When Should I apply

[pupsingh]

hi ima sophomore at UC Davis

i have a 3.0 overall gpa and a 2.5 bcp gpa and 2.6 sci gpa

this upcoming year i will take the entire year of bio and ochem

then senior year i have a bunch of easy psych classes

my question is should i apply at the end of junior year or at the end of senior year? the advantage to applying after senior year is that my senior year grades will be included. at the end of junior year i plan on having around 3.2 overall and 3.0 bcp. i took the DAT and got 20AA 18 TS and 18 PAT
i had an oral surgery internship, shadowing at my dentist office, member of fraternity.

also, my sophomore sceince grades are mostly B-'s and C+s if i get As and Bs in ochem and bio this upcoming year is that upward trend matter at all.? and if i do get these grades this year should that make me apply at junior years end instead of senior?

thank u, i plan on applying to 26 schools, do i have a shot at an interview or two?

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[jigabodo]

hi ima sophomore at UC Davis

i have a 3.0 overall gpa and a 2.5 bcp gpa and 2.6 sci gpa

this upcoming year i will take the entire year of bio and ochem

then senior year i have a bunch of easy psych classes

my question is should i apply at the end of junior year or at the end of senior year? the advantage to applying after senior year is that my senior year grades will be included. at the end of junior year i plan on having around 3.2 overall and 3.0 bcp. i took the DAT and got 20AA 18 TS and 18 PAT
i had an oral surgery internship, shadowing at my dentist office, member of fraternity.

also, my sophomore sceince grades are mostly B-'s and C+s if i get As and Bs in ochem and bio this upcoming year is that upward trend matter at all.? and if i do get these grades this year should that make me apply at junior years end instead of senior?

thank u, i plan on applying to 26 schools, do i have a shot at an interview or two?

Hey fellow Aggie!

I am also from Davis, but will be applying for 2007 cycle instead of the next one. It looks like you've got enough EC, but imo with a 3.0 overall and 2.5 BCP is not gonna cut it.

Upward trend is always good. If 2 applicants have similar stats, adcom will probably pick one that started out badly and improved later rather than somebody who started out well and did poorly in upperdivision classes.

I would say for the next year or 2 try to focus on bringing up your science/bcp GPA because normally that is what adcoms tend to emphasize more on. With a 3.0 bcp you might need to perform 22+ on the DAT to stand a chance imo. If possible, try to take more upperdivision sciences classes during junior/senior year and do well to show that you are capable of handling the courseload.

Applying to 26 schools is definitely a good way to increase you chance of getting interviewed.

Just my 2 cents, I am glad to to see a lot of aggies on the board lately!

 

[shoeler]

hi ima sophomore at UC Davis

i have a 3.0 overall gpa and a 2.5 bcp gpa and 2.6 sci gpa

this upcoming year i will take the entire year of bio and ochem

then senior year i have a bunch of easy psych classes

my question is should i apply at the end of junior year or at the end of senior year? the advantage to applying after senior year is that my senior year grades will be included. at the end of junior year i plan on having around 3.2 overall and 3.0 bcp. i took the DAT and got 20AA 18 TS and 18 PAT
i had an oral surgery internship, shadowing at my dentist office, member of fraternity.

also, my sophomore sceince grades are mostly B-'s and C+s if i get As and Bs in ochem and bio this upcoming year is that upward trend matter at all.? and if i do get these grades this year should that make me apply at junior years end instead of senior?

thank u, i plan on applying to 26 schools, do i have a shot at an interview or two?

Here is my advice and its worth what you pay for:

1-Your GPA is too low, especially BCP. If you’re going to apply with that GPA you’re going to have to have a DAT score that is Killer! Work on the GPA and get it up, ESPECIALLY SCIENCE GPA! You have to have an upward trend, and it should be obvious that you have changed your ways and that it’s not B's and C's but A' and B's. Sometime you can get in with a lower GPA, that’s ok, but you got to show a consistant improvement.

2-Since you GPA isn't as competitive as other people you should retake the DAT. You may have an AA of 20 but your TS is weak sauce man, it needs to be higher in order to show the schools that you have really taken action and that you are continuing that upward trend. They want to see if your going to be successful in dental school, and from a 2.5 BCP and a 18 PAT, and 18 TS it doesn't look like your as competitive as say another applicant that has a 22 PAT 20 TS and say a 3.2 BCP. Get that PAT score as high as possible, shot for a 24, 25. It's not too hard to do a lot of practice PAT tests and become very good and efficient at that.

3-I don't know how many hours you have shadowing, but I would say that if a school asks for 50 do double or even triple. Show them you are committed since your grades might not be as competitive. Same goes for service hours, show them you are committed and want to get it so that an admissions committee won't have any excuse to overlook you.

4-If you can make yourself more unique than the next guy that will really help. If you can stand out more and look unique than that will definetly help since your not as competitive.

Good luck

 

[jigabodo]

Bottom line is you gotta have persistance. I just checked up my own grade and I had a 2.68 overall at the end of my sophomore year. My grade is still nowhere spectacular right now but bringing it up to ~3.3 is definitely possible if you try hard. Don't give up hope.

 

[diane07]

Your GPA may not be competitive enough for dental school. You'll need to raise your GPA. Also, take upper level division sciences to prove that you can cut it. Plenty of schools list the upper level division sciences they prefer on their websites.

 

[dentaldentist]

If you manage to do awesome this next year and earn A's across the board, then it might be worth applying after your junior year as long as you don't mind spending the money on the application. Your best shot will certainly be after your senior year though since you will have had more time do drive up your GPA and really show schools you have turned things around. An upward trend definitly does matter so while your first year or two may be dragging your GPA down, it doesn't kill your application.

Also, as already mentioned, your DAT score is somewhat borderline considering your low GPA. Your DAT is certainly good and meets or beats the average at many schools, but because your GPA is low you may need to retake the DAT.

Another thing is you may want to look at the requirements for each of the schools you are looking at applying too. Many require science courses beyond the basic year of bio, year of chem, year of ochem and year of physics. You may need to take some additional classes like biochem, microbio, and physiology. Even if the schools don't require this for entrance, it is always recommended you have a couple of these under your belt so I definitly suggest taking one or two more bio classes during your senior year - I don't recommend not taking any real science classes that year as that might be considered a negative.

Overall though you are in good shape. Just work hard these next two years and you will get in.

 

[PChemGrad]

Your DAT score, is this from a practice test or from the real deal?

I am just curious, since some practice test are "easier" than the real thing, and you said you havent taken Bio or O-Chem yet. If not then you should be able to do much better on the DAT after taking these classes. but with your GPA you need a really good DAT score.