WAMC Average DAT and Average GPA

[futureDDS1999]

Date of submission: June 2022
Overall GPA: 3.2
Science GPA: 3.3
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.22
DAT score (include AA and all sections):
QR: 18
PAT: 19
RC: 20
Bio: 17
OC: 19
GC: 18
TS: 18
AA: 18

State of Residence: NJ

Undergrad Attended: Montclair State University
Major: Medical Humanities
Minority? Yes/No- Yes, Arab and Hispanic
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? Yes/No- No
Shadowing Experience: 150+ hours
Volunteering Experience: A bunch of volunteer experiences

Taught Syrian refugees as ESL
Event organizer for soup kitchen and food pantry
Patient cuddler at Children's Specialized Hospital
Biology Club President and Pre-Dental Secretary

Employment: Miscellaneous; retail, fedex, etc.
Research: None
LOR type and strength: Very strong
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: Long story short, my father left my family early 2021 when I was a senior as I was about to apply for the 2021-2022 cycle, which led to a huge downward spiral of things. I owed about $16,000 to my school, which I expected my father to pay for. This debt didn't allow me to graduate that May. I had to spend months working my butt off to pay it by myself, still with no diploma to show for anything. This took almost the whole entire year, all the way up until late fall 2021. At this point, I didn't want to apply even though there was still time in the cycle. My head just wasn't screwed on right; I almost quit on my dental dream. Around this time, my father and I made up and I ended up visiting him in our home country, Lebanon. During my stay, my passion for dentistry was revitalized due to the poor oral hygienic conditions that I witnessed there. I basically found my purpose again and knew I had an obligation to make it better. I took a gap year, and this will all go into my personal statement with details involved, obviously. I'm 22 and I really don't want to waste any more time. Should I retake my DAT for the 3rd time? Go into post-bacc/masters program?

School list:
NYU
Rutgers
Tufts
Temple
Meharry
LECOM
Western University
Howard

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[Mr.Smile12]

Any C's in science classes? It's not clear if you just have a bunch of B's.

Sorry but DAT may need to retake. Bio 17 is not helping you. You might have to do a SMP.

You are 22. In spite of whatever cultural pressure you feel, you have time so do it right.

Make sure you check with Meharry and Howard if you have a good application for them, but you need to have a wide net with what you have now.

 

[futureDDS1999]

Any C's in science classes? It's not clear if you just have a bunch of B's.

Sorry but DAT may need to retake. Bio 17 is not helping you. You might have to do a SMP.

I got a C in Bio II and C- in GC II. Everything else for the most part were mostly B+'s and A's. Also forgot to mention that I was a business major for the first year and a half.

 

[macsak]

Date of submission: June 2022
Overall GPA: 3.2
Science GPA: 3.3
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.22
DAT score (include AA and all sections):
QR: 18
PAT: 19
RC: 20
Bio: 17
OC: 19
GC: 18
TS: 18
AA: 18

State of Residence: NJ

Undergrad Attended: Montclair State University
Major: Medical Humanities
Minority? Yes/No- Yes, Arab and Hispanic
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? Yes/No- No
Shadowing Experience: 150+ hours
Volunteering Experience: A bunch of volunteer experiences

Taught Syrian refugees as ESL
Event organizer for soup kitchen and food pantry
Patient cuddler at Children's Specialized Hospital
Biology Club President and Pre-Dental Secretary

Employment: Miscellaneous; retail, fedex, etc.
Research: None
LOR type and strength: Very strong
Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: Long story short, my father left my family early 2021 when I was a senior as I was about to apply for the 2021-2022 cycle, which led to a huge downward spiral of things. I owed about $16,000 to my school, which I expected my father to pay for. This debt didn't allow me to graduate that May. I had to spend months working my butt off to pay it by myself, still with no diploma to show for anything. This took almost the whole entire year, all the way up until late fall 2021. At this point, I didn't want to apply even though there was still time in the cycle. My head just wasn't screwed on right; I almost quit on my dental dream. Around this time, my father and I made up and I ended up visiting him in our home country, Lebanon. During my stay, my passion for dentistry was revitalized due to the poor oral hygienic conditions that I witnessed there. I basically found my purpose again and knew I had an obligation to make it better. I took a gap year, and this will all go into my personal statement with details involved, obviously. I'm 22 and I really don't want to waste any more time. Should I retake my DAT for the 3rd time? Go into post-bacc/masters program?

School list:
NYU
Rutgers
Tufts
Temple
Meharry
LECOM
Western University
Howard

sorry, but you need to do more research
your GPA is not "average", nor is your DAT
average matriculant GPA is around 3.55, and average matriculant DAT is 20.5
it's not impossible for you to get an acceptance with your stats if you apply broadly and wisely and early
i congratulate you for your journey, but IMO it may take more work for you to get into d school

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Did you retake GC2? C-minuses may not count as passing.

 

[futureDDS1999]

Did you retake GC2? C-minuses may not count as passing.

Wait I apologize, I recieved a "P" on it for Pass during the height of COVID.

 

[futureDDS1999]

sorry, but you need to do more research
your GPA is not "average", nor is your DAT
average matriculant GPA is around 3.55, and average matriculant DAT is 20.5
it's not impossible for you to get an acceptance with your stats if you apply broadly and wisely and early
i congratulate you for your journey, but IMO it may take more work for you to get into d school

Where would you recommend applying?

 

[macsak]

Where would you recommend applying?

i recommend you do your own research on where to apply...
you are going to need to apply to at least double the list of schools you have now
good luck

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Do you have access to the ADEA Dental School Explorer/Official Guide? Usual rule of thumb is to apply to schools whose mission fits you, where your chances of admission as in-state are highest, and where your metrics fall well above the median for the entering class (if DSE began listing 75th percentile, that's a suggestion; advice similar to the MD/DO WAMC).

 

[PerioDont]

I would recommend retaking the DAT. you may need SMP as well

 

[NavyBlueSuit]

You sound fed up with school. Have you taken a solid break?

You can always take time to work and volunteer/shadow before going back and working on your gpa/dat scores.

I have to agree with other posters. A higher DAT would quickly strengthen your application, and retaking C- is a good idea. I found bootcamp to be a great resource for my DAT attempt.

My advice is to figure out if you are burnt out. Going into dental school stressed doesn't seem like a good idea.

Edit: I missed the one line talking about a gap year. I know you want to be in already, but the other side is that you have the extra time if you need it. If you are going to apply you should continue trying to improve your application. That way if you have to reapply, you have solid evidence to show you've been working hard.