Bad GPA. What should I do next?

[HighestHand]

Hello everyone,

I live in NYC and am a nontraditional application here. I had a tough time during undergrad and graduated in 2017. I have a cGPA 3.1 and a sGPA 2.8. Took the DAT and got a 22AA (22PAT, 23QR, 20RC, 24B, 23GC, 19OC, 21TS) but felt that I could do better with more practice. During my undergrad years, my parents actually fell sick twice, mom with breast cancer twice, and dad from multiple heart attacks from stress eating, then got diabetes and was uncontrolled, etc. That led to 4 C’s in the science classes and 1 F. On the second time that my mother's cancer came back, I just dropped all my classes and got a whole semester of inc's and UW and 1 F. It took me 7 years to graduate from 2010. My parents are well now, just mom needs to visit all her doctors bi-annually and dad needs monthly eye injections and needs to visit his doctor every quarter so it doesn't take too much of my effort. I think being able to study without worrying about them lead me to do well on the DAT.

Bottom line, I know my chances at the moment are zero and that is why I would like to ask what direction to take.

Should I go with Postbac, or SMP, or just take non-degree courses in science to boost up my GPA? Which one gives me the best chance of even being looked at? Currently I have submitted an application to take 2 science classes (non-degree), but am looking at postbac apps and SMPs.

Other information:

I’ve since graduated and worked full time 2 years as an oral health educator (I mainly do clerical work but I get to teach people how to brush and maintain good oral hygiene) in a dental clinic of 4+ dentists. All the dentists are encouraging me to pursue dentistry and gave me lots of help and even gave me a couple of destroyer books that their sons and daughters have. They don’t know about my time during undergrad though.
I also have shadowing hours, 100hr+ and accumulating at the moment.

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[Firik]

In my opinion, you should apply this cycle (everything possible) especially with your DAT and in the meantime attend Postbac/SMP! Best of luck!

 

[HighestHand]

In my opinion, you should apply this cycle (everything possible) especially with your DAT and in the meantime attend Postbac/SMP! Best of luck!

Thank you, I was looking at NYU, LECOM, Tufts, Touro, Nova, and a lot of others. I might apply to a couple but honestly I don't really think my chances are decent even.

Do you think SMP or Post bacc is the better bet?

 

[Alaskan _Polarbear]

I think you should take the chance and apply this cycle! I honestly think you have a chance because you did well on your DAT and this will help make your low GPA look better. Your circumstance is very unfortunate but you never let it bring you down and when you do get an interview just talk about how this affected your grades and why it took you a while to graduate undergraduate.

Apply broadly and to a bunch of private schools, have a killer essay, and you'll be fine.

But say you don't get in this cycle a masters might be better than doing a post bac

 

[Punished Angeleno]

Honestly, you don't need to drop thousands on a master's degree if you can just enroll in upper/lower-div science courses through an informal post-bacc at a local university. That's what I did and I was able to raise my sGPA from ~3.05 when I applied last July, to ~3.2.

Now, I don't know about applying for this cycle. It'll be tough, but I also don't think it's impossible with those DAT scores. I took the risk myself and it paid off last second. It just might pay off for you, too, assuming the rest of your application looks great. Apply broadly (10-13 programs), but be sure to do plenty of research on each program before adding to your list.

 

[HighestHand]

Honestly, you don't need to drop thousands on a master's degree if you can just enroll in upper/lower-div science courses through an informal post-bacc at a local university. That's what I did and I was able to raise my sGPA from ~3.05 when I applied last July, to ~3.2.

Now, I don't know about applying for this cycle. It'll be tough, but I also don't think it's impossible with those DAT scores. I took the risk myself and it paid off last second. It just might pay off for you, too, assuming the rest of your application looks great. Apply broadly (10-13 programs), but be sure to do plenty of research on each program before adding to your list.

Thank you for the advice! Unfortunately I used the Predental GPA calculator and even getting 4 A's in the next 14 credits for science classes, my sGPA will only rise to about 2.93. Do you still recommend that over masters?

Currently I am enrolled for 2 science classes this upcoming fall semester and will take another 2 in the spring. I will also be applying to some pre-dental SMP's once the application opens up in the winter, and hopefully I get in for next year. Also will be applying to Dental school this cycle just in case.

How does this plan sound?

 

[HighestHand]

I think you should take the chance and apply this cycle! I honestly think you have a chance because you did well on your DAT and this will help make your low GPA look better. Your circumstance is very unfortunate but you never let it bring you down and when you do get an interview just talk about how this affected your grades and why it took you a while to graduate undergraduate.

Apply broadly and to a bunch of private schools, have a killer essay, and you'll be fine.

But say you don't get in this cycle a masters might be better than doing a post bac

Thank you for the advice! I will definitely do more research on master's and back up plans!

 

[Punished Angeleno]

Thank you for the advice! Unfortunately I used the Predental GPA calculator and even getting 4 A's in the next 14 credits for science classes, my sGPA will only rise to about 2.93. Do you still recommend that over masters?

Currently I am enrolled for 2 science classes this upcoming fall semester and will take another 2 in the spring. I will also be applying to some pre-dental SMP's once the application opens up in the winter, and hopefully I get in for next year. Also will be applying to Dental school this cycle just in case.

How does this plan sound?

My personal goal was to save as much money as possible because I knew I was probably going to end up attending an expensive private school, given how low my sGPA was. That's why I took my post-bacc classes through my public university's continuing education program, as well as my local community college. Cost me about $5K total. Not about to add $50-60K to the $380-400K I'm already expected to drop after matriculating.

That sounds good. I'd enroll in a couple of summer courses and then take three classes in fall and another two to three in spring. That should be enough to substantially boost your sGPA, or at least demonstrate an upward trend. You can still apply to SMPs this coming winter if you want to play it safe, but I think you'll be okay if you apply broadly. Submit your application in June. Make sure you send in your transcripts/letters a couple of weeks prior to the day you plan on submitting.