a tricksy situation

[Kneecoal]

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i'm graduating in may. i've wanted to be a dentist since i was 9 years old (nerd). did swell in high school, didn't have to lift a finger, and so college put me on my ass the first 2 years (i know it shouldn't have taken that long, but what's done is done). stopped being predental, thought i'd go into teaching, but kept taking upper level bio courses. realized a month or so ago how wrong a career in teaching would be for me, am going back to pursue dental.

now. realistically expecting my cgpa to be around a 3.2, and science at a 3.0 by the time i graduate. i didn't take physics yet, so i'll be doing that over the summer, plus taking the dat.

the thing is, there has been a huge change in my grade trend starting the summer before junior year. my weakest grades came from the chems fresh & soph year. but since there's been such an upward trend, could i have a shot? also, when i finish physics and the dat by the end of august, would that be too late considering my stats to apply this cycle? otherwise i'll have to wait a whole year before even starting a master's program since i don't have physics or the dat yet.

thanks for the help!

 

[Danny289]

first of all take you physics in summer and get As( you need two physics) and ace your DAT (20+). Aug is not late at all, applying for 2010 cycle.
second, lets schools reject you not yourself! IMO if you work in other part of your application you will have a good shot for few schools.

 

[PDizzle]

i'm graduating in may. i've wanted to be a dentist since i was 9 years old (nerd). did swell in high school, didn't have to lift a finger, and so college put me on my ass the first 2 years (i know it shouldn't have taken that long, but what's done is done). stopped being predental, thought i'd go into teaching, but kept taking upper level bio courses. realized a month or so ago how wrong a career in teaching would be for me, am going back to pursue dental.

now. realistically expecting my cgpa to be around a 3.2, and science at a 3.0 by the time i graduate. i didn't take physics yet, so i'll be doing that over the summer, plus taking the dat.

the thing is, there has been a huge change in my grade trend starting the summer before junior year. my weakest grades came from the chems fresh & soph year. but since there's been such an upward trend, could i have a shot? also, when i finish physics and the dat by the end of august, would that be too late considering my stats to apply this cycle? otherwise i'll have to wait a whole year before even starting a master's program since i don't have physics or the dat yet.

thanks for the help!

My advice? Don't use the word, "swell". That alone could keep you out of DS!






j/k

Take Danny289's advice

 

[219122]

Hey your story sounds just like mine (I've wanted to be a dentist since I was really young too) complete with the shock of actually having to study once you get to university. Study hard to do well in physics and on the DAT and have a strong PS and you have a good shot. Upward trends are great because it shows that you can handle the upper level stuff even if you've had a stumble in the early years. Good luck!

 

[Kneecoal]

first of all take you physics in summer and get As( you need two physics) and ace your DAT (20+). Aug is not late at all, applying for 2010 cycle.
second, lets schools reject you not yourself! IMO if you work in other part of your application you will have a good shot for few schools.

thanks for the advice, but can you tell me what you mean by this? thanks!

 

[Danny289]

thanks for the advice, but can you tell me what you mean by this? thanks!

after researching schools maybe you will have doubt to apply for certain schools. IMO apply to those schools, even you think you will have slim chance. GL 👍

 

[Heretotalk]

Your GPA is actually not too bad yet. Its still above the 3.0 cut off at most school. Do good on your DAT (aim for 20 average at least). If the upward trend is really as significant as you say, APPLY NEXT YEAR EARLY and I see no reason you should not get a few interviews.

 

[Kneecoal]

well, i started out freshman year with a 2.65, but the last 2 semesters have been a 3.85 and a 3.58... that counts as significant, right?

 

[bigstix808]

well, i started out freshman year with a 2.65, but the last 2 semesters have been a 3.85 and a 3.58... that counts as significant, right?

my first semester in college = 2.43 (graduated HS with a 4.57 ranked 4th for what its worth - so i feel ya man)
my second semester in college = 2.67

graduated with a ~3.27 (pretty solid act of gettin my head out of my *****). if my first DAT with that gpa was a 17/19/20 and i was rejected first time through.

lesson here: get that GPA as high as you can, and you sure as hell better prove yourself on the DAT