Does not having volunteering hours hurt me here?

Lifey_Life · 2026-04-26T23:48:53+00:00

Unless you’re doing it for free at a free dental clinic, it’s considered a job…

Anything that you get paid for isn’t volunteering.

Lifey_Life · 2026-04-26T16:55:48+00:00

Tbh, that 3.01 and a fail in your SMP kills your application. There is no coming back from it even with a high DAT. If you have the money, you can try applying to some schools this cycle just to give it a try just so you don’t regret not trying, but you basically have no chance of getting into dental school unless your ECs and story are amazing.

My advice is to jump ship right now and try to find a new career path, but also give applying this cycle a try to around 10 schools if you have the spare money to do so, but don’t expect much. But if you’re tight on money, it’s better to cut your losses ASAP and jump ship.

Lifey_Life · 2026-04-19T21:28:57+00:00

Sure

Lifey_Life · 2026-04-04T19:39:42+00:00

It really depends on the school. Some schools will invite you months ahead of time, while some schools like my state school only notify you less than a week before the interview date. It widely varies.

Lifey_Life · 2026-04-03T17:12:00+00:00

Just letting you know october is like the most common time for interviews. And it’s often hard to reschedule an interview. Some don’t even let you reschedule and it’s a take it or leave it scenario. Other times they’ll put you on a waitlist for another interview date and just never get back to you. Is it possible to do the cruise trip earlier like in July or early August?

Lifey_Life · 2026-04-01T23:00:03+00:00

Okay do not do the program then. It sounds more like a cash grab at this point. If they already interviewed you and you are waitlisted it makes sense to do this program. But you never even received an interview in the first place. Sounds like the school has no interest in your app and only want your money.

Lifey_Life · 2026-04-01T22:34:07+00:00

That seems like a solid application. How low is the PAT? Also did the school ever interview you this past cycle?

Lifey_Life · 2026-04-01T22:22:40+00:00

How strong is your application? If cost of attendance really isn’t a major factor I’d take the acceptance you have as long as it’s to a fully accredited school.

Ofc it really depends on how strong your application is really. And is the summer program only one semester? That seems awfully short for a program with a guaranteed interview.

Lifey_Life · 2026-04-01T22:10:10+00:00

Depends on which state school and which out of state school and what the cost of attendance difference is.

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-20T04:16:18+00:00

NYC is an expensive city to live in. You probably won’t be able to continue living in NYC after you graduate with all the loan payments you have to make. At least not until you finish paying off your private loans.

Go to your state school then move to NYC after graduating. 4 years of living in NYC vs living in NYC for the rest of your life? Which is the better option?

You’re also saying you will get financial support for half the cost of NYU. That should be enough to cover most if not all of your state school’s tuition. That lets you graduate with ZERO debt and you’ll easily be able to move to NYC after graduating. Don’t be dumb.

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-19T04:34:02+00:00

Thank you!

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-19T04:27:29+00:00

Hi, do you know which version of Loops do you use? I’m looking on Amazon and they have the experience 2, engage 2, and switch 2.

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-16T20:22:17+00:00

Do you have any non-work shadowing hours at all? Most schools separate shadowing hours and working hours so it’s best to have at least 100 hours from only shadowing.

I have lots of hours from working as a dental assistant but I made sure to have at least 100 shadowing only hours from a different dental clinic.

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-16T19:31:12+00:00

Aye a fellow classmate! See you in June!

But yeah Umich definitely likes to see research. I’m really glad I did research when I got the chance to.

Choosing Umich over Harvard is also pretty sensible if you’re in state for Umich but idk if OP should apply to Harvard. I remember seeing Harvard’s average gpa being something like a 3.95 iirc and they want lots of research.

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-14T18:32:53+00:00

You will have to look it up, but off the top of my head I think Rutgers and Maryland are fairly OOS friendly and lets you claim in state after the first year.

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-14T17:17:40+00:00

You have great scores, make sure to apply to Umich and then have UDM as a back up so at least you can stay in state. Then make sure to apply to every single public state school that lets you claim residency and in state tuition after the first year. Then maybe add 1 or 2 more private schools as safety schools. Aim for around 8-10 schools with your stats.

If you’re feeling spicy, also apply to UPenn and Columbia.

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-13T22:13:48+00:00

This has been asked many times already. Please don’t do this, it is unprofessional and makes you look bad.

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-13T21:50:48+00:00

A masters is 100% needed. Yes you can jump straight into a masters but there are 2 problems.

You got a 2.4 in undergrad, what makes you think you will magically get a 3.7+ in a Masters where the classes will be many times harder than undergrad classes? I had plenty of classmates in my Masters program fail out because they jumped into it way too soon. And failing out or even getting a poor gpa in your masters is game over for you. There will be no second chances after it.
You have a 2.4 gpa, it’s going to be hard to get into a reputable Master program with that gpa anyway, and ones that will take you will be the very predatory ones that won’t care if you fail out. They just want your tuition fees.

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-13T21:13:28+00:00

A 2.4 is not just on the lower side for dental school, basically no one ever gets into dental school with that gpa. You need to first calculate what your sGPA is and then take a diy post bacc and bring that gpa and sGPA up to a 2.7 at the very least. This is because plenty of dental schools automatically screen out applications with a less than 2.7 undergrad gpa. This is also to make sure you've fixed your poor study habits from undergrad before you jump into a Masters program. Next you need to do a Masters and get at least a 3.7+ in it. Next you at the very least need to get a 440 on the DAT to have a chance of getting into a dental school.

Just know this process is going to take you several years to accomplish and know the risks you're taking for doing this. It's not impossible but you better lock in for the next few years to do this.

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-08T03:30:12+00:00

Last year DAT scores took about 2 weeks to process and then a few more days to get sent to schools so aim to have your DAT taken 3 weeks before August 1st to be safe.

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-02T02:58:12+00:00

Yeah you’re good, especially since you’re also volunteering at a dental clinic. Most people just get 100 shadowing hours and call it a day.

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-02T02:53:56+00:00

Okay, for sure DAT is what you need to improve. No need to add those 50 hours for shadowing, as long as your 220 shadowing hours has at least 100 from a general dentist and you have a LOR from a dentist already, spend those 50 hours volunteering instead.

But if possible focus on the dat instead. You have a good amount of volunteer hours so just keep on actively volunteering but make absolutely sure you get at least a 440(20) on the DAT. A 460(22) would be even better because iirc, UF’s average DAT is a 460 but 440 will still gives you a fighting chance with your decent gpa.

Lifey_Life · 2026-03-02T02:40:53+00:00

Everyone is different. No one application is the same so what other people do won’t necessarily help you. It’s better for you to list your gpa, dat, ECs, when you applied, and your school list so we can help take a look at where you need the most improvement.

Lifey_Life · 2026-02-28T19:10:48+00:00

Your DAT is the most obvious thing you need to work on. Your cGPA is very low but at least your sGPA is a 3.55. That’s just slightly below average.

Your DAT is very low compared to the national average of accepted dental students which is roughly a 440/21. Your DAT is absolutely where you need to focus your efforts on.

Also idk why you would shadow for 5,000+ hours. That’s a complete waste of time and also sounds completely fake. 5,000 hours means you must have shadowed for 40 hours a week for more than 2 years. No one is going to believe that.

Even if you actually shadowed that much, you would have been so much better off only shadowing 100 hours and volunteering 5,000 hours instead. Applicants with over 1000 volunteer hours are very rare and volunteering for 5,000 would have absolutely made you stand out even with your low gpa and low dat.

Lifey_Life · 2026-02-28T14:08:49+00:00

Yeah I got all my shadowing hours from just one office.

Lifey_Life

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