I'm currently finishing up my sophomore year at a pretty competitive undergraduate school and my GPA is only a 3.35, science GPA being 3.24. I just recently wanted to pursue a career in dentistry so I don't have any relevant experience yet. Can I still make it into any dental schools with my GPA being so low?
my chances anywhere?
- Thread starter dson
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Your overall is higher than mine. Make sure you rock the DAT and you'll be set. Your GPA isn't that bad at all.
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Anything less of a 4.0 is unacceptable, private! Drop down and gimme 20!
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You GPA is good but it could certainly use a little boosting. Try to raise it to 3.5. It will make you competitive for a lot more schools(especially public ones). And kick butt on the DAT 20+
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My gpa is almost identical to that, and I got to nyu and temple in with a lat application. If I were you I'd focus on bringing the gpa up above 3.4 and doing as well as possible on the DAT's (I did Kaplan and that made all the difference, though many on this forum recommend topscore and achiever). You have two years to show the admissions committees that you can handle a tough science curriculum, so remember that when you take all your BCP (biology/chemistry/physics) exams, and you'll do fine. Also, start doing dental shadowing as soon as possible, it makes the interviews soooooo much smoother.
my two cents anyway,
~Will
my two cents anyway,
~Will
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you definitely have time to bring that gpa up a bit. ditto on rocking the dat and shadowing. you also should throw in some regular volunteering and research to be competitive. with all that and "normal" social skills i'd say your chances are very good.
Thanks for the replies. I was getting scared because so many people have GPAs that are higher than 3.5... I just wanted to add that I'm a chemistry major and have taken 1 required biology course. I'll be taking biochemistry next year and wanted to know if the DAT has a good amount of biochem because I was thinking about taking the DAT sometime this summer. Is that early? I'm taking organic chem 2 now so I'm hoping it will still be fresh in my mind.
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Essentially there is some biochem, because you learn some biochem in orgo classes and bio classes, but it is not intended to be on there. The science sections are just bio gen chem and orgo chem. Also don't rely on your "good" university either. I know people who were confident they'll get in somewhere because they attend a great school when in reality it matters on everything else.
The good news is your starting early and have your priorities straight. Keep up the good work and you'll be set.
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Your GPA is below the average for accepted students, but you still have a reasonable chance. I was accepted with about a 3.2. Just make sure you do well on the DAT and get some shadowing/volunteer experience in and you will have a good shot. Plus it sounds like you have a couple of years left of school so do your best to raise your GPA a bit and you'll be set.
The following link shows the average acceptance scores for each dental school from 2006.
Dental School Statistics
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i know someone that got into Temple Univ. school of dentistry that got in with those stats. sorry since im pre opt, but i have a bit of understanding what you go through.
BTW his DAT's were 18 mostly
