what do you think about my decision of delaying graduation?

[joonkimdds]

I have been in university for 4 and a half yrs and finished all the requirements for bachelor's degree in B.S. Biology.

I planned to graduate in Jan 2009 but canceled it and delayed it to May 2010.

The reason is because I am thinking about reapplying in case I get rejected.
Some may ask why I am worried about reapplying when I haven't even applied for the first time, but I want to be prepared for any kind of situations. Of course it's better if I get accepted for 2010 cycle.


Here are my plan.
1. Spring 2009 = no classes, just DAT/volunteering/shadowing/research/activities
2. May 2009 = send application, take DAT
3. August 2009 = if the first DAT wasn't good, retake it.
4. Fall 2009 = while waiting for acceptance/rejection, take Histology, Human Anatomy, Psychology, and sociology
5. May 2010 = graduate, reapply to dental schools
6. August 2010 = retake DAT if the first two were not good, and get a job.
7. December 2010 = If i get rejected again, apply for dental hygiene program(their deadline is February 2011)
**my plan after Fall 2009 is just for the worst scenario I thought about.

I already contacted many dental schools and all of them said they don't care if I take a semester off or not so I am gonna give my best shot on DAT by fully using the time I have in Spring 2009.

Taking classes in Fall 2009 even though my requirement for B.S. BIO is done is to satisfy admissions by taking almost all the recommended classes that they want to see and hopefully increase my GPA and chance of acceptance.
This will insure that the reason for rejection isn't coming from the lack of challenging classes, low GPA and will give me an idea of how to strengthen my 2nd application by focusing even more on DAT/shadowing/activities.


There are many reasons for rejections and I want to make sure that everything goes the way I planned and predicted.

Taking sociology and psychology will also meet the requirement to apply to dental hygiene program which is my back up plan.
Do you guys think that spending 6 yrs as an undergraduate student and applying to dental hygiene program that only requires 2 yr is a bad idea since that's like saying I wasted 4 yrs?

I just want to hear your opinion to make sure that my plan for next 2 yrs is not something that will be wasted.

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[eilrahcmi]

There are many reasons for rejections and I want to make sure that everything goes the way I planned and predicted.

Good luck with that...

It's good to have a plan so you always know what to do next, but it sounds like you are preparing for failure and not success.

 

[silveryhair]

Great idea, what is your gpa if u dont mind me asking? and I thought you've been studying for the DATs for 2 years?????? I your posts about the PAT section.