WAMC average GPA, retaking after low DAT

[gadent14]

Date of submission: July 18
Overall GPA: 3.6
Science GPA: 3.5
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.5
DAT score (include AA and all sections): AA 16, am retaking July 17
State of Residence: GA

Major: Biology and Psychology
Minor: Chemistry
Minority? No- ORM
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: 100 hours, 2 general dentists, 1 FQHC, and 1 pedodontist
Volunteering Experience: 780+ hours Food pantry, Habitat for Humanity, camp counselor for bleeding disorder, state board member for health advocacy group, legislative advocacy in DC. (This doesn’t count volunteer hours with Red Cross, church, local community groups, in high school.)
Employment: Carpentry, 4 years through undergrad, starting as a pharm tech soon
Research: None
Other Extracurriculars: Officer in AAPI, active in pre-health club, member of Origami club, part of diversity outreach and mentoring for underclassmen, member of leadership/ethics program, study abroad Ireland.
Relevant Honors or Awards: Dean’s List, graduated cum laude, Psi Chi National honors society, Phi Theta Kappa national honors society
LOR type and strength: pre-health committee letter (strong), family dentist with whom I’ve shadowed majority hours. Still trying to decide on last two LOR… should it be 2nd dentist, boss at carpentry shop, or bio professor or head of board that I serve on? All would be strong … FQHC dentist doesn’t have good writing skills and grammar is not her strong point.

Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: I come from a rural county that is underserved and dental health profession shortage area. My high school has a high dropout rate as well. I’m having to retake DAT again because I took it last summer after I got back from Ireland and made a 16. Am doing a masters in biomedical science, studying for DAT, working and will be doing more shadowing. Will retake DAT July 17. Also I made money from making jewelry in high school.

Have toured Dental College of Georgia and High Point.

School list:

• Dental College of Georgia (dream and reach school)
• LECOM
• MUSC (reach)
• UNC (reach)
• UPitt (it has a direct flight from Savannah, Georgia, so it would be easier for me to travel back home).
• Roseman (reach but only 3 years and they have expanded their program)
• University of New England (because of scores and because they’re public health minded and like rural students)
• Missouri ASDOH (reach, but they like students who have worked with marginalized patients and they specifically mention autism and dementia, so I’m hoping my psychology major will attract attention.)
• Tufts (because they take Georgia students)
• Lincoln Memorial (because it says it wants to serve rural patients and because it’s geographically close to Georgia… I know, it’s only initially accredited.)
• High Point (because it’s close to Georgia and because I participated in mock interviews last year and got high marks except for Casper. Ditto that I know it’s only initially accredited.)

So I’m scrambling to improve my DAT after last year when I didn’t have time to prep (using DAT Bootcamp and doing much better on practice tests). I couldn’t find any dentists in our rural area using uncertified dental assistants, so I figured pharm tech would at least be patient facing.

I’m hoping to at least pull a 20 AA on my DAT. I don’t want to do another gap year, and I understand about re-applicants. Aside from low shadowing hours and my DAT, WAMC at these schools? I chose mostly east coast schools that are close to Georgia, because I’m following the advice not to apply to any schools I would hesitate to attend. I’m also having to budget on applications and (fingers crossed) interviews. Thoughts? What DAT do I need to overcome my average GPA and low shadowing hours?

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[Ryxndek]

Please don’t apply to high point or LMU until they’ve received their full accreditation. It’s not worth the stress, honestly. You could swap them for Louisville, Nova, Touro, Creighton, etc.

100 hours shadowing is fine. I had that and had no issues.

Your undergrad GPA is about average so realistically you want a 20-21AA on your DAT to stand a reasonable chance.

What’s your masters GPA?

 

[gadent14]

Please don’t apply to high point or LMU until they’ve received their full accreditation. It’s not worth the stress, honestly. You could swap them for Louisville, Nova, Touro, Creighton, etc.

100 hours shadowing is fine. I had that and had no issues.

Your undergrad GPA is about average so realistically you want a 20-21AA on your DAT to stand a reasonable chance.

What’s your masters GPA?

Thank you for your help! I have not yet started my masters program. I’ve been accepted but my classes don’t start until the Fall. It is a 30 hour program so I am able to finish it during my gap year.

 

[macsak]

Date of submission: July 18
Overall GPA: 3.6
Science GPA: 3.5
Bio-Chem-Physics GPA: 3.5
DAT score (include AA and all sections): AA 16, am retaking July 17
State of Residence: GA

Major: Biology and Psychology
Minor: Chemistry
Minority? No- ORM
Reapplicant? No
Nontrad? No

Shadowing Experience: 100 hours, 2 general dentists, 1 FQHC, and 1 pedodontist
Volunteering Experience: 780+ hours Food pantry, Habitat for Humanity, camp counselor for bleeding disorder, state board member for health advocacy group, legislative advocacy in DC. (This doesn’t count volunteer hours with Red Cross, church, local community groups, in high school.)
Employment: Carpentry, 4 years through undergrad, starting as a pharm tech soon
Research: None
Other Extracurriculars: Officer in AAPI, active in pre-health club, member of Origami club, part of diversity outreach and mentoring for underclassmen, member of leadership/ethics program, study abroad Ireland.
Relevant Honors or Awards: Dean’s List, graduated cum laude, Psi Chi National honors society, Phi Theta Kappa national honors society
LOR type and strength: pre-health committee letter (strong), family dentist with whom I’ve shadowed majority hours. Still trying to decide on last two LOR… should it be 2nd dentist, boss at carpentry shop, or bio professor or head of board that I serve on? All would be strong … FQHC dentist doesn’t have good writing skills and grammar is not her strong point.

Misc Info/Things not stated elsewhere/Red Flags: I come from a rural county that is underserved and dental health profession shortage area. My high school has a high dropout rate as well. I’m having to retake DAT again because I took it last summer after I got back from Ireland and made a 16. Am doing a masters in biomedical science, studying for DAT, working and will be doing more shadowing. Will retake DAT July 17. Also I made money from making jewelry in high school.

Have toured Dental College of Georgia and High Point.

School list:

• Dental College of Georgia (dream and reach school)
• LECOM
• MUSC (reach)
• UNC (reach)
• UPitt (it has a direct flight from Savannah, Georgia, so it would be easier for me to travel back home).
• Roseman (reach but only 3 years and they have expanded their program)
• University of New England (because of scores and because they’re public health minded and like rural students)
• Missouri ASDOH (reach, but they like students who have worked with marginalized patients and they specifically mention autism and dementia, so I’m hoping my psychology major will attract attention.)
• Tufts (because they take Georgia students)
• Lincoln Memorial (because it says it wants to serve rural patients and because it’s geographically close to Georgia… I know, it’s only initially accredited.)
• High Point (because it’s close to Georgia and because I participated in mock interviews last year and got high marks except for Casper. Ditto that I know it’s only initially accredited.)

So I’m scrambling to improve my DAT after last year when I didn’t have time to prep (using DAT Bootcamp and doing much better on practice tests). I couldn’t find any dentists in our rural area using uncertified dental assistants, so I figured pharm tech would at least be patient facing.

I’m hoping to at least pull a 20 AA on my DAT. I don’t want to do another gap year, and I understand about re-applicants. Aside from low shadowing hours and my DAT, WAMC at these schools? I chose mostly east coast schools that are close to Georgia, because I’m following the advice not to apply to any schools I would hesitate to attend. I’m also having to budget on applications and (fingers crossed) interviews. Thoughts? What DAT do I need to overcome my average GPA and low shadowing hours?

ASDOH is not a reach
UNC is a huge reach with your stats and no research

make sure you are getting as close to a 4.0 in your SMP

your shadowing hours are not "low"
they are adequate or acceptable...

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Nail that DAT.
Are you considering NHSC? HPSP?

 

[gadent14]

@Ryxndek @macsak @Mr.Smile12
Thank you for your responses - this is very helpful. To answer your questions and add another question or three:

A year ago, I would definitely have been applying for NHSC—I was eligible for Pell, and my parents’ income was low. This past year, my dad received a promotion and substantial pay raise that puts our family income at about $85k, so I’m not sure if I would still be eligible. My EFC for my graduate FAFSA is 0. Does the NHSC count family income?

I’ve ruled out HPSP because I have a medical condition that most likely makes me ineligible for military duty (shouldn’t impact my dental admissions, though).

Question 1: I was advised to wait to submit until after I take my DAT in July because I had that prior awful score. But that means I will be officially requesting my LOR in the summer when many of my LOR folks may be traveling and that may delay my completed app. Still wait to apply?

Question 2, on DAT and school lists: I’m not trying to start a debate, but just need to check the accuracy of some advice I received.

This person advised me to check the ratio of Asians females enrolled when I was making my list, and they pointed out that, percentile wise, there’s a gap between Asian scores and total scores that could hurt me. They cited the latest DAT User Manual, and said that even if I made a 20 AA, when schools compared me to other Asians, my percentile would be at the 61 %ile (as opposed to 72%ile for all applicants). They advised me that schools that had low percentages of Asian students would most likely choose the cream of the crop, and my scores would be a red flag.

So I ruled out Creighton because, even though their score range and GPA range looked like me, out of 279 Asian females, only 2 were enrolled last year. Was the advice about making my list wrong? What am I missing? Could yield management work in my favor at schools like Creighton?

Pros for Creighton
⁃ (relatively) low tuition and fees for OOS
⁃ High number of OOS accepted
⁃ DAT/GPA range looks like me
⁃ Omaha shouldn’t have a crazy high cost of living.
⁃ My pre-reqs stack up nicely, and I have taken almost all of their recommended classes.
⁃ Save $$ by interviewing virtually

Cons for Creighton
⁃ no direct flights from Savannah, so travel would take longer
⁃ Pretty far away from home with no family nearby
⁃ No real reason yet to answer “why Creighton” except that it ticks a lot of my boxes — not sure if I fit their mission
⁃ That low percentage of enrolled Asian females worries me. I don’t want part of my few application dollars to be a donation to Creighton.
⁃ I’d still want to travel to it to see if it was a good fit… have to fit that in my budget.

Thanks for your collective wisdom!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You can go ahead and prepare your AADSAS application so you can get the LOR forms. I agree, you can wait to send money to AADSAS (i.e., submit your application) until after your DAT score is known. The hang-up will be timing to verify your transcript, but if your letters get sent early, they'll be matched to your submitted application. Just make sure your DENTPIN is accurate.

Now the item you brought up that is very interesting to me.

Question 2, on DAT and school lists: I’m not trying to start a debate, but just need to check the accuracy of some advice I received.

This person advised me to check the ratio of Asians females enrolled when I was making my list, and they pointed out that, percentile wise, there’s a gap between Asian scores and total scores that could hurt me. They cited the latest DAT User Manual, and said that even if I made a 20 AA, when schools compared me to other Asians, my percentile would be at the 61 %ile (as opposed to 72%ile for all applicants). They advised me that schools that had low percentages of Asian students would most likely choose the cream of the crop, and my scores would be a red flag.

So I ruled out Creighton because, even though their score range and GPA range looked like me, out of 279 Asian females, only 2 were enrolled last year. Was the advice about making my list wrong? What am I missing? Could yield management work in my favor at schools like Creighton?

Looking at their last posted profile (likely rising D2's) and list of highlighted student leadership organizations. Looking at their ASDA IG page and SNDA Fb page (seems inactive).

The chances would be highly likely that if you go there, you'd be one of a handful of Southern-residency students in the class (likely only Georgia person, and not from Atlanta?). The absence of any Asian-American dental student organization on their campus and maybe lack of representation in faculty and dean's cabinet should be signs to inquire before sending in a secondary.

From your list,
Asian Dental Student Organization - Adams School of Dentistry and UNC ADSO (@unc_adso) • Instagram photos and videos

To compare
Asian Pacific Student Dental Association : Find a Student Organization : Student Activities and OSU_CoD_APSDA (@osu.cod.apsda) | Instagram and Student Association — Asian Pacific Dental Alumni Society

But let's focus on getting a strong DAT as you possibly can, because if you don't have a significant improvement on the 16, the discussion on Asian %iles on the DAT is not going to matter for you. (It's worth a different discussion from me since I published on this.)

 

[gadent14]

You can go ahead and prepare your AADSAS application so you can get the LOR forms. I agree, you can wait to send money to AADSAS (i.e., submit your application) until after your DAT score is known. The hang-up will be timing to verify your transcript, but if your letters get sent early, they'll be matched to your submitted application. Just make sure your DENTPIN is accurate.

Now the item you brought up that is very interesting to me.



Looking at their last posted profile (likely rising D2's) and list of highlighted student leadership organizations. Looking at their ASDA IG page and SNDA Fb page (seems inactive).

The chances would be highly likely that if you go there, you'd be one of a handful of Southern-residency students in the class (likely only Georgia person, and not from Atlanta?). The absence of any Asian-American dental student organization on their campus and maybe lack of representation in faculty and dean's cabinet should be signs to inquire before sending in a secondary.

From your list,
Asian Dental Student Organization - Adams School of Dentistry and UNC ADSO (@unc_adso) • Instagram photos and videos

To compare
Asian Pacific Student Dental Association : Find a Student Organization : Student Activities and OSU_CoD_APSDA (@osu.cod.apsda) | Instagram and Student Association — Asian Pacific Dental Alumni Society

But let's focus on getting a strong DAT as you possibly can, because if you don't have a significant improvement on the 16, the discussion on Asian %iles on the DAT is not going to matter for you. (It's worth a different discussion from me since I published on this.)

Thank you so much! Am studying now!!

 

[gadent14]

@Mr.Smile12 Just wanted to update that I got into Dental College of Georgia and wanted to say thank you for your advice and help!

 

[macsak]

@Mr.Smile12 Just wanted to update that I got into Dental College of Georgia and wanted to say thank you for your advice and help!

congrats!!!

what was your dat retake score?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

@Mr.Smile12 Just wanted to update that I got into Dental College of Georgia and wanted to say thank you for your advice and help!

Awesome! I look forward to getting an invite from your SNDA/APSDA chapter in the future... Ideally when you get to third year.

Hopefully you can grab a NHSC spot. Stay in touch!

 

[gadent14]

congrats!!!

what was your dat retake score?

Thank you!! AA 18

 

[macsak]

Thank you!! AA 18

ok, what was your SMP GPA?