Yet ANOTHER Chance me

[ClosetNerd828]

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oGPA ~ 3.34
sGPA ~ 3.34

BIO 22 / CHM 22/ OCHEM 24/ PAT 21/ RC 23/ QR 20/ TS 22/ AA 22

~40hrs shadowing (I know...)
~50hrs volunteer (Again.. I Know)

Secretary then Co-President of Veteran's Club (4 semesters)

Army Reserves 7+ years, including 1 deployment to Iraq, multiple training exercises and schools

EMT - Basic

Married with a 1 kid (I don't know if this matters)

My GPA is low because of my community college time between highschool and joining the Army...

Last 5 semesters of all upper level Bio, Chem and Math (3.779 GPA, Magna Cum Laude, Distinction in Biology Department)

4 LORS - 3 professors, 1 dentist (I feel that all of these will be strong LORs)

From a very rural area, tied my experiences in Northern Iraq to growing up in rural Appalachia and my desire to go into dentistry back in rural Appalachia and serving in the Army as a Dentist.

Working full time at the VA

I know there are some red flags (shadowing and extracurriculars).. hoping my upward GPA trend and my DAT will help me out..

Thanks guys

 

[rendal]

You will be fine. You did a great job on your DAT and your GPA isn't that low. A lot of people will get into dental school with lower GPAs and not nearly as many other experiences as you do having been in the Army. Try to get some more shadowing experience if you can before submitting. If you can't, just try to avoid applying to schools that recommend or require 100 hours of dental experience.

 

[CraigHack]

Personal opinion: Your ECs are solid. You should continue to work on your shadowing, but military service outweighs "President of Pre-Dental Club" any day. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback WRT military service. I would recommend checking out UNLV. I was at their sim course, and there was a strong prior service presence among the faculty.

 

[derbear]

Get more clinic hours and then start deciding which ties to wear to each of your interviews.

 

[kholley25]

What is your state residency? Regardless, you're a very competitive applicant as I see it. The shadowing hours aren't THAT bad and many people highly respect veterans (I can't speak for ADCOMs though, but it's not going to look bad that's for sure).

Apply broadly and you have as good as a chance as anyone IMO.

 

[hugomaaf]

The service open more door than you would think.

 

[ClosetNerd828]

Cool, thanks guys. There are just sooo many competitive applicants on this site and then going back to school as an old fart (24) I realized how many young students were focused, smart, driven and already had set life goals.. especially compared to when I was that age...

I will check out UNLV (kinda far away)..

I am an NC resident.

Financially speaking, how are you guys managing to interview at multiple schools across the country????

 

[whitepapertree]

Cool, thanks guys. There are just sooo many competitive applicants on this site and then going back to school as an old fart (24) I realized how many young students were focused, smart, driven and already had set life goals.. especially compared to when I was that age...

I will check out UNLV (kinda far away)..

I am an NC resident.

Financially speaking, how are you guys managing to interview at multiple schools across the country????

Working through the summer lol

 

[Weakfart]

going back to school as an old fart (24)

heh. Fart.

 

[kholley25]

Cool, thanks guys. There are just sooo many competitive applicants on this site and then going back to school as an old fart (24) I realized how many young students were focused, smart, driven and already had set life goals.. especially compared to when I was that age...

I will check out UNLV (kinda far away)..

I am an NC resident.

Financially speaking, how are you guys managing to interview at multiple schools across the country????

ECU will love you if you're from a rural county and you have a decent volunteer and leadership background. Definitely try to attend the NC MoM clinics this fall if you can and buff your shadowing hours even after you submitted your main app. You'll appear committed and schools will like that.

Personally, I'm planning to pay out of pocket for any interviews I get but I'm not expecting to get interviewed everywhere I apply. It's definitely an investment in your future, so the relative cost of interviews is worth the money.

 

[Daneosaurus]

Cool, thanks guys. There are just sooo many competitive applicants on this site and then going back to school as an old fart (24) I realized how many young students were focused, smart, driven and already had set life goals.. especially compared to when I was that age...

I will check out UNLV (kinda far away)..

I am an NC resident.

Financially speaking, how are you guys managing to interview at multiple schools across the country????

Old fart? I got OUT of the Marine Corps at your age. I'm turning 28 next month and starting dental school in the fall. ADCOMs LOVE veterans.

 

[ajj70]

I'd be very surprised if you didn't at least get interviews at every school to which you apply. Your life experiences along with your solid GPA (recent) and solid DAT will get noticed. Growing up in a rural area, especially if you want to return to that rural area or similar, will be an added bonus. Assuming you have good interview skills, I'd put you at the top of the list for 2015 applicants. Thank you for your service!!!

 

[hugomaaf]

Cool, thanks guys. There are just sooo many competitive applicants on this site and then going back to school as an old fart (24) I realized how many young students were focused, smart, driven and already had set life goals.. especially compared to when I was that age...

I will check out UNLV (kinda far away)..

I am an NC resident.

Financially speaking, how are you guys managing to interview at multiple schools across the country????

Dude, I am starting ds (sep) after my 33rd b-day,

the ppl in SDN are , well, the best way to put it is they only represent a very SMALL portion of all the applicants.

 

[ClosetNerd828]

Old fart? I got OUT of the Marine Corps at your age. I'm turning 28 next month and starting dental school in the fall. ADCOMs LOVE veterans.

That's how old I was when I returned to school. I turn 29 in Aug 😉

Any of you crusty old disgruntled vets applying to schools along the East Coast?

 

[ClosetNerd828]

I'd be very surprised if you didn't at least get interviews at every school to which you apply. Your life experiences along with your solid GPA (recent) and solid DAT will get noticed. Growing up in a rural area, especially if you want to return to that rural area or similar, will be an added bonus. Assuming you have good interview skills, I'd put you at the top of the list for 2015 applicants. Thank you for your service!!!

I feel my interviewing skills will be decent, I have a job where I deal with no people every single day. I think constantly meeting and talking to new people will help in my ability to carry on conversations with strangers.. and Im pretty extroverted so it comes naturally for me...

Speaking of my recent GPA (which I am proud of)... I totally withdrew from school twice - once to join the Army and the second time to go to Iraq... I hope I get interviews so I can explain this.. I included a bit about it on my application.. I just hope all those Ws don't immediately turn people away..

 

[ClosetNerd828]

ECU will love you if you're from a rural county and you have a decent volunteer and leadership background. Definitely try to attend the NC MoM clinics this fall if you can and buff your shadowing hours even after you submitted your main app. You'll appear committed and schools will like that.

Personally, I'm planning to pay out of pocket for any interviews I get but I'm not expecting to get interviewed everywhere I apply. It's definitely an investment in your future, so the relative cost of interviews is worth the money.

Oh I agree its worth the money!... I just have to have the money to able to invest the money haha... Yea ECU is definitely geared toward rural NC residents.. not my first choice but I would gladly attend ! .. also my Father-in-Law is on some kind of Board at ECU.. something to do with Hospitality.. worth mentioning or is this just tacky name dropping? 🙂

 

[Accordion]

Creighton University also has a strong service presence among faculty.

 

[ClosetNerd828]

oh man... all these schools out in the flat land.. I dunno if I can do it... I <3 Mountains haha

 

[hugomaaf]

I am going to UNLV, Vegas is surrounded by mountains, something I didn't know before until I moved to NV

 

[BrazilianRider]

You'll be absolutely fine. Work on getting your shadowing hours up, but other than that you'll be golden.

I was in a similar situation to you GPA/DAT wise, so feel free to PM me if you have any questions!

 

[ajj70]

oh man... all these schools out in the flat land.. I dunno if I can do it... I <3 Mountains haha

Omaha is fairly hilly...not Rocky Mountain hilly, but not flat either. Once you get away from the river valley however....😀. Iowa City is also semi-hilly. I would defiantly add Iowa to your list. It's a great family area, they give OOS students scholarships, like students that want to practice in small towns, etc. Same goes for MOSDOH. You start out in Kirksville, great little town, but end up in the St. Louis area.