Is there hope for me?

[buymecookies]

I'm a Sophomore in college with a current GPA of 3.146... saddening, I know. Unfortunately my only goal Freshman year was to keep my Academic Excellence scholarship, which renews yearly if I can maintain a 3.0. As you can see, I BARELY met that standard. I believe I got a C in both History and Poli Sci ( -_- ), which brought down my GPA significantly.

I'm aiming much higher now, trying for an A in every class. Even still, I feel as though realistically, by the time dental school app season begins, I'll have a 3.5-3.6 at best.

What can I do to sort of "distract" dental schools from my relatively low GPA, besides ace the DAT? I'm joining my school's ASDA at the end of this month, which should hook me up with some shadowing & volunteer opportunities. Is that enough? How many of those do I need to do? I feel like I need to be breaking my back in order for me to even have a chance..

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[sgv]

i iz too mean

 

[Slumber]

Strike of the minimalist!

why don't you just tape a sign to your forehead that says "i am an underachiever" or "C means DDS!" or "What do you call the person who graduates last in their DDS class? A dentist (me)!"

Haha, this is hilarious.

And pertinent to topic, if you can achieve 3.6 and show steady upward tread in gpa, you'll be fine.

 

[buymecookies]

bump.

 

[Liz Cecilia]

My advice would be to maintain a steadily increasing GPA, show involvement in the dental field (shadowing, assisting, volunteer), get involved on campus in leadership positions (outreach, clubs, PDSA) , and start setting a goal for a 20+ DAT. Keep on swimming!

 

[sjv]

Still plenty of hope, do those things you've said and you'll get in somewhere.

 

[Papasmurf1234]

I'm a Sophomore in college with a current GPA of 3.146... saddening, I know. Unfortunately my only goal Freshman year was to keep my Academic Excellence scholarship, which renews yearly if I can maintain a 3.0. As you can see, I BARELY met that standard. I believe I got a C in both History and Poli Sci ( -_- ), which brought down my GPA significantly.

I'm aiming much higher now, trying for an A in every class. Even still, I feel as though realistically, by the time dental school app season begins, I'll have a 3.5-3.6 at best.

What can I do to sort of "distract" dental schools from my relatively low GPA, besides ace the DAT? I'm joining my school's ASDA at the end of this month, which should hook me up with some shadowing & volunteer opportunities. Is that enough? How many of those do I need to do? I feel like I need to be breaking my back in order for me to even have a chance..

No need to worry. I had a cumulative GPA of 3.0 by the end of my freshman year. I then started maintaining a very high gpa for the remainder of my collegiate career and finished with a 3.64. I applied to 13 schools and currently have 7 (6 pedecember) interviews. No one asked anything about my poor academic record during my freshman year at any of my interviews. If they do, just tell them, "I did not understand the amount of work that it would take to do well in school. But I realized what I needed to do and I have been maintaining a ___ gpa ever since." No need to elaborate anymore than that. Everyone knows struggling during freshman year is typical of a college student.