What's the best route for someone who doesn't get in after applying junior year?

[SCDP]

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Ok so most dental school applicants are applying after junior year and are graduating senior year with the hopes of starting dental school after senior year. But for those who have solid stats like let's say 3.5 cGPA/sGPA and solid DAT like around 19/20 AA and they don't get in, what's their best option?

I mean no one wants to do extra classes after already graduating and they just want to start dental school, but they would have a whole year to do what? I mean the grade stats are already good so would it be worth it to take even more classes?

What's the best route?

Work and boost volunteering hours?

Do a year of extra undergrad science classes to boost GPA and boost volunteering hours too?

Do a Masters? (THIS WOULD SUCK BECAUSE IT'D BE 2-3 MORE YEARS AFTER UNDERGRAD before even starting D-School?)

What's the best option for people in those situations?

 

[Upperbyte]

Ok, so a Master's is nice.....but most likely, if you do not get in your first go around, it is purely due to there just not being enough seats for everyone applying. I would retake the DAT, retake any prereq's you didn't do well in, or better yet, go take the "recommended" courses for the schools you are most interested in. And shadow/work in the dental field more. You will likely get in the second time. Also, make sure you didn't blow it on your interview. I would recommend setting a voice recording before you go in and letting it run, that way you can really assess whether or not it went well if you listen to it after.

 

[jdinners92]

theres plenty of programs where you can study oral biology. in some schools youll literally be taking classes with d1s. you need a certain gpa and you can accepted into the dental school after a yr.

look into it. I know nova has one b/c the dean of admissions gave a speech the other day at my college and talked about. but if your gpa/dat are that high you wont get accepted into the program. essentially if you dont get accepted somewhere with those stats you didnt apply to enough schools or applied late or bombed your interviews. so just apply next cycle and make sure to do do early and apply to a lot of schools

 

[Macabalony]

I went back to school and made my minor into a full blown degree. With the extra time, I worked and volunteered as much of my free time as possible. My last year in undergrad I got something around 400+ hours of volunteer service. With that being said it takes an average of two application cycles to get in. (This was according to my pre-professional health adviser.)

My personal thought is that it would be silly to try and relocate for a year to then again relocate to another state. Your friends are still in the college town and you could still have access to the university; possibly help research with a professor you really liked.

 

[shyfox9p]

First, ask to meet/talk to a dean at a school that you applied to. Ask them what they want to see and what will make you a better candidate.

 

[SXCoronado]

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[jeffity]

Is that allowed? It might be the coolest idea I have heard in awhile.

It's a good way to torture yourself. You're going to hate everything you hear and drive yourself crazy. Also, what you say is only a fraction of the communication that goes on in the interview. You can't capture hand movements, facial expressions, fidgeting, overall sketchy vibes you put off, etc. with audio. Mock interviews with third-party feedback would tell you what you need to know about your interview skills. It's not like they'd know or ever find out, but it's a little weird to be in there recording the thing.

 

[doc toothache]

[/QUOTE]

I went back to school and made my minor into a full blown degree. With the extra time, I worked and volunteered as much of my free time as possible. My last year in undergrad I got something around 400+ hours of volunteer service. With that being said it takes an average of two application cycles to get in. (This was according to my pre-professional health adviser.).

The pre pro must know a thing or two about admission.

Is that allowed? It might be the coolest idea I have heard in awhile.

As if you are likely to find an adcom that will allow a recording, not to mention that are states where surreptitious recording is illegal and where it is legal, it might result in an abrupt ending of the interview.

It's a good way to torture yourself. You're going to hate everything you hear and drive yourself crazy.

That might be the least of his/her problem.

 

[SXCoronado]

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[arkenstone]

Don't record your interview. That's really awkward. And if you do it secretly, a good rule of thumb is that it's not legal if there was any expectation of privacy -- an expectation that I imagine holds in most situations like this.