Advice Please? Low GPA and Missing Classes

[tryingtogetinDS]

Hey everybody, I am more of a reader than a writer so I've been following most of you on these forums for about a month now but this is my first post so here goes. My situation is this...
3.2 CGPA and 2.8 SGPA, I have shadowing hours, I have clubs I've been a part of, I held 3 solid jobs throughout high school and college, I have over 360 hours of community service, and I speak 2.5 languages. Pretty much everything is no more than average so I don't really stand out. However, I stand out in a bad way because I failed Orgo II twice (D both times, each time I was within 2% of a C) and I just found out that most Dental schools require BioChemistry which I haven't taken yet only because I did not know that I had to. My school/advisors did not tell me and I just recently found out on my own and I am a Psychology Major/Biology minor so BioChem otherwise wasn't required. Also, regarding the DATs, I plan to take them by mid-July and I've been getting 18s on the science and 21s on the PAT and QR and RC (again, no more than average) but I'm only 1/3 done with my preparation so I expect to raise my score at least a few points.
So thats my situation and I have a few questions if anybody can help me out:
1) If BioChem is a requirement, do Dental Schools want to see it completed before applying or just completed before starting school? So can I apply and tell them I'm taking it this upcoming semester?
2) Realistically, (and I know no one knows for sure and there are lots of factors that go into it, but) in your opinion, do I have a chance of getting into Dental School this cycle? I don't want to waste ~$4000 applying if it won't matter.
3) If I don't have a good chance/if I don't make it in, should I a) take post-bac classes and raise my GPA, b) enroll in a master's program for 1-2 years, or c) shadow or work as a dental assistant for a year then reapply?
My preference is not to take years off before Dental School, but I'm just looking for the best way to get into school as soon as possible. I don't want to be applying for the next 4 years.
Again thank you for your help on this and on previous threads you all posted that benefited hundreds (probably thousands) of people before you

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[flyingforever]

Hey everybody, I am more of a reader than a writer so I've been following most of you on these forums for about a month now but this is my first post so here goes. My situation is this...
3.2 CGPA and 2.8 SGPA, I have shadowing hours, I have clubs I've been a part of, I held 3 solid jobs throughout high school and college, I have over 360 hours of community service, and I speak 2.5 languages. Pretty much everything is no more than average so I don't really stand out. However, I stand out in a bad way because I failed Orgo II twice (D both times, each time I was within 2% of a C) and I just found out that most Dental schools require BioChemistry which I haven't taken yet only because I did not know that I had to. My school/advisors did not tell me and I just recently found out on my own and I am a Psychology Major/Biology minor so BioChem otherwise wasn't required. Also, regarding the DATs, I plan to take them by mid-July and I've been getting 18s on the science and 21s on the PAT and QR and RC (again, no more than average) but I'm only 1/3 done with my preparation so I expect to raise my score at least a few points.
So thats my situation and I have a few questions if anybody can help me out:
1) If BioChem is a requirement, do Dental Schools want to see it completed before applying or just completed before starting school? So can I apply and tell them I'm taking it this upcoming semester?
2) Realistically, (and I know no one knows for sure and there are lots of factors that go into it, but) in your opinion, do I have a chance of getting into Dental School this cycle? I don't want to waste ~$4000 applying if it won't matter.
3) If I don't have a good chance/if I don't make it in, should I a) take post-bac classes and raise my GPA, b) enroll in a master's program for 1-2 years, or c) shadow or work as a dental assistant for a year then reapply?
My preference is not to take years off before Dental School, but I'm just looking for the best way to get into school as soon as possible. I don't want to be applying for the next 4 years.
Again thank you for your help on this and on previous threads you all posted that benefited hundreds (probably thousands) of people before you

Do a post-bac, bring your GPA up.

 

[dentalWorks]

Hey everybody, I am more of a reader than a writer so I've been following most of you on these forums for about a month now but this is my first post so here goes. My situation is this...
3.2 CGPA and 2.8 SGPA, I have shadowing hours, I have clubs I've been a part of, I held 3 solid jobs throughout high school and college, I have over 360 hours of community service, and I speak 2.5 languages. Pretty much everything is no more than average so I don't really stand out. However, I stand out in a bad way because I failed Orgo II twice (D both times, each time I was within 2% of a C) and I just found out that most Dental schools require BioChemistry which I haven't taken yet only because I did not know that I had to. My school/advisors did not tell me and I just recently found out on my own and I am a Psychology Major/Biology minor so BioChem otherwise wasn't required. Also, regarding the DATs, I plan to take them by mid-July and I've been getting 18s on the science and 21s on the PAT and QR and RC (again, no more than average) but I'm only 1/3 done with my preparation so I expect to raise my score at least a few points.
So thats my situation and I have a few questions if anybody can help me out:
1) If BioChem is a requirement, do Dental Schools want to see it completed before applying or just completed before starting school? So can I apply and tell them I'm taking it this upcoming semester?
2) Realistically, (and I know no one knows for sure and there are lots of factors that go into it, but) in your opinion, do I have a chance of getting into Dental School this cycle? I don't want to waste ~$4000 applying if it won't matter.
3) If I don't have a good chance/if I don't make it in, should I a) take post-bac classes and raise my GPA, b) enroll in a master's program for 1-2 years, or c) shadow or work as a dental assistant for a year then reapply?
My preference is not to take years off before Dental School, but I'm just looking for the best way to get into school as soon as possible. I don't want to be applying for the next 4 years.
Again thank you for your help on this and on previous threads you all posted that benefited hundreds (probably thousands) of people before you

for 1) most schools do not require biochem (but highly "recommend" it). If a school does require it, you need to have it taken BEFORE matriculating into dental school... meaning, its okay to apply without having it taken

for 2) I would encourage you to not take the DAT until you've fixed the sGPA issue. IMO, your gonna have a very hard time landing interviews (and I say this even if you score well on the DAT)

Im with flyingforever, you should focus on post-bacc right now before DAT or anything else.

for 3)
a) yes
b) I wouldn't do masters yet, I'd do post-bacc first if there are upper level bios you haven't taken already at undergrad
c) shadowing vs assisting won't make a difference. Thousands of applicants get accepted to dental schools each year and the most dental-experience they have is from shadowing alone..... This is not a criteria for competitiveness

 

[tryingtogetinDS]

I am enrolled to take 22.5 credits next semester (BioChem-4, Anatomy-3, Anatomy Lab-1, Sensation and Perception Psychology-3, Clinical Psychology-3, Statistics-4, Gym-1.5, and Psych Research Experience-3 (the research and gym won't be hard at all, but it will take 5-8 hours out of my week per week)). I can't not take the Psych classes because they are required for my major, and BioChem and Anatomy are for DS and to raise my SGPA so I'm pretty much forced to take 22.5 credits. For me its doable, but I won't have any other time to study for my DATs during the semester so I am studying now to get it out of the way because I have no other obligations and can study 7-9 hours a day.
So my question now becomes: a) If I get a 23-24 on my DATs (I know its a stretch to assume, but lets say "if"), will it be enough to get into DS without doing a post-bac? and b) If I don't get in, I plan to do a post-bac like you recommended, but will DS prefer I take my DAT again a year from now or will they not mind that I took my DAT now?
And thanks for the previous replies.

 

[dentalWorks]

I am enrolled to take 22.5 credits next semester (BioChem-4, Anatomy-3, Anatomy Lab-1, Sensation and Perception Psychology-3, Clinical Psychology-3, Statistics-4, Gym-1.5, and Psych Research Experience-3 (the research and gym won't be hard at all, but it will take 5-8 hours out of my week per week)). I can't not take the Psych classes because they are required for my major, and BioChem and Anatomy are for DS and to raise my SGPA so I'm pretty much forced to take 22.5 credits. For me its doable, but I won't have any other time to study for my DATs during the semester so I am studying now to get it out of the way because I have no other obligations and can study 7-9 hours a day.
So my question now becomes: a) If I get a 23-24 on my DATs (I know its a stretch to assume, but lets say "if"), will it be enough to get into DS without doing a post-bac? and b) If I don't get in, I plan to do a post-bac like you recommended, but will DS prefer I take my DAT again a year from now or will they not mind that I took my DAT now?
And thanks for the previous replies.

I see you've thought this through

for a) who knows right? But, if you can swing that kinda DAT (usually 99th percentile) and you do well on that 22+ credit term, I think you'll be competitive (assuming you apply next year)

for b) this is why I was initially recommending you not do the DAT until the sGPA issue was "somewhat" resolved. DAT (for most schools) has a 24-36 month expiration period from the day you took it. If it takes you longer than 24 months to fix your sGPA, you might be forced to redo the DAT.

Lets do something else, how many science credits do you currently have to give you that 2.8 sGPA? Lets get an estimate of how many more credits you need to bring it to more reasonable levels. This will give you an idea how many year(s) you need to bring it up.

 

[tryingtogetinDS]

I took 45 science credits so far, but I plan to take between 20-23 science credits in the 2 semesters for my senior year. And if I end up staying for a post-bac, Im going to try to take at least 9-12 each semester, so 18-24 + 20-23 = roughly 38-47 science credits still left for me to take. The "good" thing is that I'm not a biology major so there are a lot of biology classes I have yet to take (cell biology, biochem, anatomy, histology, microbiology, zoology and immunology (my school doesnt offer the last two, but I can take those at a community college)). There are also a few chemistry classes I have yet to take, but those are probably way over my level and I doubt those will bring my gpa up more than it will down haha