- Joined
- Jun 29, 2016
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Hello SDN friends! I am in a bit of dilemma and I would like some input. I currently am a senior at Virginia Tech. I am a Biology major with a 3.32 overall GPA and I scored a 22 overall on the DAT this summer (22 AA 22 PAT 22 TS). I am definitely fighting what I feel is an uphill battle with grades (upward trends are in my favor) since freshman year but I am greatly and steadily improving. (gpa per semester - 3.0 2.9 2.7 3.4 3.8 3.7 and hopefully staying in the 3.8 range these next two semesters) I was advised to take a gap year last year and so I will be applying senior spring. I have done some OTJ training for dental assisting at a free clinic and gotten my xray certification as well as I have over 250 hours inside a dental office. I have leadership and volunteer so I feel like I am well rounded in that aspect as well. So basically the thing is that I'm not sure what to do during that awkward gap year.
Yes I have looked into various predental and premedical post bac or 1 year CERT programs but they are SO expensive. I'm just thinking that if it would look just as good to work in a dental office, why would I not save money for dental school during that year? But I still feel I might need to still prove myself grades wise to dental programs that I can make grades and handle the rigor because I know during your gap year, you are supposed to work on things that aren't as good as they could be. Is my GPA in that range where I must stay in school? I just don't want to damage my chances of getting into school by not staying in academia as I've hear that you want to stay in school if possible by all means. I've also never participated in research so I suppose that could be an option, but how do I get into that if I have no experience? Are there other options outside of the box that I haven't thought of? Will working in a dental office not look as good or will it hurt my chances at admittance? I just feel really stuck in this decision and can't get good clear advice from anyone to take the next step into applying to a post bac or looking into job opportunities. Help :/
Yes I have looked into various predental and premedical post bac or 1 year CERT programs but they are SO expensive. I'm just thinking that if it would look just as good to work in a dental office, why would I not save money for dental school during that year? But I still feel I might need to still prove myself grades wise to dental programs that I can make grades and handle the rigor because I know during your gap year, you are supposed to work on things that aren't as good as they could be. Is my GPA in that range where I must stay in school? I just don't want to damage my chances of getting into school by not staying in academia as I've hear that you want to stay in school if possible by all means. I've also never participated in research so I suppose that could be an option, but how do I get into that if I have no experience? Are there other options outside of the box that I haven't thought of? Will working in a dental office not look as good or will it hurt my chances at admittance? I just feel really stuck in this decision and can't get good clear advice from anyone to take the next step into applying to a post bac or looking into job opportunities. Help :/
. I got an NYU interview and my GPA and DAT are barely higher. I'll let you know if I get any other interviews though from cheaper schools or somethin xD
it's good for ya
