Low gpa graduate options

[itsmemario123]

Hi, so I graduated with a 2.99 GPA in biomedical engineering and im planning on taking some courses; I realized to get to a 3.1 it would take over 20 additional credits so I am not sure if its worth to do this or take a masters; I am just wondering what my best option would be, I am going to take the DAT in April so I should be well prepared for it. Any help and advice would be great Im kind of tweaking lol

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[roma14]

I'd do Masters. I had a similar GPA and that's currently what I'm doing and it's surprisingly manageable. Even if you were to get a 4.0 in post-bacc classes and raise your GPA to a 3.1, that's still not very competitive. Excelling in a Masters and obtaining a brand new GPA from scratch will likely be a better use of your time and money. And it goes without saying, try and nail your DAT the first time around

 

[thymine14]

I'd do Masters. I had a similar GPA and that's currently what I'm doing and it's surprisingly manageable. Even if you were to get a 4.0 in post-bacc classes and raise your GPA to a 3.1, that's still not very competitive. Excelling in a Masters and obtaining a brand new GPA from scratch will likely be a better use of your time and money. And it goes without saying, try and nail your DAT the first time around

Hey! I'm in a similar situation with a undergrad gpa of 2.95, but I was curious what masters program you were in?

I've been researching quite a few and a lot of them seem to have a minimum GPA requirement of a 3.0 so I wasn't sure how hard it would be to get into a masters program with a low gpa.

 

[roma14]

Hey! I'm in a similar situation with a undergrad gpa of 2.95, but I was curious what masters program you were in?

I've been researching quite a few and a lot of them seem to have a minimum GPA requirement of a 3.0 so I wasn't sure how hard it would be to get into a masters program with a low gpa.

I did the Biomolecular Science masters at Lipscomb University in Nashville. It's not linked to any dental schools but they have great acceptance rates for students who go on to apply to medical, dental, etc. They technically say they have a 3.0 GPA requirement, but this is honestly a loose requirement. They basically accepted me during the interview process and were impressed with the DAT score over anything (even though it's only slightly above average).

I imagine many other programs act similarly. They understand that they are record-enhancer programs tailored to students in our positions, so I highly doubt that that 0.05 difference in GPA will be a deal breaker. I would advise applying to any program that is local to you, especially if they have a dental school linkage. Good luck!

If you happen to be a reasonable distance away from Lipscomb, I'd be happy to give some more information.

 

[crentist99]

I did the Biomolecular Science masters at Lipscomb University in Nashville. It's not linked to any dental schools but they have great acceptance rates for students who go on to apply to medical, dental, etc. They technically say they have a 3.0 GPA requirement, but this is honestly a loose requirement. They basically accepted me during the interview process and were impressed with the DAT score over anything (even though it's only slightly above average).

I imagine many other programs act similarly. They understand that they are record-enhancer programs tailored to students in our positions, so I highly doubt that that 0.05 difference in GPA will be a deal breaker. I would advise applying to any program that is local to you, especially if they have a dental school linkage. Good luck!

If you happen to be a reasonable distance away from Lipscomb, I'd be happy to give some more information.

I have an interview for the master’s program this Thursday. Any advice or insight to the interview structure?

 

[Bingwen]

Like what was said before, I would look more into a master's. I had a really low GPA and did a 1 year post-bac and then did a 2 year master's. Talking with admissions people, they were way more interested in my master's work than my post-bac. A lost of this is because master's are graduate level classes and show that you can handle dental school rigor. This is especially important for people with lower GPA's because that is likely what programs are most nervous about. I would also say look into programs (either post-bac or master's) that are affiliated with a dental school you are very interested in. If I remember correctly schools like Tufts, Rutgers, and Midwestern (where I did mine) have good programs that help give you an edge come admissions time.