A Minority Applicant's Dilemma

[MrFutureDMD]

Hello everyone. My name is Monte, and I am a new member to the forum. I will be applying to dental school this fall for 2003 entry. I would like to know what are my chances of getting accepted first time around because my academic background is not strong.

I'm a graduate of Emory University with BA in Psychology. I took most of my required courses in undergrad but no additional science courses. My overall GPA is 2.7 with 2.4 for science. I know this is VERY low, and I'm being very realistic.

After graduation in 2000, I taught in inner city school under the Teach For America organization. In addition to that, I have a wealth of volunteer and community service experiences. Currently, I'm in a MEDPREP post-bacc program at Southern Illinois University. I intend to complete the basic sciences with some retakes and enroll in some higher level science courses as well. Furthermore, I will be taking the DAT in mid-August, and I have been prepping for that (ie. Top Score).

I would not feel comfortable applying if I hadn't spoken to a number of Admissions Officers and Minority Recruitment Directors from schools such as UofMich, Marquette, Temple, UNC, etc..who insisted that I apply despite my low GPA. However, their main concern what that I APPLY EARLY and score really well on the DAT.

I know you all have great GPA's and DAT scores. In a sense I feel hopeless, but I know what dentistry is my destiny, and I must pursue this goal. I would like to hear from any minority applicants or current dental students who are/were in a similar situation. What advice would you offer? Do I have a remote chance of gaining acceptance? How do Dental schools really evaluate/select minority candidates? For those non-minority applicants, please feel free to offer any comments or suggestions.

Please feel free to respond via forum reply or directly to me via email.

Thank you all for being such a great group!

monte.....

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[Centrum]

All I can say is go fir it man. If you want it bad enough you will get there eventually. Good luck!!

 

[steiner19er]

Originally posted by MrFutureDMD
Hello everyone. My name is Monte, and I am a new member to the forum. I will be applying to dental school this fall for 2003 entry. I would like to know what are my chances of getting accepted first time around because my academic background is not strong.

I'm a graduate of Emory University with BA in Psychology. I took most of my required courses in undergrad but no additional science courses. My overall GPA is 2.7 with 2.4 for science. I know this is VERY low, and I'm being very realistic.

After graduation in 2000, I taught in inner city school under the Teach For America organization. In addition to that, I have a wealth of volunteer and community service experiences. Currently, I'm in a MEDPREP post-bacc program at Southern Illinois University. I intend to complete the basic sciences with some retakes and enroll in some higher level science courses as well. Furthermore, I will be taking the DAT in mid-August, and I have been prepping for that (ie. Top Score).

I would not feel comfortable applying if I hadn't spoken to a number of Admissions Officers and Minority Recruitment Directors from schools such as UofMich, Marquette, Temple, UNC, etc..who insisted that I apply despite my low GPA. However, their main concern what that I APPLY EARLY and score really well on the DAT.

I know you all have great GPA's and DAT scores. In a sense I feel hopeless, but I know what dentistry is my destiny, and I must pursue this goal. I would like to hear from any minority applicants or current dental students who are/were in a similar situation. What advice would you offer? Do I have a remote chance of gaining acceptance? How do Dental schools really evaluate/select minority candidates? For those non-minority applicants, please feel free to offer any comments or suggestions.

Please feel free to respond via forum reply or directly to me via email.

Thank you all for being such a great group!

monte.....

ok, i''ll touch this one...

I actually think that you have a chance. Most dental schools, if not all want to increase their minority students, and increase the minority dentists. Those, such as you, that come thru a program such as the med-prep have a very good shot. You definately need to do OK on the DAT. But if you are asking us if you play the race card (please don;t take offense) will you get admitted? I think you will. First of all there are very few african americans applying to dental school. Schools such as Meharry and Howard are geared towards minority recruitment and education. Your GPA isn;t good, but you have a 2.7, which isn;t unheard of. If I were you I would apply to the two afformentioned schools as well as UIC and SIU. If you think that dental school will be easy you are mistaken. But schools are determined to graduate all that they accept. So if I were you I would take my DAT ASAP. And definatley send out my application as soon as it is done (did you talk to the pre-dent/med committee, are they doing your letter of rec??{if they are you are pretty much set for SIU}). So send in your application now. You have a good chance.

 

[Doctor2Be]

JUST DO IT

and NEVER GIVE UP

I wish you Luck

 

[UBTom]

to MrFutureDMD:

I can sympathize. I also regretted not doing as well as I could have in undergraduate and could not get into dental school on my first try.

I was lucky though-- When I graduated from college I was able to land an IT/MIS job at a university which allowed me to take master-level biology courses with free tuition. I did that for two years with 4.0 GPA (definitely didn't want to squander a second opportunity!) and got into dental school no sweat on my second try.

Your GPA is an important factor in the eyes of many admissions committees because it is a good indicator whether or not you can withstand the heavy courseload dental school will throw at you (at UB, we get more than 24 credit hours per semester). So if you want to bolster your academic record and prove you can handle the material, doing a masters program first might fit the bill.

Good luck!

Tom Hong
Class of '04
University at Buffalo SDM