Advice for low GPA?

[prehealthstudent69]

Hey guys, so I'm currently a senior sitting at a cGPA of 3.05. I'm not sure what my grades for this semester is yet but I don't think it's going to affect it that much. I haven't taken the DAT yet but I am planning to do that around march. My question is should I also apply to MS programs at the same time I apply to dental schools?

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[Papasmurf1234]

It really depends on the rest of your apps (i.e. extracurriculars, dat score, lor, ps, etc). Hard to say whether you even need a masters, although past experiences show that you will struggle with getting interviews. If you get a solid DAT score >21 AA/TS then you should at least be able to land one interview considering the other aspects of your application looks good. In the end, all you need is one interview and one acceptance.

 

[Stereum]

I was in a similar boat when I graduated from university, 3.09 cGPA. I subsequently did a bunch of classwork, completed a post-bacc. and raised my AADSAS cGPA up to around 3.4. I scored a 21AA/TS on the DAT, had a decent amounts of extracurriculars/shadowing, and had a committee letter. With all of this and applying early, I got a total of 1 pre-december interview (which turned into an acceptance luckily). Now, with a 3.05 GPA, it's going to be really tough for you to get an interview unless you apply broadly and score extremely well on the DAT.

If I was in your situation, I would most definitely apply to a few master's programs. Heck, I wish I had done that instead of post-bacc. since at least I would have gotten an advanced degree out of it. With all that being said, I would contact the schools you're interested in and flat out ask how you can improve your application.

 

[LaughingGas]

DAT -> SMP -> Apply.

And I agree with Stereum. I wished I had done SMP directly, instead of postbac.