Chances? Advice? Scores?

[rkschun]

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So I just finished with my year and a half of DIY post-bacc of 40 credits at a Uni. 3.73 gpa
chems, orgos, physics, bios, calc, human anat, stats.

But...I am a nontraditional who graduated in 2008 with a finance degree with a uGPA=2.2. Now, my oGPA=2.52, sGPA=3.3. I worked for 3 years then decided to do the postbacc. Pretty good ECs, lots of shadowing, need to do some more volunteer.

Preparing for the DAT in late July and I need to knock it out of the park.

My question is what do you guys think I need to score on my DAT to be accepted?
Is my oGPA too low? Have I shown enough upward trend since my time off from school? I am going to try my damnest to get an AA=23+,24+. Do you think I have a chance with a score like that?

Please advise. Thanks!

 

[Actinomycete]

I am on a similar boat as you still working to making an awesome application. You need to destroy the DAT! Just do your best you can't study it for a certain score aim for that 30 and hope for the best. Your oGPA is pretty low I would go ahead and take more classes to compensate for that. I would suggest waiting until next cycle to apply.

 

[Kingsta2426]

2.52 gpa won't cut it, you need to at least bring it up to a 3.0 AND get a 25AA on DAT to give youself a chance.

 

[LaughingGas]

just my 2 cents...
I must agree with the above poster. Although some people with good postbac performance and ogpa of sub3.0 got in, I honestly seen maybe3~4 cases in the past 3 years I've been in SDN.
Many schools have cut-off,(either at 2.75 or 3.00) so buy the ADEA guide book and apply according to which schools don't have cut offs.
Also you are expected to have good DAT score.

 

[nikond600]

2.52 gpa won't cut it, you need to at least bring it up to a 3.0 AND get a 25AA on DAT to give youself a chance.

More than 99.99% of DAT takers score less than 25 😀

 

[Kingsta2426]

More than 99.99% of DAT takers score less than 25 😀

I'm fully aware, my 23 was 99.7%. With a 2.52 GPA a 25 is necessary to even possibly get looked at.

 

[rkschun]

Thanks for the honest feedback. By the way laughing gas, I've seen some of your posts and your postbacc has been impressive. After reading your stats I feel low. What should I do to enhance my app? What have you been doing or are you going to do? I've been thinking about the DH route. ADVICE?

 

[LaughingGas]

Thanks for the honest feedback. By the way laughing gas, I've seen some of your posts and your postbacc has been impressive. After reading your stats I feel low. What should I do to enhance my app? What have you been doing or are you going to do? I've been thinking about the DH route. ADVICE?

rkschun. My postbac performance is way impressive. I've seen others that had 4.0 or 4.0+ gpa during their postbac. You are on the right track. As I stated above, unfortunately, even with your outstanding postbac GPA, your ogpa is still low (and I know how crappy it feels when you see how your past grades drags all your latter "good" performances).
About the DH route, I can't answer that for you. One of the reasons why I'm sticking to hopefully becoming a dentist, it's to become my own boss.
About the application process, what I learned from applying last cycle is that, due to my low GPA, you need to have a complete package as an applicant.
I had good trend, ok DAT and a lot of dental hours, but minimal volunteer hours, 0 research. After speaking with one of admission deans, found out that I could have had more volunteer hours(I mean it's common sense, but I chose to work at dental office with the spare time I had).
Here is the thing, the low GPA group we are already in big disadvantage compared to others. Although one can show the "upward trend", there is no guarantee if that hard work will pay off.
To maximize the chance, you would have to do things that other's may or may not do. People in our situation, we would have to do anything to show 1) perseverance 2) able to do good time management 3) be a well-rounded person.
If you have couple "top" choices, call admissions, talk to them, make them remember about you. After you submit, besides new As, add new ECs, if you find a research position, call them and update them.
You pretty much get the picture.

 

[tommyinVA]

But...I am a nontraditional who graduated in 2008 with a finance degree with a uGPA=2.2. Now, my oGPA=2.52, sGPA=3.3. I worked for 3 years then decided to do the postbacc. Pretty good ECs, lots of shadowing, need to do some more volunteer.

My question is what do you guys think I need to score on my DAT to be accepted?
Is my oGPA too low? Have I shown enough upward trend since my time off from school? I am going to try my damnest to get an AA=23+,24+. Do you think I have a chance with a score like that?

Please advise. Thanks!

There's always a chance, but your cGPA is REALLY low. Hate to tell you, but it will probably take double the hours you've got to up your GPA even to a 2.8. You can read my story below, but to sum up, I just matriculated with an AADSAS-calculated cGPA of 2.7-ish (IIRC). BUT, I spent almost 10 years owning my own businesses and having a family and maturing as a person...and then went back to undergrad and basically got my BS in bio from scratch. Ended up taking almost 100 credit hours in 5 semesters plus a summer session. And it STILL took me 2 cycles in which I applied to over 16 schools each time. No interviews the first time, 3 the 2nd (but I got 2 acceptances).

So yes, it's certainly possible...but I honestly think you may still have a long way to go.

Here is the thing, the low GPA group we are already in big disadvantage compared to others. Although one can show the "upward trend", there is no guarantee if that hard work will pay off.
To maximize the chance, you would have to do things that other's may or may not do. People in our situation, we would have to do anything to show 1) perseverance 2) able to do good time management 3) be a well-rounded person.
If you have couple "top" choices, call admissions, talk to them, make them remember about you. After you submit, besides new As, add new ECs, if you find a research position, call them and update them.
You pretty much get the picture.

You worked for 3 years, what did you do? Did you achieve anything in your career? Shoot for any goals? Make a name for yourself in any way? What's happened in your life since you left school the first time? Any relationships? Married? Engaged? Kids? Anything to show you've matured, and not just in an academic sense?

Here's my view (which I will fully recognize is pretty harsh): You did an absolutely piss-poor job in undergrad. I know because by the time I left I had a 2.1 and when I had to look at my old transcripts while filling out my AADSAS I was embarrassed for myself at how poorly I had done. Regardless of how well you've done in your postbacc, all it tells me is that you went out and worked for 3 years, realized how much the real world sucked because you probably had a position as someone's b*tch, and want to try and come back for a better life. There's nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't show that YOU yourself have actually grown as a person. There's always that question of "Has this guy's character changed at all? How is he REALLY any different from who he was before?" I have to believe that when dental schools say they're looking for "well-rounded candidates," especially regarding older and non-traditional applicants, they want to see someone who has something to offer beyond the classroom, because all of the 22-24 year olds that are going to be your classmates blew you away in terms of undergrad work.

Don't get me wrong: 40 hours at 3.73 is good...but it doesn't REALLY show any commitment. You can do 40 hours in a calendar year and hardly even break a sweat. You may have to go a full 2 years before you're even considered by any schools (I obviously don't know this, but I think it's something you might want to prepare yourself for). How committed are you? How long are you willing to go?

I fully believe you can get into dental school, but you obviously will need a strong application and impressive DAT scores. After that, it's just a matter of more school and time and money. As far as this cycle goes, I would say that your chances are slim to none (more none than slim). I believe you still have your work cut out for you.

 

[laundry]

it will be tough...here's what I would want to see

1. PS explaining exactly why you "achieved" a 2.2. If the asnwer is "I was an immature dumb-arse, so be it. But be honest.
2. DAT in the 90%+, whatever it is these days
3. Shadow 250+hrs, volunteer, etc
4. I like the previous point about commitement, you wanna show 2+ yrs of good grades. If I were you, I'd load myself w/ 20+ hrs in one semester and do good. The reality is that a lot of people can do the technical part of dentistry, but no the mental. Adcoms want to be sure that by giving you the spot, you will not flunk out the next year and leave the school w/o 200K of payment...

good luck 👍