A somewhat unique situation...

[andrewc]

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Hello,

First time poster, long time lurker. I have a little bit of a unique situation on my road to dental school.

I graduated with a BS in Biology in 2007 and took some time off from school. I have not been really doing much in terms of preparing my application or studying since. But I am serious now and have started studying recently to take the DAT and then apply for dental school for Fall '10.

My sGPA is below 3.0 (2.6), which I know is pretty low. Is there anything I could be doing from now until I start applying to help my chances of being accepted? Would volunteer work @ a dentist office really help my chances (I know it can't hurt it)? I just want to make sure that I did everything I could do to help my chances when I do apply. Thanks!

 

[iJackTeeth]

instead of applying to dental school, you should apply to a master program, get your masters, and then apply to dental school, because thats a very low science gpa

and you want to demonstrate your ability to take science courses, so it would be best to do a master program or post bacc

 

[Quattro DMD]

Hello,

First time poster, long time lurker. I have a little bit of a unique situation on my road to dental school.

I graduated with a BS in Biology in 2007 and took some time off from school. I have not been really doing much in terms of preparing my application or studying since. But I am serious now and have started studying recently to take the DAT and then apply for dental school for Fall '10.

My sGPA is below 3.0 (2.6), which I know is pretty low. Is there anything I could be doing from now until I start applying to help my chances of being accepted? Would volunteer work @ a dentist office really help my chances (I know it can't hurt it)? I just want to make sure that I did everything I could do to help my chances when I do apply. Thanks!

Shadowing a dentist is fine, but it's not really volunteer work b/c you're just observing. Try to find a community dental clinic that you can volunteer at or something like that.

 

[Ranelar]

I'm usually a big hater on the "skip this session and go to post-bac" pushers, but I think with a 2.6 sGPA, you're going to have to. I'm not sure any DAT score would make up for that GPA, and the fact that you've been doing nothing for a year doesn't help. Volunteer work won't help you this cycle either. My opinion is that you'd be throwing your money away until you did something about that GPA.

 

[Albuterol]

bring your science up to a 3.0 then pursue a masters, shoot for a high DAT score 21+ and then apply. good luck

 

[andrewc]

bring my science GPA up? Should I just retake all my bio classes I got C's or below in at a local community college? I heard that this could actually have an adverse effect as colleges take into account CC classes vs UC classes.

Wouldn't me entering a master program (and doing well) be, in a sense, hitting two birds with one stone?

 

[ramforte]

here is what you should do, you don't need to re-take anything unless you failed it, do a Master's program instead (many people have done badly on their undergrad then they did a master's program and did very well and got in), usually takes 1.5 years so you'll be ready for 2010 fall, make sure your GPA will stay above a 3.5.

Also make sure your DAT score is 20 and above.

Do about 200-300 hours of shadowing, plus some volunteer work.

take some sculpture classes, some schools love it.

do all this and you will have a good shot at getting in. Good Luck

 

[doc toothache]

Do about 200-300 hours of shadowing, plus some volunteer work.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=527523