Dental school chance

[love_md]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I already graduated from college with a gpa of 3.02. I'm about to start my gap year working a job to save up before medical school. I have a positive trend in gpa with my last 2 semesters being a 4.0 with 16 credits each semester. I took my mcat this summer and got a 33 (13, 10, 10). I've slacked off in the start of college and took time, upto the end of junior year for me to realize my passion for medicine. I've begin to realize after posting in the pre-medical section that maybe I might not able to get into a medical school. In that case, I would like to do something else in healthcare specifically dentistry.

Bio 1 with lab: C-; Retake: C+
Bio 2 with lab: D; Retake: W
Gen Chem 1/2 with lab: B-
Physics 1 with lab: B-
Physics 2 with lab: C+
Organic Chemistry 1: F; Retake: F
Organic Chemistry 2: W

These are my grades from the premed courses. I understand I still have to retake Orgo 1/2 along with Bio 2. I know my current GPA probably won't get me in anywhere. Is there a minimum grade to obtain or is passing alright for dental schools? Also if I took the DAT, given my high mcat score, I am sure I can get a 20. Are chances of dentistry slim to none?

 

[B0wMNj]

I think everyone on this forum is going to hate you because your using dental school as a fallback. Anyways, dental school is pretty competitive t really isn't something you fallback on, so I would suggest looking to caribbean med schools or DO med schools. Either that or fallback onto something else in the health field, you don't have to be a "doctor " to enjoy the benefits of working in the medical profession. I am pretty sure you have no passion for dentistry, but its going to take you some time to prepare yourself before you can be admitted to dental school if you wish to do so. Your science GPA is probably below 3.0 from what you say, so you'll have to do some postbac work to get that up. You will also have to do some dental related extracurriculars to show your "passion" for the field. And yes you probably can score high on the DAT if you study properly. In my honest opinion though even then it will be very difficult to get acceptances. The question you have to ask yourself is that if spending all this time and money is going to be worth it in the end.

 

[CraigHack]

The first thing some people are going to tell you is that you need to get into dentistry for the right reasons. This isn't just because some people get in a huff when pre-meds fall back on dentistry. It's also because not every pre-med is going to enjoy the unique experiences of dentistry. Just make sure you do the shadowing and research to educate yourself on the career.

That said, yes, your grades don't have to be *as* high to get into dental school as medical school, generally speaking. And I can't speak to the correlation between mcat and dat scores, but don't forget about the PAT portion, which has no crossover applicability.

Addressing your grades: you really tanked your science GPA. The withdrawals and retakes without significant improvement all indicate a lack of commitment. This isn't meant as a slap in the face, but rather some blunt honesty. You can say you're committed now, as anyone in your shoes would, but you have to *show* adcoms this change in order to be taken seriously. It's going to be a long road to admission for whatever career track you choose.

On a final note, if you want to be a doctor, you can make it happen, even from the hole you've dug yourself into. If that's what your primary interest is in, I think you would be better served putting in the extra work to get into a medical program so that you don't have any regrets going forward. Remember that DO programs traditionally are more accepting of folks that didn't follow the stereotypical progression that many pre-meds aspire to. It is my personal opinion that this would be the best course of action for you, based on what you said.

 

[dbd]

.

 

[DentalDoge]

Im going to honest here and no sugar coating cause I dont believe in that shi- stuff.

As person who was on the fence about dental and medical for years. I finally decided on dental for many many reasons and I am well aware of both application processes and taken both the MCAT and DAT. And I can say with absolute certainty that if you dont think you can get into medical school it is going to be just as hard if not harder to get into dental school not because of stats (and let's be honest yours isnt that good to begin with) but because fewer seats and harsher competition.

That being said, DAT is no walk in the park. I have tutored alot of bright people in DAT that did well in the sciences, which are the only parts that the material overlap (dont count the English, it's a bit wonky), that completely dunked the PAT which is much harder for people who can't rotate shi= stuff in their heads or count for that matter. Take a couple of practice DAT's then weight your chances. You're a big boy.

But let's look on the bright side and say you did get 20s across the board, which is average, you are still going to hvae a very hard time getting in because your average competition will have 20s in DAT and 3.5 oGPA/sGPA. You are going to have to seriously offset your GPA with your DAT or raise your GPA. Lastly, the thing is, if you liked medicine that much, you might not like dentistry at all. I have shadowed hundreds of hours in physicians' and dentists' offices. These are 2 VASTLY different healthcare professions. I dont know what you liked about medicine but I can almost guarantee you that you wont find the same experience in dentistry (except annoying patients, no shortage of those here).

 

[ICUrunning]

If you enter dentistry because you cannot get into medicine, you're gonna have a bad time.

 

[wildzodiac]

If you think you can get easily rely on dental school as a fall back plan, well,

 

[Applesandteeth]

@wildzodiac You could say that he's got...no chance?

 

[wildzodiac]

@Applesandteeth, I mean, despite the horrible GPA and the his mentality of using dentistry as a back up plan, all OP has to do is BOLIEVE he will get into dental school...

 

[Applesandteeth]

LOL @wildzodiac I could go on forever with the wrestling puns. I do hope the best for OP's future endeavors, because in the end, he'll have to break the walls down in his head to succeed.
I am not the best in the world at gauging a student's success, but all I know is that getting into dental school requires a little hustle, loyalty and respect.

 

[wildzodiac]

Well, in the realistic case that OP doesn't get into dental school, he will just have to deal with it.

/thread