Masters or Post-bacc? Abysmal sGPA 2.76 & oGPA 3.0 for aadsas gpa pls help

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maxillaryyyyy

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Okay, (this is my first post on SDN so I apologize if I'm a bit ignorant to finer details of posting etiquette) I recognize with massive clarity that I'm in a horrible situation, and I'd really appreciate some advice. I've finally mostly, gotten past the sad stage and now I just want to improve.

My first 2.5 years of uni were a disaster, I went through a pretty rough time due to major financing scares and family things that really threw me off my plans, and it led me into a rut. I didn't know many other peers that also wanted to apply to dental school, and for some reason it felt very difficult to find mentors or resources that would help me on my pre-dental track. Now that I'm finally finding resources or programs, I'm finding that I'm too late to apply to them or I'm no longer eligible due to various reasons.

But with my grades I was able to create an upwards trend, especially in my senior year (not that, that means much) for my biology degree. My senior year I got nearly all A's (& a couple Bs) that pushed my subsub 3.0 to a 3.0. Technically my cumulative "transcript" gpa is a 3.24 but that's with the classes that I retook omitted from my GPA, whereas my oGPA (that the aadsas app would calculate) including those retaken classes (as in the 1st and 2nd attempt), is actually a 3.0, and my sGPA is a 2.76, BCP is 2.5.

Since I graduated I've been working for a year at a dental focused lab full-time as a research assistant, and I'm about to take my DAT soon. I've volunteered ~200 hours so far and I've done a small course that teaches some hands on dental techniques. I was previously advised to take a masters, which I was definitely looking forward to anyway, not only to work towards a better GPA, but also to get some more relatable experience that I saw some programs offered. However, recently, a couple dental students advised that since my sGPA is so low, I should actually do a post-bacc instead, because apparently a masters doesn't mean much? (but posts I've seen on sdn seem to say otherwise?). However, since I was so focused on the masters option, all the post-bacc apps have literally just closed this past month, so I've pretty much missed my chance this year. Does it seem more beneficial to wait till next year to try for the post-bacc or is it worth it to continue on with my original plan to apply for a masters, since those apps open earlier around september?

If anyone could maybe shed some light on why a post-bacc or masters would be better, or what else I could do to be more competitive, it would be greatly appreciated! I've contacted some admissions asking about undergrad gpa cutoffs and masters gpa considerations but I've gotten some mixed signals. Maybe I'm approaching in a confusing way?

tldr; Really low gpa, wait for a post bacc or go for the masters? I want to be a dentist, and I want it desperately. I'm willing to spend the time, the debt, the years, but I also want to be efficient/smart about planning for it, so I look forward to any advice you have! (also does anyone know of school that have hard cutoffs for low undergrad GPAs?) Thanks in advance!

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What have you been scoring on your DAT practice tests?
 
First, have you read this great article from ADEA?
Postbaccalaureate Programs

IMO, post-baccs and Masters are in the eyes of the admissions committee relatively similar in the sense that they help make up for a lower undergrad GPA and DAT scores. A Masters in science or MPH are considered more academic rigorous so that would be more ideal, especially if you did an interesting Masters research project that you can talk/write about. A Post-bacc is generally more helpful for someone who didn't major in sciences or are turning to dentistry after working for many years and need to fill their pre-reqs.

If you can score 21 or above on your science DATs and can adequately convey your passion for dentistry like you just did above, you'll still be in a relatively good place!
 
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