Year off or LECOM

[Doctor Asnan]

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I have an interview at LECOM coming up. I have heard about this school (expensive, ELR, small patient pool, poor location etc.)

I was rejected from my state school which is about 100k cheaper (Ohio State) and waitlisted at super expesive NOVA (probably won't get accepted from that list.)

If I do happen to get accepted at LECOM, should I take it or should I just take a year off? I do kind of want a year off honestly. I have been thinking about it at least.

I would be reapplying with ~ 3.5-3.6 Overall and Science GPA (completed bachelors) and 21/21/18 DAT along with average EC's.

Thanks!

 

[dr.teach25smile]

I ended up with two years off between graduating and school. Super glad I had the time. Learned a lot and will get to take some awesome trips before returning to the grind!

Don't give up hope, rejection is not fun, but you can have a lot of fun out of school!

 

[allantois]

LECOM is the cheapest private school there is.

 

[Doctor Asnan]

LECOM is the cheapest private school there is.

Still not cheap (100k more than state school)

 

[swindoll]

Wow! Your stats are pretty good. Surprised that lecom is your only option

 

[allantois]

Still not cheap (100k more than state school)

Yes, but your state only has one public school. No one should bank on getting into a particular school.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

Here is one thing to consider. If you do not attend LECOM, then why did you apply? If you choose not to attend, there is no guarantee you will get into another school next year. Plus, you lose more potential income every year you don't attend school than the difference of the overall costs of dschool. I know 100k seems like a huge difference, but think of the lost income or 1 or more years. Personally, if LECOM is the only choice, then if you really want to be a dentist I'd say go to LECOM since there is always the possibility that another offer may never be granted again. To me, not worth the risk.

Edit: Oops ..... misread the OP'S post. If you get accepted at LECOM and it is the only choice, I wouldn't turn it down. Thanks HookahLungs for pointing out that the OP didn't get accepted already.

 

[pgex2t]

Unless you plan on strengthening your application next time around, waiting another year won't help your chances. To my understanding, many schools see turning down an acceptance (and not going to dental school that year) as a red flag if left unexplained.

 

[HookahLungs]

You don't have the lecom option so don't depend on that.. Sorry to sound harsh, but I was the same way my first cycle and it just comes down to the fact that I want to become a dentist and whether that's Howard or Harvard that will service my degree, I'll get the degree. Don't be picky over options you don't have, you may not have them the next time around.

On another note, lecom is probably 100k more expensive but taking an off year can cost you a potential 120k salary, food for thought.

 

[Doctor Asnan]

Wow! Your stats are pretty good. Surprised that lecom is your only option

Pretty sure I messed up the interviews...

Yes, but your state only has one public school. No one should bank on getting into a particular school.

I should've had acceptance there, once again I think I messed up the interview.

Unless you plan on strengthening your application next time around, waiting another year won't help your chances. To my understanding, many schools see turning down an acceptance (and not going to dental school that year) as a red flag if left unexplained.

There are a lot of different circumstances that people face, turning down acceptance could mean any number of things. I think my application (listed in the first post) are perfectly fine for dental schools.

Also if anyone is interested there is more to this store. I applied this round with a 3.85 but my end GPA is gana be 3.55ish so I am not as strong as an applicant.

 

[pgex2t]

Pretty sure I messed up the interviews...

I should've had acceptance there, once again I think I messed up the interview.
There are a lot of different circumstances that people face, turning down acceptance could mean any number of things. I think my application (listed in the first post) are perfectly fine for dental schools.

Also if anyone is interested there is more to this store. I applied this round with a 3.85 but my end GPA is gana be 3.55ish so I am not as strong as an applicant.

Yes, there are legitimate reasons for turning down an acceptance-which is why I wrote "if left unexplained". That being said, applying next cycle with a .3 drop in GPA won't be overlooked.

You don't have the lecom option so don't depend on that.. Sorry to sound harsh, but I was the same way my first cycle and it just comes down to the fact that I want to become a dentist and whether that's Howard or Harvard that will service my degree, I'll get the degree. Don't be picky over options you don't have, you may not have them the next time around.

On another note, lecom is probably 100k more expensive but taking an off year can cost you a potential 120k salary, food for thought.

Exactly.

 

[ajj70]

The cost difference between Ohio and LECOM is not enough to skip going to dental school. It would be one year less of income but more importantly, one year less of investment savings for retirement which will cost you more in the long run than the cost difference between the schools, assuming you don't mess up the interview. I would probably worry more about that than what to do next year. How did you mess up? What have you done in the meantime to fix that?

 

[Kittenz]

I have an interview at LECOM coming up. I have heard about this school (expensive, ELR, small patient pool, poor location etc.)

I was rejected from my state school which is about 100k cheaper (Ohio State) and waitlisted at super expesive NOVA (probably won't get accepted from that list.)

If I do happen to get accepted at LECOM, should I take it or should I just take a year off? I do kind of want a year off honestly. I have been thinking about it at least.

I would be reapplying with ~ 3.5-3.6 Overall and Science GPA (completed bachelors) and 21/21/18 DAT along with average EC's.

Thanks!

The only thing that should matter here is that you said you DO want a year off. Do what you want. If you want a year off, then by all means take the year off. You cannot enter dental school wishing you hadn't have attended dental school right away in the first place.

I usually discourage gap years for people who only are interested in boosting their resume with SMP's or some kind of research when they already have stellar applications and just want to get into dental school right away, but with your application's lack of success this cycle coupled with your vibe of wanting a break, I would suggest taking the gap year. If you feel exhausted or feel that it would be time well spent making the most of your time before taking on such a large commitment like dental school, you need to follow your gut. Many people learn a lot about themselves and thoroughly enjoy their gap year. Boosting your resume in that time wouldn't be such a bad idea either knowing how this cycle turned out.

It doesn't seem like it entirely, but if your only reason for wanting to take a gap year and reapply next cycle is because your only acceptance might be at LECOM, which isn't acceptable to you because of costs (lowest of private schools) and accommodations like location, then it'd be best to not make the mistake of relying on your state school next cycle which rejected you so quickly this cycle. If that were the case, I would suggest you prepare harder for your LECOM interview than you previously have for your others, and aim to gain an acceptance and follow through with attending the school because next cycle you might not receive any.

 

[fogorvostan]

I would suggest going to the interview at LECOM and seeing how things play out. You may go there and fall in love with the school. If you don't, at least you can get more experience interviewing, especially since you said that you feel you messed up at your state schools. It's possible you may not get offered an acceptance, in which case all of this worrying was for nothing.

However, I'm huge on backup plans. I would start listing out all of the ways you can boost your app in case you have to or want to reapply next year. No matter what, you're going to have to show some improvement in your app and some schools even ask in their supplemental what you changed. You don't want to write "nothing, just plan on interviewing better". I don't know your DAT score, but your GPA is pretty good (better than mine anyway!), so I doubt you need to look the masters or post bacc route.

But again, don't make any decisions until you go on the interview.

 

[ph159]

There is no reason to reject your only potential acceptance if you REALLY want to be a dentist.

 

[periopocket]

Lecom or Nova > year off

 

[jaymaster7]

year off

 

[BetaHelix]

I would highly recommend you take an offer at any dental school as opposed to waiting another year why risk it

 

[Rambunctious]

Unless you are working a full time job that's paying decent, taking a year off is actually a waste of money. If accepted you could graduate a year earlier and work a year earlier than if you would take a break. Go for the interview and do well.

 

[gucci]

What did you do in your interviews that makes you say you messed them up? And your stats are more than good enough for Nova

 

[andreadds]

I have an interview at LECOM coming up. I have heard about this school (expensive, ELR, small patient pool, poor location etc.)

I was rejected from my state school which is about 100k cheaper (Ohio State) and waitlisted at super expesive NOVA (probably won't get accepted from that list.)

If I do happen to get accepted at LECOM, should I take it or should I just take a year off? I do kind of want a year off honestly. I have been thinking about it at least.

I would be reapplying with ~ 3.5-3.6 Overall and Science GPA (completed bachelors) and 21/21/18 DAT along with average EC's.

Thanks!

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