I need SERIOUS help/advice

[LEEBEE00]

I'm sooo embarrassed to even be saying this...but I need to advice on my next steps. My current GPA will be about a 2.8 once I graduate this December. Yes, I know...very bad. I have my reasonings. It's mainly due to retaking classes, and getting average grades in all my chemistry courses. I wasn't the best student when I decided to do the whole college thing, but I eventually started to take things serious. I was not prepared at how hard some classes would be and plus my advisor was horrible. He would give me extremely hard classes all at once..the workload and my personal situations became unbearable, but I managed and had a gradual upwards trend my last couple years.

ANYWHO...I'm still passionate about dentistry. I plan to take a gap year for a better GPA, but I'm not sure the best route. ALSO, I am 25. I feel like I'm getting older and I'm just stressed that I haven't figured things out yet. I plan to study long and hard for the DAT because I know that is probably going to be the end all or be all for me. But, PLEASE...if anyone has any type of advice, I'd appreciate it. Side note: I tried talking to my advisor of course, but no real help there. I've literally been figuring things out on my own for the longest. Thank you guys.

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[Vicviper]

I think as long as you can get your GPA up to over 3.0, showing that you can essentially ace all of the classes you're taking in the next year, and do really well on the DAT, you still stand a chance. Feel free to talk to some of the schools you are interested in and see what their admissions people would recommend, couldn't hurt.

 

[Let me out!]

You wanted a serious help. Here it is:

1. Don't blame other people. You sometimes need to take many difficult classes at once - and if this is an issue, dental school is not for you. The preparation is not meant to be a walk in the park. If you've been retaking multiple classes, I can imagine the number of rigorous courses that you racked up to take together to graduate in time. You need to show that you are improving after failures. If I was your advisor (I worked as a prehealth advisory committee as a faculty) I would have thrown you the similar advice.

2. If your GPA does not improve, do masters and ace it. Granted, people get in with a sub 3.0 GPA, but that's rare and in certain situations. You will need to absolutely ace your DAT (23+).

3. You are *ONLY* 25.

4. You can find most of the information on dental school and application on your own. "I haven't figured things out yet" - you can only blame yourself. Look around the forums. Search online. Call the schools.

Good luck.

 

[pubhealthdent]

I'm sooo embarrassed to even be saying this...but I need to advice on my next steps. My current GPA will be about a 2.8 once I graduate this December. Yes, I know...very bad. I have my reasonings. It's mainly due to retaking classes, and getting average grades in all my chemistry courses. I wasn't the best student when I decided to do the whole college thing, but I eventually started to take things serious. I was not prepared at how hard some classes would be and plus my advisor was horrible. He would give me extremely hard classes all at once..the workload and my personal situations became unbearable, but I managed and had a gradual upwards trend my last couple years.

ANYWHO...I'm still passionate about dentistry. I plan to take a gap year for a better GPA, but I'm not sure the best route. ALSO, I am 25. I feel like I'm getting older and I'm just stressed that I haven't figured things out yet. I plan to study long and hard for the DAT because I know that is probably going to be the end all or be all for me. But, PLEASE...if anyone has any type of advice, I'd appreciate it. Side note: I tried talking to my advisor of course, but no real help there. I've literally been figuring things out on my own for the longest. Thank you guys.

Do a post-bacc or a masters. Then take the DAT and apply.

And don't worry about your age. The average age of my class when we started was 27.

 

[SoftGel]

4.0 masters GPA, 22+DAT, a few years of interesting work experience, you can be in dental school before age 30.

 

[PLAQUE-MAN]

I'm sooo embarrassed to even be saying this...but I need to advice on my next steps. My current GPA will be about a 2.8 once I graduate this December. Yes, I know...very bad. I have my reasonings. It's mainly due to retaking classes, and getting average grades in all my chemistry courses. I wasn't the best student when I decided to do the whole college thing, but I eventually started to take things serious. I was not prepared at how hard some classes would be and plus my advisor was horrible. He would give me extremely hard classes all at once..the workload and my personal situations became unbearable, but I managed and had a gradual upwards trend my last couple years.

ANYWHO...I'm still passionate about dentistry. I plan to take a gap year for a better GPA, but I'm not sure the best route. ALSO, I am 25. I feel like I'm getting older and I'm just stressed that I haven't figured things out yet. I plan to study long and hard for the DAT because I know that is probably going to be the end all or be all for me. But, PLEASE...if anyone has any type of advice, I'd appreciate it. Side note: I tried talking to my advisor of course, but no real help there. I've literally been figuring things out on my own for the longest. Thank you guys.

The first two years of dental school are extremely hard classes all at once. You're not too old. Some of my classmates are in their 40's.

Follow the advice already mentioned: post-bacc/masters with 4.0 GPA and retake the DAT to get a 22+ score. I have classmates that were in a similar situation as you and got in with this advice.