Original Poster:
I believe the advice you receive would be more applicable if you told us where you were applying and what your top 2 or 3 choices are.
Your stats will get you into a dental school, but not every dental school. Your GPAs are below average for every school but still respectable, your DAT scores are good, and it sounds like your ECs are there.
At the end of May, you should call a few of the schools you applied to this cycle and ask what went wrong, and what they suggest you do over the next few months to improve your application for next year. However, you should be aware that whatever strides you attempt to make to improve your application for the cycle opening this June are limited due to time constraints. Usually, I would recommend that the student retake the DAT, but in your case, I would not.
If you are hoping to receive a letter of acceptance from Columbia, UPENN, UCLA, UCSF, U.O.P., Maryland, Nova, UCONN, Harvard, Tufts, Michigan, Stony Brook, Case Western and maybe a few others, you're probably (and I hate to say it) out of luck.
If you are set on one of the institutions above, your best bet is to enroll yourself in a Master's program that emphasizes research and retake the DAT to score a 22+ across the board to offset your undergrad GPAs. However, that may not be enough to be granted an interview as you are competing with students who have had it all from the beginning - high GPAs, high test scores, extensive ECs, and glowing recommendations.
If you would consider attending other good dental schools such as USC, NYU, BU, ASDOH, UNLV - to name a few schools that tend to accept students with statistics similar to your own, then I would recommend the following:
Any GPA that begins with a 2 (even a 2.99) greatly reduces your chances of acceptance. With that said, I would recommend taking a few science courses over a summer session. If a local 4 year college is on the quarter system, you could potentially take 24 science units in 20 weeks - tough, but all A's would boost all of your GPAs, not to mention the effect it could have on your BCP if you're a non-science major. Be careful when selecting the courses you wish to take though because you need to be certain that they count towards your BCP and not just your science GPA [example: an upper division nutrition class is a biology course, but may not be included in you BCP even it covers biochemical pathways].
You should also continue to work on your personal statement. Make it a work of literary non-fiction - something that is creative, entertaining, and to the point. You should tell a story that explains why your grades fail to meet their class averages - show them what happened, don't just tell them.
Get involved in an EC that's different. I assume that you have volunteered for about 100 hours in a dental practice/community health clinic - if you haven't, the 100-hour mark is typically looked upon favorably. If you have already done that, continue to help volunteer, but set aside time to create something unique that serves a purpose in society - admissions committees like to see innovative, entrepreneurial, critical thinkers who have some creation that proves their ability to show initiate in a field where leadership is sought after.
Good luck
