Apply this year or next year....?

[jigabodo]

To cut my long story short, i was a slacker freshmen year. i got C- in gen chem A (school goes by quarter), F in math, a D+ and F in 2 GEs and was on the verge of getting kicked out due to low gpa. (1.6ish) Then due to some personal reasons i started working hard and retook everything that i failed and have picked up some slack...now that i am at the end of my 3rd year...with cum. GPA of 3.06 and science GPA of 3.11, and am thinking about whether if i should apply to d-school this year or not. i've finished most of the pre-reqs besides english, and have signed up to shadow a dentist during the summer. i've also done some extra such as proctoring and tutoring as well. The problem is, should i take the DAT and apply this year as soon as possible? or should i boost up my gpa some more and apply at the end of my 4th year? i do understand that my gpa is PRETTY damn low compare to most people in this forum, but would i stand any chance if i apply to d-schools that are slightly less competitive than others such as nyu, howard or meharry?

Thanks so much,

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[mlle]

is that your gpa accordig to aadsas calculations? did you include the d' and f's in your calculation?

 

[jigabodo]

the only courses ive retaken are math and one of the ge's that i failed. i couldnt retake my C- in chem because it is my school policy that you can only retake a class if you have D+ or lower, and i havent retaken the other D+ because i am planning to do it next year. As for the ge that i actually got a F in, it is a P/NP grading only course...would that affect my aadsas gpa?

thanks,

 

[kokobean]

you might stand a chance if you do outstanding on your DATs. you'd have to take them within a few months.. so i guess just see if you'll be able to invest some time into the test. otherwise, I'd spend the next year doing much more shadowing, working also to pad your application.

 

[BallDontLie]

if you're gonna wait till next year, use the next year to pad the extracirriculars and shadowing...i wouldnt worry too much about the GPA because although its low, how much can it really be brought up in one year? its at 3.06 right now, but best you could do is probably 3.1-3.2...still below average. So I'd look to just maintain the grades and see what other aspects of the application you could improve upon

 

[Dutchboy]

if you're gonna wait till next year, use the next year to pad the extracirriculars and shadowing...i wouldnt worry too much about the GPA because although its low, how much can it really be brought up in one year? its at 3.06 right now, but best you could do is probably 3.1-3.2...still below average. So I'd look to just maintain the grades and see what other aspects of the application you could improve upon

I was able to jump my GPA from around a 3.3 to a little over a 3.5 in one year. It can be done, you just have to take heavy course loads.