Non-traditional student with Low dental hygiene Gpa

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[C_BryantDDS]

You would definitely need to do some sort of post bacc or master's program to boost your overall GPA and science GPA - many schools have a cutoff at 3.0 so you'd need to increase that significantly. I'd recommend taking classes to boost your GPA before applying and start studying for your DAT. Aiming to do that well is great but very difficult and you would need to do extremely well to make up for your lower GPA. My biggest concern (and likely a red flag for adcoms) though would be that you didn't do well in your dental hygiene classes. I'm assuming that those are likely similar but maybe even less intense and strenuous than the classes you would take in dental school and it doesn't look good that you didn't do well and then dropped out.

 

[WaveRace]

You have a steep hill in front of you to dental school admission. I really don't see you being admitted if you apply this year. The sharp downward trend (from an already low/sub-3 sGPA) is a red flag.

If you really want to be a dentist, you're going to have to do a full-time masters or postbacc. I'd argue for the masters because I don't think the GPA is salvageable in a reasonable time frame.

Yes, the courses you take now will get combined with your undergrad gpa. Still, with your record, I don't think doing well in 2 classes at a time is going to be enough. You need to kill the DAT, enroll in a full-time master's program, ace everything, and then you might stand a chance.

I don't mean to be overly negative, but it's important to be realistic and not sugar-coat these things. It's years of your life/money being used (and/or wasted) here. It is possible, but it's going to be a difficult journey. Best of luck with whatever path you choose!


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[DMDDDSHopeful]

You have a steep hill in front of you to dental school admission. I really don't see you being admitted if you apply this year. The sharp downward trend (from an already low/sub-3 sGPA) is a red flag.

If you really want to be a dentist, you're going to have to do a full-time masters or postbacc. I'd argue for the masters because I don't think the GPA is salvageable in a reasonable time frame.

Yes, the courses you take now will get combined with your undergrad gpa. Still, with your record, I don't think doing well in 2 classes at a time is going to be enough. You need to kill the DAT, enroll in a full-time master's program, ace everything, and then you might stand a chance.

I don't mean to be overly negative, but it's important to be realistic and not sugar-coat these things. It's years of your life/money being used (and/or wasted) here. It is possible, but it's going to be a difficult journey. Best of luck with whatever path you choose!


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Put my vote in for a Masters. Look into programs and see if you are able to apply to one.

 

[doc toothache]

If you could not hack a dental hygiene program, what would make one think that you will be able to handle a ds curriculum?
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/dental-hygiene-to-ds.952937/
https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2012-credit-allowance-for-md-ph-d-dh-other.944369/

 

[mroerdh22]

I second Doc Toothache's post.

I did not have incredible grades in hygiene school and received interviews/acceptances this cycle, so it is possible to get do so with less than desirable DH grades. However, I think dental schools may struggle with your discontinuation of the program simply because dental hygiene is monotonous (it is, that's not hard to see even before you start school if you did your due diligence with shadowing). It is good that you do work in the dental field now but I'd be prepared for adcoms to really hound you about quitting a dental hygiene program, why you want to become a dentist, if you would quit their program, etc.