Could use some advice

[nseco97]

Hello everyone! Before I seek your advice, I just wanted to say that this forum has been a tremendous wealth of information for people like me aspiring to go to dental school. Keep it up.

This is my first time joining this forum but I've kept up with it for the past couple of weeks and finally garnered some courage to post this thread. Hopefully, you guys can help with any advice you have.

Here's my story. I am currently 30 years of age and have made the decision to pursue a career in dentistry. This will be a career move for me as I currently work as a programmer for a web development company and have done so for the past 3 years. I've contemplated this decision for some time now and feel that the time is right to go for it. The fact that I come from a family of medical professionals has also influenced this choice I've made. My mom and sister are currently MDs. I graduated in 1997 from the University of Houston with a degree in Mathematics. However, I did not do so with a stellar gpa. It's so bad, I'd rather save myself the embarrassment by not disclosing it. Let's just say it's not a 3.0 to put it in perspective. This is where my dilemma begins. I'd spent much of college trying to "figure out" what it is I wanted to do and my gpa in turn paid the price for that.

As for my quest to go to dental school, I began taking my prereqs last summer and so far I've completed the following: Bio 1, Bio 2, Org. Chem 1, and Org. Chem 2. Still need Microbiology (taking it upcoming summer session) and Biochemistry (fall). I've done well in these classes and pretty much have to ace the remaining two classes as I have very little margin for error. I recently had my wisdom teeth removed and I used that opportunity to ask for an opportunity to shadow/volunteer at their practice. Also, I have a friend that recently bought a practice and she has welcomed the idea of me shadowing there as well. I am applying for the fall of 2004. I still need to take the DAT (looking at July), write a personal statement, and get my rec letters together. To prep for the DAT, I took the advice of several of you to fellow members and ordered the Top Score CD which seemed to get a thumbs up from most of you (should hopefully receive it sometime tomorrow). I also have the Kaplan test prep book as well.

So here are some of the questions I have:

1) Would a great score on the DAT (> 20's) help "overshadow" the sub par gpa? Is any consideration taken as to how long one's been out of school and the gpa attained at the time?
2) If not, what is the best way to address this in my personal statement?
3) Do you know of anyone in a similar situation as mine that has persevered and made it into any schools?
4) In the event I do not make it in next year, any suggestions on what to do become a better candidate for the following year e.g. graduate school, etc. ?

Any advice or guidance that any of you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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[FMLizard]

As a fellow IT bailer, I understand what you are going through. There are many examples of those who have successfully overcome a dicey GPA and made it into dental school. Heck, my 3.5 gives me concern as to whether or not I will make it, but its been proven that you can do it almost no matter what. As long as you aren't waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy below a 3.0, and your post bacc sciences are good, you have a decent shot. You will need a strong DAT, and your entire application must be top notch to overcome the GPA. It will take extra work, and a bit of luck, but you do stand a decent chance of acceptance. Good luck!

 

[nseco97]

FMLizard,

Thanks for the advice. I needed to get a realistic idea of what my chances were. I'll keep on keeping at it. Thanks again!

 

[shootin4par]

I have news for ya.............

Since you have been outing doing other stuff, the AD-com will look favorably on you as a "non-traditional" student. Now in light of the undergrad GPA, that was years back, when you werent thinking about dental school. It will still be looked at, dont get me wrong, but you need to put your best foot forward, and the pre-req that you are taking are going to constitute the bulk of your Dental-school education GPA. (Hope your following). When you write you PS, make sure you include the hurdles of finding "yourself". They;ll understand. Moreover, if you pre-req are solid, that means you're capable. Just make sure you score well on the DAT. Honestly, a 20+ would be great, but even if your score is 18+ (averaging, just make sure nothing is below 15) you're ok. I've known PLENTY of people with so-so GPAs and decent DATs and all have gotten in somewhere.

All the best