Graduated, but what to do..

Well I think if you are applying next Spring you still have a good shot. You should probably take some post bacc science courses to raise your GPA and get 21+ on your DAT. Since you have a 3.05 right now after a year if you take post bacc courses you can probably get it to a 3.1. So a 3.1 with a AA of 21 or 22 should give you some chances.

 

yeah, i would take some upper level bio courses, if i were in your shoes.

this is generally my advice to anyone who asks anything along the lines of "what should i do now?", but contact the admissions department of whatever dental school you want to go to (your state school, the school you think you're most likely to get into, etc etc) and see what they say. i know it can seem scary to do so and many people think, "oh, the admissions committee is too busy to talk to me", but if you shoot them an email or leave a message, the worst that can happen is they don't get back to you, and i can't imagine that they'd ignore you completely. in my experience, talking to the admissions committee was really helpful and after i did EVERYTHING they suggested, i got in!

 

I would recommend to get a master. In those two years, you need to study hard and get mainly As. Hopefully by the end of the program, you can pull your GPA up to 3.3. It's possible! Get 5As and 1B per semester, and you'll be fine. On the second year of the master program, start studying for the DAT. Getting 20 across the board is definitely sufficient. If higher, great!
To be honest, taking a few courses here and a few courses there will not cut it for you. Dental schools want to see dedicated and committed students. Taking the longer route is not a bad idea. It might take a year or two longer, but surely it will make your application much stronger! And of course you'll feel much more confident going in to the interviews. Though you need to ask yourself if you are committed to study and work hard during those two years. If you're iffy, I suggest you rethink dental school. Be honest to yourself, and set a realistic goal. Only you can answer. Good luck with everything! Don't give up hope, work hard for what you want and those dental adcoms will reward you

 

Personally, I would go for the masters. You could always drop-out if you got into D-School, but if you don't make it next spring then you would have your masters completed for the next go around.