WAMC - Average-ish GPA and low DAT

[FutureDoc1014]

Retake DAT or just screw it and try to apply?

* ORM

* cGPA/sGPA/BCP GPA: 3.52/3.29/3.33

* DAT: 18AA/17TS (19 PAT, 24 RC, 16 QR, 17 BIO, 17 GC, 15 OC) very worried about the OC score, I was scoring 22 on Booster

* State of Residence: PA

* Biology Major, not a reapplicant, NOT non-trad

* Volunteer hours: 592 (assisting kids art classes, flag football assistance, hospital volunteering, teaching adults English as a second language, and various other things that are less prominent)

* ECs: Student red cross club, a club where we raised funds for pediatric cancer, dog sitting, tutoring middle/high schoolers, pre-dental club, ski club, AED (pre-health honors society)

* Shadowing: ~150 hours with general dentists

* LORs: orgo professor, 2 bio professors, general dentist I shadowed. Orgo and dentist should be very strong, bio professors should be good, but not as strong as the other two


School List (I want apply as wide as possible, I also have AP credit for gen chem so only schools which accept them for prereqs are options. If you see any that I have that don’t actually accept them or know any more that do pls let me know!)

• LECOM

• Ohio State
• Colorado
• Maryland
• Michigan
• UWash
• UPenn (very unrealistic obviously but it’s in pennsylvania so I figured I’d at least apply)
• Detroit Mercy
• Midwestern (Illinois)
• UConn
• Buffalo
• Stony Brook

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[Ryxndek]

I’ll be frank, the schools you have listed and your stats you have don’t line up. UConn, Buffalo, Stony Brook, Ohio, Uwash, Michigan are all heavy heavy reaches given your DAT score. 18AA is below national average of matriculants (20.5) and your TS is also low 17 << 20.2

I would highly recommend retaking DAT as some schools may have 17 subscore minimums. I believe LECOM is one of them. It’s okay to have maybe 1 low score, but you have 4. Having a low TS score also shows schools you may not be ready to handle the difficult course load. So retaking to prove you can is something I think you should think about. How many full practice exams did you take? How many months did you study, how many hours per day? It could be just test jitters if you were doing okay on the practice exams but you’ll have a lot of high stress exams school so you want to make sure you can do well without cracking under the pressure.

You’re missing a lot of lower score friendly schools and just have way way too many state schools. Your app isn’t a solid contender for just applying to a majority of them, so you’ll need more privates to cover your chances. I’d remove Michigan, UConn, Uwash for sure, and I would add Case western, Touro, and Temple/Boston/NYU instead. No UPitt even though you’re in state? That’s shooting yourself in the foot there missing your in state school!

The other issue is if you retake your DAT you’ll be pushing into the Late category for apps and then you’re not maximizing your chances. If you haven’t submitted yet, I’d plan to retake DAT this fall and apply right away next spring. I think you’d find you have a lot more options for schools depending on your dat and then you’ll be maximizing your chances by applying early.

 

[FutureDoc1014]

I’ll be frank, the schools you have listed and your stats you have don’t line up. UConn, Buffalo, Stony Brook, Ohio, Uwash, Michigan are all heavy heavy reaches given your DAT score. 18AA is below national average of matriculants (20.5) and your TS is also low 17 << 20.2

I would highly recommend retaking DAT as some schools may have 17 subscore minimums. I believe LECOM is one of them.

You’re missing a lot of lower score friendly schools and just have way way too many state schools. Your app isn’t really a contender for them, so you’ll need more privates to cover your chances. I’d remove Michigan, UConn, Uwash for sure, and I would add Case western, Touro, and Temple/Boston/NYU instead.

The other issue is if you retake your DAT you’ll be pushing into the Late category for apps and then you’re not maximizing your chances. If you haven’t submitted yet, I’d plan to retake DAT this fall and apply right away next spring. I think you’d find you have a lot more options for schools depending on your dat and then you’ll be maximizing your chances by applying early.

Hey thanks I appreciate the honesty. Yea I'm struggling with the school list and wasn't sure if I had to retake or not. Was really hoping this DAT would have gone better but it is what it is I guess. Thank you for the help!

 

[Ryxndek]

Hey thanks I appreciate the honesty. Yea I'm struggling with the school list and wasn't sure if I had to retake or not. Was really hoping this DAT would have gone better but it is what it is I guess. Thank you for the help!

What about UPitt? Your in state schools give you the best odds at getting in.

As for AP classes there’s a link in my signature that has all the schools and if they accept APs or not. It’s a good excel file resource.

It sucks but I think spending the time and money now to retake your DAT could have you going from possibly paying 600-700k for a dental degree to 350-450k…which is a lot

 

[FutureDoc1014]

What about UPitt? Your in state schools give you the best odds at getting in.

As for AP classes there’s a link in my signature that has all the schools and if they accept APs or not. It’s a good excel file resource.

It sucks but I think spending the time and money now to retake your DAT could have you going from possibly paying 600-700k for a dental degree to 350-450k…which is a lot

Oh wow I thought they didn't take credits for prereqs - your list is a lifesaver!

I think I agree. Thank you!

 

[Ryxndek]

Oh wow I thought they didn't take credits for prereqs - your list is a lifesaver!

I think I agree. Thank you!

I’m not completely sure about the list, it could be a few years old. The AP list should be up to date as I put those in recently from the ADEA dental explorer. But I would reach out to them to confirm just to be safe. Never hurts to get it in writing from them!

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Yeah, you're staring at a DAT retake. Unless you have done your networking with the schools before applying, I think it's best to take a break. You can network with students at the schools where you're interested in (BTW, UPenn is probably not one of them, seeing your GPA slash lines; UWash too). Mission fit and personal journey to the profession are very important for success.