Advice? Help?

[mmoosavi41]

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Hey everyone, I'm new to SDN so nice to meet you all. I'm currently a junior and I plan on taking the DAT around the spring/summer. I'm worried about my GPA though. By the time I apply, I expect to have a GPA anywhere between a 3.3 and 3.4 overall. What are my chances in getting in? I live in new jersey and I plan on going to a dental school in the east coast as well (such as BU, NYU, UMDNJ, Temple, VCU, Tufts etc.). Any advice on which schools I should apply to that would accept someone with a sub-par GPA? Thank you in advance!

 

[peanutb123]

check this website out and click on chap 3.

http://www.adea.org/publications/Pages/OfficialGuide.aspx
DONT GET INTIMIDATED BY THE numbers they are averages which means there and numbers lower and higher than that.

this should give you a range of where to apply.

1. you should try to apply to as many schools you are compatible with and an avg. applicant applies to at least 10 schools.
2. if you school does not have A-,B- grades your gpa will not be 3.3 or 3.4 it will be much lower.
3. make sure you study enough for dats...

and the rest of the info can be found by clicking your way though predental forum and dat discussions... you can even search 🙂

Good luck ...

 

[yappy]

I dont understand this point... if the OP undergrad doesnt have "-" grades; the grades that are reported will only consist of pure A,B,C... in which case AADSAS will have to calculate their gpa using those grades. Right?
How would this result in a much lower gpa for the OP?

Thanks

2. if you school does not have A-,B- grades your gpa will not be 3.3 or 3.4 it will be much lower.

 

[peanutb123]

I dont understand this point... if the OP undergrad doesnt have "-" grades; the grades that are reported will only consist of pure A,B,C... in which case AADSAS will have to calculate their gpa using those grades. Right?
How would this result in a much lower gpa for the OP?

Thanks

Nope they will consist of A, B+, B, C+,C,D,F
ok...

Now most schools who has this system declares B+ to be 3.5; C+ 2.5

so if you are an average student and got B+ in like 10 science classes... your gpa for science will not be 3.5 rather it will be 3.3.

But schools who follow, A, A-, B+, b, b-....
will have the same gpa as they report it on aadsas






source
https://portal.aadsasweb.org/aadsas2008/instructions/conversion_grade.htm

 

[DividedByZero]

A 3.4 is well within average. Just get at least a 19 or 20 on the DAT and you should be fine for any one of those schools you listed.

 

[yappy]

Oh okay. I understand. The reason why I was confused is because at my school a B- is a 2.7 and a B+ is a 3.3... same system as AADSAS. I didn't know other schools were on different systems.

Thanks

Now most schools who has this system declares B+ to be 3.5; C+ 2.5

so if you are an average student and got B+ in like 10 science classes... your gpa for science will not be 3.5 rather it will be 3.3.



source
https://portal.aadsasweb.org/aadsas2008/instructions/conversion_grade.htm

 

[mmoosavi41]

sorry for the late response but thank you all for the advice and words of wisdom. my school is one of them that has a B+ as a 3.3 and an A- as a 3.7. thanks again and i'll check out the link you posted!

 

[Pennywisdom]

B+: 3.3, B -: 2.7 is the norm. What's up with schools inflating the GPA?

 

[yappy]

Lol. I've heard of schools even having A+ = 4.3. At my school I feel like their goal is to lower our gpa... not raise it.

B+: 3.3, B -: 2.7 is the norm. What's up with schools inflating the GPA?

 

[mmoosavi41]

yeah i think the whole gpa thing is kinda messed up. i've had so many B pluses in the last two years i wish it was counted as a 3.5. my gpa would be so much better.

i'm also currently the vice-president of the pre-health club for my school and hopefully i'll be the president by next year. what we do is we set up tours to other medical and dental schools as well as invite representatives from all types of pre-health schools to our school to talk to the students. you guys think that will have any bearing on how strong my application is?

 

[peanutb123]

yeah i think the whole gpa thing is kinda messed up. i've had so many B pluses in the last two years i wish it was counted as a 3.5. my gpa would be so much better.

i'm also currently the vice-president of the pre-health club for my school and hopefully i'll be the president by next year. what we do is we set up tours to other medical and dental schools as well as invite representatives from all types of pre-health schools to our school to talk to the students. you guys think that will have any bearing on how strong my application is?

Dont rely too much on that stuff...

Grades/DAT are imp. everything else is just like icing on the cake to make you look very little diff.

 

[mmoosavi41]

A 3.4 is well within average. Just get at least a 19 or 20 on the DAT and you should be fine for any one of those schools you listed.

i'm sorry if i'm beating a dead horse here but i did a rough estimate of what my gpa would be when i apply this coming summer and it came out to be about a 3.33 or 3.35. is that seen as a significant difference between a 3.4?
Also, when calculating your gpa on ADSAAS, do they have A minus? because i have a couple A minuses and if they're going to be calculated as A's, my gpa will be slightly higher.

 

[Maygyver]

They do a calculation with +/- as well as without. 3.33 is closer to 3.3 than 3.4 but I doubt it should really make that big of a difference.

 

[mmoosavi41]

thanks for all the help..
i'm just really scared that my gpa is going to end up killing me. my overall is expected to be at around a 3.35 and my science gpa is expected to be even lower at around a 3.1. please me honest with your advice and recommendations. thanks again.

 

[peanutb123]

thanks for all the help..
i'm just really scared that my gpa is going to end up killing me. my overall is expected to be at around a 3.35 and my science gpa is expected to be even lower at around a 3.1. please me honest with your advice and recommendations. thanks again.

So basically if i were you this is what i would do...

study hard for dats and get a good score... then apply while taking upper div. bio classes. Just relax people with your gpa do get in but get good score on the dats.

 

[mmoosavi41]

So basically if i were you this is what i would do...

study hard for dats and get a good score... then apply while taking upper div. bio classes. Just relax people with your gpa do get in but get good score on the dats.

what would you consider to be a good score given my gpa? can i get in with a 19 or 20? thanks again.

sorry, i feel like i may be nagging you guys but i'm just trying to get some good advice from people who seem like they know what they're talking about. i would talk to the pre-health advisor at my school but i don't find her to be very helpful.

 

[peanutb123]

i dont know the answer to your above question but my guess would be anything above 19 is good.

 

[mmoosavi41]

thank you so much for you time and help. very much appreciated. if anyone else has any words of wisdom, i'm all ears. i'll take any type of advice or help i can get.