So, I am currently a junior at a four year university. I started out as an econ major and decided to change my major during my sophomore year to asian studies. Everything was going good until I took up a volunteering position at my local dentist office. I began growing a love for dentistry and have made up my mind in pursuing dentistry. (This is the tricky part). Because I want to graduate on time, I am being forced to take hours at the university and hours at a community college. My current GPA is not the greatest (I struggled a lot during my first year). I am hoping to have around a 3.1 when application time comes. I have been job shadowing and am currently trying to rush a dental frat on campus. I am also president of my fraternity and have taken up leadership positions within the fraternity. Do I have a chance of getting in my first time? Or, should I do something after my undergrad years? Thanks in advance!
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Come back to us when you have prerequisite grades, DAT scores, etc. You will be at least one year late in the application cycle. Most competitive applicants have everything (prerequisites, DAT, letters of recommendation, shadowing hours, volunteering hours, and sometimes research) ready before the end of summer between Junior-Senior year.
A 3.1 sci. GPA is rough. A 3.1 liberal arts GPA w/o science classes is worse. Maybe if you applied ten years ago, a 3.1 GPA would have been fine. Average matriculate GPA is around 3.5. Plenty of people get in with GPAs above and below the national average, especially if you apply to schools like USC, NYU, Meharry, Howard, etc.
A 3.1 sci. GPA is rough. A 3.1 liberal arts GPA w/o science classes is worse. Maybe if you applied ten years ago, a 3.1 GPA would have been fine. Average matriculate GPA is around 3.5. Plenty of people get in with GPAs above and below the national average, especially if you apply to schools like USC, NYU, Meharry, Howard, etc.
I would think about a masters degree heavy in science and score high on the DAT. If you got a huge DAT score anything is posible. Finish with a strong sr. year
What you should do is drop both of your Frat. It's time to socialize less and study more. Rushing is the worst way to get into dental school; it can only hurt your grades. Your grades need to improve first and then come back and tell us your other score.
Joining a dental frat isn't going to give any advantage.
You should do something more productive and meaningful. (Maybe like, I don't know, studying for the DAT and trying to pull up your gpa. I'm not saying, but I'm just saying)
And with 3.1 gpa(assuming your science gpa is somewhat similar) there is a good chance you might have to apply twice or more.
Also if your frat hasn't been involved in lots of community services, your leadership position is as meaningful as winning a wet t shirt contest in Tijuana.
You should do something more productive and meaningful. (Maybe like, I don't know, studying for the DAT and trying to pull up your gpa. I'm not saying, but I'm just saying)
And with 3.1 gpa(assuming your science gpa is somewhat similar) there is a good chance you might have to apply twice or more.
Also if your frat hasn't been involved in lots of community services, your leadership position is as meaningful as winning a wet t shirt contest in Tijuana.
This is wrong.
I rushed a dental frat... got great grades... and got accepted to plenty of schools. Dental frats typically have required study hours, test reviews, and test banks. ECs pull A LOT of weight in the application system. Work hard though... because if you do not get great grades this year... they will see that your pledging and poor academic record are aligned. GOOD LUCK!
You'll kill it!
why not do a post bacc and save yourself the headache of taking all these extra classes not?
In my post-bacc program there were plenty of people who decided to go pre-health very late in college. They applied to the post-bacc during their last year of college and started the program the summer of their graduation.
In my post-bacc program there were plenty of people who decided to go pre-health very late in college. They applied to the post-bacc during their last year of college and started the program the summer of their graduation.
This is anecdotal evidence at best. What the OP needs is better grades and a solid DAT score. EC's can always come later, but if the OP does not do well in this last year of classes, they will be really screwing themselves.
I would much rather have a 3.8 GPA and 21 DAT with 100 volunteer hours, than a 3.1 GPA a 19 DAT and 1000 volunteer hours. Time and time again a high GPA and DAT have proven to get an acceptance into dental school, whereas 1000's of volunteer service hours rarely offsets subpar academic marks.
Agreed, its well understood that ECs do NOT pull a lot of weight. GPA/DAT pulls tons more weight, and if the OP had good grades then a Frat is no big deal. But obviously he does not, and he's now dividing up more time to other things then grades and studying.
However, it is one thing to say "get good grades because that will help you get into dental school the most" (which I would agree with) and "drop out of your frat because there is no way you can get good grades...." (I disagree with this statement).
Being in a frat is not the difference between a 3.1GPA/19DAT and a 3.8GPA/23DAT. My comment was only to say that, if anything, get a high GPA/DAT while pledging and you'll be in great shape for applications.
Say what you want... But, being the president of a fraternity pulls much more weight in an application (as far as ECs are concerned) than MOST of the ECs you hear people putting on their app (e.g. Dental club member, orchestra violin second soloist, volunteer at homeless shelter, etc).
Being in a frat is not the difference between a 3.1GPA/19DAT and a 3.8GPA/23DAT. My comment was only to say that, if anything, get a high GPA/DAT while pledging and you'll be in great shape for applications.
Say what you want... But, being the president of a fraternity pulls much more weight in an application (as far as ECs are concerned) than MOST of the ECs you hear people putting on their app (e.g. Dental club member, orchestra violin second soloist, volunteer at homeless shelter, etc).
I have to agree with this. It definitely shows leadership qualities which are a must when it comes to being a dentist so it's sort of like the 'icing on the cake.' However, it's a no-brainer that numbers will always pull more than ECs.