Non-traditional applicant with a low gpa/lots of work experience

[Tennisgirl92]

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Hi everyone!

I am currently in the process of applying to dental school. I graduated with a BS in health science in 2015 and have worked as a CNA for an oncological surgeon for the past 2.5 years. I originally wanted to go to PA school, but after witnessing the reality of the life of a PA, I realized I would not be satisfied doing that. I want to be able to be independent in my practice and be able to set up my own team/practice. However, I also want to be a mother and get involved in a church. Liking the surgical side of medicine, I realize that lifestyle requires every bit of your time and commitment (as it should). Dentistry sounds like the perfect compromise between a surgical PA and a surgeon MD-you get the autonomy of a doctor without having the urgent material of a surgeon. I am set up to shadow a dentist next week and am looking forward to confirming this is the right path for me.

My undergrad GPA is as follows:
3.1 oGPA
2.9 sGPA.

My father was diagnosed with cancer my sophomore year, and subsequently died the spring of my senior year. It was a hard time in my life, and even though I know this is a valid excuse, I am concerned admissions will want to see proof I can handle the material.

I have taken a few post bacc classes and have maintained a 3.5. I am also taking physics right now as I did not take that in undergrad.

I am scheduled to take DAT in May.

I have about 2000 hours of volunteering experience on top of the 2.5 years of work experience that I accrued during college. I also believe I have great LORs from professors and people I've worked with.

I am also thinking of applying to 1 year masters programs to finish during the gap year. Even if I apply in June, this would leave a year for me to add more to my application.

My weakest point if obviously my GPA.
What are my realistic chances of being admitted to dental school?

Should I pursue a masters degree or would I be better re-taking science courses? I'm not sure what other high level science courses I could take...I've taken them all! Genetics, microbio, anatomy, physiology, biochem, kinesiology...the list goes on.

Thank you!

 

[Frankenstein777]

Hi everyone!

I am currently in the process of applying to dental school. I graduated with a BS in health science in 2015 and have worked as a CNA for an oncological surgeon for the past 2.5 years. I originally wanted to go to PA school, but after witnessing the reality of the life of a PA, I realized I would not be satisfied doing that. I want to be able to be independent in my practice and be able to set up my own team/practice. However, I also want to be a mother and get involved in a church. Liking the surgical side of medicine, I realize that lifestyle requires every bit of your time and commitment (as it should). Dentistry sounds like the perfect compromise between a surgical PA and a surgeon MD-you get the autonomy of a doctor without having the urgent material of a surgeon. I am set up to shadow a dentist next week and am looking forward to confirming this is the right path for me.

My undergrad GPA is as follows:
3.1 oGPA
2.9 sGPA.

My father was diagnosed with cancer my sophomore year, and subsequently died the spring of my senior year. It was a hard time in my life, and even though I know this is a valid excuse, I am concerned admissions will want to see proof I can handle the material.

I have taken a few post bacc classes and have maintained a 3.5. I am also taking physics right now as I did not take that in undergrad.

I am scheduled to take DAT in May.

I have about 2000 hours of volunteering experience on top of the 2.5 years of work experience that I accrued during college. I also believe I have great LORs from professors and people I've worked with.

I am also thinking of applying to 1 year masters programs to finish during the gap year. Even if I apply in June, this would leave a year for me to add more to my application.

My weakest point if obviously my GPA.
What are my realistic chances of being admitted to dental school?

Should I pursue a masters degree or would I be better re-taking science courses? I'm not sure what other high level science courses I could take...I've taken them all! Genetics, microbio, anatomy, physiology, biochem, kinesiology...the list goes on.

Thank you!

I have just about the same GPAs as you and had a lot of experience as well. I got a 20 on the DAT. I had no pre-reqs done when I started my post bacc courses so I was able to do well in all the BCP courses. I received 3 interviews this cycle and one waitlisted me and I just had the other 2 interviews in the past 2 weeks.
You have a good shot, just put a good effort in on the DAT and apply to a lot of places. You can research schools to find ones that value experience and a good story rather than just numbers. Message me if you want details on where I applied/interviewed and if you have any other questions.

 

[DMDDDSHopeful]

Hi everyone!

I am currently in the process of applying to dental school. I graduated with a BS in health science in 2015 and have worked as a CNA for an oncological surgeon for the past 2.5 years. I originally wanted to go to PA school, but after witnessing the reality of the life of a PA, I realized I would not be satisfied doing that. I want to be able to be independent in my practice and be able to set up my own team/practice. However, I also want to be a mother and get involved in a church. Liking the surgical side of medicine, I realize that lifestyle requires every bit of your time and commitment (as it should). Dentistry sounds like the perfect compromise between a surgical PA and a surgeon MD-you get the autonomy of a doctor without having the urgent material of a surgeon. I am set up to shadow a dentist next week and am looking forward to confirming this is the right path for me.

My undergrad GPA is as follows:
3.1 oGPA
2.9 sGPA.

My father was diagnosed with cancer my sophomore year, and subsequently died the spring of my senior year. It was a hard time in my life, and even though I know this is a valid excuse, I am concerned admissions will want to see proof I can handle the material.

I have taken a few post bacc classes and have maintained a 3.5. I am also taking physics right now as I did not take that in undergrad.

I am scheduled to take DAT in May.

I have about 2000 hours of volunteering experience on top of the 2.5 years of work experience that I accrued during college. I also believe I have great LORs from professors and people I've worked with.

I am also thinking of applying to 1 year masters programs to finish during the gap year. Even if I apply in June, this would leave a year for me to add more to my application.

My weakest point if obviously my GPA.
What are my realistic chances of being admitted to dental school?

Should I pursue a masters degree or would I be better re-taking science courses? I'm not sure what other high level science courses I could take...I've taken them all! Genetics, microbio, anatomy, physiology, biochem, kinesiology...the list goes on.

Thank you!

Sounds like you're on the road to getting there! Congrats. Sorry about your loss. Do well on the DAT and enroll into that 1 year Masters to solidify your chances. You mentioned taking upper level courses. Were they upper level grad? Sounds like you can take a lot of those since you haven't done so. AADSAS will separate your Undergrad and Grad GPA. They will see you improvement and persistence. Write an excellent personal statement and you should have a good amount of interviews come your way pending you pick the right schools for you.

 

[rippedbx]

Your GPA is really low but not unheard of to get accepted (my adsaas was lower). The best (and only) thing you can do is study your ass off for the DAT. Honestly, I'd shoot for a 22 and probably retake it if my score was lower than a 21 in your situation.

 

[redhotchiligochu]

You have a fighting chance to get into dental school (excluding heavyweights like Harvard, UPenn, Columbia, UCLA, UCSF) as long as you get 20+ AA on your DAT and get around 100 hours of dental shadowing. I'm a nontrad myself, and yes, work experience sounds impressive and I thought that adcoms will like that, but I found out that they unfortunately don't give a rat's butt about it.

Your postbac GPA looks good enough (3.5 and above is the general consensus) for you to not do a masters/SMP.

Lastly, with your impressive community service hours, ASDOH/MOSDOH and possibly VCU would LOVE to invite you for an interview.

PM me if you need any advice from a nontrad!

 

[predentanon]

You have a fighting chance to get into dental school (excluding heavyweights like Harvard, UPenn, Columbia, UCLA, UCSF) as long as you get 20+ AA on your DAT and get around 100 hours of dental shadowing. I'm a nontrad myself, and yes, work experience sounds impressive and I thought that adcoms will like that, but I found out that they unfortunately don't give a rat's butt about it.

Your postbac GPA looks good enough (3.5 and above is the general consensus) for you to not do a masters/SMP.

Lastly, with your impressive community service hours, ASDOH/MOSDOH and possibly VCU would LOVE to invite you for an interview.

PM me if you need any advice from a nontrad!

Who told you that adcoms don't care about work experience?

 

[schmoob]

Who told you that adcoms don't care about work experience?

I agree with you. They very much do care about experience.

 

[Tennisgirl92]

What is your sGPA now with your few post-bacc classes?

Thanks everyone for the advice.

My sGPA from the post bacc is around 2.95. I had quite a few science courses that I took during college, which makes it harder to put a dent in that GPA.

 

[tlovaj]

It doesn't hurt to apply to a 1yr master's program. The most important thing you have to do though is rock a 21+ on the DAT to offset the low gpa. My sGPA was a 2.52 (as a compSci major). I ended up doing a 1yr masters and ended up taking the DAT 3x before getting accepted. Just know that not all things will go according to plan.

If I were in your shoe's I would apply to a Masters program, study hard for the DAT, rock it in May, apply to dental school, attend the Masters program, and if I get accepted halfway through the program - drop out 2nd semester, unless a master degree is conditional to my acceptance in to dental school. Some of my fellow grad students did that during our program so its not unheard of. The masters program serves as a "just in case you don't get in" scenario and will prevent you from losing another year.

 

[luisfigo]

I have a 3.0 ugpa/2.99 bcpm, turned it around with a 1 yr masters 3.89 gpa/23AA DAT, got in first time to (well if you look at financial thread/clinical training) to one of the top programs in the country. it's doable

 

[doc toothache]

Hi everyone!

I am currently in the process of applying to dental school. I graduated with a BS in health science in 2015 and have worked as a CNA for an oncological surgeon for the past 2.5 years. I originally wanted to go to PA school, but after witnessing the reality of the life of a PA, I realized I would not be satisfied doing that. I want to be able to be independent in my practice and be able to set up my own team/practice. However, I also want to be a mother and get involved in a church. Liking the surgical side of medicine, I realize that lifestyle requires every bit of your time and commitment (as it should). Dentistry sounds like the perfect compromise between a surgical PA and a surgeon MD-you get the autonomy of a doctor without having the urgent material of a surgeon. I am set up to shadow a dentist next week and am looking forward to confirming this is the right path for me.
My weakest point if obviously my GPA.

Your "weakest point" at this time is approaching a career as a "perfect compromise".

 

[Tennisgirl92]

Your "weakest point" at this time is approaching a career as a "perfect compromise".

This is an interesting point, and you're right it does sound like I'm "compromising" on what I really want to do. But I think you're misinterpreting what I did not phrase well.

When I say compromise, I mean it combines what I like about being a surgical MD with what I like about being a PA. I do not want to pursue medicine-I want a career that allows me to be committed to other things. I have worked for a cancer surgeon for the past few years and have seen the sacrifices he makes to help his patients. That's awesome, but it's not what I want. And I do not think that is compromising on a career. If I went to pursue MD and become a surgeon, I would be compromising on other things in my life that I want. Call me old fashioned, but as a woman, I want to raise awesome kids. I want to be an influence in their lives. It's hard to do that in medicine, especially in surgery.

On the other side, being a PA would provide a more balanced life (depending on your doctor), but it is completely dependent on what your doc allows you to do. It's his practice. His insurance. You get a lot of the grunt he doesn't want with half the respect and 1/3 of the pay. I would not be satisfied with that. I want my own practice and my own patients. Being a PA would compromise that.

Dentistry combines the surgical side with the independence side with the ability to have a balanced life. It is still healthcare. Why does anyone want to work in healthcare? They want to help people's physical lives. Sure, dentistry is different than medicine in a lot of ways. But finding a passion out of alleviating a patient's pain, fixing functional issues, and of course making them more confident in their appearance-all of that overlaps with medicine. At the core, that is what I want do to. A specialty doesn't change that.

Do you agree?

 

[8_man]

This is an interesting point, and you're right it does sound like I'm "compromising" on what I really want to do. But I think you're misinterpreting what I did not phrase well.

When I say compromise, I mean it combines what I like about being a surgical MD with what I like about being a PA. I do not want to pursue medicine-I want a career that allows me to be committed to other things. I have worked for a cancer surgeon for the past few years and have seen the sacrifices he makes to help his patients. That's awesome, but it's not what I want. And I do not think that is compromising on a career. If I went to pursue MD and become a surgeon, I would be compromising on other things in my life that I want. Call me old fashioned, but as a woman, I want to raise awesome kids. I want to be an influence in their lives. It's hard to do that in medicine, especially in surgery.

On the other side, being a PA would provide a more balanced life (depending on your doctor), but it is completely dependent on what your doc allows you to do. It's his practice. His insurance. You get a lot of the grunt he doesn't want with half the respect and 1/3 of the pay. I would not be satisfied with that. I want my own practice and my own patients. Being a PA would compromise that.

Dentistry combines the surgical side with the independence side with the ability to have a balanced life. It is still healthcare. Why does anyone want to work in healthcare? They want to help people's physical lives. Sure, dentistry is different than medicine in a lot of ways. But finding a passion out of alleviating a patient's pain, fixing functional issues, and of course making them more confident in their appearance-all of that overlaps with medicine. At the core, that is what I want do to. A specialty doesn't change that.

Do you agree?

I think he was criticizing your wording, rather than your reasoning.

 

[doc toothache]

This is an interesting point, and you're right it does sound like I'm "compromising" on what I really want to do. But I think you're misinterpreting what I did not phrase well.
When I say compromise, I mean it combines what I like about being a surgical MD with what I like about being a PA. I do not want to pursue medicine-I want a career that allows me to be committed to other things. I have worked for a cancer surgeon for the past few years and have seen the sacrifices he makes to help his patients. That's awesome, but it's not what I want. And I do not think that is compromising on a career. If I went to pursue MD and become a surgeon, I would be compromising on other things in my life that I want. Call me old fashioned, but as a woman, I want to raise awesome kids. I want to be an influence in their lives. It's hard to do that in medicine, especially in surgery.
On the other side, being a PA would provide a more balanced life (depending on your doctor), but it is completely dependent on what your doc allows you to do. It's his practice. His insurance. You get a lot of the grunt he doesn't want with half the respect and 1/3 of the pay. I would not be satisfied with that. I want my own practice and my own patients. Being a PA would compromise that.
Dentistry combines the surgical side with the independence side with the ability to have a balanced life. It is still healthcare. Why does anyone want to work in healthcare? They want to help people's physical lives. Sure, dentistry is different than medicine in a lot of ways. But finding a passion out of alleviating a patient's pain, fixing functional issues, and of course making them more confident in their appearance-all of that overlaps with medicine. At the core, that is what I want do to. A specialty doesn't change that.
Do you agree?

Your dissertation suggests you are more interested in the fringe benefits than the nuts and bolts of the profession.

 

[GoodOne456]

I have a 3.0 ugpa/2.99 bcpm, turned it around with a 1 yr masters 3.89 gpa/23AA DAT, got in first time to (well if you look at financial thread/clinical training) to one of the top programs in the country. it's doable

Sorry if I sound ignorant but what did you get your masters in?

 

[Blueshirts]

See the financial thread. Going into dentistry isn't exactly the type of profession you can half do/half no, especially considering when you take on 300-500k+ in loans..read at your own risk..

 

[queenki]

You have a fighting chance to get into dental school (excluding heavyweights like Harvard, UPenn, Columbia, UCLA, UCSF) as long as you get 20+ AA on your DAT and get around 100 hours of dental shadowing. I'm a nontrad myself, and yes, work experience sounds impressive and I thought that adcoms will like that, but I found out that they unfortunately don't give a rat's butt about it.

Your postbac GPA looks good enough (3.5 and above is the general consensus) for you to not do a masters/SMP.

Lastly, with your impressive community service hours, ASDOH/MOSDOH and possibly VCU would LOVE to invite you for an interview.

PM me if you need any advice from a nontrad!

I don't know how to PM. I am new to here.
Can I have some advice from you regarding non-traditional?
I posted a new thread today with my info though.
Please let me know.

Thank you!

 

[queenki]

I have just about the same GPAs as you and had a lot of experience as well. I got a 20 on the DAT. I had no pre-reqs done when I started my post bacc courses so I was able to do well in all the BCP courses. I received 3 interviews this cycle and one waitlisted me and I just had the other 2 interviews in the past 2 weeks.
You have a good shot, just put a good effort in on the DAT and apply to a lot of places. You can research schools to find ones that value experience and a good story rather than just numbers. Message me if you want details on where I applied/interviewed and if you have any other questions.

Could you share which school you applied/interviewed/accepted?

 

[GypsyHummus]

Im surprised everyone recommends a masters degree. In the MD/DO world, master degrees are counted as an EC. It is instead suggested that the applicant with a low GPA take several upper level science classes to demonstrate they can handle the rigorous coursework.