Well 1.8 is a little damaging. But in the grand scheme of things when you have accumulated over 120 credits. That little 1.8 won't ruin your future career. You can always retake the class and try to get an A in it. Concentrate on your core pre-dental classes and take some hard classes like embryology, vertebrate anatomy, histology and do good in them. This will show them that you can cut the mustard, so to speak. Besides, don't forget about the DAT. It is hard for someone to not take you seriously when you score in the 90%+ percentile. Most schools like community work. I, myself, volunteered at a homeless shelter for families when I was a freshman. Then did a little stint as a "gopher" at a hospital in my sophomore year, before getting a job there in my junior year. I followed my dentist around for about 3 months for 3 days per week. Each morning, he meets with his staff and sort of have a group huddle for that day before starting. Pretty good idea I think. Cool guy, USC grad, got his solo practice after graduating within 4 years, and still does a few months for the navy every year (he got his schooling paid through the Navy, although he paid his debt to the Navy, he remains as an officer and does his 3 months each year because he likes it). I was lucky in that he actually let me in and observe him, most dentists didnt even return my phone calls. I got shown the methods he used daily, techniques he employed to calm his patients, along with his accounting books...can't get more personal than that. Afterall, being a dentist means being an accountant as well. I asked him one day why he chose to become a dentist....he did a mission in Guatemala and saw how bad their teeth was, so he decided he wanted to be able to fix their teeth. Short, simple, and sweet answer.
Anyway, I started opposite from you. I had a 3.8 GPA up to the 1st half of my junior year, then took a plunge after getting, out of all things, a girlfriend. Anyway, took a plunge to 3.4. Pretty much failed all my classes, but because my GPA was so high, it buffered my fall. However be aware that while it is easy to repair a GPA when you are a freshman-sophmore, it is pretty much impossible once you've reached junior-senior status. Also, schools don't look kindly to you doing bad near the end. They dont mind as much if you start off bad and gradually improve.
So, even if you have a low GPA, a high DAT, and extracurricular activities will help you along. Afterall, just because a guy studies day and night for an A doesnt necessarily mean that they have the aptitude to suceed in dental school....hence the job of the DAT (and no, for those pessimists, the DAT is not a know all indicator for judging one's aptitude...it merely serves as another measuring stick for admissions comittees.) For extracurricular activities, do something different, don't do what everyone does. It will be refreshing to the interviewer to talk about something different and unique. Well, that's my 2 cents, don't worry to much, improvement comes a long way. I'm not blowing this from my arse or from second hand experience, trust me, it is straight from the source.
