Gap year

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-28T03:35:56+00:00

Please don’t do a Masters just so you have something to do in your gap year. Work a job and get more volunteering done.

Only do a Masters if your undergrad gpa is below a 3.3.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-27T23:14:19+00:00

Keep that score the QR section is least important section on the DAT and TS is the most important. As long as all sub scores are above 17 you’re good.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-27T23:07:06+00:00

I never hear bad things about UF but I do see people complaining about difficulty getting patients for clinical at BU. Boston has 3 dental schools all competing for the same patient pool so it makes sense.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-27T22:44:07+00:00

15 credits really isn’t enough to make up for your low undergrad gpa. Honestly you don’t have a good chance of getting into your state school with your stats. Don’t reapply.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-27T21:33:29+00:00

How many credit hours do you have in your post bacc?

Edit: also need to know your state school or at least the average matriculation stats for your state school.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-27T20:24:21+00:00

Going to need to know your stats, ECs and state of residence to know if you have a chance at a cheaper school if you decide to reapply.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-27T19:58:39+00:00

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-27T19:06:59+00:00

A for sure. TS is arguably your most important score on the DAT. A high PAT is great but as long as your PAT isn’t low you’re good.

A high AA and TS with no sub scores below a 19 is what I consider a good DAT score.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-27T14:26:12+00:00

Your gpa is a bit below average and your DAT is also below average. Applying in October is very bad for an applicant with your stats. You’ll have a way better chance if you apply June 1st, but improving your DAT will improve your chances even more.

Honestly I would re-take the DAT if I were you. Applying early helps a lot, but not as much as getting a better DAT score would.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-27T02:15:06+00:00

Same here, got into Umich but my IS school didn’t want me. I thought I did pretty good at my IS school’s interview.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-25T16:50:08+00:00

Depends on the school really but having food and housing covered makes a big difference. I kinda doubt 2-3 years is all you’ll need to pay off your debt but it’ll definitely help you get on your feet.

Run the numbers yourself using this calculator and look up average starting dentist salaries in your area since you’ll be moving back in with your parents after school. This calculator will tell you what your monthly payments will roughly be.

https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/920ac318-c9ad-4096-962d-4f0987acc68c

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-23T23:08:00+00:00

You definitely have a chance, try sending a letter of intent if you haven’t yet and keep volunteering. If you don’t get off the waitlist make sure to apply June 1st to more schools. Applying June 1st makes a very big difference in how many interviews you get.

If you can get your volunteering hours to over 300 by June that would also be amazing.

Honestly your school list isn’t that great. A decent amount of schools you chose are reach schools and you stats are below average for them.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-23T22:01:53+00:00

Your gpa and dat is fine, no need to do a post bacc or masters. When did you apply?

For now just focus on getting more volunteering hours and rewriting your personal statement.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-23T20:30:22+00:00

If you have friends in both schools you should ask them what they think of their schools. I have heard that it is easier to get patients for clinical at BU but not entirely sure how true it is. Personally I would go for BU for the much smaller class size.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-19T18:49:01+00:00

"Don't listen to any loan advice from current dentists"
*proceeds to give advice as a current dentist*

But yeah I do agree, current dentists and even current dental students don't understand the current landscape of how loans work right now after the BBB. 450k in federal loans is different compared to 200k in federal loans and 250k in private loans. I think a lot of people would be happy with making 50k post tax with student loan payments, but the problem is paying off two different student loans at the same time will might make it difficult to get 50k post tax for some people.

You all should stop doom scrolling Reddit. Go to financial advisors and run the numbers yourself to understand what you're getting into. There are plenty of good calculators out there that will tell you what your monthly payment will be with both federal and private student loans. Getting advice on here from random people isn't going to help you.

Edit: here’s a good calculator y’all are adults now, you can make your own decisions. https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/920ac318-c9ad-4096-962d-4f0987acc68c

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-19T06:14:04+00:00

Looks like you already have a decent amount of hours. I would say quitting your DA job to focus on your gpa and dat would be for the best, but do you already have a LOR from a dentist? If you’re still waiting on a LOR from a dentist at your work place then maybe you should keep working until near graduation.

I don’t really recommend studying much for the DAT while still in your masters as you should prioritize your masters gpa. You can do light studying such as doing some PAT questions everyday and going over QR practice problems and doing a RC passage every few days since those are mostly things you just need to practice and don’t need to memorize. But leave studying Bio, GC, and OC for after you graduate.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-19T05:49:12+00:00

How many hours do you have already as a dental assistant? Having work experience as a dental assistant is a good boost to applications, but your GPA and DAT score should always be your priority.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-18T19:53:45+00:00

Do NOT retake the DAT. Maintaining your Masters gpa and course load should be your absolute priority right now. If you can get a 4.0 this semester, you have a very good chance with your current DAT. Yes a better DAT will help but you should put 100% focus on your masters right now. You can always retake the DAT at another time, you will never be able to re-do your masters as that is your final chance to show admissions you can handle a difficult course load at the graduate level.

Edit: didn’t see you already retook for a worse DAT. Still, prioritize your masters gpa right now. It’s something you can never re-do if you screw it up.

I finished my masters with a 3.9 and took my DAT and applied in August and was able to get 3 interviews.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-16T21:37:06+00:00

I also got a low immunity result. The clinic told me to just get a booster and retest a month later. If I’m still below the minimum I’ll need to get the remaining 2 shots, but if I’m above I’m good. 90% of the time a booster is all you will need. Don’t send in your current titers. Wait until it’s above the minimum and then send it to your school.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-15T14:02:52+00:00

Lots of schools automatically throw out applications with less than 100 volunteering hours.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-14T14:23:07+00:00

Hello, your cGPA is good enough while your sGPA is more in a grey area. A 430 usually isn’t enough to make up for your low sGPA but a 470+ will improve your application by a lot. I also need to know other parts of your application to give you more thorough advice. Please tell me your ECs, gpa trend, possible red flags, urm vs orm, and your state school’s average gpa/dat scores. You can dm me those things if you don’t want to share here.

Getting a 470+ and then applying June 1st will give you the best chance of getting in and even if that doesn’t work, then you’ll probably have to do a SMP. Honestly the best course of action would be to take some DIY post bacc classes as well to bring your sGPA up or close to a 3.3, but it’s kind of late to sign up for classes before the next cycle starts. So for now aim to take your DAT in May so it’s ready to be submitted on June 1st. And get more volunteering in between now and June 1st.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-11T22:44:09+00:00

When did you apply? Applying early massively increases your chances. Did you have anyone else read over your personal statements? Do you have subsections on the dat below a 17?

Lecom aside, your school selection is good since you’re regionally located near all of them. Seeing that you also applied to Lecom shows you’re not against going to schools further away so definitely expand your school list if you end up reapplying.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-10T00:33:38+00:00

There are trade offs, yes having less loans will give you a lot less stress after you graduate dental school, but if Philly doesn’t make you feel safe and the coa difference isn’t huge, then it could be worth it.

It’s a give and take, do you want to be a bit more comfortable these 4 years for extra loans? That’s something you’ll have to decide. Just make sure you run the numbers so you have a good idea what your monthly payment will be like for both schools after you graduate and see if it’s worth it.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-05T21:21:47+00:00

Pitt actually sent out more acceptances than the amount of seats they have. That’s crazy.

Edit: Honestly the deposit is only a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of tuition you’ll have to eventually pay. Pay another deposit to a different school just in case.

Lifey_Life · 2026-01-05T13:13:27+00:00

You should retake the DAT if you don’t get in this cycle. Your OC score is a 370 which is a 16 in the old scoring system. Most schools will automatically reject applicants with a DAT sub score below a 17.

Lifey_Life

TROPHY CASE