My stats - Should I apply for 2009 cycle?

[DividedByZero]

Hey everyone. I'm currently a wreck right now wondering if I should apply for the 2009 cycle. My current GPA is a shade below a 3 and will just barely get to the 3 mark hopefully by the end of spring quarter. I am graduating after this quarter as I already finished my Biochem degree two quarters ago and have no right to appeal for a 5th year. My DATs were a 19/19/19.

Specific scores are here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=519880

Should I consider a retake? Should I start applying for SMPs/post-bac schools to raise the GPA?

A little background on me is that I came from a disadvantaged area where my high school was being taken over by the state because of how bad it was. I had teacher for my Physics HONORS (AP was not offered) course in high school for our final just passed out an index card and literally asked us: "what grade do you think you deserve?" and then gave us that grade. Naturally, I suffered my first two years of undergrad but I still never got anything below a C (No C-'s, D's, or F's anywhere on the transcript). There is a minor upward trend in my grades probably from like a 2.7 to a 3.2 (both are rough estimates) from my first year to my fourth year. I am hoping to ride this whole disadvantaged student thing to make up for my obvious deficiences in my app but it is a lot of money to leave up to chance.

Thoughts?

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[TempleDMDKrazd]

so basically you are disadvantaged because of your high school. that is it? that isn't going to fly at all


also, if you have the money, it never hurts to apply while doing a post bacc/smp

 

[DividedByZero]

so basically you are disadvantaged because of your high school. that is it? that isn't going to fly at all

I'm just going from this:

From a disadvantaged background as defined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: An individual from a disadvantaged background is defined as one who comes from an environment that has inhibited the individual from obtaining the knowledge, skill, and abilities required to enroll in and graduate from a health professions school.

 

[apollo2bd]

Your DAT score isn't terrible though so if you say your reason that you did not do great in college is because your high school did not prepare you, dental schools may say you must have known the college level material in order to do good on the DAT. Why didn't you know it in your classes.

I wouldn't tell you not to apply, it could never hurt and people on here have been accepted with similar GPA (probably higher DAT) but if I were you I wouldn't expect dental schools to give sympathy about the high school deal. A lot of people get to college and realize that their high school sucked compared to others. My freshman roommate said his SAT score was bad because he got a 1200 and he said he could name like 8 people off the top of his head that got 1600's in his high school class. In my school, I only knew one person with over a 1300 and myself and the rest of my friends who were all the top of our class got around 1100. Its seems there is a difference in our high school educations but in college nobody cares, so I doubt the next level will either.