Low GPA, High DAT, good ECs?

[drjhbs]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hello SDNers!

I have decided to apply to dental school next cycle due to some unforeseen circumstances. Even though I was upset about not being able to apply this year at first, I am now focusing all my energy into making my application as strong as possible for the next year! Unfortunately, I am a below avg stat student (please don't attack my work ethic or anything - I am sure I want to be a dentist and have what it takes to get there. I just had some personal issues that I will hopefully have the chance to address if I get accepted) so I would really appreciate any help to strengthen my application. Sorry in advance for how long this is.

I graduated from a UC with a BS in biology and am a California resident. I was originally pre-med but switched to dentistry after I graduated because I finally admitted to myself that medicine was not a good fit for me.

oGPA: 3.35 sGPA: 3.05 BCP: 3.02 non-sGPA: 3.63

DAT: haven't taken it yet and am aiming for a 22+. (I know it sounds ridiculous, but I've been living and breathing this test for the past month and will continue to do so until I feel confident through practice exams that I can pull it off. I know I need a high DAT to offset my low gpa so I'm definitely putting in the work)

I'm pretty sure 3 of my LORs are amazing (2 from my workplace dentist & office manager/owner and 1 science prof). But the other science LOR and nonscience LOR could probably be better.

Dental Experience

• ~1000 hours as a full-time front/back office dental assistant (and act as office manager on my boss' days off). I will also get certified as an RDA in a few months when I get the appropriate number of hours to take the exam.
• 100 hours shadowing at the current office I work at (before I formally got hired) & another holistic office. I am also scheduled to shadow an oral surgeon & periodontist after I take my DAT so I will probably have at least 50-100 more hours.
• I have submitted my application to start volunteering at a local dental clinic as well and am waiting to get approved. I believe that I am required to serve at least 4 hours a week.

Other Extracurriculars

• ~150 volunteer hours and held a leadership position at a hospital (before I switched to dentistry)
• 1.5 years as a part-time lab intern at a pharmaceutical company
• 50+ hours shadowing a family MD (before I switched to dentistry)

So what is the best course of action in your opinion? My GPA is certainly an issue so:

1. Should I do a masters or post bacc? My family is really tight on $, so I would like to avoid a masters if its not absolutely necessary. I actually only have about 60 hours in the BCP category and can bring my sGPA/BCP up to a 3.2 just by taking 4 more science courses. But is that still too low even if I get a high DAT?
2. What other extracurriculars should I do? I know schools like well rounded people and I'm pretty set in the dental experience department, so I was thinking about doing volunteer work outside of dentistry like at a homeless shelter or animal shelter (which are things I'm genuinely interested in).
3. Do I have to retake my prereqs since dental schools have that 5 year limit? (I graduated in 2016)

Thank you so much for reading all this and for any input you might have. Figuring out all this

 

[DSchoolorBust202X]

I'm in a similar situation with lower GPA.

1. I attended a dental conference a couple years ago, and when speaking to admissions representatives, I found that there was not really a consensus on preference of post-bacc vs. masters. Personally, I've been doing post-bacc work and received one interview so far. If this cycle doesn't result in admission, I will likely look into a masters. I feel like it's kind of up to you to decide what's best, especially if money is tight.

2. Definitely volunteer outside of dentistry. Dental schools want to see that you have a desire to serve the community in different aspects, and dental-specific volunteering is sometimes hard to find. I think working in a shelter would be great, and you can talk about it in interviews as a cause you care about and actually put in effort to provide assistance.

3. I think you're fine for most schools since you graduated in '16, but it would be best to call the admissions office to check for sure.

Good luck! I hope everything works out!

 

[drjhbs]

I'm in a similar situation with lower GPA.

1. I attended a dental conference a couple years ago, and when speaking to admissions representatives, I found that there was not really a consensus on preference of post-bacc vs. masters. Personally, I've been doing post-bacc work and received one interview so far. If this cycle doesn't result in admission, I will likely look into a masters. I feel like it's kind of up to you to decide what's best, especially if money is tight.

2. Definitely volunteer outside of dentistry. Dental schools want to see that you have a desire to serve the community in different aspects, and dental-specific volunteering is sometimes hard to find. I think working in a shelter would be great, and you can talk about it in interviews as a cause you care about and actually put in effort to provide assistance.

3. I think you're fine for most schools since you graduated in '16, but it would be best to call the admissions office to check for sure.

Good luck! I hope everything works out!

Congrats on your interview! I hope it goes well. And thank you for replying. I am leaning towards doing an informal post back right now but am kind of iffy because it’ll be really difficult to raise my gpa past a 3.2 in my BCP. I think I would need to take like 9 classes in order to get a 3.3 and need all A’s, which is why I am considering doing a master’s. I would rather spend the 30,000 on a one year master’s to get into a cheaper dental school than only be able to get in to the really expensive private dental schools.

 

[Arthur Jeffries]

if you can pull a 22+ then apply even with a 21 i would apply. if you any of your science sections are really low or your DAT AA is sub 20 then i would consider retaking or a masters. if you have a 19 or less i would consider a masters and then retake the DAT after your masters. your bcp gpa is pretty low so that's going to hurt you a lot. also, if your family is tight on money and you are a us resident consider taking out loans to finance your masters.

as for EC's just enhance any areas that are lacking. your DAT score is far and above more important than improving these at this point.

you don't have to worry about your credits if you're applying this upcoming year.

 

[drjhbs]

if you can pull a 22+ then apply even with a 21 i would apply. if you any of your science sections are really low or your DAT AA is sub 20 then i would consider retaking or a masters. if you have a 19 or less i would consider a masters and then retake the DAT after your masters. your bcp gpa is pretty low so that's going to hurt you a lot. also, if your family is tight on money and you are a us resident consider taking out loans to finance your masters.

as for EC's just enhance any areas that are lacking. your DAT score is far and above more important than improving these at this point.

you don't have to worry about your credits if you're applying this upcoming year.

Thank you so much for your advice! If I take classes until the next cycle, I believe I can pull my
sGPA to about a 3.3. Do you think that’ll put me at an okay place for schools that aren’t as expensive if I smash the DAT?

 

[Arthur Jeffries]

Thank you so much for your advice! If I take classes until the next cycle, I believe I can pull my
sGPA to about a 3.3. Do you think that’ll put me at an okay place for schools that aren’t as expensive if I smash the DAT?

pulling it up to a 3.3 will help but only so much. killing your DAT will put you in a much more comfortable position to get interviews/accepted.

also, i would apply broadly too meaning 10-15 schools to increase ur chances

 

[evang751]

Your stats look doable. I mean ogpa, sgpa is a little low but I think you'll be fine to get at least some ii. Chances of getting interview invites for top schools might be slim to none, but if you're just looking to get in anywhere just apply to a lot of schools (13 to 15) minimum and hope you get an interview. just be sure to crush the interview. That will be the make or break. As for your questions, i would avoid masters and post bacc at all cost unless you have really low gpa and dat. Those programs are costly and more difficult than undergrad so it could backfire if you do bad. It is also a waste of time, it'll be another 2 to 3 years before you can matriculate to dental school. Only consider it if you don't get in the first time. As for extracurricular activities, looks like you're fine there. Lastly, no i wouldn't retake any pre-reqs unless they are overdue but from what i understand it takes 10 years to make a class invalid. However, if your'e able to, i would retake any pre reqs that you earned less than a B-. Basically, anything below that doesn't look good and stands out. Good luck!

 

[drjhbs]

pulling it up to a 3.3 will help but only so much. killing your DAT will put you in a much more comfortable position to get interviews/accepted.

also, i would apply broadly too meaning 10-15 schools to increase ur chances

Okay, got it. Thank you so much!

 

[drjhbs]

Your stats look doable. I mean ogpa, sgpa is a little low but I think you'll be fine to get at least some ii. Chances of getting interview invites for top schools might be slim to none, but if you're just looking to get in anywhere just apply to a lot of schools (13 to 15) minimum and hope you get an interview. just be sure to crush the interview. That will be the make or break. As for your questions, i would avoid masters and post bacc at all cost unless you have really low gpa and dat. Those programs are costly and more difficult than undergrad so it could backfire if you do bad. It is also a waste of time, it'll be another 2 to 3 years before you can matriculate to dental school. Only consider it if you don't get in the first time. As for extracurricular activities, looks like you're fine there. Lastly, no i wouldn't retake any pre-reqs unless they are overdue but from what i understand it takes 10 years to make a class invalid. However, if your'e able to, i would retake any pre reqs that you earned less than a B-. Basically, anything below that doesn't look good and stands out. Good luck!

Thank you so much for replying! Yeah, my goal is honestly just to get into a dental school that won’t require me to take out a half a million dollar loan... I have a question about my ochem series. So ochem was the hardest class of life for me. Also, I took ochem 3 three times because:

1. Got a W - my mom had health issues while I was taking the class in the summer so I was flying back and forth home. I dropped the class to stay home and focus on family
2. I failed - I actually did okay on my early exams but I was sexually assaulted by someone who was close to a lot of my housemates two days before my final so I was in a really bad place and in a really bad home environment this year
3. I got a C+ - my ochem binder was actually stolen from the library a few days before my exam while I was studying and got up to the use the restroom so I had to try to cram everything like lecture notes and problems

I know it sounds like a lot of excuses, but I’m focusing a lot on ochem so I can show admissions through my dat ochem score that I know ochem. Do you think I should retake the class even though it shows that I’ve attempted it 3 times? Or would repeating it again look worse? Again, thank you so much for your input.

 

[evang751]

That's a tough question. I will say that don't rely too much on your dat score making up any short comings on your academic performance. Let me explain, most dental school committees from my experience and what I'm told do not value dat score over academic performance. And anyone who tells you otherwise may not know what they are talking about. You have to ask yourself, what holds more weight, your academic performance throughout your whole academic career ( 4 years or so) or a 4 hour test? Obviously, the former. So doing well on one section won't necessarily translate to overlook or replace what you earned. I doubt that will even cross their minds. On the other hand, yes taking it again might not work in your favor too bc they might just be like, this person does not get it... so i guess there's a few options.

1) apply to schools with lower requirements, some say nothing lower than C/C+, others say B-. Make sure you crush the ochem dat and hope they see it your way.
2) retake and make sure you get an A+++ lol, and apply to schools that only look at or take the highest or latest grades for each class. Though theres very very few schools that do that. If you get the interview and they ask, you can explain your situation.

Def a tough situation but there's always a way to get in if you want it bad enough. Good luck.