Bad Study Skills or Inability to Do Coursework?

[killachinchilla]

Hey everyone,

I graduated in 2016 from a UC with a 3.1 cumulative gpa and a 2.7ish science gpa. I've recently gotten interested in dental school.

Now, I know as it stands that my gpa will not get me into any school anywhere, but I guess I'm trying to figure out the feasibility of becoming a dentist before I put it to rest completely.

One thing I've picked up reading these forums is that people really advise you to do a postbacc or masters for people in a similar position as me.

I've been thinking about this, but one thing I'm worried about is if I took that option but didn't do well enough in the program to raise my gpa and get into a dental school.

I had a modest upward trend in the later years of undergrad. Part of it was definitely the fact that I'm not a natural at sciences even though I enjoy them a lot. I have poor hearing and wear hearing aids which makes lecture learning a bit more difficult. For a large part of my undergrad career I relied on the textbook but did poorly in most classes. But I found near the end of college that podcasting notes was more efficient and helped me learn what the professor would test on. So a small part of me is thinking that I might've done better if I had done that from the beginning.

Has anyone been in a similar position as me? Did anyone find a lower risk way to find out if they could do the post bacc/masters coursework to raise their gpa enough?

Thanks!

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[FeralisExtremum]

I think if you're serious about dentistry you should confront that risk head on. If you do a post-bac/masters and still can't get the grades to cut it, you probably wouldn't be able to handle the academic rigors of dental school anyway. If you succeed in the post-bac/masters, then you strengthen your application and confirm you have what it takes.

 

[ThirdMolarz]

Less risk way is take a quarter at local CC or online before committing to a yearlong post-bacc. I took a few courses through UNE Online: Math and Health Science Prerequisites Courses at UNE. If you do it, it's ~$1000 per class and keep in mind some schools don't accept online courses, you'd have to contact and ask. The exams are proctored (more than in my undergrad experience) so it's legit. It is also self-paced, so you can finish as quickly or as slowly as you want within a 16 week timeframe

 

[rippedbx]

Its not unheard of to get in with that GPA. But I would shoot for a 22+ on the DAT. If you could retake some of the prereqs and get A's I'd do it. I retook Bio 101 and gen chem stuff when I was getting ready to graduate just so I had a better score to show when grades go through each school's computer system. And it's pretty easy to get A's in easy science classes once you've finished advanced level classes. And apply to schools to the right schools.

 

[Life of Pablo]

Do you mind sharing with me which UC you attended?

Why does it matter? Are you telling me there's a difference between Berkeley and Merced?