What are my chances?

[JakeSill]

I know my chances are slim but what are they realistically? I'm a 2nd semester Sophomore. I know it's a lil early but I might switch career if I can't it looks like I can't get in right now.

Overall GPA 2.98
Science GPA - 2.70

Going to list my sciences and math only

Main college 4 year science
A&P 1 and 2 - C+
Nutrition - B
Orgo 1 and 2 - C

Main College 4 year Math

Precalc - A
Calc - C+

2 year CC science (summer class)
Chem 1 B+
Chem 2, D, B+ (took it twice)
Microbiology A
Bio 1 and 2- B+

No DAT yet

EC

Project Coordinator 1 semester- Food bank related
Peer advisor 1.5 semsters

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[JakeSill]

Will apply to mid-low tier schools

 

[shyfox9p]

Do a masters (finish with a GPA above a 3.7) and score a 20 on the DAT.

 

[sandcalf]

I don't want to sound like a jerk, and don't take this the wrong way, but honestly if you are thinking that you might switch career paths, do it. You are going to go through a heck of a lot of crap and end up in an insane amount of debt for something that you are not passionate about. If you don't feel like you are very into it, it's gonna be pretty sad when you get to your clinical years of dental school and figure out that you made a huge mistake. Do some hard core shadowing, find out if this is what you really want to do the rest of your life, and if you find the passion for it, then you will do everything you can to make it into dental school. And if that's the case, you have time to get your grades up and get a ton of EC's to prove to the adcoms that you want it badly enough.

 

[2THDDS]

Don't take this the wrong way, but it can be done and you are in a lot better situation than some people.

Since you are only a sophomore, try taking more science classes and try to boost that GPA up to at least 3~3.2, higher the better of course.
But looking at your inconsistency during your first 2 years, you should think realistically whether you will be able to pull almost straight A's for the remaining two years or longer.

If you can pull that off, you might have a great upward trend in GPA, and if you do decent on the DAT, you will still have a shot, maybe a decent shot as long as you do well on the DAT and polish up your resume with EC's.

Just remember that it won't be easy to raise your GPA if you don't put serious time into studying.

 

[wjc]

Good advice above. I would say the most important thing is to honestly assess yourself and ask why you aren't making the grades you need. If a career in dentistry is truly what you want and you have the motivation then you must eliminate whatever is holding you back. AND, if you find that you just don't have the motivation, don't waste your time. My first trip through college was 5 years long. When I was done I had a crappy GPA and degree I never used. While I had some fun in school I also had lot of debt and felt pretty crappy about myself. Trust me, I've spent more time suffering for my lack motivation in college than I spent in college.

Finally, dentistry is hard to get into, so it never hurts to have a back up plan brewing. Employers will like a lot of your ECs. It is not impossible to work on preparing yourself for multiple options come graduation. Having a plan B (maybe a masters program that interests you, not necessarily work, although making a few bucks is nice) is not giving up on plan A. And even if you did have to do something else for a couple of years you could still apply to Dental schools. Good luck to you.

 

[JakeSill]

Do a masters (finish with a GPA above a 3.7) and score a 20 on the DAT.

I'm still a sophomore. I know it's not a lot of years left, but do I really have to do a masters? I mean if I have to, I will do a Masters. Does this masters have to be science related? Can I just retake some classes and take some upper level science classes?

 

[JakeSill]

I don't want to sound like a jerk, and don't take this the wrong way, but honestly if you are thinking that you might switch career paths, do it. You are going to go through a heck of a lot of crap and end up in an insane amount of debt for something that you are not passionate about. If you don't feel like you are very into it, it's gonna be pretty sad when you get to your clinical years of dental school and figure out that you made a huge mistake. Do some hard core shadowing, find out if this is what you really want to do the rest of your life, and if you find the passion for it, then you will do everything you can to make it into dental school. And if that's the case, you have time to get your grades up and get a ton of EC's to prove to the adcoms that you want it badly enough.

Thanks for your reply. I never said I wasn't passionate. This is what I want to do.

 

[JakeSill]

Don't take this the wrong way, but it can be done and you are in a lot better situation than some people.

Since you are only a sophomore, try taking more science classes and try to boost that GPA up to at least 3~3.2, higher the better of course.
But looking at your inconsistency during your first 2 years, you should think realistically whether you will be able to pull almost straight A's for the remaining two years or longer.

If you can pull that off, you might have a great upward trend in GPA, and if you do decent on the DAT, you will still have a shot, maybe a decent shot as long as you do well on the DAT and polish up your resume with EC's.

Just remember that it won't be easy to raise your GPA if you don't put serious time into studying.

How many more science classes are we looking at? lol I want to major in Accounting as a back up and probably minor in a science(bio or chem).

 

[2THDDS]

How many more science classes are we looking at? lol I want to major in Accounting as a back up and probably minor in a science(bio or chem).

Since your GPA needs improvement, it would be most beneficial if you can take as many science class as possible. If you want to finish your degree, that's fine, but take as many science as possible before and after graduation. Take classes like cell bio, genetic, physiology, anatomy, histology, embryology, virology, immunology, biochemistry.

Out of all listed above, I think anatomy, immunology and biochemistry will be most helpful when you actually start attending dental school.
Keep in mind, wherever you take those classes, they will not be a cakewalk like freshman bio 1/2. It will require lots of studying and hair pulling.

 

[shyfox9p]

I'm still a sophomore. I know it's not a lot of years left, but do I really have to do a masters? I mean if I have to, I will do a Masters. Does this masters have to be science related? Can I just retake some classes and take some upper level science classes?

Actually, scratch that. Do well, like 3.8 and above the following semesters. Retake some classes in the summer. If your GPA is still not high enough, maybe take a few more classes to raise it up. After that get a 20+ on the DAT and you should be fine. I would retake orgo though. You can take both classes in the summer.

 

[2THDDS]

Actually, scratch that. Do well, like 3.8 and above the following semesters. Retake some classes in the summer. If your GPA is still not high enough, maybe take a few more classes to raise it up. After that get a 20+ on the DAT and you should be fine. I would retake orgo though. You can take both classes in the summer.

+1 on the orgo retake. I've been hearing that adcoms put a lot of weight on orgo classes when they look at your transcript, so it might be a good idea to retake those and get A's.

 

[brofessor91]

+1 on the orgo retake. I've been hearing that adcoms put a lot of weight on orgo classes when they look at your transcript, so it might be a good idea to retake those and get A's.

Is that really true about adcoms weighing organic chemistry heavily? Do you have any other information on this or was it just hearsay? Any info would be much appreciated!

 

[cacajuate]

Is that really true about adcoms weighing organic chemistry heavily? Do you have any other information on this or was it just hearsay? Any info would be much appreciated!

They will weigh orgo heavily because it shows that you can understand/organize dense concepts. I agree with above, I would retake them both.