WAMC? Applying 2024-2025 Cycle

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gainsandbrains

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Hi everyone,
I just took my DAT this past Monday and I wanted to get an idea of whether or not my list of schools are reasonable given my stats. I am a nontraditional student and did not decide until later in college that I wanted to pursue dentistry, which is where I had an extreme upward trend in my GPA. I am spending the last 6 months boosting my extracurriculars/volunteer experiences so would greatly appreciate if anyone has any advice on events I could attend in California to boost my application. I would appreciate any feedback regarding schools you would recommend I add or remove and anything you think I can add to my application to increase my chances. I really appreciate your help.

Date of submission: N/A
Overall GPA: 3.34
Science GPA: 3.67
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 23 AA, 22 TS
State of Residence: California

Undergrad Attended: Prefer not to share
Major: Business Administration
Minor: None
Minority? no, Indian female
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? Yes

Shadowing Experience: 100 hours general dentist, 50 hours orthodontist
Volunteering Experience: 1 year of volunteering at my Sikh temple during the covid pandemic (I was part of the food drives), volunteering for an animal rescue, volunteering at the hospital (currently working on gaining more experiences)
Employment: 1 year as a scribe in an ER, 1 year as a medical assistant
Research: none
Other Extracurriculars: have my own business
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? I attended USC's predental day
LOR type and strength: OChem professor, Bio professor, and orthodontist (all very strong)
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: currently taking biochem and debating on whether I should take physio or not.

Schools I want to apply to:
- UCLA
- USC
- Western (CA)
- UCSF
- Loma Linda
- Univ. of Pacific
- NYU
- Stony
- Touro
- Texas A&M (I know unrealistic as an OOS but it would be a dream so I would want to try)
- Arizona
- MWU
- UIC
- Boston
and some others (planning on applying very broadly)
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gainsandbrains said:
Hi everyone,
I just took my DAT this past Monday and I wanted to get an idea of whether or not my list of schools are reasonable given my stats. I am a nontraditional student and did not decide until later in college that I wanted to pursue dentistry, which is where I had an extreme upward trend in my GPA. I am spending the last 6 months boosting my extracurriculars/volunteer experiences so would greatly appreciate if anyone has any advice on events I could attend in California to boost my application. I would appreciate any feedback regarding schools you would recommend I add or remove and anything you think I can add to my application to increase my chances. I really appreciate your help.

Date of submission: N/A
Overall GPA: 3.34
Science GPA: 3.67
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 23 AA, 22 TS
State of Residence: California

Undergrad Attended: Prefer not to share
Major: Business Administration
Minor: None
Minority? no, Indian female
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? Yes

Shadowing Experience: 100 hours general dentist, 50 hours orthodontist
Volunteering Experience: 1 year of volunteering at my Sikh temple during the covid pandemic (I was part of the food drives), volunteering for an animal rescue, volunteering at the hospital (currently working on gaining more experiences)
Employment: 1 year as a scribe in an ER, 1 year as a medical assistant
Research: none
Other Extracurriculars: have my own business
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? I attended USC's predental day
LOR type and strength: OChem professor, Bio professor, and orthodontist (all very strong)
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: currently taking biochem and debating on whether I should take physio or not.

Schools I want to apply to:
- UCLA
- USC
- Western (CA)
- UCSF
- Loma Linda
- Univ. of Pacific
- NYU
- Stony
- Touro
- Texas A&M (I know unrealistic as an OOS but it would be a dream so I would want to try)
- Arizona
- MWU
- UIC
- Boston
and some others (planning on applying very broadly)
Click to expand...
DAT score (include AA and all sections)
 
gainsandbrains said:
Hi everyone,
I just took my DAT this past Monday and I wanted to get an idea of whether or not my list of schools are reasonable given my stats. I am a nontraditional student and did not decide until later in college that I wanted to pursue dentistry, which is where I had an extreme upward trend in my GPA. I am spending the last 6 months boosting my extracurriculars/volunteer experiences so would greatly appreciate if anyone has any advice on events I could attend in California to boost my application. I would appreciate any feedback regarding schools you would recommend I add or remove and anything you think I can add to my application to increase my chances. I really appreciate your help.

Date of submission: N/A
Overall GPA: 3.34
Science GPA: 3.67
DAT score (include AA and all sections): 23 AA, 22 TS
State of Residence: California

Undergrad Attended: Prefer not to share
Major: Business Administration
Minor: None
Minority? no, Indian female
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? Yes

Shadowing Experience: 100 hours general dentist, 50 hours orthodontist
Volunteering Experience: 1 year of volunteering at my Sikh temple during the covid pandemic (I was part of the food drives), volunteering for an animal rescue, volunteering at the hospital (currently working on gaining more experiences)
Employment: 1 year as a scribe in an ER, 1 year as a medical assistant
Research: none
Other Extracurriculars: have my own business
Have you volunteered/shadowed/attended events at any dental schools? I attended USC's predental day
LOR type and strength: OChem professor, Bio professor, and orthodontist (all very strong)
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: currently taking biochem and debating on whether I should take physio or not.

Schools I want to apply to:
- UCLA
- USC
- Western (CA)
- UCSF
- Loma Linda
- Univ. of Pacific
- NYU
- Stony
- Touro
- Texas A&M (I know unrealistic as an OOS but it would be a dream so I would want to try)
- Arizona
- MWU
- UIC
- Boston
and some others (planning on applying very broadly)
Click to expand...
there is no school known as "Arizona"
and there are two "MWU"...
 
Members don't see this ad :)
It's tough to see your commitment to dentistry because you are still doing things in hospitals. If your MA, scribe, and hospital volunteer hours are higher than your 150 dental shadowing hours, this would look like you are not fully sure about dentistry (that's what the impression is for some faculty). Watch this balance... get more hours working in a dental office ideally front desk side.

If you take physiology, that would help. Microbiology is also recommended. You got the biochemistry class now.

Connect with the admissions teams at the schools where you want to attend. You did a USC visit so check out other schools. Look for ASDA or SNDA visit days.
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
It's tough to see your commitment to dentistry because you are still doing things in hospitals. If your MA, scribe, and hospital volunteer hours are higher than your 150 dental shadowing hours, this would look like you are not fully sure about dentistry (that's what the impression is for some faculty). Watch this balance... get more hours working in a dental office ideally front desk side.

If you take physiology, that would help. Microbiology is also recommended. You got the biochemistry class now.

Connect with the admissions teams at the schools where you want to attend. You did a USC visit so check out other schools. Look for ASDA or SNDA visit days.
Click to expand...
Hi thank you so much! Yeah, prior to dentistry I initially was premed which is why I have those experiences. I am currently spending the last 6 months I have diving deep into dental experiences. I'm getting an offer to be a dental assistant (trained on site). Would this be good for me or should I focus more energy on dental related volunteer experience?
 
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Reactions: 1 user
gainsandbrains said:
Can I ask why not NYU, Touro, BU, or UIC? Appreciate your input
Click to expand...
your stats are outside of their range, and do not make sense geographically
yield management can apply

there are better in-range/safety schools closer to california...
 
macsak said:
your stats are outside of their range, and do not make sense geographically
yield management can apply

there are better in-range/safety schools closer to california...
Click to expand...
and they have huge class sizes and are expensive (save for UIC- do your research there for in-state/regional bias)
 
Yeah, as a career changer, you need to choose schools in your region unless you have a compelling reason to go out. Look up schools with good OOS representation. Not sure about applying to Texas A&M /TMDSAS. Have you reached out to students there?

UNLV should be added. Maybe consider Colorado. Midwest privates also would consider you, I think.
 
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