Any stories of people getting in dental school after screwing up majorly?

[Emny]

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[7 Iron]

The only positive way I could think about this situation is that my record shows growth and change from my past, but I think it would look even better to an admissions committee if I didn't have that screw up and was a straight 4.0 all the way. Do I still have a fighting chance at getting into a dental school if I tried to explain my situation in the personal statement?

When you apply through AADSAS, you do need to list EVERY institution. If you didn't list it and then interviewed at a dental school, more than likely you would have to explain what you were doing with your time between high school and (your second) college, and you don't want to be caught in a lie. That would likely be an automatic rejection. Worse, if you were accepted to ds and the school found out that you omitted information, they can rescind their offer of admission.

That being said, a 3.5 GPA is still competitive for dental school admission! I think if you can get good DAT scores as well, you have a great chance at admission, especially since the committees will see the upward trend in your grades. I would address this bad semester in your personal statement, and then explain what happened in your interviews if they ask.

* disclaimer, I haven't gotten into dental school yet.. but I have been on many interviews this season and I feel like I understand the process pretty well.

 

[K2 Dental]

You will have to include it in your official records. I personally do not thing it is going to hold you back. When I was in Dschool I knew the dean of admissions and a few people that worked in that office. When they get the initial pool of applicants they use a formula to determine who they will invite for an interview. At our school it was something like Science GPA time a factor + Overall GPA times a factor and DAT score. They weigh the Science GPA more than overall. Then they come up with a score. If you are above a certain point they invite you for an interview. After that you need to nail the interview. What I did not like about our school is that they had current students doing half of the interviews and giving interview scores. It was kind of a joke. That is beside the point... The key for you is high science GPA and high DAT score. They will probably honestly not even notice your Freshman grades.

My freshman year of college I ended up with a 1.9 GPA and was put on academic probation. I also did a semester at another school and withdrew and had 2 W's on my record. I recommitted later in life and got back on track. I included all those bad years on my transcripts and it didn't hurt me. Like I said.. most school will follow some formula and it seems you will be way above what they are looking for as long as your DAT scores are decent. Best of luck.

Oh and personally I would rather have a student who made an amazing turnaround and applied himself vs. someone who hadn't yet. It shows great commitment.