My chances of getting into D school?

[geekboi]

Hi guys,
I just wanted know my chances of getting into dental school. I have taken a DAT last year in August and my scores are

PAT 26
QR 22
RC 19
bio 19
GC 17
OC 17

TS 17
AA 19

Despite of my DAT scores, my GPA is really low. It is 2.72 and my major is biochem. I know there are two ways to cover up my low GPA. First is to do masters or postbac, and second is to take DAT again and get a higher score. How high should my DAT scores should be in order for me to get into D school? Should I take it again? When is the approx due dates for the masters and postbac application for this coming september semester? Are there any good masters or postbac programs in southern california?
Thank you for reading my thread!!

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[AmpedUp]

GPA is way too low. Do a Post-Bacc or a Master's.

 

[efficient]

I'm in DS and I hate to say it but your GPA is hurting you a lot. I recommend doing a Masters or post-bac. I got several classmates who did that and still took them 3 cycles to get in. Sorry for the bad news.

 

[adizzle87]

Hi guys,
I'm in DS and I hate to say it but your GPA is hurting you a lot. I recommend doing a Masters or post-bac. I got several classmates who did that and still took them 3 cycles to get in. Sorry for the bad news.

Most people I know who have finished their post-bacs end up getting in on their 1st or 2nd try. If you're able to bring your GPA up to a 3.0 - 3.1, you should aim for a 22AA (95%tile). Anything less than a 20 will really hurt your chances of getting in with a ~3.0 GPA.

 

[Heretotalk]

The only thing you have that is good on your application is the 26 PAT which I guess is around 97 to 98%.

All the rest is probably in the 60 percentile range. Which puts you in the roughly... 60.5 percentile range. There are about 20,000 applicants a year, and only 10% or so makes it in. I'd suggest you improve yourself by getting better grades and DAT. At this point, I am wondering if you will even be able to pass the first year of dental school. It is very strenuous.

 

[dentaldawg32]

The only thing you have that is good on your application is the 26 PAT which I guess is around 97 to 98%.

All the rest is probably in the 60 percentile range. Which puts you in the roughly... 60.5 percentile range. There are about 20,000 applicants a year, and only 10% or so makes it in. I'd suggest you improve yourself by getting better grades and DAT. At this point, I am wondering if you will even be able to pass the first year of dental school. It is very strenuous.

In 2007, there were 13,700 applicants and 4,600 enrollees, so it's more like 34%. I doubt the number has changed much since then.

Source: J Dent Educ. 72(11): 1350-1391 2008

 

[OU11BB]

you say you have a 2.7 gpa. are you a 2.7 student or did you start off early "3 semester or so" with d's and c's and then finish up with a 3.5 or better? if you dont have at least 4 semesters of mainly A's at the end of your transcript then you may struggle, but in my opinion that is relative. You dont have to pass DS with straight A's. how hard are you willing to work? according to 08 rankings some schools at the bottom have like 16 AA and 3.0 gpa. how do they make it through? i am not in school but have close ties to people in and they say the work is not hard, if you stay on top. so work on your priorities, make all A's, and get into a post bacc. this will not only increase you chances of getting in but you get a new slate "transcript" and this is always nice if you have had problems in the past. oh and i highly doubt that a 19AA is the 60th percentile. im thinking more around 80 percentile.

 

[yappy]

People are pretty divided on here... some make it seem as though you must be 3.8+ gpa, 22+ to get an interview and others paint admissions in a more forgiving picture...

Seriously though: this makes me a little nervous. I've came to persue a dental career a little later in life with a not so great GPA (2.9) at the associates degree level from five yrs ago. This was a transfer degree.
After some direction/maturity/full time work exp i've been pounding out 3.8+GPA for the last two years at a university majoring in biology. I've been taking full loads of science because my gen ed courses were taken care of from my AA. I've completed the pre reqs and some other upper division with 3 B's, the rest A's. This only brought me to a 3.3 cum 3.66 science. (I have 1 yr left till I apply).

I have not taken the DAT yet but i'm feeling like I HAVE to do really well just to get an interview...

Is dent. a viable option for the OP and me? Will positive GPA trends/ higher pre rec GPA save us?

 

[needa20]

People are pretty divided on here... some make it seem as though you must be 3.8+ gpa, 22+ to get an interview and others paint admissions in a more forgiving picture...

Seriously though: this makes me a little nervous. I've came to persue a dental career a little later in life with a not so great GPA (2.9) at the associates degree level from five yrs ago. This was a transfer degree.
After some direction/maturity/full time work exp i've been pounding out 3.8+GPA for the last two years at a university majoring in biology. I've been taking full loads of science because my gen ed courses were taken care of from my AA. I've completed the pre reqs and some other upper division with 3 B's, the rest A's. This only brought me to a 3.3 cum 3.66 science. (I have 1 yr left till I apply).

I have not taken the DAT yet but i'm feeling like I HAVE to do really well just to get an interview...

Is dent. a viable option for the OP and me? Will positive GPA trends/ higher pre rec GPA save us?

i def think its viable. Upward trends help alot. your 3.3 and 3.6 with another year to improve it gives you a great chance with a decent dat.

To the OP, if you dont get in this cycle, I would suggust a post-bac. Im sure there are plenty of them, but I do know that Loma Linda has a pretty good one. Several of my classmates are in (1st year d school) from the post bac

 

[dentalWorks]

2.7 with TS17 is a red flag.

You have a chance, but its a VERY low chance of getting in. In my opinion, out of a 1000 people who get accepted, maybe 10 of them have stats like yours

 

[Ohaishasan]

In 2007, there were 13,700 applicants and 4,600 enrollees, so it's more like 34%. I doubt the number has changed much since then.

AADSAS reported only 9009 applicants by October 2009 so the acceptance rate obviously increased as well. Granted it really depends on the schools that you are applying to.

 

[threeblindmice]

Don't waste your money applying. Get the GPA up to 3.0 and try again

 

[bing12]

if you got a minimum of a 19 on TS, i would say you have a chance...it seems very risky to apply right now, but if you dont mind wasting some money, id say just apply to a few schools for the hell of it..so when you apply, atleast they see you are very determined to get in..that may be completely wrong, obviously double check...but yea you deff need increase ur g.p.a

 

[CANgnome]

i don't see how you can get in with that grade, unless you have a monstrous load of EC.

Even if you have a good reason for low GPA, your DAT obviously also say that you are a poor academic. If you have one high and the other, you can say something but....