When should I apply?

[Kobethegoat24]

So I am conflicted with when to apply.
My stats: 3.88 cGpa, 3.90 sGpa, I unfortuntely have close to 0 volunteer and literally 0 shadowing hours. I am studying for the DAT right now and I am close to ready to take the test. I am averaging above 20 for almost all the sections except general chemistry and PAT which are around a 19. My biology score and organic chemistry score are 23-25 usually. (I plan to take DAT first or second week of March)
My original plan was to volunteer and shadow for 3 months after my DAT. Then I would work full time and wait to apply in summer 2020. However, a major part of me wants to attend dental school sooner and I wanted to apply summer 2019. I should have all my 3 LORs by this june.
With my stats and considering I have no volunteering and shadowing, would it be good to volunteer for 2 months after my DAT in April and May then apply in june. Or would it be wiser for me to wait a year and apply in summer of 2020? Thank you

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Tootyfruity]

Don't wait a year

 

[Cthuluhoop]

How'd you get interested in dentistry with 0 shadowing hours and how are you going to write a personal statement with 0 shadowing hours? Did you apply to medical school?

You want to aim for at least 100 shadowing hours, that's a lot to cram into 3 months and you wouldn't even be able to write a believable personal statement in that time. Admissions committee members don't really like to see people volunteering just to fill in an application, since you have to put the start and end date to your volunteering. You can try to cram all of these hours into 3 months and apply, but even with a solid DAT score I don't see you getting into very competitive programs where you are competing with students with good stats as well as many hours of shadowing and volunteering for many years. You would probably have better results waiting a year, and continuing to shadow and volunteer throughout the next year.

 

[Kobethegoat24]

How'd you get interested in dentistry with 0 shadowing hours and how are you going to write a personal statement with 0 shadowing hours? Did you apply to medical school?

You want to aim for at least 100 shadowing hours, that's a lot to cram into 3 months and you wouldn't even be able to write a believable personal statement in that time. Admissions committee members don't really like to see people volunteering just to fill in an application, since you have to put the start and end date to your volunteering. You can try to cram all of these hours into 3 months and apply, but even with a solid DAT score I don't see you getting into very competitive programs where you are competing with students with good stats as well as many hours of shadowing and volunteering for many years. You would probably have better results waiting a year, and continuing to shadow and volunteer throughout the next year.

Thanks. I thought it would be a good idea to wait

 

[Sweettooth326]

I don't see any harm in applying this year. Would you really want to wait another year, when you have the opportunity now? Make the most of your situation. As soon as you finish your DAT, start shadowing and volunteering. Let's say you shadow twice a week, on Fridays and Saturdays for about 5 hrs each day. That would give you about 40-50 hrs per month. 3 months of shadowing would give you at least 100 hrs. At the same time, as someone who has no volunteer nor shadowing hrs, dig deep and ask yourself why you want to pursue this field. This will help you when you put together your personal statement.

 

[Kobethegoat24]

I don't see any harm in applying this year. Would you really want to wait another year, when you have the opportunity now? Make the most of your situation. As soon as you finish your DAT, start shadowing and volunteering. Let's say you shadow twice a week, on Fridays and Saturdays for about 5 hrs each day. That would give you about 40-50 hrs per month. 3 months of shadowing would give you at least 100 hrs. At the same time, as someone who has no volunteer nor shadowing hrs, dig deep and ask yourself why you want to pursue this field. This will help you when you put together your personal statement.

Thanks it’s a long story of how I ended up choosing dental school. I wanted to do pharmacy at first but it got super saturated. I landed on dental school after doing research not because it was a field I loved to be honest. But do you think me squeezing in those shadowing and volunteering hours will impact my acceptance? I’m studying as hard as possible on dat and if it will truly impact my acceptance chance I don’t want to even bother trying

 

[Do Ray]

I got 50 hours of shadowing in my last few months leading up to June. Also probably racked up around 50 hours of dental volunteering for a club during that time period as well. I was a busy bee though, since this was all during a full-time student course load.

 

[Kobethegoat24]

I got 50 hours of shadowing in my last few months leading up to June. Also probably racked up around 50 hours of dental volunteering for a club during that time period as well. I was a busy bee though, since this was all during a full-time student course load.

Did u have any volunteering or shadowing before that? If not did u apply this past cycle ?

 

[FutureDPM123]

Just shadow for a week and volunteer for a week. You can definitely get into dental school this year if you get a good DAT score. However, with such little hours shadowing, you got to apply to schools with lower standards.

 

[Do Ray]

Did u have any volunteering or shadowing before that? If not did u apply this past cycle ?

Yeah, I shadowed at a separate place for about 50 hrs before that. I applied and got accepted this past cycle!

 

[Kobethegoat24]

Yeah, I shadowed at a separate place for about 50 hrs before that. I applied and got accepted this past cycle!

Awesome job congrats

 

[licensetodrill614]

Admissions committees want to see why you are a good fit for dentistry, that you have taken the time to understand the career, and that you enjoy caring for people (volunteering). If you think you have enough time to get to that point in the next few months, go for it. But, I also think those experiences are for you, not admissions committees. You are going to be investing a lot of time and money by going to dental school and you want to be sure it’s worth it for you. Make sure it’s something you really enjoy!

 

[Kobethegoat24]

Admissions committees want to see why you are a good fit for dentistry, that you have taken the time to understand the career, and that you enjoy caring for people (volunteering). If you think you have enough time to get to that point in the next few months, go for it. But, I also think those experiences are for you, not admissions committees. You are going to be investing a lot of time and money by going to dental school and you want to be sure it’s worth it for you. Make sure it’s something you really enjoy!

Thank you, I unfortunately dont have a field that I absolutely love. It was more of a rational choice for me to pick dental school after doing my research (i was prepharm but pharmacy field is dying). From your own experience would you advice if I took April May June to volunteer and shadow then apply July or August? Or would that be too late in the cycle?

 

[licensetodrill614]

Gotcha. I think applying end of July/first week ok August is ok. I took my DAT the end of July, and ended up applying August 3rd. I still got pre-dec interviews and offers. I wouldn’t apply any later. In my opinion, it’s better to wait and have a better app than rush and throw something together

 

[Kobethegoat24]

Gotcha. I think applying end of July/first week ok August is ok. I took my DAT the end of July, and ended up applying August 3rd. I still got pre-dec interviews and offers. I wouldn’t apply any later. In my opinion, it’s better to wait and have a better app than rush and throw something together

Thank you very much

 

[iohchang]

Do you have volunteer experiences not dental related? I was pre-optometry for the longest time and decided to apply to dental school last March. I started shadowing a dentist once a week for 8 hrs from March-May and managed to get a little over 100 hours of shadowing. If you are not working now, you can definitely get a lot of hours in. My shadowing hours were def squeezed in there, but I had a lot of general volunteering hours since I was already interested in entering the health field. And even though those volunteering experiences were non-dental related, they still have value since it showed I've worked with underserved communities, tutored students, and have leadership skills. I took the DAT in July, submitted my app late July, and was able to get a few interviews and one acceptance so far. I feel like my interview skills could be improved lol, but overall I was impressed with my ability to all of a sudden decide to apply and get into school.

To rush it is definitely possible, you just have to put in the effort. March-August 2018 were some of the most painful and lonely months of my life, but I was so busy I didn't even have time to think about it. I rushed it even though it was risky -- I graduated 2016 and did not want to start a 4th gap year. If you think you can do it, I encourage you to do so.

 

[bigboikhoa]

Wow I didn't realize so many people were so similar to my situation. This is actually the one year anniversary of me deciding to do dentistry so think my input can be of use to you. I have the exact same gpa as you, both sgpa and total gpa. I decided I wanted to do dentistry midway into my 3rd year of college. I had already taken my OATs(scored well) and was already shadowing an optometrist for over 100 hours, and was the officer of the preoptometry society at my school. I basically realized way too late that it was not for me and was having an anxiety attack because I felt lost and didn't know what I wanted to do anymore. My roommate was predent and told me I should go and shadow his dentist to see if Id like it. Turns out watching someone popping off crowns and filling cavities was one of the coolest and craziest things I ever saw. So, I basically started shadowing immediately, opened my aadsas application and started grinding. I finished my aadsas application in early June and submitted everything around July 1st. I started studying for my DAT around June 15 and took the exam July 30th. Within this time period I gathered 100 hours of shadowing, continued full time psychiatric research, and a full class load. As of now, I have 200 hours of shadowing, got into 2 schools, and waitlisted to my top choice. So all I'm saying is it's very very possible for you to get in. The main question you have to ask is do you just care about getting into any school? Or do you want to get into your top choices? I think I could've gotten many more interviews to top choices if I had more experience and more shadowing hours at the time of submitting. Otherwise I'm very happy with the results of my cycle. Lmk if you have any questions.

 

[Kobethegoat24]

Do you have volunteer experiences not dental related? I was pre-optometry for the longest time and decided to apply to dental school last March. I started shadowing a dentist once a week for 8 hrs from March-May and managed to get a little over 100 hours of shadowing. If you are not working now, you can definitely get a lot of hours in. My shadowing hours were def squeezed in there, but I had a lot of general volunteering hours since I was already interested in entering the health field. And even though those volunteering experiences were non-dental related, they still have value since it showed I've worked with underserved communities, tutored students, and have leadership skills. I took the DAT in July, submitted my app late July, and was able to get a few interviews and one acceptance so far. I feel like my interview skills could be improved lol, but overall I was impressed with my ability to all of a sudden decide to apply and get into school.

To rush it is definitely possible, you just have to put in the effort. March-August 2018 were some of the most painful and lonely months of my life, but I was so busy I didn't even have time to think about it. I rushed it even though it was risky -- I graduated 2016 and did not want to start a 4th gap year. If you think you can do it, I encourage you to do so.

I have some volunteering hours but no where near close to 50 - 100 hours that I need to stand out as a good candidate. I am working and studying for DAT full time right now. Once I finish my DAT in march I am going to work 2 times a week and shadow and volunteer all the other days of the week for 3 months.

 

[Kobethegoat24]

Wow I didn't realize so many people were so similar to my situation. This is actually the one year anniversary of me deciding to do dentistry so think my input can be of use to you. I have the exact same gpa as you, both sgpa and total gpa. I decided I wanted to do dentistry midway into my 3rd year of college. I had already taken my OATs(scored well) and was already shadowing an optometrist for over 100 hours, and was the officer of the preoptometry society at my school. I basically realized way too late that it was not for me and was having an anxiety attack because I felt lost and didn't know what I wanted to do anymore. My roommate was predent and told me I should go and shadow his dentist to see if Id like it. Turns out watching someone popping off crowns and filling cavities was one of the coolest and craziest things I ever saw. So, I basically started shadowing immediately, opened my aadsas application and started grinding. I finished my aadsas application in early June and submitted everything around July 1st. I started studying for my DAT around June 15 and took the exam July 30th. Within this time period I gathered 100 hours of shadowing, continued full time psychiatric research, and a full class load. As of now, I have 200 hours of shadowing, got into 2 schools, and waitlisted to my top choice. So all I'm saying is it's very very possible for you to get in. The main question you have to ask is do you just care about getting into any school? Or do you want to get into your top choices? I think I could've gotten many more interviews to top choices if I had more experience and more shadowing hours at the time of submitting. Otherwise I'm very happy with the results of my cycle. Lmk if you have any questions.

Wow we kind of lived very similar lives lol. Thank you very much for your post, its very encouraging and congrats on getting in.

 

[AppalachianDentalBoy]

Dude yolo. You have between now and June which is enough time. Worst thing that happens is you're out some cash and have to do a gap year.

 

[Kobethegoat24]

Dude yolo. You have between now and June which is enough time. Worst thing that happens is you're out some cash and have to do a gap year.

Yolo is truly he moto can’t disagree there

 

[gudetamasan]

Don't wait a year op! For me, I started shadowing dentist during spring break and summer of my junior year, then I took the DAT in August, submitted app by early September, received post-dec interviews, and got into my top choice and state school. With your stats, you'll do great in the upcoming cycle, but you definitely need shadowing hours for your app and for the personal statement/interviews.

 

[Kobethegoat24]

Don't wait a year op! For me, I started shadowing dentist during spring break and summer of my junior year, then I took the DAT in August, submitted app by early September, received post-dec interviews, and got into my top choice and state school. With your stats, you'll do great in the upcoming cycle, but you definitely need shadowing hours for your app and for the personal statement/interviews.

Thank you very much, congrats on getting in also !