GPA Verified and calculated and now im nervous b/c of LOW GPA

[Member 8586]

Damn, ADEA's calculation really hurt my already crappy GPA - really hope my DAT makes up for it

My cumulative undergraduate + graduate degree GPAs:
BCP: 2.86
Science: 2.87
Non-Science: 3.38
Total: 3.04

DAT:
AA 24
TS 24
PAT 20
Bio 22
GC 24
OC 29
QR 23
RC 22

Is my DAT really going to help me that much to make up for my science and total GPA??

Applied to:
UMDNJ (NJ resident)
Boston
Tufts
Temple
Howard
Columbia
Lecom
Creighton
Marquette
NYU
Midwestern AZ
Midwestern IL
University of Pittsburgh
Case Western
University of Michigan
University of Louisville
University of Maryland
Roseman/Univ of Southern Nevada
Detroit Mercy
University of the Pacific
University of Nevada
AT Still
USC

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[colgate11]

Damn, ADEA's calculation really hurt my already krappy GPA - really hope my DAT makes up for it

My cumulative undergraduate + graduate degree GPAs:
BCP: 2.86
Science: 2.87
Non-Science: 3.38
Total: 3.04

DAT:
AA 24
TS 24
PAT 20
Bio 22
GC 24
OC 29
QR 23
RC 22

Is my DAT really going to help me that much to make up for my science and total GPA??

Applied to:
UMDNJ (NJ resident)
Boston
Tufts
Temple
Howard
Columbia
Lecom
Creighton
Marquette
NYU
Midwestern AZ
Midwestern IL
University of Pittsburgh
Case Western
University of Michigan
University of Louisville
University of Maryland
Roseman/Univ of Southern Nevada
Detroit Mercy
University of the Pacific
University of Nevada
AT Still
USC

hey if u dont mind me asking, what date was your last transcript recieved and what date was your gpa calculated?
and i think u have a shot at some dental schools bc your DAT is killer. so dont worry, just wait it out!

 

[Canard]

Damn, ADEA's calculation really hurt my already krappy GPA - really hope my DAT makes up for it

My cumulative undergraduate + graduate degree GPAs:
BCP: 2.86
Science: 2.87
Non-Science: 3.38
Total: 3.04

DAT:
AA 24
TS 24
PAT 20
Bio 22
GC 24
OC 29
QR 23
RC 22

Is my DAT really going to help me that much to make up for my science and total GPA??

Applied to:
UMDNJ (NJ resident)
Boston
Tufts
Temple
Howard
Columbia
Lecom
Creighton
Marquette
NYU
Midwestern AZ
Midwestern IL
University of Pittsburgh
Case Western
University of Michigan
University of Louisville
University of Maryland
Roseman/Univ of Southern Nevada
Detroit Mercy
University of the Pacific
University of Nevada
AT Still
USC

It is hard to judge just from these information. Even if you gave us: what is your major? How is your extracurricular? Shadowing hours? quality of LOR? Quality of PS? Etc?, it is hard to tell since you have really good DAT (Congratz) but bad GPA. The good thing is you are meeting MINIMUM REQUIREMENT by some schools.

I have seen people get accepted into good program with similar numbers but I am not certain of their "extra" stuff. From here on, it is just waiting game.
As long as you have "extra" stuff right then there shouldn't be no problem and START PREPARING FOR THE INTERVIEW!!! That is the best strategy in my opinion and knock the socks off at the interview.

Oh and continue to take graduate science courses if you can or upper level bio/chem courses if you haven't taken it as informal post-bacc. It helps to show the admission that you are continuing to improve yourself and don't stop with volunteering or shadowing just because you already turned in application. IT CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE AT THE END!!!! Also doing extra stuff or taking classes will help you take your mind off of the application. In my case, it helped last cycle.

Good luck to you!!

 

[znny19]

The science & BCP gpa will definitely hurt your chances but your DAT score is really good. I am assuming you also applied early so I feel like you will get in somewhere

 

[Member 8586]

hey if u dont mind me asking, what date was your last transcript recieved and what date was your gpa calculated?
and i think u have a shot at some dental schools bc your DAT is killer. so dont worry, just wait it out!

transcripts were sent in before i submitted so they had those already... i submitted 6/26 and just got verified today 7/6 and JUST missed the second batch ...ADEA said ill be in the third batch next friday

It is hard to judge just from these information. Even if you gave us: what is your major? How is your extracurricular? Shadowing hours? quality of LOR? Quality of PS? Etc?, it is hard to tell since you have really good DAT (Congratz) but bad GPA. The good thing is you are meeting MINIMUM REQUIREMENT by some schools.

I have seen people get accepted into good program with similar numbers but I am not certain of their "extra" stuff. From here on, it is just waiting game.
As long as you have "extra" stuff right then there shouldn't be no problem and START PREPARING FOR THE INTERVIEW!!! That is the best strategy in my opinion and knock the socks off at the interview.

Good luck to you!!

bio major, and masters in biomedical science w/ concentration in pharmacology....i have about average shadowing and volunteer hours...100+ shadow and 100+ volunteer hours and various random extracurriculars and just 60 hours of research...letters should be pretty good and personal statement pretty good but i doubt anything outstanding...i guess i just have to wait it out now

The science & BCP gpa will definitely hurt your chances but your DAT score is really good. I am assuming you also applied early so I feel like you will get in somewhere

yea i just got verified today so my app will be mailed 7/13 which is hopefully early enough...i was thinking i applied to too many schools but now im glad i applied to that many ...hopefully someeewhere

 

[LilyBrunes]

Hey,

I've seen people get interviews at new schools with below 3.0 GPAs if there is a great upward trend.

Just curious, how was ADEAs calculation different from what you expected. Like what classes did they count or not count that you didn't expect? I'm nervous about my GPA as well

 

[1122334455]

I sent in an email about 7 different classes that I thought were "wrong" on the coursework section (a.k.a. they changed it from what I had originally put when I submitted)

And they changed them all back... It raised my BCP GPA from a 3.12 to a 3.56

So, make sure you look over ALLLLLLL of the classes they verified and make sure they are where you want them to be.

 

[yappy]

WHAAAAAAAAAAT!

Congratz man. That is a world of difference.

I sent in an email about 7 different classes that I thought were "wrong" on the coursework section (a.k.a. they changed it from what I had originally put when I submitted)

And they changed them all back... It raised my BCP GPA from a 3.12 to a 3.56

So, make sure you look over ALLLLLLL of the classes they verified and make sure they are where you want them to be.

 

[theleatherwalle]

well your bcp is low, but your DAT is crazy high.

If you can prove that your GPA is low because of external factors like work or just doing poorly at the beginning you'll have a great shot. Honestly, with that DAT I think you have a good chance.

If you don't get in this year. just pump out a year of solid grades and reapply...you'll be accepted then.

 

[RONDIZZLE27]

Good job on the DAT, do your grades have an upward trend?

 

[Bis-GMA111]

dude, your DAT is amazing but your gpas are low... and it might look bad that you didn't get at least a 3.5 in your masters. nj dent (from what i've heard from umdnj faculty/advisors) favors a 3.5 or above for any masters students

edit: what is your graduate gpa OP? some schools will give that gpa a lot of weight over your undergrad gpa

 

[TheBigN89]

I will be completely honest and say that your file, as it stands now being judged, will give enough positive "hollistic" competitiveness that you'll get into a school.

To me, a really high DAT score can negative a minimum GPA because it shows that either you were distracted at a prior point in your studies, just didn't put in enough effort, or some other reason. It seems to carry more weight if the DAT score is higher than the GPA score rather than having a really high GPA alone.

The opposite is hardly true. I've seen students with 3.9's and bare minimums on the DAT (18) not even get considered an interview because it shows that they "sat on their potential," so to speak, and didn't even bother doing better.

I honestly see a Masters as nothing but a positive thing to add to your application.

With a 24 AA, assuming you have the other niceties of an applicant (volunteerism, community service, a strong personal statement), I would be heavily surprised if you didn't land one interview. From there, it's all you.

 

[KittySquared]

^Agreed.

Given the rest of your application are in good shape, I wouldn't be surprised if you landed 3 or 4 interviews at least. The application is out of your hands now. Just hope for the best. GPA is very relative. That DAT score standardizes all applicants. Surely a 99+ percentile will make you stand out a ton from the rest of the applicants. Again, it's out of your hands now. Let's hope for the best. I think you will have some interviews

 

[jeffity]

To me, a really high DAT score can negative a minimum GPA because it shows that either you were distracted at a prior point in your studies, just didn't put in enough effort, or some other reason. It seems to carry more weight if the DAT score is higher than the GPA score rather than having a really high GPA alone.

The opposite is hardly true. I've seen students with 3.9's and bare minimums on the DAT (18) not even get considered an interview because it shows that they "sat on their potential," so to speak, and didn't even bother doing better.

It really does work both ways and there are fair arguments for both.

Still wonder about just the graduate GPA.

 

[TheBigN89]

I don't see the GPA argument as much of an issue, unless they failed those courses.

I went to a school that is much more difficult than the average student, and it made my GPA suffer more than it should. There are clear obstacles you can hurdle, and then there are things that make it much harder to pull an A. It makes even more frustrating when students pull 4.0's or close to it at a community college and get automatically screened for that over someone who wanted to challenge themselves at a school with rigor. Looking back, I probably would've done it differently... like not go to that college

I think the Masters is great for the OP. I'm assuming they completed a thesis and a publication in the process.

 

[Member 8586]

Hey,

I've seen people get interviews at new schools with below 3.0 GPAs if there is a great upward trend.

Just curious, how was ADEAs calculation different from what you expected. Like what classes did they count or not count that you didn't expect? I'm nervous about my GPA as well

Good job on the DAT, do your grades have an upward trend?

it was generally upward until my last undergrad semester that was really low - probably a mix of senioritis and 21 credits :/

i think the main difference is because i retook 3-4 classes that were Cs and Ds ...my school substituted the new grades with the previous lower grade but ADEA averages both in so that hurt

I sent in an email about 7 different classes that I thought were "wrong" on the coursework section (a.k.a. they changed it from what I had originally put when I submitted)

And they changed them all back... It raised my BCP GPA from a 3.12 to a 3.56

So, make sure you look over ALLLLLLL of the classes they verified and make sure they are where you want them to be.

wow yeah im gunna look over all the grades and make sure

well your bcp is low, but your DAT is crazy high.

If you can prove that your GPA is low because of external factors like work or just doing poorly at the beginning you'll have a great shot. Honestly, with that DAT I think you have a good chance.

If you don't get in this year. just pump out a year of solid grades and reapply...you'll be accepted then.

yeah i really hope they take into consideration that i was working pretty much full time through my undergrad years

dude, your DAT is amazing but your gpas are low... and it might look bad that you didn't get at least a 3.5 in your masters. nj dent (from what i've heard from umdnj faculty/advisors) favors a 3.5 or above for any masters students

edit: what is your graduate gpa OP? some schools will give that gpa a lot of weight over your undergrad gpa

yeah i actually heard the same about a 3.5 cutoff and its probably going to look bad that i didnt do that great in the masters...i should have taken it slower...i worked close to full time and took 14 and 16 credits respectively... masters gpa 3.23 according to ADEA; 3.26 from UMDNJ

I will be completely honest and say that your file, as it stands now being judged, will give enough positive "hollistic" competitiveness that you'll get into a school.

To me, a really high DAT score can negative a minimum GPA because it shows that either you were distracted at a prior point in your studies, just didn't put in enough effort, or some other reason. It seems to carry more weight if the DAT score is higher than the GPA score rather than having a really high GPA alone.

The opposite is hardly true. I've seen students with 3.9's and bare minimums on the DAT (18) not even get considered an interview because it shows that they "sat on their potential," so to speak, and didn't even bother doing better.

I honestly see a Masters as nothing but a positive thing to add to your application.

With a 24 AA, assuming you have the other niceties of an applicant (volunteerism, community service, a strong personal statement), I would be heavily surprised if you didn't land one interview. From there, it's all you.

thanks..i hope the masters doesnt kinda hurt me in that they may think i couldnt handle the graduate level work or something since my GPA in the masters was weak as well at 3.23

^Agreed.

Given the rest of your application are in good shape, I wouldn't be surprised if you landed 3 or 4 interviews at least. The application is out of your hands now. Just hope for the best. GPA is very relative. That DAT score standardizes all applicants. Surely a 99+ percentile will make you stand out a ton from the rest of the applicants. Again, it's out of your hands now. Let's hope for the best. I think you will have some interviews

thanks..hope so!

I don't see the GPA argument as much of an issue, unless they failed those courses.

I went to a school that is much more difficult than the average student, and it made my GPA suffer more than it should. There are clear obstacles you can hurdle, and then there are things that make it much harder to pull an A. It makes even more frustrating when students pull 4.0's or close to it at a community college and get automatically screened for that over someone who wanted to challenge themselves at a school with rigor. Looking back, I probably would've done it differently... like not go to that college

I think the Masters is great for the OP. I'm assuming they completed a thesis and a publication in the process.

there was no thesis or publication ...just 60 hours or research

 

[jeffity]

I just can't imagine your DAT scores not getting some attention.

If you were to apply to Jeffity College of Dental Medicine (we issue a DMD degree), I would invite you to interview just off DAT scores to see what you're all about and to discuss your academic history in person. I'd feel like I might be missing out on a good candidate by dismissing you solely on GPAs. I'd think some schools might do the same.

 

[KittySquared]

If you were to apply to Jeffity College of Dental Medicine (we issue a DMD degree), I would invite you to interview just off DAT scores to see what you're all about .

Do you provide affordable student housing and health insurance?
What about board passage rate and requirements?

 

[theleatherwalle]

Very curious to see if a school pops up that only considers

GPA or DAT in the future

several law, pharm, and other grad schools now do one or the other.

it will be interesting to see if dental schools do this.

 

[Member 8586]

I just can't imagine your DAT scores not getting some attention.

If you were to apply to Jeffity College of Dental Medicine (we issue a DMD degree), I would invite you to interview just off DAT scores to see what you're all about and to discuss your academic history in person. I'd feel like I might be missing out on a good candidate by dismissing you solely on GPAs. I'd think some schools might do the same.

thanks! how do i apply?! lol im hoping for adcoms to have the same mentality as well...which basically means i gotta nail those interviews