Good idea to stop Post-Bacc Program before Acceptance?

[dymm]

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Hello everyone.

I just finished my second quarter of 1 year post-bacc program, and I'm starting to fill out my AADSAS application. I took 8 upper div sci classes during my two quarters as a post-bacc and got all A's. Because of financial reasons, I was thinking about not continuing the program once Fall-2012 quarter rolls around.

I talked to my program director, and he told me that there are no penalties whatsoever for people who stop the program before the post-bac certificate is awarded to them. He also told me that it's okay to skip a quarter or two, and resume the program later on. So I am okay with the current program/school if I decide to quit or resume later on.

Now my question is how should I communicate my dilemma on my APP? How will the dental schools view this? Should I just say "No Degree Expected" for my post-bacc, and tell the dental schools that my end date of post-bacc is June-2012? Do you think just 2 quarters of post-bacc is enough to show the adcoms I am not a bad student, and that I can handle full course-load? I know it's a little sketchy, but I'd much rather work ASAP instead of waiting until Fall quarter to take 4 sci classes that are not pre-reqs or recommended courses (I've already taken all of those).

(just for ref. my undergrad s/oGPA as a bio major is 3.1 <upward trend since last two years> and my DAT scores are 23AA/24TS/20PA with no sections below 20)

Thank you in advance for all the advice, and help 🙂

 

[RCLEE]

wow!

IMO you have a very solid test DAT score. I'm in the same situation as you are interm of wanting to do more because the GPA is not very competitive. If you can resume school for the post-bacc, I think that's a good idea since there's a financial hardship. I've heard that some dental schools told students on their master/post-bacc program to finish their program. Some are different. I guess you need to do a bit more work and ask the dean of admission for each school individually on what they want before taking the next big step.

 

[dymm]

Thank you rc.

I am really on the fence with this. If I took one more quarter, the Pro's are: I will get a completion certificate, my o/sGPA will be better, and it will be 100% okay with dschools.
The Con's are: I can't start any "serious" jobs until next year, I will be taking 4 random upper div sci classes (e.g. bioinformatics, biostatistics, etc...), dschools might view my decision in negative light, and I will be forced to take out more loans.

I still haven't decided and I hope someone who wen through the same/similar situation can shed some light on my issue.

 

[Kahr]

Now my question is how should I communicate my dilemma on my APP? How will the dental schools view this? Should I just say "No Degree Expected" for my post-bacc, and tell the dental schools that my end date of post-bacc is June-2012? Do you think just 2 quarters of post-bacc is enough to show the adcoms I am not a bad student, and that I can handle full course-load? I know it's a little sketchy, but I'd much rather work ASAP instead of waiting until Fall quarter to take 4 sci classes that are not pre-reqs or recommended courses (I've already taken all of those).

(just for ref. my undergrad s/oGPA as a bio major is 3.1 <upward trend since last two years> and my DAT scores are 23AA/24TS/20PA with no sections below 20)

I am really on the fence with this. If I took one more quarter, the Pro's are: I will get a completion certificate, my o/sGPA will be better, and it will be 100% okay with dschools.
The Con's are: I can't start any "serious" jobs until next year, I will be taking 4 random upper div sci classes (e.g. bioinformatics, biostatistics, etc...), dschools might view my decision in negative light, and I will be forced to take out more loans.

I still haven't decided and I hope someone who wen through the same/similar situation can shed some light on my issue.

I believe your idea for how your post-bacc should appear on your application is fine, no degree expected, end June 2012. It should not be about earning some piece of paper, a certificate in this instance &#65288;we are not talking about an actual degree or anything here&#65289;, it should be about showing you can handle these science courses well with the grades to prove it. That is what the adcoms are going to look at. They are going to hopefully be able to appreciate your upward trend.

No one can tell you exactly what each and every adcom will think, but personally I doubt they will look at it negatively, and especially not as the reason you would be rejected, as you indicate they might. Right now even if you continued your post-bacc, they would not see your continued effort until beyond interviews and likely rejections/acceptances as well anyway. If it does happen you are not accepted, and you are determined to attend dental school, you can get back into doing your post-bacc like your program director mentioned, no harm done.

Your DAT is solid, but obviously your GPA cannot be improved too much over the short term, so what you did so far in terms of post-bacc are probably the best thing you could have done. The one thing I would not be eager to do, is quit the post-bacc simply to work, you will have plenty of time for that after dental school. But that is your prerogative. Get some opinions off line in your real life, see what people close to you think, people whose opinions you respect.

Anyway, no matter what anyone tells you, if in the end you cannot convince yourself this is okay, then perhaps you will need to just stick it out for your own conscience. 😉