Non-traditional applicant...

[HulaGirl5]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi everyone,
I would appreciate any insight on my interesting applying situation.
My freshman/soph year were filled with a little too much partying and although I pulled myself together junior and senior year, my overall GPA was kind of shot. I took summer gen chem 1,2 one summer then organic chem 1,2 the next summer(at a different school), getting C+ in both first semesters then B+ in both second semesters (I had summer science anxiety).
But now I am in a post-bac program at yet another school and my overall GPA at this school is a 3.9(A's in Bio, Physics and Calc I). I am not going to retake gen or organic chem. I plan on studying all summer (bummer) along with taking a Kaplan course to prepare for the DAT. That I have planned to take end of Aug. or beginning of Sept. With 4 school transcripts (I went abroad), and mediocre chem grades, what else can I do to "primp" my background?
Thanks for any feedback!
One nervous girl!
P.S. Sorry for the long post! Whew!

 

[SugarNaCl]

Hi everyone,
I would appreciate any insight on my interesting applying situation.
My freshman/soph year were filled with a little too much partying and although I pulled myself together junior and senior year, my overall GPA was kind of shot. I took summer gen chem 1,2 one summer then organic chem 1,2 the next summer(at a different school), getting C+ in both first semesters then B+ in both second semesters (I had summer science anxiety).
But now I am in a post-bac program at yet another school and my overall GPA at this school is a 3.9(A's in Bio, Physics and Calc I). I am not going to retake gen or organic chem. I plan on studying all summer (bummer) along with taking a Kaplan course to prepare for the DAT. That I have planned to take end of Aug. or beginning of Sept. With 4 school transcripts (I went abroad), and mediocre chem grades, what else can I do to "primp" my background?
Thanks for any feedback!
One nervous girl!
P.S. Sorry for the long post! Whew!

Observe a dentist for sure. You need minimally 30 hours for many schools. I had 80. Many had more. Schools do look at trends, but they first look at overall GPA to weed people out. A school in NY told me you needed at LEAST a 3.1 but they prefer 3.5 and a DAT of 19-20. What does your undergraduate GPA look like? Don't worry. Your post-bac will look good but definitely your BS undergrad work counts the heaviest...unfortunately. Also, if I were you I would consider contacting the schools you are interested before the app. cycle starts and ask them to make suggestions on how you can boost your chances of gaining admission. I did this and was told everything was fine. You may too be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Kami]

I would say that if your undergraduate GPA is low then you should be able to explain something unique in your personal statement why your GPA was low. There could be several factors like if you are an international student coming from another country you faced many challenging situations or you worked your way through college (I know that this situation is common) or you have shown an upward trend in your grades in your masters or PB since you graduated from college. I am sure that there are students in every dental school that will have a situation like yours. Important thing is you are showing an upward trend and you are improving. You never know because there may be people that are on admissions committee that were in the same situation as you and showed improvment and they may be sympathetic towards you situation. I dont think that there is any hard and fast rule that you have to have this GPA or this DAT. There are other factors that may help you get interviews.

 

[HulaGirl5]

Thanks for the responses, I really do appreciate it! I played a sport for my university, but I'm a little weary that acceptance committees might think I chose tennis over school...I guess I do have the upward trend going for me...

 

[djeffreyt]

write a good personal statement that explains how you got to where you are and explains your past mistakes in a way that doesn't make you sound like a drunk party-girl during your first two years.