Nontraditional Student- low sgpa looking for advice

[Enamel00]

Hello SDN community,
Could anyone shed some light on how admissions will likely look at my stats?

I received my bachelors in science degree in 2009, and joined the Army shortly after. After 9 years of service, I am ready to pursue my long time interest in dentistry.

The glaring issue for me is that I was not a great student back in the day, and received a cumulative gpa of 3.37 with a sgpa of 2.89. I am currently on shore duty and have been taking night classes at my local community college. I am happy to say that the discipline and maturity that comes with age have given me a second lease on my academic life, and I have managed to hold a cumulative sgpa of 4.0 so far in my prerequisite classes. I am finishing my last semester next fall.

My question is, for a nontraditional student like myself who has a considerable gap between my two gpas, do you think the admissions will average the two? I don't know what the gpa cutoffs are for most schools (I will need to do more investigations), but I'm concerned that even if I can hold a sgpa of 4.0 to the end, that the average will still not be high enough for the cutoff.

I appreciate any feedback and advice any has to offer. Thanks!

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[dentist432]

Hi,

I am also non-traditional student and serving in the Army during my gap year.I am currently applying to dental school this cycle. I read your post and want to say do not be discouraged by your earlier GPA. You are discipline and you know what you want to do with your future. I suggest to do more research on dental schools because some dental schools do not accept any community college credits as their requirements.
Most of the school take more attention to the later GPA as it is your most recent one, but you have to write a good personal statement or secondary essay regarding your lower GPA. You said that your are on last semester. Are you earning second Bachelor's degree?

 

[Enamel00]

Hi,

I am also non-traditional student and serving in the Army during my gap year.I am currently applying to dental school this cycle. I read your post and want to say do not be discouraged by your earlier GPA. You are discipline and you know what you want to do with your future. I suggest to do more research on dental schools because some dental schools do not accept any community college credits as their requirements.
Most of the school take more attention to the later GPA as it is your most recent one, but you have to write a good personal statement or secondary essay regarding your lower GPA. You said that your are on last semester. Are you earning second Bachelor's degree?

Actually no, this is not a second Bachelor's Degree. I am basically taking the prerequisite classes as a Nondegree student again, as I was advised by my counselor to retake them again due to the fact that there was a substantial 9 years since I've taken those classes, and that I had practically forgot everything.

Thanks for your feedback, and your service. Wishing you best of luck with your cycle!