u/Legitimate-Baker-893

Context:
- I applied (mid July) this past cycle to 7 schools, received no interviews
- cGPA: 3.48
- sGPA: 3.2
- DAT: April 2025 (430AA) May 2026 (N/A)
- Shadowing: 300 hours
- Volunteer: 148 + 30 hours gained this gap year
- Clinical exp: 1000 hours gained this gap year as a DA

Mistakes:
- My GPA is my biggest issue
- I did not apply to as many schools as I should have, and most of the schools were competitive
- My DAT score can be improved
- I should apply earlier with my stats

Thoughts:

- After not hearing back from schools I decided to retake the DAT to hopefully score high enough to offset my low GPA

- After taking the exam last week, it was a lot harder than I expected after all of my studying and compared to the first time I took it. The bio section specifically was very low yield and it is usually my best section as I scored a 490 on it the first time I took the exam.

- I have yet to receive my scores back from last week, but based on my feelings this time compared to last time I fear I did not perform as well.

- Ideally…I score well on this past DAT, apply again much more broadly with new DA hours and better statements.

- I am really worried this won’t be the case and I need to plan for my next option, I am considering applying to the Rutgers Dental SMP, but the high risk and high reward aspect is what is scaring me. Also, the fact that if I do well in this SMP it is still not guaranteed that I will get into a dental school. The cost alone is a lot to consider but the cost + the BBB makes this an even bigger decision.

Please if anyone has any advice, thoughts, or experience with the Rutgers Dental SMP please reach out, thank you!

For context: this is my 2nd time taking this exam, I received a 430 AA last time with my highest in 490 BIO. I didn’t hear back from schools this application cycle so I decided to retake for a higher score to help with my application.

Experience:

The Bio section felt like nothing I studied for, there was no endocrine, cardio, neuro, skeletal, muscle, respiration, photosynthesis, taxonomy, fertilization, embryo development, not even anything related to mitosis or meiosis…I’m incredibly shocked by how low yield these questions were compared to my first exam which felt so much more well rounded. I also had no questions that were exactly from my Booster exams, the first time I took the exam there were atleast 4 that were from Booster. Going into the remaining parts of the exam felt so discouraging after this Bio section because it’s usually my best subject.

The OC and GC sections felt a little bit more doable, but still very little reaction questions.

The RC and QR felt better and more reflective of my practice exams.

Please any advice if anyone has had an exp like this or took this exam. Thank you!

I just retook the exam today and I feel like I did much worse, is there anyway I can submit my first score and not my second?