do i need masters to be a competetive applicant?

[sundar]

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hi,
i am a senior right now. i have an overall gpa 0f 2.65 and science gpa of 2.6. i maj0r in general studies. ihave taken 6 credit hours this semester (3 credit hours science and 3 credit hours non-science. i have 28 credit hours more to take to finish my bachelors. i worked out that if i take 20 credit hours of science and 8 credit hours of non-science and do well i would get upto 3 in overall average and 2.95 in science. my question is this. with that gpa makeme a competetive applicant or should i go for masters before applying for dental school. if igo formasters, what do u guys think of an masters in public health?. will a masters in biology more comptetive or mpah more competetive?. i really like the public health field. thanks in advance.

 

[Sweeti8286]

Generally, dental schools like to see GPAs (both science and non sciences) more closer to 3.0 and above. I personally never seen anyone with GPAs closer to 2.5 get in unless you have a great DAT score--well in the 20's and an amazing personal essay. You can also improve your GPA by taking easy summer classes. I"m not sure what exactly general studies as a major is....but I know dental schools like to see some business classes in there...like economics, finance, accounting, etc. Those can be easy 4.0's to boose your GPA.

I would suggest apply while you finish up your bachelor's degree . This way, at least you will have time to decide what to do. Worse comes to worse, you can apply again for the second time- but this time, with a better GPA background. HEre's the danger though- to finish up a MS degree....I thought most programs will take 2 or so years.....your DAT scores are good for 2 years from the date taken. So, you may have to retake it-this means revisiting allllll those sciences/PAT practice stuff.

That's my thoughts...hope it helps.

 

[JakeMUSC]

your DAT scores are good for 2 years from the date taken. So, you may have to retake it-this means revisiting allllll those sciences/PAT practice stuff.

DAT scores are valid for 5 years. 🙂

 

[bouncy_ball]

Hi Sundar,

I'm sure if you could bring your gpa up to near a 3.0 and did really well on your DAT you'd be fine. But you might want to double check your gpa calculations. By your senior year, it wuold be *VERY* difficult to substatially improve your gpa. I know from my own personal experience. I started with a higher gpa than yours and was only able to bring it to a 3.01 by the end of my college career (avg gpa senior year ~3.7).

But if you have your calculations correct, I'd say you have a great chance of getting into a dental school, especially private schools. This would be so long as you did great on the DAT, I'd say above 20's on all section. I say this, again, from personal experience. I had a 19/21/17 w/ a 3.0 total and 2.7 science gpa and got one interview. However, I was not accepted by my school until they received my newest DAT scores which were 24/26/18. So, I was borderline w/ those old DAT's.

I agree with the previous poster that it doesn't hurt to try and get into dental school and then go for post-bac studies if you don't get in. As for DAT scores I think they are valid for different amounts of time, depending on what school you're looking at.

 

[hockeydentist]

Hi Sundar,

I'm sure if you could bring your gpa up to near a 3.0 and did really well on your DAT you'd be fine. But you might want to double check your gpa calculations. By your senior year, it wuold be *VERY* difficult to substatially improve your gpa. I know from my own personal experience. I started with a higher gpa than yours and was only able to bring it to a 3.01 by the end of my college career (avg gpa senior year ~3.7).

But if you have your calculations correct, I'd say you have a great chance of getting into a dental school, especially private schools. This would be so long as you did great on the DAT, I'd say above 20's on all section. I say this, again, from personal experience. I had a 19/21/17 w/ a 3.0 total and 2.7 science gpa and got one interview. However, I was not accepted by my school until they received my newest DAT scores which were 24/26/18. So, I was borderline w/ those old DAT's.

I agree with the previous poster that it doesn't hurt to try and get into dental school and then go for post-bac studies if you don't get in. As for DAT scores I think they are valid for different amounts of time, depending on what school you're looking at.

Get an upward trend in you're grades, and get the GPA close too a 3.0 as possible. THe DAT must be 20's in order to have a legitimate chance of an interview. Instead of a masters, you could postpone you're graduation and take classes untill you get a competive gpa. Throw in some good volunteering and a well written personal statement and you would have a chance of attending Dental school.

 

[bouncy_ball]

Instead of a masters, you could postpone you're graduation and take classes untill you get a competive gpa.

That's a great suggestion.

 

[DIRTIE]

hi,
i am a senior right now. i have an overall gpa 0f 2.65 and science gpa of 2.6. i maj0r in general studies. ihave taken 6 credit hours this semester (3 credit hours science and 3 credit hours non-science. i have 28 credit hours more to take to finish my bachelors. i worked out that if i take 20 credit hours of science and 8 credit hours of non-science and do well i would get upto 3 in overall average and 2.95 in science. my question is this. with that gpa makeme a competetive applicant or should i go for masters before applying for dental school. if igo formasters, what do u guys think of an masters in public health?. will a masters in biology more comptetive or mpah more competetive?. i really like the public health field. thanks in advance.

Basically since your GPA is in the bottom 1-2 percent of all applicants, in all reality if you were to get accepted your DAT scores would need to be in the top 1-2 percent. 22/23 or higher! Good luck!!!

 

[favabean]

I would say yes - you do need to go further with school, be it a masters or post-bac. Temple advised me to get my masters and re-apply in the future, and many other people have told me to do the same. I am going to take thier advice and apply somewhere as a back up.