Need guidance! Hesitant about future

[Meatmonger]

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Hi folks

I'm currently 26 and graduated from my state school in California in 2012 with a bio degree. My sgpa is 2.67 and cgpa 2.91. I started off really strong in all of my classes due to fear of failure and family pressures but eventually all those pressures and constrictions wore down on me and so I stoped caring what my grade was as long as I passed my class and got my degree. I was however interested in dentistry (still am) however I just wanted to leave school altogther and wasn't interested in spending any extra years of schooling. I had shadowed multiple dentists for over 2 yrs. I also took the dat (now expired) with only a couple of weeks of studying and managed 18 ts and 18aa.

In the years since graduating I've opened my own business in which I'm making 40k net profits per month after personal and business expenses. However I do not feel fulfilled. I don't feel as though I have much of an impact and whenever I see former classmates and friends of mine on social media making it to dental, medical or pharm school I cringe inside and feel as if I'm a failure. I'm happy for the success of others but I feel that I sold myself short because of a few years of immaturity. What is advised? If i do choose to go back to school what are my options? I would really appreciate all feed back.

Thank you.

 

[Screwtape]

Hi folks

I'm currently 26 and graduated from my state school in California in 2012 with a bio degree. My sgpa is 2.67 and cgpa 2.91. I started off really strong in all of my classes due to fear of failure and family pressures but eventually all those pressures and constrictions wore down on me and so I stoped caring what my grade was as long as I passed my class and got my degree. I was however interested in dentistry (still am) however I just wanted to leave school altogther and wasn't interested in spending any extra years of schooling. I had shadowed multiple dentists for over 2 yrs. I also took the dat (now expired) with only a couple of weeks of studying and managed 18 ts and 18aa.

In the years since graduating I've opened my own business in which I'm making 40k net profits per month after personal and business expenses. However I do not feel fulfilled. I don't feel as though I have much of an impact and whenever I see former classmates and friends of mine on social media making it to dental, medical or pharm school I cringe inside and feel as if I'm a failure. I'm happy for the success of others but I feel that I sold myself short because of a few years of immaturity. What is advised? If i do choose to go back to school what are my options? I would really appreciate all feed back.

Thank you.

You serious? Go volunteer or something. Or give me a few months salary for my education and you can live vicariously through me. PM if interested.

 

[Incis0r]

Hi folks

I'm currently 26 and graduated from my state school in California in 2012 with a bio degree. My sgpa is 2.67 and cgpa 2.91. I started off really strong in all of my classes due to fear of failure and family pressures but eventually all those pressures and constrictions wore down on me and so I stoped caring what my grade was as long as I passed my class and got my degree. I was however interested in dentistry (still am) however I just wanted to leave school altogther and wasn't interested in spending any extra years of schooling. I had shadowed multiple dentists for over 2 yrs. I also took the dat (now expired) with only a couple of weeks of studying and managed 18 ts and 18aa.

In the years since graduating I've opened my own business in which I'm making 40k net profits per month after personal and business expenses. However I do not feel fulfilled. I don't feel as though I have much of an impact and whenever I see former classmates and friends of mine on social media making it to dental, medical or pharm school I cringe inside and feel as if I'm a failure. I'm happy for the success of others but I feel that I sold myself short because of a few years of immaturity. What is advised? If i do choose to go back to school what are my options? I would really appreciate all feed back.

Thank you.

I can see where you're coming from, and FWIW, I think you're pursuing this profession for the right reasons.

I would recommend you stack enough cash from your business to support 2 years of living expenses + tuition/fees, and then you hire someone to manage your business while you go back to college full-time and take more classes.

And really smash them this time. 1-2 years of straight 4.0s will get your GPA above 3.0. Get atleast a 22 on your DAT, and you should be able to get in somewhere.

With your income, you'll be able to pay cash for whatever dental school you attend, which is a HUGE advantage and one that you've worked very hard to get- congratulations!

 

[Incis0r]

You serious? Go volunteer or something. Or give me a few months salary for my education and you can live vicariously through me. PM if interested.

Yes, but if OP pays for your education, then you won't get to celebrate conquering your loans!

I'm going military, and when my initial service obligation is up and I sign the papers for 4 more years, I'm going to celebrate having "paid off" my dental education!

 

[DMDDDSHopeful]

Hi folks

I'm currently 26 and graduated from my state school in California in 2012 with a bio degree. My sgpa is 2.67 and cgpa 2.91. I started off really strong in all of my classes due to fear of failure and family pressures but eventually all those pressures and constrictions wore down on me and so I stoped caring what my grade was as long as I passed my class and got my degree. I was however interested in dentistry (still am) however I just wanted to leave school altogther and wasn't interested in spending any extra years of schooling. I had shadowed multiple dentists for over 2 yrs. I also took the dat (now expired) with only a couple of weeks of studying and managed 18 ts and 18aa.

In the years since graduating I've opened my own business in which I'm making 40k net profits per month after personal and business expenses. However I do not feel fulfilled. I don't feel as though I have much of an impact and whenever I see former classmates and friends of mine on social media making it to dental, medical or pharm school I cringe inside and feel as if I'm a failure. I'm happy for the success of others but I feel that I sold myself short because of a few years of immaturity. What is advised? If i do choose to go back to school what are my options? I would really appreciate all feed back.

Thank you.

O_O

 

[Meatmonger]

You serious? Go volunteer or something. Or give me a few months salary for my education and you can live vicariously through me. PM if interested.

Lol thanks for the offer but no can't accept... I'll be cheating myself.

Yes, but if OP pays for your education, then you won't get to celebrate conquering your loans!

I'm going military, and when my initial service obligation is up and I sign the papers for 4 more years, I'm going to celebrate having "paid off" my dental education!

Thank you for the advice ... Good luck with your endeavors. However even with 2 straight years my sgpa still be pretty low... how is the screening process?

Also I understand that compared to others I'm completely blessed... I was a refugee as a kid coming to this country so I know that it's a blessing to have this as my biggest dilema.

 

[dyesht]

Hi folks

I'm currently 26 and graduated from my state school in California in 2012 with a bio degree. My sgpa is 2.67 and cgpa 2.91. I started off really strong in all of my classes due to fear of failure and family pressures but eventually all those pressures and constrictions wore down on me and so I stoped caring what my grade was as long as I passed my class and got my degree. I was however interested in dentistry (still am) however I just wanted to leave school altogther and wasn't interested in spending any extra years of schooling. I had shadowed multiple dentists for over 2 yrs. I also took the dat (now expired) with only a couple of weeks of studying and managed 18 ts and 18aa.

In the years since graduating I've opened my own business in which I'm making 40k net profits per month after personal and business expenses. However I do not feel fulfilled. I don't feel as though I have much of an impact and whenever I see former classmates and friends of mine on social media making it to dental, medical or pharm school I cringe inside and feel as if I'm a failure. I'm happy for the success of others but I feel that I sold myself short because of a few years of immaturity. What is advised? If i do choose to go back to school what are my options? I would really appreciate all feed back.

Thank you.

Where are you in California? If you're close to a post bac program, I would try to apply for that. If not just take some post bac classes yourself for a couple years to raise that GPA over a 3.0 and take the DAT again (with serious studying) and score higher.

 

[nicholas2]

Hi folks

I'm currently 26 and graduated from my state school in California in 2012 with a bio degree. My sgpa is 2.67 and cgpa 2.91. I started off really strong in all of my classes due to fear of failure and family pressures but eventually all those pressures and constrictions wore down on me and so I stoped caring what my grade was as long as I passed my class and got my degree. I was however interested in dentistry (still am) however I just wanted to leave school altogther and wasn't interested in spending any extra years of schooling. I had shadowed multiple dentists for over 2 yrs. I also took the dat (now expired) with only a couple of weeks of studying and managed 18 ts and 18aa.

In the years since graduating I've opened my own business in which I'm making 40k net profits per month after personal and business expenses. However I do not feel fulfilled. I don't feel as though I have much of an impact and whenever I see former classmates and friends of mine on social media making it to dental, medical or pharm school I cringe inside and feel as if I'm a failure. I'm happy for the success of others but I feel that I sold myself short because of a few years of immaturity. What is advised? If i do choose to go back to school what are my options? I would really appreciate all feed back.

Thank you.

This post is pretty encouraging to me, as I'm in a similar boat (minus the 40k/month business). I just turned 24 and graduated from Wisconsin in the spring with a chem degree, cgpa 2.74. I started off poorly in my classes due to partying and skipping class. I tried pretty hard after that and got my cgpa up to 3.2 by the end of my junior year. I took the DAT in 2014 and got 20 AA, and applied during the 2015 cycle. I didn't get any interviews and that shot down my hopes, so I started skipping class. I failed a couple classes, leading to an extra year of undergrad, and successfully appealed an academic suspension before my last semester.

I haven't applied since the 2015 cycle, but I'm still interested in dentistry. From my understanding, the best option is a post bac dental program like dyesht suggested, which will help raise your gpa and get you ready for dental school. I found a list of a few in an old thread that might be useful:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/post-baccalaureate-dental-programs.1086280/

I need to do some more research but I think most of them start in the fall, so if you did that you would have time to save up before starting. Good luck to you

 

[Panis et Circenses]

If you're making 40k a month already, why on earth would you want to go to dental school?! Don't feel inferior to them, you're probably making more than 99% of them. since you have such an uphill battle if i were you, i'd keep the business going, and find passions outside of work that would keep me happy.