elephant in the room

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[Likkriue]

You are going to need to get a 24+ dat score. Your gpa is pretty low.

 

[hellofuturedentists]

Might be a little important if your alumni donate generously to the school. Otherwise, probably not very important.

 

[Pugmom]

Well..I'm guessing that your big issue here is GPA. I would start by making sure that you have completed all the prerequisites for each of these schools and that you have earned a "C" or better in each course (this is a common requirement of each school). Then I would look to see if the schools have minimum cutoff GPAs because this means that they won't review your application if you don't meet minimum score/GPA requirements. It is NOT impossible for you to get in, but you've put yourself in a bit of a bad situation for this cycle, especially applying so late. By late I mean that by the time your DAT scores come in and assuming they are extremely competitive 22+ it will be late September which is often after 2-3 interview invites have already been sent out. Often times the last interview is for late applicants, but they are often exptremely competitive spots because many seats have already been filled. I'm no advisor, but if I could offer some words of wisdom with your situation it would be to do a post bacc or masters and prove to the adcoms that you are capable of getting A's in tough science courses. Keep in mind though that these are just personal speculations and there is almost always still a chance.

In a positive light: I know a girl in her first year of dental school and her gpa was ~2.75 and I think she barely scraped up an 18 on the DAT and after 3 years she ended up getting in to WVU.


Best of Luck!

 

[Pugmom]

Might be a little important if your alumni donate generously to the school. Otherwise, probably not very important.

I agree with this comment. Of course it would make a cool story if you were to get in as well...but don't count on this giving your application any extra edge. Unless of course your family donates to the school then they may give a little wiggle room, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

[super frank]

Unless your connections donate enough for the admissions committee to recognize them, it won't help you. Dental schools are going to select students who are at low risk of dropping out or failing. Since committees have no opportunity to meet us, they use the GPA and DAT as a benchmark. It is appealing for schools if an applicant has a dentist(s) in the family because that usually suggests that the applicant knows what it takes to get into dental school, do well, and eventually become a successful dentist. A 2.69 labels you as higher risk, therefore you must score really well on your DAT, as suggested above.

 

[xerxes106]

Not to point out the obvious that your GPA is definitely low.....

But why the hell did you apply at Utah and other state schools that people with fantastic grades have no chance at?

 

[fogorvostan]

I think taking your DAT in September is kinda late for your GPA.

I would start looking into post grad programs/DIY post grad to improve your GPA.

Echoing the sentiment that unless your family donates money, it probably won't make a difference.

Lastly, I would have tweaked your school list. Removed UConn and Utah and added Touro and LECOM.

 

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[Cranjis McBasketball]

Theres no way man. You gotta do a masters. No school is gonna spend money on you thinking you might flunk out. They wanna see you can handle the load. A BCP of 2.56 is not gonna get any acceptances.

Do a masters program. Not to mention you put a bunch of competitive schools lol...

 

[frozenicecreamDMD]

I guess your family line has to stop with only 3 dentist generations.

You won't likely get into dental school even with 24 DAT. that GPA and sGPA are simply too low. postbach, masters and SMP if you want a shot.

 

[JLT223]

I guess your family line has to stop with only 3 dentist generations.

You won't likely get into dental school even with 24 DAT. that GPA and sGPA are simply too low. postbach, masters and SMP if you want a shot.

Brutal but honest (and true) advice!

 

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[hellofuturedentists]

I guess your family line has to stop with only 3 dentist generations.

****, you are one of the most savage people I've seen on SDN, but I love it

 

[science luv]

How is your trend in school? if you have a good grades in the last 3-4 semesters you are fineif you get a good DAT score and apply to 15 schools ( I know that would cost a lot but it worths). working as a dental assistant would also show your interest.

 

[JLT223]

How is your trend in school? if you have a good grades in the last 3-4 semesters you are fineif you get a good DAT score and apply to 15 schools ( I know that would cost a lot but it worths). working as a dental assistant would also show your interest.

Not ripping on OP at all, but no upward trend will save a 2.79 sGPA.

 

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[Pugmom]

The lowest undergrad GPA ever accepted by Umich is a sci gpa of 2.57. That being said...this person most likely (~ 99.9%) had to do a masters or some other advanced education to redeem that gpa. You should talk to the admissions officers there to find out what you need to do for next years cycle to become competitive. At this point your basically wasting time and money when there is an extremely slim chance that you will get an interview. You can do it..just gotta get those A's!

 

[Pugmom]

Also, according to the adea handbook, the latest DAT that they accept for this cycle is Aug 31. So if that is actually correct it is already too late. I would call and find out.

 

[schmoob]

At this point, you know your chances are quite slim. But it's not the end of the road. Keep pushing with your schoolwork and your DAT. Fortunately for you, you honestly don't have THAT many credits. You'll never get a 3.9GPA, but if you kick butt your senior year and push forward with a postbacc/SMP, you should be able to repair your GPA enough to prove to admissions that you are capable and determined to become a dentist.
Keep trying man, it may not happen for you this year but it's not over until you say it's over.

Oh, and those donations wouldn't hurt either

 

[super frank]

How likely am I to get an interview? At least to Umich, for example, where I'm in-state and go there for undergrad... I feel like that would be a pretty good starting point for someone in my situation.

UMich is super competitive. Arguably one of the best d-schools in the country.

 

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[schmoob]

That's pretty valid. Still have two semesters and a few key science prereqs (bio chem and microbio) so if I go to town on those mayhaps the sGPA can see a nice little jump.

Really I just asked the legacy question because I'm in a pretty desperate place after reading all these depressing statistics and hearing that I've basically wasted my time.. You know?

No judgement, I understand.
But it's not over until it's over. Like you said, boost that sGPA while in undergrad. Try to register for other courses that would boost your GPA as well. And definitely kill it on your DAT.
It can be discouraging reading some of the stats on here, but remember, not everyone who goes to dental school has a 3.9 and a 26AA.
If you really want it, you'll do whatever it takes. Keep pressing forward!

 

[fogorvostan]

There are some GPA calculators out there that can help you predict your GPA when factoring in future classes. I'd play around with it to see what you can get your GPA up to with your remaining classes. I see on the premed forums people often saying that they delayed graduation so they could take additional classes to raise their undergrad GPA even higher. My undergrad personally had a limit on the max # of courses you could take, so that wouldn't work for us, but maybe it's something you could look into if you are 100% set on being a dentist. You'll probably still have to do an SMP or regular Masters.

I'm assuming since you applied this cycle, you got a C or higher in all of your prereqs. If you didn't, that's a good place to start. It's going to be a very long road to GPA repair but I think it can be done if you want to put in the effort.

Lastly, you're going to need to seriously destroy the DAT. I would be aiming for 24+ in all sections if you don't want to extra coursework or 22+ if you plan on doing the GPA repair route.

Good luck

 

[hellofuturedentists]

Haha yeah.. Not saying I expect getting in, but taking a 5 minute stroll from my house to the d-school building for an interview wouldn't hurt my feelings

Lol they're not just going to interview the people in closest proximity to the school. The big question for them about you would be "why take a risk on someone with such a low GPA who might not be able to handle school when there are so many other qualified applicants?" Your job is to improve your application (including GPA) as much as possible and show them why.

 

[doc toothache]

Speaking of entitlements.

 

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[hellofuturedentists]

I mean yeah of course... tbh they might have had to ask themselves that same question when accepting me to undergrad. I wasn't a boy-wonder in hs and umich definitely took a risk with me as a student. Obviously d-school is far more competitive, but it's a worth mentioning imo

I disagree. If you were going to do that, you would have to show them you excelled at your university classes, and you didn't. But, if you already paid the fee and applied, you can only sit and hope now lol

EDIT:
Not sit and hope, but get off SDN, study for the DAT, and get like a 30 lol

 

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