Losing hope for dental school

[Historiaa]

Hi guys, so am planning to apply for dental school by the end of my fifth year. The reason I took five years of undergrad is to improve my gpa. I went through hard times and it affected my gpa negatively I preformed really poorly during my first three years I have many C+/Bs one A and one D (first +second years). in my third year As/B+/B and one D and one D+. However, I improved a lot in my fifth and forth years straight As/A+s I’ve also decided to repeat all Ds and two C+ (Five courses in total). I’ve also took summer courses during the gap between my fourth and fifth year with straight As. I haven’t done DAT yet ( this summer) my current overall gpa is 3.63. But actually the amount of repeated courses really brings me down as well the poor performance I feel like no school will accept me ( because why me when there are many students who did well from the 1st try). Also I did couple dental shadowing. Any advice of you guys will be very appreciated, any words that could cheer me up because am really losing hope. Thank you for reading all of that

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[Aspire2Inspire17]

I would do a 1-yr post-bacc or Masters program with upper level sciences. You have to ace these classes so that the schools see that you can endure the intensity of a dental program. Get good grades so your undergrad GPA will bump up as well. Good luck!

 

[Historiaa]

I would do a 1-yr post-bacc or Masters program with upper level sciences. You have to ace these classes so that the schools see that you can endure the intensity of a dental program. Get good grades so your undergrad GPA will bump up as well. Good luck!

Thank you for taking the time and reply, would you think I have a chance with my current GPA and if I ace the DAT exam. Because actually I can’t study another year of masters or post-bacc am already aging and wasted many years.

 

[macsak]

Thank you for taking the time and reply, would you think I have a chance with my current GPA and if I ace the DAT exam. Because actually I can’t study another year of masters or post-bacc am already aging and wasted many years.

you have a chance if you have a strong upward trend and great DAT scores

 

[Historiaa]

you have a chance if you have a strong upward trend and great DAT scores

Thank you for taking the time and reply, actually my upward trend is mainly in the last two years (4th+5th) is that still considered improvement because I always hear that it’s only allowed to messed up during your 1st and 2nd year but my case is different as I mentioned above. And yes am really studying hard for dat to ace it.

 

[ab117]

Hi guys, so am planning to apply for dental school by the end of my fifth year. The reason I took five years of undergrad is to improve my gpa. I went through hard times and it affected my gpa negatively I preformed really poorly during my first three years I have many C+/Bs one A and one D (first +second years). in my third year As/B+/B and one D and one D+. However, I improved a lot in my fifth and forth years straight As/A+s I’ve also decided to repeat all Ds and two C+ (Five courses in total). I’ve also took summer courses during the gap between my fourth and fifth year with straight As. I haven’t done DAT yet ( this summer) my current overall gpa is 3.63. But actually the amount of repeated courses really brings me down as well the poor performance I feel like no school will accept me ( because why me when there are many students who did well from the 1st try). Also I did couple dental shadowing. Any advice of you guys will be very appreciated, any words that could cheer me up because am really losing hope. Thank you for reading all of that

What's your science GPA? a 3.63 is definitely not low enough that you need to be applying to a post-bac/masters like someone said above, that's crazy, but your sGPA will have an effect if it's significantly lower than your overall. If you get at least a 20 on the DAT you should have a pretty good chance of getting in, and a really good chance if you can get 22+. Lots of people who get accepted have withdrawn and retaken some courses.

 

[Historiaa]

What's your science GPA? a 3.63 is definitely not low enough that you need to be applying to a post-bac/masters like someone said above, that's crazy, but your sGPA will have an effect if it's significantly lower than your overall. If you get at least a 20 on the DAT you should have a pretty good chance of getting in, and a really good chance if you can get 22+. Lots of people who get accepted have withdrawn and retaken some courses.

Thank you for taking the time and reply, my science gpa is 3.56. I’ll try my best and score 22+ hopefully. Thank you for the hope about the repeated courses and withdrawal, am actually hoping to get in without master nor post-bac. Would you recommend any universities to apply for according to my situation, would really appreciate it?!

 

[Aspire2Inspire17]

I suggested a 1-year program to show that you are able to endure a rigorous dental program with a consistent upward trend. Anything is possible. If you score well on the DAT, explain your situation, then you may have a chance. I have a friend that had similar repeat courses on her transcripts and she was denied. She followed up and some schools told her that they were not sure that she would be able to endure the intensity of course loads.

No one here is an admissions expert. Follow your heart and best judgment.

 

[ab117]

yeah your stats are great, doing a master's would be insane. I had a 3.49 overall and a 3.63 science and a 21 DAT, ~100 hours shadowing and little volunteering/service and had 10 interview invites and 3 acceptances Dec. 1. There's nothing to say about specific schools for your situation cause there's nothing unusual about it haha, you can really apply wherever you want. Go for your state school and any schools that offer in-state tuition, you could apply to Ivy schools hoping for scholarships if you score high enough on your DAT, but without a pretty high score and getting offered scholarships they're expensive, and include some back up schools. Apply to 10-15 schools and make sure that people from your state get accepted to the schools you apply to, this can be hard to figure out but it's an important part of applying intelligently. I think you'll probably get in as long as your application is well rounded aside from your stats.

 

[ab117]

I suggested a 1-year program to show that you are able to endure a rigorous dental program with a consistent upward trend. Anything is possible. If you score well on the DAT, explain your situation, then you may have a chance. I have a friend that had similar repeat courses on her transcripts and she was denied. She followed up and some schools told her that they were not sure that she would be able to endure the intensity of course loads.

No one here is an admissions expert. Follow your heart and best judgment.

OP said they've got straight A's for the past 2 years of school though. That probably includes the bulk of all their science courses and should effectively mitigate lower grades and a couple repeated courses early on, and their stats aren't even low. If your friend had a similar GPA and 20+ on the DAT and didn't get accepted, statistically they're the exception and not the norm. Even if schools said that, there are tons of threads where schools gave feedback that didn't really make sense and my guess/opinion is that they just say something about stats, but the applicant actually didn't interview well or something specific put them off.

 

[Aspire2Inspire17]

OP said they've got straight A's for the past 2 years of school though. That probably includes the bulk of all their science courses and should effectively mitigate lower grades and a couple repeated courses early on, and their stats aren't even low. If your friend had a similar GPA and 20+ on the DAT and didn't get accepted, statistically they're the exception and not the norm. Even if schools said that, there are tons of threads where schools gave feedback that didn't really make sense and my guess/opinion is that they just say something about stats, but the applicant actually didn't interview well or something specific put them off.

Perhaps. Best of luck to OP!

 

[Historiaa]

yeah your stats are great, doing a master's would be insane. I had a 3.49 overall and a 3.63 science and a 21 DAT, ~100 hours shadowing and little volunteering/service and had 10 interview invites and 3 acceptances Dec. 1. There's nothing to say about specific schools for your situation cause there's nothing unusual about it haha, you can really apply wherever you want. Go for your state school and any schools that offer in-state tuition, you could apply to Ivy schools hoping for scholarships if you score high enough on your DAT, but without a pretty high score and getting offered scholarships they're expensive, and include some back up schools. Apply to 10-15 schools and make sure that people from your state get accepted to the schools you apply to, this can be hard to figure out but it's an important part of applying intelligently. I think you'll probably get in as long as your application is well rounded aside from your stats.

Thanks a lot for Sharing your experience , I have ~120 hours of shadowing and am planning to apply to as many universities as I can to increase the chances of my acceptance. Am actually Canadian but am willing to apply for Canadian schools as well US would you think because am Canadian that would lower my chances as priority comes for citizens ( I believe) and especially am not that perfect applicant. There’s only one uni here in Ontario I have hope for which is western because they only count two of your best years which is perfect for my situation but I don’t want only to stick my hope to this uni that’s why am considering US as well.

 

[ab117]

I don't know much about how things work for Canadian applicants, you'll definitely need to do some research to be sure the schools you apply to accept Canadians. I know Detroit Mercy accepts a bunch, but that's as far as my personal experience goes.

 

[TheDentalSchoolCoach]

Hi guys, so am planning to apply for dental school by the end of my fifth year. The reason I took five years of undergrad is to improve my gpa. I went through hard times and it affected my gpa negatively I preformed really poorly during my first three years I have many C+/Bs one A and one D (first +second years). in my third year As/B+/B and one D and one D+. However, I improved a lot in my fifth and forth years straight As/A+s I’ve also decided to repeat all Ds and two C+ (Five courses in total). I’ve also took summer courses during the gap between my fourth and fifth year with straight As. I haven’t done DAT yet ( this summer) my current overall gpa is 3.63. But actually the amount of repeated courses really brings me down as well the poor performance I feel like no school will accept me ( because why me when there are many students who did well from the 1st try). Also I did couple dental shadowing. Any advice of you guys will be very appreciated, any words that could cheer me up because am really losing hope. Thank you for reading all of that

I think best option for you is to talk to AADSAS directly and ask them what their policies are regarding repeat courses. If your GPA is 3.63; that'd be awesome and will guarantee you admissions into places. Looks like you also have an upward trend in your GPA; that should help you out as well.

 

[deleted767916]

I would say you definitely have an upward trend; if you get a high DAT like 22 plus I wouldn't be worried, anything lower a post bac or master's might be necessary

 

[macsak]

Hi guys, so am planning to apply for dental school by the end of my fifth year. The reason I took five years of undergrad is to improve my gpa. I went through hard times and it affected my gpa negatively I preformed really poorly during my first three years I have many C+/Bs one A and one D (first +second years). in my third year As/B+/B and one D and one D+. However, I improved a lot in my fifth and forth years straight As/A+s I’ve also decided to repeat all Ds and two C+ (Five courses in total). I’ve also took summer courses during the gap between my fourth and fifth year with straight As. I haven’t done DAT yet ( this summer) my current overall gpa is 3.63. But actually the amount of repeated courses really brings me down as well the poor performance I feel like no school will accept me ( because why me when there are many students who did well from the 1st try). Also I did couple dental shadowing. Any advice of you guys will be very appreciated, any words that could cheer me up because am really losing hope. Thank you for reading all of that

continue to do well, especially in the repeat courses, and you have a chance
do not lose hope

 

[ab117]

I would say you definitely have an upward trend; if you get a high DAT like 22 plus I wouldn't be worried, anything lower a post bac or master's might be necessary

according to the ADEA in the application guide sticky thread, the average matriculant GPA is a 3.56 with a standard deviation of .133. This means that ~95% of matriculants are between a 3.29 and 3.83. SDN might think 3.63 is a low GPA but it's really not. For the DAT, average accepted is ~20. Anything above a 20 should be totally fine. Seriously, doing a post-bac would be a waste of a year and thousands of dollars. Even if OP scored low on the DAT and didn't get in, I think it would be smarter to work as an assistant for the year and gain hours and make money and retake the DAT with a good dedicated study period to try to break 23 than it would be to take out more debt for a masters when they already have an above average GPA.

 

[so815]

OP, does your GPA include the averaged original+repeated course? I had to repeat two courses and AADSAS did not replace my grade with the higher grade-- they instead averaged the two and calculated that into my AADSAS oGPA & sGPA. Just wanted to let you know, if you didn't already! Best of luck!!

 

[REACHOn]

Focus on your strengths. Your GPA is solid (above average) and because it is a upward trend that is a good sign and is something you may/can talk about if brought up. You can always increases your chances with more schooling and etc but that's luck. Do well on the DAT (generally above 20) for a decent chance in my opinion. Even with a lower DAT score of 19 there are people with those stats that get it but of course they probably felt a lot of anxiety as to whether they would get accepted. It's all opinions and do keep in mind that stats posted on SDN are generally much higher than the average.

 

[Faefly]

If you lose hope, then what?
What will you obtain from losing hope?
You'll never take the DAT and you will never try and then you might or might not succeed in a different career in your life.
Will that be Ok with you or not?
If it is OK with you, then, by all means, lose hope and start planning for plan B.

If it's not Ok. Then fight hard to achieve you dreams, if you been working hard, work harder, give 150% not just 100%.

This will take time, but you'll get there when you get there!

 

[Faefly]

Out of topic question:

Is your name based of Attack on Titan's character: Historia
or is it because you love history
?

 

[WashedUpHockeyPlayer]

3.5+ cum and sci GPA? Don't worry about it a couple rough years is nothing if you have that upward trend in fact use this in an interview. Use this to convey a message of maturity it might actually help your chances that you have failed a little but learned from it and are now succeeding (I have a friend who's Father passed and she failed miserably for two years in college as a result. She learned from it came back and now is a D1. Everyone loves a comeback story) . As long as you have a good DAT, volunteer, shadow, research I think you have a good shot.

 

[Historiaa]

OP, does your GPA include the averaged original+repeated course? I had to repeat two courses and AADSAS did not replace my grade with the higher grade-- they instead averaged the two and calculated that into my AADSAS oGPA & sGPA. Just wanted to let you know, if you didn't already! Best of luck!!

Thank you for letting me know, No not the average only the highest one. Actually I believe that every university have different policy when it comes to repeated courses some take average and some consider the higher one only for the admission calculation. So, I’ll try to apply for those who consider the higher one.

 

[Historiaa]

according to the ADEA in the application guide sticky thread, the average matriculant GPA is a 3.56 with a standard deviation of .133. This means that ~95% of matriculants are between a 3.29 and 3.83. SDN might think 3.63 is a low GPA but it's really not. For the DAT, average accepted is ~20. Anything above a 20 should be totally fine. Seriously, doing a post-bac would be a waste of a year and thousands of dollars. Even if OP scored low on the DAT and didn't get in, I think it would be smarter to work as an assistant for the year and gain hours and make money and retake the DAT with a good dedicated study period to try to break 23 than it would be to take out more debt for a masters when they already have an above average GPA.

That’s exactly my thoughts about doing master or post-bac, am just wasting more money, couldn’t agree more with what you’ve said and yes worst case scenario I’ll work and earn more experience in the field.

 

[Historiaa]

Focus on your strengths. Your GPA is solid (above average) and because it is a upward trend that is a good sign and is something you may/can talk about if brought up. You can always increases your chances with more schooling and etc but that's luck. Do well on the DAT (generally above 20) for a decent chance in my opinion. Even with a lower DAT score of 19 there are people with those stats that get it but of course they probably felt a lot of anxiety as to whether they would get accepted. It's all opinions and do keep in mind that stats posted on SDN are generally much higher than the average.

Thank you for the advice really appreciate it and I’ll try my best to get 22+ at DAT to boost up my chances.

 

[Historiaa]

If you lose hope, then what?
What will you obtain from losing hope?
You'll never take the DAT and you will never try and then you might or might not succeed in a different career in your life.
Will that be Ok with you or not?
If it is OK with you, then, by all means, lose hope and start planning for plan B.

If it's not Ok. Then fight hard to achieve you dreams, if you been working hard, work harder, give 150% not just 100%.

This will take time, but you'll get there when you get there!

Thank you for the cheerful message and hopefully one day I’ll get there and I’ll work hard for that.

 

[Historiaa]

Out of topic question:

Is your name based of Attack on Titan's character: Historia
or is it because you love history
?

It’s actually based on attack on titan character, one of my fav anime !!!!

 

[Historiaa]

3.5+ cum and sci GPA? Don't worry about it a couple rough years is nothing if you have that upward trend in fact use this in an interview. Use this to convey a message of maturity it might actually help your chances that you have failed a little but learned from it and are now succeeding (I have a friend who's Father passed and she failed miserably for two years in college as a result. She learned from it came back and now is a D1. Everyone loves a comeback story) . As long as you have a good DAT, volunteer, shadow, research I think you have a good shot.

Thank you so much for sharing this inspiring story with me and I am so sorry for your friend loss. I’ve also experienced rough times during my early years which affected me a lot especially mentally, I decided to take extra year in my undergrad to show that I’ve become better and I want a second chance and am really working hard preparing for my DAT exam. Hopefully things work out for the best. Thank you again!

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Thank you for letting me know, No not the average only the highest one. Actually I believe that every university have different policy when it comes to repeated courses some take average and some consider the higher one only for the admission calculation. So, I’ll try to apply for those who consider the higher one.

When your GPA is calculated, it is done through AADSAS and will be reflected the same for every dental school you apply to. AADSAS does not do grade replacement - every course you've ever taken will be calculated in your GPA as if it was a separate course. I would re-calculate your GPA with the inclusion of all coursework (regardless of retakes) to have a better idea of where you currently stand.

 

[sobertiger]

What are your numbers with Ds included?