Give up? Losing hope.

[CANgnome]

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I am reviewing all my items, and I have come to a conclusion. I am doing very very much more badly than i originally thought. I thought that I would have some sliver of chance this summer if i do 20+ on the DAT but now i am unsure.

Should I just give upcoming matriculation or perhaps just go do something else?


Undergraduate:
cGPA-3.12, bcpGPA-2.94, sGPA-3.03, nsGPA-3.46

-Specialist Cell and Molecular Biology
-Finished required courses for a major in Biochemistry
-3/4 of classes are science & maths.



Graduate:
first semester GPA-4.0, all upper level biology courses.
However, 1st semester i only took 9 credit hours while choosing what professor i will follow.
2nd Semester (current) i am also taking 9 credit hours.
I am expecting 2A's and a B/C from the Independent Studies course I am taking with my prof.
cGPA after this semester-estimated 3.5-3.87, 18 credit hours over 2 semesters.

My following professor constantly tells me to shadow people in the lab while he thinks of something for me to do. Not only do i think i will not get a good grade, but i would not be able to say that I have done much laboratory research (just book research and shadowing) during my graduate studies. Compounded with having only taken 9 credits a semester, I am losing faith.





Extracirricular:
I am planning to shadow dentists in May, 1 month before June 3, which will be the day applications open. I have no other dental ec besides this.

I had to work most of my undergraduate life to pay tuition, including 3.5 years of tutoring high school students (15 hours or so a week) and other part time jobs (totaling about 40 hours a week). I played sports and was in the debate club.

I have little research experience (6 months? in last 2 years?) even though I am currently in a Master's Program. I was taking a year off before my Master's Program begins and so All my undergrad LOR are 2 years old.



I am also a Canadian applicant. I just recently decided to commit myself to dentistry. Doing a Master's Program in the US limits my ability to volunteer and do other activities that may boost my application. Well, until i finish anyways, which is a year from now. But by then the 2012 matriculation will begin, and i would need to take another year off in Canada to volunteer, wait till 2013, apply, and be in the 2017 graduating class... I am already becoming 25 this year, and I am not sure what to think: to attempt this cycle or to just do my master's and get a job so i do not waste more time in my life.




Do I even have a sliver of chance of getting in soon-ish? Or might anyone have suggestions as to how to boost my application? Or should I just give up and find something else to pursue?

I am really disheartened that it seems like I will not stand any chance if i decide to take the DAT and apply during the summer. It seems like I have not been doing a lot during my graduate and undergraduate life (in terms of research and health related volunteering) and that my dental experience is meager and patched together at the last moment. I wish I decided on health care professions early on in academia so I would have raked up volunteering experience by now.


Any suggestions or advise? Feeling very down right now 🙁


TLDR, undergrad about 3.0-3.1, graduate 18 credits about 3.5-3.8. No dental/health related extracirriculars. Very few research done. Will shadow 1 month prior to application open.

 

[AskJeeves]

"no retreat; no surrender" that's that attitude that got me into UPENN, Columbia and Harvard with a 2.9 science GPA and a 20 DAT score.

 

[spud daddy]

How do you know you even want to be a dentist if you have never even shadowed one?

 

[sfrice80]

How do you know you even want to be a dentist if you have never even shadowed one?

Yeah gotta kind of agree...

 

[CANgnome]

I have not actually shadowed any dentist, but I have helping out a relative which is an orthodontist when I was in my early years of undergrad. I was speaking to him this Christmas and he reminded me of how challenging and rewarding the profession is.

 

[dentalWorks]

How do you know you even want to be a dentist if you have never even shadowed one?

Have you seen how much they make? I've seen high school students who basically know nothing about dentistry (other than the fact that thier parents used to make them go to one) start bragging about how great a career in dentistry is just 2 hours after hearing they can make over 150k a year starting salary.

Money motivation is a powerfull tool

 

[CANgnome]

I have actually helped him for many months when i was younger, as a receptionist as well as helping him with molds and other duties while observing what he does. I do not count it as shadowing as it was with someone I knew on the weekends when I was free. I know very well what I am getting into.

 

[ovi8]

if you get an interview, one of the guaranteed questions they are going to ask you is, why do you want to be a dentist? This might be the hardest question for people to answer because there is nothing redeeming about teeth and working in peoples mouths all the time. Part of the reason why shadowing is so important and why some schools require a LOR from a dentist is that they want to know that the student they are accepting in their school knows what they're getting themselves into. I know someone who has a 3.9/4 GPA and graduated with the highest gpa in biochem who got interviews everywhere but didn't get in because he had at the most, 30 hours of shadowing. This is a decision that will affect the rest of your life. Make sure that it is something you really want to do. With stats like your's, you have a shot but you really have to go "all in" and do what you got to do to get in. My recommendation, try to get at least 50 hours from how till June, it will show that you are serious about dentistry.