Pediatric Residency -- Do I have a snowball's chance?

[scottableton]

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Hey everyone! I'm looking into peds residency as a D3. This kind of caught me by surprise even though I've always liked kids, because I didn't realize I liked doing actual dental work on children until, well, I did some dental work on children.

I have not been hustling in school when it comes to my grades. I didn't know I wanted to specialize until recently, so I just focused on relaxing and learning, getting mostly Bs and some As, and a few Cs in my courses.

DMD GPA: 3.24
Class Rank: Bottom Quartile
I'm concurrently pursuing my MPH with my DMD and am doing well in those courses.
I have good contacts for letters of recommendation
I have 2yrs experience volunteering with kids in a mobile dental clinic from Undergrad
I've done 2 mission trips in Africa working with kids
I have one externship to a pediatric dental school confirmed, and will be looking into another one.
I've done three events at my school for kids; two were education focused, the third will be next semester and will be hands on dentistry.

So I'm concerned with my GPA and class rank as it pertains to my chances for peds residency. What do you guys think? Is my overall application strong, or do you have any other strategies for boosting my portfolio? What do you think my chances are?

Thank you in advance.

 

[PreDentTechySon]

You should always give it a shot. I’ve come to learn grades aren’t everything. Extern at some programs, work to get to know them, let them see you’re not a nightmare to work with. I’ve seen people with less than stellar stats get into programs because they worked at it.
Plan to apply to a wide net of programs, get good letters of rec. I think you could stand a good chance.

 

[DDS2017]

Work hard, finish off strong, try and get as many A's as possible. You have a great shot at getting in. I know a few people with similar grades as you and have gotten into pedo programs. Apply broadly and you'll get in somewhere. Good luck.

 

[Svart Aske]

Your ability to work on kids shouldn't hinge on how well you performed in biochemistry, physiology and other basic science classes.

 

[allDAT]

There’s a lot of pedo programs so you probably have a shot with a well rounded application. Maybe need to do AEGD/GPR then pedo residency. So when you apply to pedo also apply to AEGDs/GPRs. If you don’t get into pedo. Do the residency and then reapply, you’ll probably find a way in.

 

[setdoc7]

Your ability to work on kids shouldn't hinge on how well you performed in biochemistry, physiology and other basic science classes.

No hating on the basic sciences, we all did them. The reason PD’s may emphasize grades is many are interested in high in service test and board scores.