Worried about chances due to several factors

[fayevalentine]

---

Members do not see this ad.

.

 

[Gaucho4Life]

Just explain the 4.5 years at a community college while working, and trying to find yourself, in your personal statement. Everyone likes a good story. Get some volunteer hours, an unpaid dental internship (shadowing a GP), and aim for a 20+ DAT using the guides on here. Also, only apply to schools that accept community college coursework. And I believe that the ones that do, only accept 60 or so credits. Good luck!

 

[fayevalentine]

Thank you Gaucho. That is good advice, and I definitely plan to mention those things in my PS. I have kind of a dumb question, but would you possibly know if when a school says they only accept 60 CC credits, and I have 64 from CC, they will just not look at 4 of the credits basically? If I had taken all of my prereqs there or something? Or does this mean they will not even consider an application with over 60 credits from CC?

 

[Gaucho4Life]

Thank you Gaucho. That is good advice, and I definitely plan to mention those things in my PS. I have kind of a dumb question, but would you possibly know if when a school says they only accept 60 CC credits, and I have 64 from CC, they will just not look at 4 of the credits basically? If I had taken all of my prereqs there or something? Or does this mean they will not even consider an application with over 60 credits from CC?

You're thinking/worrying too much. You're fine

 

[Meat Gyver]

Thank you Gaucho. That is good advice, and I definitely plan to mention those things in my PS. I have kind of a dumb question, but would you possibly know if when a school says they only accept 60 CC credits, and I have 64 from CC, they will just not look at 4 of the credits basically? If I had taken all of my prereqs there or something? Or does this mean they will not even consider an application with over 60 credits from CC?

Usually schools require you to have an X amount of credits prior to matriculation. Of those required hours only 60 credits from your CC can be used towards that requirement. If you have more than 60, it's fine.

 

[amfassz]

You're fine. You should focus on improving the rest of your application and continue to do well in your classes.

 

[fayevalentine]

Thank you all for your encouragement and advice!

 

[Futbolero]

Make sure you have a good reason to explain those W's. I was super worried about mine going in (I have over 10) but I ended up getting a few acceptances (whew!). I had a few W's here and there in my 2 years of CC. I then transfered to a 4-year uni which was on a quarter system. I went through some major family difficulties and lost my focus and wasn't even sure I wanted to pursue dentistry still; I ended up getting all W's my entire first year at the uni after transferring there! When the new year started I was refocused and motivated and did relatively well, however I have still gotten 2-3 W's since then in the past 2.5 years I've been there. So all in all I did 2 years CC and am in my fourth year of the 4-year university, however that first year was all W's.

I'm sure it held me back from getting interviewed at a couple schools, but I have good EC's, my DAT wasn't bad (21 AA/TS/RC and 23 PAT), and my gpa was about average (3.5 oGPA, 3.3 sGPA).

If I was still able to gain acceptances and 9 interview invites with my huge amount of W's, I'm sure you'll have nothing to worry about! Good luck and study hard for the DAT!

 

[fayevalentine]

Awesome futbolero, you definitely just inspired me! Great job and congrats on your turn around and acceptances! What an inspirational story 🙂.

 

[LFA20]

I went to CC, transferred to University, got 5 W's there. Ended up with 8 interviews, went to 6, got accepted to 3.

 

[SerboDent]

To get an early interview, you'll need a 20+ on the dat. As long as the gpa and dat are strong enough you should get some interviews... At the interview you will need to explain the w's