Aspiring Dental Student with low GPA options?

[Aspiring_Dental_Student]

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Cal Poly Undergraduate.
Junior (Senior standing).
2.7 overall GPA.
Planning to take DAT this summer (2019).
Have worked in a Dental Office for 4 years. (I have also logged about 2000 hours of dental related shadowing)

I was planning on applying to Dental School this cycle, but after this quarter's grades it seems highly unlikely that I would be accepted anywhere. My other option is to apply to a post baccalaureate program somewhere and then apply after. It was not until this year that I was able to pull my **** together, previously I averaged mostly B's and C's, now I am consistently getting B's and A's. I'm guessing my "upward trend" started to late to be competitive in any case. At this point I think I should just apply to a Post Bac program and go from there.
Any advice on how I should continue to pursue dental school?
Should I still attempt to apply to some dental schools, while also applying to a Post Bac program this summer?
What Post Bacc programs should I apply to?
Any advice would be much appreciated at this point, I am new to the whole process and do not know a lot about what timeline and strategy I should seek.

Is it a reasonable decision to apply to hygiene school as an intermediate between undergraduate and Dental school?

 

[byahnoob]

I'm glad that you finally got yourself together. Aim for a high score on the DAT. 21+. Regardless of how high your DAT is, I doubt it'll make up for the 2.7 GPA.
Now you would need to do a post-bac or a masters program. Get a 3.5+ in the program and apply next year (2020-2021 cycle).

Save your money and don't apply to dental schools this cycle UNLESS you are wanting to attend a post bac program that has a requirement of you having been denied to a dental school.

Some post bac / masters programs with linkages to their respective dental schools although not all of them guarantee you an interview are Marquette (post bac), Colorado (post bac), Rutgers (masters), Temple (post-bac), Nova (masters), Creighton (post-bac), Touro (masters), and UCSF (post-bac).
There are a lot of options. Find one that fits you! It honestly doesn't matter what program you choose to pursue.

 

[rk1229]

Hey guys, I was posting about this in another thread but wanted to jump into one of these "chance me" threads as well. This cycle I applied with a 3.4 overall, 3.3ish science, and a 19AA DAT and everyone said I was crazy to apply. I ended up having 7 interview invites and got accepted on December 3rd. I work with some students at my school who are considered average/below average and advisors are telling them they don’t have a shot and do not apply; a lot of people on SDN are leaning that way as well. I’m showing them what I did to get interviews and get accepted, and helping them prepare for the cycle. I'm thinking about offering the same thing to some people on here... I don't know if anyone would be interested, but if you know someone with average/below average stats or really anyone worried about applying that would be interested, shoot me a DM!

 

[samantha199669]

Hey guys, I was posting about this in another thread but wanted to jump into one of these "chance me" threads as well. This cycle I applied with a 3.4 overall, 3.3ish science, and a 19AA DAT and everyone said I was crazy to apply. I ended up having 7 interview invites and got accepted on December 3rd. I work with some students at my school who are considered average/below average and advisors are telling them they don’t have a shot and do not apply; a lot of people on SDN are leaning that way as well. I’m showing them what I did to get interviews and get accepted, and helping them prepare for the cycle. I'm thinking about offering the same thing to some people on here... I don't know if anyone would be interested, but if you know someone with average/below average stats or really anyone worried about applying that would be interested, shoot me a DM!

how many volunteer hours did you do and what was the list of school you applied to??

 

[rk1229]

how many volunteer hours did you do and what was the list of school you applied to??

DM me

 

[byahnoob]

Hey guys, I was posting about this in another thread but wanted to jump into one of these "chance me" threads as well. This cycle I applied with a 3.4 overall, 3.3ish science, and a 19AA DAT and everyone said I was crazy to apply. I ended up having 7 interview invites and got accepted on December 3rd. I work with some students at my school who are considered average/below average and advisors are telling them they don’t have a shot and do not apply; a lot of people on SDN are leaning that way as well. I’m showing them what I did to get interviews and get accepted, and helping them prepare for the cycle. I'm thinking about offering the same thing to some people on here... I don't know if anyone would be interested, but if you know someone with average/below average stats or really anyone worried about applying that would be interested, shoot me a DM!

Crazy to apply? Who said that? Those are average stats meaning you have a shot.
Surprised about the 7 interviews though

 

[rk1229]

Honestly, a lot of SDN people said I needed a 20 or better on the DAT, and then all my advisors told me I was crazy and to not apply this last year without at least a 3.5 gpa and sgpa and a 20 or better on the DAT. I had the same thought as you though, the stats I had are average, meaning I had a shot if I could put together a great application all around, which I did and I ended up doing well. The 7 interviews surprised me as well, a little wild honestly.

 

[ThatoneKorean]

Honestly, a lot of SDN people said I needed a 20 or better on the DAT, and then all my advisors told me I was crazy and to not apply this last year without at least a 3.5 gpa and sgpa and a 20 or better on the DAT. I had the same thought as you though, the stats I had are average, meaning I had a shot if I could put together a great application all around, which I did and I ended up doing well. The 7 interviews surprised me as well, a little wild honestly.

Which schools did you apply to?