Can someone give me an honest answer about my plan to get to dental school?

[Somepersianguy]

I graduated from college last year (B.S. in Biology/Molecular Biology) with a dismal 2.71 overall GPA (not sure what my science GPA was but it's similar to my overall). There is no excuse for my GPA being that low, I wasn't focused enough in school and my study habits were poor. I knew this GPA was below the cutoff for any dental school to even look at my application, so I started applying for lab tech jobs and I landed one at UCSF. Since this job is a 2 year commitment, I have 1 more year to go before I can start back on my path to dental school.

I'm planning on logging a ton of volunteering/shadowing hours this year while I work and have also started studying to take the DAT by January. I know that I need to kill the DAT to have any chances.

My plan for next year is to apply for the SFSU postbac (the only one I'm eligible for with my GPA), study my ass off to get a 4.0 in it, and apply to dental schools. Can anyone tell me if this plan sounds like it will increase my chances of getting interviews/acceptances or give me advice on anything else I can/should be doing? I'm just afraid that after going through all these efforts, I still won't get anywhere.

I feel hopeless with this GPA but after having the past year to reflect on what I really want to do with my life, I realized that dentistry is definitely the route I would like to take.

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[aqz]

You get the 4.0 and a 22+, you'll get multiple interviews.

 

[Somepersianguy]

You get the 4.0 and a 22+, you'll get multiple interviews.

That's very encouraging to hear, thanks for the response!

 

[postpitadh]

I never broke a 3.0 in my ochem classes and I'm applying right now with a 22 on the ochem section of the dat. You have the capacity to show more improvement than I did and if you can do that, I can't see why you wouldn't have as good a shot as anybody.

 

[Somepersianguy]

I never broke a 3.0 in my ochem classes and I'm applying right now with a 22 on the ochem section of the dat. You have the capacity to show more improvement than I did and if you can do that, I can't see why you wouldn't have as good a shot as anybody.

Awesome that's a great score, I hope you get a lot of interviews/acceptances! My main hold up is that even if I go through 2 years of a postbac with a 4.0, my cumulative GPA will still be barely above 3.0 (from what I've calculated at least). Hopefully that kind of upward trend will be enough for admission committees to give my app a second look when the time comes. I've got a long road ahead of me!

 

[postpitadh]

Awesome that's a great score, I hope you get a lot of interviews/acceptances! My main hold up is that even if I go through 2 years of a postbac with a 4.0, my cumulative GPA will still be barely above 3.0 (from what I've calculated at least). Hopefully that kind of upward trend will be enough for admission committees to give my app a second look when the time comes. I've got a long road ahead of me!

yeah man you do have a long road ahead. contact some dental schools, tell them your plans and see what they think