A unique 'what are my chances thread'

[janies]

Hey everyone,

I am a junior in college at Harvard and I got some pretty mediocre grades the last 5 semesters. My family fell on some hard times because of the economy and that ended up affecting my grades. In total my sGPA comes out to an average of 2.89, and I took the DAT last year and got 21AA/19TS/20 PAT. I am wondering if I should even apply this year or wait a year and apply? I will be taking a couple of classes this summer to hopefully bring my GPA to a 3.0 but I am not sure if that will help.

I have about 60 hours of research experience, and I will be shadowing a GP this summer for about 80 hours.

What do you all think?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[janies]

And this next year I plan on doing a major research project in my department which will land me several hundreds more hours of dental-related research experience. But I'm thinking my GPA will stay the same next year because I will be taking some tough courses my senior year. Should I just apply this cycle assuming that my average GPA will stay the same?

 

[stevesteve121]

damn i got excited when i saw the title but now i gotta ask
soooo.... why is this a ""unique 'what are my chances thread'""

is it because you are going to Harvard?

 

[pk62281]

Ouch, that's rough. Work your butt of to get into one of the most prestigious institutions in the world and you're worried about being competitive enough to get into dental school. Do you think you can pull a 3.5+ for you senior year? If so, than I think that plus your Harvard degree may help you get some interviews. Maybe you could do a one year postbac if all else fails.

Either way, you have to prove to the schools that you are a strong student. Whether it's at Harvard or at Southeastern Kansas State University (I just made that up), I think you need at least a few strong semesters to be competitive.

 

[Double Bonded]

Hey everyone,

I am a junior in college at Harvard and I got some pretty mediocre grades the last 5 semesters. My family fell on some hard times because of the economy and that ended up affecting my grades. In total my sGPA comes out to an average of 2.89, and I took the DAT last year and got 21AA/19TS/20 PAT. I am wondering if I should even apply this year or wait a year and apply? I will be taking a couple of classes this summer to hopefully bring my GPA to a 3.0 but I am not sure if that will help.

I have about 60 hours of research experience, and I will be shadowing a GP this summer for about 80 hours.

What do you all think?

I'm sorry about your family situation, I hope things get better for you.

I'd say wait to apply until you can bring up your GPA. A 2.89 or 3.0 is a very low GPA (even if you're coming from Harvard) but if you can take the financial hit (and want to apply just for the hell of it), apply to Harvard, Columbia, or Penn this year in case the Ivy connection works in your favor.

 

[janies]

Wow, thanks for the quick reply everyone... I did work hard in high school but unfortunately college is a different beast, especially at Harvard. The health professions advising office says my GPA most likely won't come up a whole lot to make a difference in the year that I wait but they think it is worth it because I will have a lot of research under my belt. They also say that students with 3.2-3.3 GPAs at least are getting in (but my sGPA will never be that high unless I do a postbac). They also gave me contact info of students from Harvard who got into dschool with 3.0 average GPAs but not all cases are the same. At this point they have left the decision up to me and either way they will prepare the committee letter lol.

The money isn't really the issue, it's an issue of time. Should I lose the extra year just for a better chance at dental school?

 

[Kentuckylover]

I'm sorry about your family situation, I hope things get better for you.

I'd say wait to apply until you can bring up your GPA. A 2.89 or 3.0 is a very low GPA (even if you're coming from Harvard) but if you can take the financial hit (and want to apply just for the hell of it), apply to Harvard, Columbia, or Penn this year in case the Ivy connection works in your favor.

I second this. You might also want to retake DAT. They will expect more from you since you went to Harvard.

Good luck!

 

[dantemac]

Definitely take a year off. Get your GPA above 3.0. Your DAT score is fine. Tack on as much of extracurricular activities as you can.

 

[Double Bonded]

I second this. You might also want to retake DAT. They will expect more from you since you went to Harvard.

Good luck!

This is true and something to consider. A 21 is a great score but the higher your DAT score, the more you offset your GPA.

 

[Seamonkey Doc]

Hey everyone,

I am a junior in college at Harvard and I got some pretty mediocre grades the last 5 semesters. My family fell on some hard times because of the economy and that ended up affecting my grades. In total my sGPA comes out to an average of 2.89, and I took the DAT last year and got 21AA/19TS/20 PAT. I am wondering if I should even apply this year or wait a year and apply? I will be taking a couple of classes this summer to hopefully bring my GPA to a 3.0 but I am not sure if that will help.

I have about 60 hours of research experience, and I will be shadowing a GP this summer for about 80 hours.

What do you all think?

Good DAT scores, I don't think you have to retake, esp because "people will expect more b/c you're from Harvard"

But if you retake and do better (21+ on all sections) then it will help of course. Bring up the GPA with a post bac (cheaper, esp if informal) or masters. After you sci gpa is at least 3.0, then you can prepare to apply

Good luck

 

[littlemisspiggy]

is 2.89 your BCP GPA? what is your overall?

 

[dentpin2]

I was in a similar circumstance as you-- I applied from Yale with a 3.1 science GPA. I'd definitely consider taking off another year before applying. Even though you think another year won't help, it's still 1/4 of your time in college, and I'm sure you could bring your GPA up an extra .2 points or so. Also, I found that upper level science classes were a lot less challenging than the intro ones as there aren't any killer curves you have to deal with, so hopefully you'd be able to perform better in those.

I'd also consider retaking the DAT if you feel that you can perform better. In my personal experience, with a low GPA you really need to rock the DAT. I had similar scores as yours the first time around, but scored a 23 AA, 23 Science, 22 PAT the second time around. I think this helped my chances a lot as I got interviews from several private schools after I sent in my new scores.

 

[molar3]

Hey everyone,

I am a junior in college at Harvard and I got some pretty mediocre grades the last 5 semesters. My family fell on some hard times because of the economy and that ended up affecting my grades. In total my sGPA comes out to an average of 2.89, and I took the DAT last year and got 21AA/19TS/20 PAT. I am wondering if I should even apply this year or wait a year and apply? I will be taking a couple of classes this summer to hopefully bring my GPA to a 3.0 but I am not sure if that will help.

I have about 60 hours of research experience, and I will be shadowing a GP this summer for about 80 hours.

What do you all think?

Apply this cycle just to see ur chances if u want if $$$$ isnt a prob.
Do a postbacc get your gpa up.
A 2.8 or 3.0 is too low, even coming out of an ivy. (pm me if u want)
Id also suggest retaking your dat get your ts into the 20s.

 

[doc toothache]

My family fell on some hard times because of the economy and that ended up affecting my grades. In total my sGPA comes out to an average of 2.89, and I took the DAT last year and got 21AA/19TS/20 PAT. I have about 60 hours of research experience, and I will be shadowing a GP this summer for about 80 hours.

In view of the economy, there are likely to be hundreds, if not thousands, of ds applicants with the same "unique" experience. After shadowing, you might even change your mind about dentistry.

And this next year I plan on doing a major research project in my department which will land me several hundreds more hours of dental-related research experience. But I'm thinking my GPA will stay the same next year because I will be taking some tough courses my senior year.

No matter how many hours you will have doing research, your gpa is not going to change and, unless, your research is worthy of a Nobel Prize, it is unlikely to be your "magic bullet".

 

[steinman]

I want to weigh in because I know how it feels to apply to dschool with a low gpa. I also went to an ivy leavue, but much more difficult than Harvard. The courses in my department were very rigorous (I majored in Chemical Engineering) and I had to retake a required course for dental school. Despite all of that, I applied after college with a 3.2 GPA and a 2.98 sGPA and got 11 interview offers, 4 acceptances, 6 rejections without interview. I myself wondered if I had applied a year earlier if I would have gotten into dental schools. I don't know the answer because I can't go back in time. But having been on the admissions committee in dental school, I know that admissions are getting much more rigorous. Some schools rank applicants by GPA and DAT score and that could be your ticket to flat out rejection. At those schools, your DAT and GPA are the two things that matter the most. So if you decide to apply this time, keep that in mind and don't be surprised if you don't get any interviews. At the same time, don't be too pessimistic and always try to look for ways to improve your application (volunteering, shadowing, etc).

Good luck!

 

[littlemisspiggy]

I also went to an ivy leavue, but much more difficult than Harvard.

just curious, what school did you go to?

 

[UCLAzy]

Hey everyone,

I am a junior in college at Harvard and I got some pretty mediocre grades the last 5 semesters. My family fell on some hard times because of the economy and that ended up affecting my grades. In total my sGPA comes out to an average of 2.89, and I took the DAT last year and got 21AA/19TS/20 PAT. I am wondering if I should even apply this year or wait a year and apply? I will be taking a couple of classes this summer to hopefully bring my GPA to a 3.0 but I am not sure if that will help.

I have about 60 hours of research experience, and I will be shadowing a GP this summer for about 80 hours.

What do you all think?

so in other words..you're a high school burnout hoping your undergrad institution will open doors to you in the future?

super unique.

i feel bad for you, harvard is notorious for grade inflation. and your science DAT backs up your lackluster grades, so they arent a fluke.

next.

 

[Double Bonded]

just curious, what school did you go to?

Princeton kids say that all the time.

 

[steinman]

Princeton kids say that all the time.

just curious, what school did you go to?

The best school in the world!

Princeton kids look for any opportunity to drop the name of their school in conversation.

But if OP had gone to Princeton, how would everyone's advice change? Is Harvard really that much easier than Princeton? It is still ivy league and its #1 right now.

 

[littlemisspiggy]

The best school in the world!

Princeton kids look for any opportunity to drop the name of their school in conversation.

But if OP had gone to Princeton, how would everyone's advice change? Is Harvard really that much easier than Princeton? It is still ivy league and its #1 right now.

hhaha nice!
but uhm i don't think anyone's advice would change, really haha

 

[steinman]

Yeah, I had a neighbor that went to Princeton. Needless to say, he loved that place. Hence all of the nonstop talk about Princeton.

 

[white fang]

dam ur uniqueness is astounding 2 me.

 

[wired202808]

Hey everyone,

I am a junior in college at Harvard and I got some pretty mediocre grades the last 5 semesters. My family fell on some hard times because of the economy and that ended up affecting my grades. In total my sGPA comes out to an average of 2.89, and I took the DAT last year and got 21AA/19TS/20 PAT. I am wondering if I should even apply this year or wait a year and apply? I will be taking a couple of classes this summer to hopefully bring my GPA to a 3.0 but I am not sure if that will help.

I have about 60 hours of research experience, and I will be shadowing a GP this summer for about 80 hours.

What do you all think?

Bring up the GPA and then apply. Harvard or no Harvard, d-schools dont want 2.8 sGPAs

 

[periopocket]

You might get lucky http://predents.com/index.php?page=user&user_id=9017 , but keep in mind he was a URM. Kill your semester, and best of luck to you!