your chances, etc. I am just reaching out to whoever may have useful thoughts/ advice and personal stories that may be similar to mine. Thank you!
Just some background information about my self to get things started.
My name is David Aldaz I am 21 years old and I am currently going into my last year of undergrad with 16 hours remaining which would be completed next may since the 12 hours left are upper level biology courses (Molecular Biology, Biochemistry lab and lecture, Statistics and Physics 2 lab and lecture.)
This last year will be my fifth year and I will graduate with a degree in Biology with a chemistry minor. I was expecting to graduate with my degree in 4 years but some unexpected circumstances came up and 5 years was the only other option. I do not know if being a student athlete helps his circumstance of if graduating in five years just throws everything down the drain.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, which consists mainly of my thoughts about dentistry, the application cycle and the DAT. I am very sure that dentistry is the career that I am going to pursue because spending a summer at Baylor college of Dentistry was an amazing experience that solidified the thoughts I had about becoming a dentist. This is a little bit of what I seem to be fighting inside of my self. After Baylor was over everyone went home and continued studying in preparation for the DAT. The first time I took the DAT I knew that I was not going to be ready because there was still a lot I needed to learn and I had just converted to pre-dent so when I started my internship at Baylor college of dentistry I had never seen a DAT test in my life. Now I know it is highly improbably to cover all the material that should be covered because there is always a few questions that are just thrown in there in which a guess will be the best option. My preparation the first time was average, what hurt me was my ability to learn. I am a hard worker and I learn through perseverance. This is usually a good thing but when it comes to standardized tests it is more of a negative because it takes me a little longer than average to grasp a concept well. I am not using this as an excuse I am simply saying that I am acknowledging the fact that that’s just the way I learn and must find a way to make it work. My main concern about the application cycle is that it has already opened and I have not begun. Applications are being sent in every second but mine is not close to being finished. It is very challenging to focus on finishing the application, personal statement, etc as well as mastering the DAT.
90% of what worries me is the DAT, simply because this would be my second time taking the exam. Now there is nothing wrong with taking the exam twice, what worries me is taking it for a second time and not having much improvement. I am a very positive person as well as a realistic one and I am considering both sides in this scenario. My GPA at the moment is a 3.47 and will continue to rise, and my first DAT score was a 16 AA. I do not have a breakdown right now because I have to look at it. I know my highest score was QR at 18 and the rest were around 14-16 with Perceptual Ability at a 17 I believe, it could have been lower. I find my self in a similar situation to last summer. The date I would like to take the DAT would be July 31 which is about 50-55 days a way including weekends, not including holidays or breaks or miscellaneous events. So 55 days is about 7 weeks. This is a sufficient amount of time to study and everything can be done. My problem is I am person that finds it difficult to study 8-12 hours a day because my brain is fried after 4-5 hours and out of those 4-5 hours I am really only getting 2-3 quality hours of work. Since it takes me a while to learn material. I have seen that in the 4-5 hours of studying I may have only covered 15-20 hole punching or cube counting problems or maybe around 1 chapter of biology with 40-50% retention. When I learn material I try to learn it very well, which in most cases is what happens but at the same time I learn best with small chunks of material. At that rate its difficult to feel ready for an important test coming up in just over a month. I am very scared that trying to apply and take the DAT within a month might not be the smartest decision. This is not good because last summer I made the decision not to apply telling my self that summer of 2014 I would have my application done before the Spring semester ends and I would be ready to tackle the DAT starting May and I would have it done by June and that schedule has not happened. Mainly because of my time management with spring semester classes and being on the road so much for tennis with the university. When May came around, I saw my self-struggling to finish the semester especially Anatomy and Physiology. I did well for the semester but it barely brought my GPA up from a 3.39 to a 3.47. When my roommate went into the hospital in March 2013 and I spent the remaining 6-7 weeks studying at the hospital and commuting in between school and the hospital. My GPA fell from a 3.67 to a 3.23 I believe. Again this is not an excuse it is just another factor thrown into the equation. I would not say my GPA is horrible but it could definitely use some improvement as well as my DAT score.
These are the options that are playing out in my head
1) I apply to dental school this cycle with the first DAT SCORE or 16 AA and GPA of 3.47, minimum shadowing hours and a few extra curricular such as Division 1 collegiate athlete, a few organizations, 1-2 leadership positions and no research. In this case I would simply focus on finishing the application within the next week or so and submitting it and waiting to see what happens.
2) I apply to dental school this cycle with the 2nd DAT attempt (I don’t know what the score will be but ill keep pushing for improvement and see what happens.) This would also include a GPA of 3.47, minimum shadowing hours and a few extra curricular such as Division 1 collegiate athlete, a few organizations, 1-2 leadership positions and no research. In this case I would simply focus on finishing the application and studying as much as I can for the DAT. I would take the DAT JULY 31,2014 and submit that score with my application. My Focus here is finishing the application well and kicking the DAT’s butt. MY WORRIES are from different posts on Student Doctor Network, one admissions counselor and several DENTAL students is repeating the DAT for the third time doesn’t necessarily mean you wont get in but your chances of acceptance have been reduced significantly if the rest of your application is not right. When I spoke to my Kaplan instructor she said almost this exact thing.
3) I apply to dental school this application cycle with my DAT SCORE of 16 AA and GPA of 3.47, minimum shadowing hours and a few extra curricular such as Division 1 collegiate athlete, a few organizations, 1-2 leadership positions and no research. I am not exactly sure when my DAT would be scheduled. This is different from option #1,2 because I would be taking my DAT TEST just at a later date and working very hard on my application improving in the areas that need improvement. Being that my last 2 semesters will be easier time wise because I will no longer be a student athlete so my days will finish at 3pm instead of 8pm. This would allow me the opportunity to participate in more organizations, increase my community service hours, shadow more dentists and become highly involved in the Pre- Dental club at my University. My main focus would be giving my self about 10-12 weeks to focus very hard on the DAT and then take the test. I would have to break down each day into the material that needs to be covered. Smaller chunks of material work better for me. I just want to do really well on my DAT and have a chance to increase my GPA to the highest Possible.
I am looking for Advice because I do not want to keep pushing off my application until I feel 100% certain because that day may not come. I am currently 21 years old, will graduate at 22 years old and I am looking or some advice going forward. I am not sure if there is a certain age you should apply by, if gap years affect your chances, if being denied once affects your chances, etc. I am just reaching out to whoever may have useful thoughts/ advice and personal stories that may be similar to mine. Thank you!
