Confused... what are my chances? THANKS YOU!!

[laden201]

Hello! So I'm kinda new to this site (actually just stumbled upon a post through google search last week). I read some of the threads and realized that most of them are really useful. I am in need of some analysis of my current situation, so I would really appreciate some help..

I am a 3rd year undergrad in a Canadian university. (graduating 2012) I have been in a science program for three years now. Ive wanted to go to a US dental school since freshman (I liked the fact so many choices are given), but I really screwed up last year (2nd year)... to the point that my GPA tanked from a 3.59 to a 3.39... I really can't let myself give up this goal just because of one year's mistake. So here I am, trying to figure out what to do.

My information:

1. My current GPA is 3.39. not sure about my science GPA, but Ive taken nearly none electives, so it should be pretty much the same. question: do my summer courses count towards the calculation?

2. Should I stay for an extra semester/year? I haven't done DAT or any dental shadowings yet! knowing that next june is the early application time, I'm leaning towards staying for an extra semester after 2012 to 1. boost my GPA, 2. finish the research project im involved in, 3. get a decent DAT score... will this delay affect any admission decisions?

3. Which years' grades do they look at? I wasn't aware that the current grades(4th year) don't count until a few weeks ago.. sigh.. but Ive also heard that some schools look at your best two years? anyone knows what schools exactly?

4. Regarding English requirements: I need to take a whole year of english courses. If I want to be on time for the june application, Do they have to be completed by the time of application? If not, should I just take some bird courses next semester to boost my GPA?

5. What schools should I apply to? someone did a list of canadian-friendly us dental schools, but I reckon some of them are pretty hard to get in... The best ones I can pull of by next april is a 3.51, anyone has any ideas which schools I should aim for?


oh God, sorry I know these are a lot of questions... but I get times when I feel like i should just give up on the whole med/dent dream.. hopefully I don't eventually end up doing so. Thanks very much if you can shine some light on this!!!!

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[eringer]

Your GPA isn't really horrible. Just do good this year. Be sure to study hard for the DAT and kill it. You need a 20+ score.

 

[Habbas]

was in the same position as you, took some decent classes that raised by gpa to around 3.5

maybe an extra term is ncessary

they look at every class youve taken

finished english requirements, you need to have em done beofre you enter dental school, not necessarily when you apply.

list of schools to apply to is in the "where should i apply thread above", it lists canadian-friendly school

good luck

 

[Lethstang]

when i first came to the site,i checked out the stickies at the top (where should i apply, what are my chances etc) and they provided a wealth of information. Through it I was able to put together my timeline. Welcome to SDN and goodluck!

 

[ah1989]

I was in a similar situation... only maybe a little worse. I had a terrible semester sophomore year that dipped my GPA below a 3.3, spring semester allowed me to bring it up to slightly above a 3.3 going into my junior year.

Junior year, where you are now, I worked really hard and got a 3.8 and 4.0 for those 2 semesters, which brought me to where I am now, 3.5. This is around the average for many schools, and obviously I haven't gotten accepted anywhere yet, but I have gotten quite a few interviews (check out the pre-dent link under my name to the left and you can see my stats/where i applied -- you can also check out other schools and the stats of people getting interviewed).. so if you can work your GPA up a bit this year, and rock your DAT (this also really helped me), you should definitely be getting interviews when applying next cycle!

Good luck and don't give up hope!

 

[PP2010]

GPA is not bad.... I used/read through DAT Destroyer and got 22